Marvel's The Defenders: Ranking Every Episode From Worst To Best

The One Where: Having escaped Midland Circle, the Defenders take refuse in the Royal Dragon Chinese restaurant. Matt's mentor Stick shows up and the group share their information. Jessica leaves but returns for a confrontation with Alexandra and Elektra.

The Verdict: It might seem an odd choice to pick episode 4 over the ostensibly more exciting second half of the series, but Royal Dragon captures what we wanted from this crossover event more than the rest of the show.

For one, this is the moment these four separate heroes become a team and, by the time they stand side by side to face Elektra, their union feels earned. Jessica's temporary exit is effective and totally in character.

The decision to make Royal Dragon mostly a bottle episode is also a good one. What we most want to see is just these characters interacting and we get that in spades here. The cutaways to Alexandra and Elektra do puncture the flow somewhat, but those scenes still hold promise (as we have not reached the ridiculousness of the later episodes yet).

All in all, if you were to only watch one episode of The Defenders, it would probably be this one. It's not perfect, but it best encapsulates why we were so hyped for this show in the first place.

Agree with this list? How would you rank the episodes? Share your thoughts down in the comments.