'The Defenders' Recap: 'Take Shelter'

Written by Scott Edwards

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

With the Defenders in her sights, the reborn Elektra Natchios, also known as the Black Sky, is unleashing hell, but she is not alone as another member of the foundation of the Hand, Murakami, decides to attack from above. As Alexandra leaves the fight, the other groups of the Hand join in the fight with Madame Gao and Sowande’s forces coming in hot. Making sure that the teams of fighters know that they must take the Iron Fist Alive, Madame Gao lets one of her own go. Seeing that they are outnumbered, Stick gives the commands to his group on how they will be leaving alive, but once again, Matt heads off on his own mission.
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Singling Elektra out of the main battle, Matt is trying to see if there is any of his past love still in her body. Calling her name, Elektra once again hesitates in delivering the final blow to her ex, but does not know why. Crushing one of her own and fleeing the scene, Elektra’s loyalty to the Hand is questioned by Alexandra and while she claims to be fine, she is trying to find out who she really is. The Black Sky takes to the streets to find answers on her own and standing atop Matt’s loft, she finds it is the place that is really her home.

Retreating to the dojo, the group is one man down as they believe that Luke has been taken by the Hand, but quickly find out that he is able to hold his own, even against trash trucks. Bringing Sowande back as a present for the group, they start to question one of the eldest members of the Hand, but wind up getting nowhere. As the questions go unanswered about what the group’s obsession is with getting the Iron Fist to join the Hand, Sowande does not hesitate to tell everyone in the group what they can expect until he is freed from their clutches and it involves everyone that they love. As the members of their extended families are gathered reluctantly at the police station, they all want to know what they are going to be up against next.

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Keeping any eye out for the Hand while Luke is getting Claire, Danny and Colleen spot a group of vans that are going to be up to no good. Following them, Danny is met with a little bit of resistance, while Colleen sees her old formerly dead sensei Bakuto is back. Playing with the woman’s head, Bakuto wants her back in the Hand again, but she would rather take her pound of flesh back for her life that has been taken away. While picking up Karen, Matt is forced to come clean that he does miss being the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen and he will be donning the outfit once again. Getting to Trish first, Jessica and her friend are flanked by the Hand, including Murakami who is more than happy to report back to Alexandra about his findings on the street.
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As the founders of the Hand finally get to meet and the formerly dead Bakuto has returned, they are still a man down until Sowande is able to return to them. With a place to finally voice his objections to the Black Sky being used and Daredevil being in the equation, Murakami is afraid that it will rekindle Elektra’s emotions for her former lover. The other elders of the Hand agree and it seems like Alexandra is starting to lose control of her group. But there is still much more that needs to be done before her time is up and with a special guest coming from South America to help hunt down the Iron Fist, their complaints will have to wait for a better time. 

It feels like this episode was a little rushed to be honest, that’s not a bad thing, but there was just so much to cover in such a short amount of time. All of the original series friends have been put in one room, Karen, Foggy, Trish, Marcus, Claire, Colleen and with Misty trying to ask them questions about what is happening on the streets, I am sure that someone will actually tell her what they know. Bringing back Bakuto was a surprise for me at least, and playing with Colleen’s head may cause her more issues than she is used to, especially when it comes to her relationship with Danny. The secret that Danny and Stick have been holding onto about knowing who Elektra is has started to back fire on them, causing a little rift between them and the rest of the group. The questioning of Sowande was probably my favorite part of this episode, since he does not directly answer, even when his life is on the line. Too bad he will not be able to answer any more questions in the following episodes, as Stick finally got to do his thing. Only three more episodes to go, well, dang, this is going way too fast now.

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