- While I likened this to be the Netflix heroes big Avengers team up it's really closer to their own Infinity War. I did not expect basically all the of each heroes supporting characters to appear so often. It was really a melding of everything so far complete with mixed interactions between... almost everybody. They did a good job getting as many match-ups on screen as possible. Just a great pay off, and I haven't felt this electric since the first Avengers in terms of '_____ is talking to _____, fuck this is really happening!'
- Getting to see what the deal is with the Hand was great. They go waaaaaaay back and reveal the MCU is even weirder than we already seen on the street. And I find this as their own Godzilla threshold of sorts: When you have a blind fighting machine, a bullet proof man, and kung-fu glowy fist dude, and a chick with bad manners fighting a bunch of semi-immortal ninjas within the fossils of eternal life giving dragon bones - yeah, perhaps we will see Misty Knight get her famous arm. Things the Netflix heroes seemed too grounded to tackle is pretty much open book and I think things are gonna get even more 'Marvel' for them.
- Big swerve with Elektra getting back her memories, but now being the Hand's own Captain America of sorts, her freedom boils down to being a supervillain anyway. I'm pretty sure she dragged Matt out from the pit so she's out there, and nobody on screen was able to beat her clean.
- Daredevil cashes in all his martyr coins with this one, being one of the two characters so close to this. His arc reverts to the dilemma from DD S2, and seemed to end the only way a hero like him probably ends. Like other 'dark heroes' there's no actual arch villain per se, but a death wish manifest as vigilance. I remember a Batman line from a comic where he kinda admits that eventually some lucky punk will get lucky and catch him slipping, and that's really what he's waiting for. Eventually Matt was gonna do his thing until he gets killed. His interaction with Foggy and Karen was similar to drug addiction, and Matt not coming back after Foggy allowed him one more hit was heavy.
- Danny Rand infects this series with his unbelievably bratty attitude, only this time the other characters are much more observant and critical of it - which turns his character from icky writing to an intended character flaw. His arc was super important plotwise but the kicker here is DD most likely gave him the push to take his actions further. I expected him to wear the bandanna mask like DD to both get his attire started and to honor him but nooooooooo. Also expected him to finally power up the other fist but nooooooo. You are insufferable Danny. But at least he got to show some better moves and much better directed fight scenes than his own show. And holy shit taking on the other Defenders, the balls on this kid.
- Long live Stick. We all love you.
- Luke Cage probably has the most reason to retire altogether, but Shades and Mariah are still out there and ex-cons don't get jobs easily. He's gonna need to get Hired for something. I enjoyed that he actually wasn't the usual powerhouse of the team, but rather the Vision/Manhunter role of even temperament, wisdom, and being the soul of the group. He didn't really have inner demons and such so he got to be Danny's big bro. His interactions with Jessica seemed tragic to me in that I don't think he explicitly told her about him and Claire. And it seems there's still something there, too.
- And on Jessica who predictably plays the smartass one-liner factory of the team. Her slow turn from 'whatevs' to taking this very seriously harkens back to her complete avoidance of being a superhero. She had good screentime with Matt that while not flirty, surely looked like they 'vibe' well. They both also have a things for actual businesses that help people so they could... network, I guess.
- Colleen is a huge unsung show stealer again and if I had it my way, I'd get her and soon-to-be bionic Misty on their own adventures. She got to wrap up her beef with her master but she's still ex-Hand and I doubt the rest of the cult will just up and forget about her betrayal or any other nefarious business. Surprised she didn't take one of those rare swords.
- Madame Gao got all of her fucking cred back after the near burial she got in Iron Fist. She's magic palming the shit out of everything and even demoted to mini-boss is better than her last outting. She may have accepted the end during the collapse but she also magic palms shit so I dunno. And also she may still have business as an Iron Fist villain later.
- Alexandra own's mortality crystalizes the big weakness of the Hand: These ancient, powerful people brought down cities, murdered maybe millions over time, all based on the very simple fear of death. Alexandra wasn't talking world domination, that puts the Avengers on her ass. She already had wealth and influence. What she lacked was time. It was her personal health that hastened the mining of the dragon stuff, and maybe the cause of every other fallen city - they just kept replenishing. As far back as DD S1 we see the hand bullying Kingpin to secure that specific spot where the pit was located. It seems they would have saved it for future use, but Alexandra was on the clock. Her big mistake was activating the Black Sky using a body with too much baggage to control. Otherwise she'd win, though after the fact I'd bet the other bosses had enough of her shit. Would have liked to see more action with her, tho.
- This series was great and to be honest, I think 8 is the right number. 13 episodes requires some really knaff filler c-plots that has consistently led to weird shit.