6 out of 10. For context, I would rate DD S1 a 9, DD S2 an 8, JJ and LC are both a 7.5
I gave up on Iron Fist during it's first episode. One thing that I have to give credit to The Defenders for is that it served as a fine introduction to the character of Iron Fist, similar to how Hulk was handled in The Avengers. I didn't feel confused by who he was, his motives, or his abilities. This cements IF S1 as completely skippable to me (yay!)
The biggest letdown was the action scenes. One moment of greatness was when Iron Fist took on like twenty guys in the board room but even that fell apart pretty quickly after Luke busted through the door. Everything else was a bit of a mess...although watching Colleen, Misty and Claire take down that one guy gave me a good laugh. But anyway I have no idea what scene they were teasing prior to the show when they said they had one that would put the hallway scene to shame. Nothing in the show was anywhere close to that level.
Another problem was the pace and structure of the show. It started out so soooooo slow. When the earthquake happened at the end of episode 2 I remember thinking "We could have started right here." And it should have! And once the team was finally, finally assembled at the end of episode 4 (halfway through the season!) they were still, still in-fighting and making quips about their situation almost all the way until the very end.
I was struck by how much a liability Jessica Jones was during combat. Luke Cage seems to be similarly outmatched by the ninja stuff, but he is bulletproof. So I was left kinda wondering how Jessica wasn't killed during some of the fights with all the blades flying around.
Iron Fist was a similar liability, but in his case outside of combat. The dude was literally strapped to things as a hostage for almost half the season...that was an odd choice I thought. And then as soon as he is out he does the one thing he knows he should not do...punches the wall down. I mean...wtf is that?
But the real problem, underneath not just this but The Hand as a whole (especially in DD S2) is that I am just not sold on the character of Elektra at all. I think it mostly comes down to the actress who plays Elektra, which I would argue was miscast, but the writing is also to blame. Elektra should be a force of temptation to Daredevil, but she is not sexy or emotive really at all...on top of that I find her motives confusing and contrived. This chick has had like three hours of screentime and I still don't understand what she wants...to be with Matt forever, but only if they are both dead? And when she has a chance to kill him then herself, she passes it up repeatedly...because it is fun? Worse, Matt's reluctance to let anyone kill her is a bad case of General Zod Syndrome...I am Catholic and, believe me, her life was forfeit a long, long time ago.
The actress who plays Elektra is a vacuum of charisma and she and Matt have almost no chemistry. When she killed Alexandra I admit I was shocked, but I just sorta sighed afterwards as I realized that one of the more boring characters was now the villain...not as bad as The Mandarin Twist but still a disappointment.
Anyway, I am not sure how I feel about the whole Netflix Marvel continuity as we go on. It really seems to have peaked right out of the gate with DD S1 and has been on a slow and steady decline ever since. Worse, I don't see how anything is going to turn around at this point. The Punisher works best as a villain or side character, so I am not excited for his solo series. I don't feel Jessica, Iron Fist or Luke have earned a second season, I really don't. Those three should be condenscing into a Heroes for Hire annual show. That leaves just Daredevil, which itself suffered during it's second season. We'll see what happens I guess!
