The Defenders Episode 1 Recap: Alexandra Plots To Destroy NYC

Jeph Loeb surprised everyone when he told thousands of fans in Hall H Friday evening he had something special up his sleeve. It just so happened to be almost an hour long. All of a sudden, the cast of The Defenders walked off stage, the lights dimmed, and the The Defenders episode 1 began playing. Here's a recap of what you missed.

The first episode begins with Danny and Colleen fighting what appears to be The Hand. At the end of the long fight scenes, this dangerous person turns out to be Elektra. Colleen and Danny aren’t able to stop her from killing a man and before he dies he tells them the real fight is actually in New York. Danny chases after Elektra, but she gets away, slashing him across the chest with her sword, leaving an awesome looking mark across the dragon on his chest.

“The war you are fighting is not here. Go home,” the man tells Colleen and Danny and The Defenders opening sequence spreads across the screen.

There's an overlay of New York with each Defender taking the shape of a city grid and buildings. Each section of the city lights up with the character's signature colors. Green for Iron Fist. Yellow for Luke Cage. Red for Daredevil. Blue for Jessica Jones.

Next we see Jessica Jones at a bar, drunk, and it looks to be last call. The next morning, Trish’s car is getting towed but Jessica appears and breaks the chain away and tells the terrified tow truck guy, “We got a problem.”

Trish says a reporter wants to tell Jessica’s story, but she’s not having it. She's worried Jessica can't pay her rent and says, “Only you could turn that big personal victory into a defeat," as she spits out coffee spiked with whisky. “Oh yeah, that’s mine,” Jessica says.

Meanwhile, Luke Cage is getting out of prison. He crushes his pair of handcuffs and hands them to the warden. Foggy Nelson introduces himself as Franklin. “Mr Lucas, Mr. Cage, which do you prefer?” he asks Luke. We learn Foggy has been running point on Luke’s case. Foggy has been in contact with Bobby Fish to get Luke’s name cleared. Before Foggy leaves, he says the Hogarth firm is at Luke’s disposal if he needs help starting over. But Luke says he’s not starting over, he’s “moving forward.”

Daredevil is having trouble blocking out his senses in his apartment. Then we see him in court defending a paralyzed teenager who was harmed by some sort of prescription drug. He wins the case, which awards the family an $11 million dollar settlement.

Before he leaves the courthouse, he gives the kid some advice, "Nobody can give you your life back. You have to take it back.”

Karen shows up to get a quote for a story, and suggests they go grab a bite to eat. The interaction is awkward. She and Daredevil talk about the fact he revealed his identity. Karen asks him if he regrets it, and he says no, he doesn’t regret anything. But we learn he hasn’t suited up since the Daredevil Season 2 finale. Karen says they both need to “work on themselves first.”

We catch up with Iron Fist and Colleen on a Rand plane flying back to New York. Iron Fist is having a nightmare about all the people who The Hand killed on Kun-Lun. “They gave you everything you are, and you let them die.”

Sigourney Weaver appears for the first time, wearing all white walking into a hospital. She's sick. The doctor tells her she only has three months, or less, to live. The doctor doesn’t say what is wrong with her exactly, only that there is no way to treat it even with her resources.

Jessica Jones is in the elevator heading home. There is someone at her door who wants her help. She writes it off as another cheating case and pays no mind. “Did you call the cops? Why not? They are free,” she tells the woman, saying her husband is probably just cheating. She then gets a mysterious call telling her to stay away from the woman and the potential missing persons case.

Luke Cage is riding over an NYC bridge on a bus. He passes by Pop’s barbershop, eventually makes his way to Claire’s house. “Hey stranger. Can we get that coffee?” Claire says.

They burst into her apartment and destroy everything as they undress. The whole house gets destroyed and after they finish the deed, they talk next to a flipped over table. “I hope I was worth it,” Luke says. Then, there’s a knock at the door. It’s Misty Knight. Luke appears still buttoning up his pants. She tells Luke Harlem’s youth is caught up with a shady business paying good money off the books.

Jessica and her neighbor Malcolm trace the calls back to a payphone and apartment. Jessica goes to check it out. Meanwhile, Daredevil goes to confession. “I lied to someone I love. She asked me if I missed the life. The other life.”

Sigourney Weaver’s character meets with Madame Gao. “Must be hard for these people to imagine the whole island of Manhattan as a forest," Alexandra says.

“How soon can we begin?” Alexandra asks. When Gao says three months, Alexandra says it has to be faster. “If we speed the process, it will not be quiet,” Gao warns. But Alexandra doesn't care. Gao follows Alexandra’s orders.

Luke Cage goes to talk to a kid whose brother recently died, as Misty Knight suggested, when she says he should be more like Pop and Jessica tries to track down the missing guy. She breaks down the door of his supposed apartment and finds explosives, lots of them.

Colleen and Danny are arriving in NYC via helicopter. Daredevil is back at his apartment in Hell’s Kitchen and he senses the ground rumbling. Danny and Colleen feel it as well. Jessica is still in that weird apartment when she feels the ground roaring. Luke Cage feels the earthquake in Harlem too. Car alarms start going off as a wave runs through the concrete and Luke stops a telephone pole from falling on a woman. Alexandra just watches over the city with a weird expression on her face. She looks to Elektra and says, “It’s just a city. You’ll get used to watching them fall.”