10 Problems With The MCU On TV (And How To Solve Them)
4. Leaving Too Many Threads Hanging
If you have to shoehorn extraneous plot into your narrative, at least follow it through.
Matt deciding to tell Karen his secret was presented as a cliffhanger at the end of season two of Daredevil. By the time The Defenders rolled around, the moment had been and gone. Let’s not forget that Daredevil knew about the giant scary ninja pit under New York, too… but ignored it until the events of The Defenders.
Reference was made to Karen’s dark past in Daredevil season one - what’s the deal with her dead brother? - and she even killed the Kingpin’s right hand man Wesley. One season of Daredevil and one of The Defenders later, none of this has ever been mentioned again.
At the end of Jessica Jones, she’s taking cases out of a burgeoning desire to help people, with Malcolm assisting her. By The Defenders, she’s yelling at Malcolm again and back to being reluctant to do anything for anyone but herself. What happened to the face turn, Jess?
Then there’s Matt and Karen’s sweet little love story; as soon as Elektra reappears, the whole subplot disappears. And why does Joy Meachum suddenly want to kill Danny at the end of Iron Fist?
These are only a few of the dangling threads. Abandoning secondary subplots strengthens the impression that they were created as filler, to pad out the season’s order.