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The Defenders Recap: “Mean Right Hook”

By Kelly Shanaphy

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Picking up right where the premiere left off, “Mean Right Hook,” sees all of the Defenders spring into action following the mysterious earthquake.

While the show gives each of the heroes a reason to be involved in the fight for New York, it seems like Daredevil is the one with the most emotional investment. His struggle with which life to lead is a more focused personal battle than Danny’s and the knowledge that he’ll eventually have to face Elektra again makes it all the more painful to see the grief he’s endured since her death.

Like last season of Jessica Jones, Trish is trying to use her radio show to inform the public. Unfortunately, her investigative journalism side is squashed by the big brass who immediately shut down her interview with a geologist who sheds some light on the mysterious earthquake. Before she can get more answers, the call is cut off and Trish is informed to stop following any more leads involving the weird occurrence. Jessica has also found herself in some hot water in “Mean Right Hook,” after calling the police to deal with boxes of explosives she found in Joh Raymond’s hotel room. Before abandoning the scene, she steals a bit of evidence which sends Misty Knight on the private eye’s tail.

Since Jessica was dealing with Kilgrave most of last season, her exemplary detective skills didn’t have much time to show. In The Defenders, fans are getting to see her stubborn investigative instincts move to the forefront as she starts her hunt for answers. At city hall, she’s able to trace back the business which Raymond was planning to blow up, all the way back to 1820 before she hits a stone wall. Before getting the opportunity to break into an older set of archives, she’s visited by Jeri Hogarth who warns her off the case. Of course, Hogarth is still just as self-serving as before despite showing a bit of hospitality to Danny Rand in his series.

Photo Credit: Jessica Miglio/Netflix

Matt Murdock gets a visit from his lawyer as well in “Mean Right Hook,” where he meets up with Foggy Nelson at the bar. The distance between the best friends is palpable, with both being too afraid to speak honestly with the other. Finally, Foggy confronts Matt about his bloody knuckles knowing that he had to have fought some crime during the earthquake. To help out his friend, he outsources a load of new cases which would keep him too busy to even think about becoming Daredevil again.

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Luke spends the morning clearing debris in Harlem alongside Claire in “Mean Right Hook,” before deciding to continue attempting to help Cole. After interrogating a local criminal, he heads out to find a villain named, “White Hat,” who dresses in a completely white suit. The guy is easy enough to find, but it sends him stumbling into the sword shop which Colleen and Danny were investigating. Turns out the kids getting hired are there to clean up all the dead bodies of the fallen Chaste members that Danny was looking for. In his rage, he tracks down Cole and attempts to threaten him for information before Luke steps in. It’s a hilarious action sequence where the almighty Iron Fist gives it his all as Luke stands there before finally lighting up his fist to do some serious damage. While the heroes all get away, Luke is unfortunately arrested and left to be dealt with by the police.

Jessica doesn’t end up having a great day either in “Mean Right Hook,” because as Hogarth predicted, she got herself into trouble. Arriving back at her apartment she finds Malcolm being held at gun point by John Raymond who is babbling about how he is the good guy. Before she can get any real answers out of the guy, he kills himself to prevent Elektra from doing so which leaves a giant mess on Jessica’s door step. The P.I. doesn’t catch up to Elektra in time but finds herself in an interrogation room with Misty Knight after the detective sees her with blood on her face. Before she can give anything up, Matt Murdock comes flying in as Jessica’s new lawyer, in a scene that fans have been anticipating since the latter’s show was officially announced.

Next: “The Defenders” Premiere Recap: “The H Word”

The Hand runs into even more roadblocks in their plan in “Mean Right Hook,” by literally hitting a wall. Madame Gao has her people attempt every way to break down said wall before approaching Alexandra with the bad news. However, their fearless leader isn’t going to be deterred that easily and realizes that it isn’t actually a wall at all but rather, a door. Now they just need the key to unlock it and sadly it looks like Danny is going to fall right into that trap.

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