- "Jessica, you are now a full-blown super–"
"Do not say the H word." - ―Trish Walker and Jessica Jones
The H Word is the first episode of the first season of The Defenders.
Synopsis[]
Matt Murdock, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Danny Rand investigate criminals and fight injustice, unaware their paths are about to cross.
Plot[]
Danny Rand fights Elektra
In Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Shaft fights Elektra, who has been sent to kill him, before Danny Rand and Colleen Wing arrive. They are unable to save Shaft from being fatally wounded. Rand hunts down and battles Elektra, but she slashes him across the chest and escapes. Rand returns to the dying Shaft, who tells them that the fight is not there, but rather back at New York City.
The next day, Jessica Jones wakes up in a bar that she accidentally slept through the night in. She then reunites with Trish Walker, who tries to convince Jones to take on a hero role, as people have started to recognize her, following the Kilgrave incident. Jones, however, rejects the offer.
Luke Cage is released from Seagate Penitentiary
Meanwhile, Luke Cage is released from Seagate Penitentiary. Foggy Nelson, who has been acting as his lawyer since his last arrest, meets with him on his way out to tell him that Hogarth, Chao & Benowitz is at his disposal, if he wants to start over. Cage denies this, saying he is moving forward.
Matt Murdock is making preparations for Aaron James' trial when he hears crime, but he ignores it when he hears that the police has intervened. James' trial takes place, which Murdock wins and allows James and his family to receive 11 million dollars. Afterward, Murdock talks to James, giving him some encouragement and advice for his upcoming hardships. He then speaks with Karen Page, and they agree to go to lunch together.
As Rand flies back to New York City, he has a nightmare about the dead Order of the Crane Mother, which plays into his guilt of abandoning K'un-Lun. Wing wakes him up, and Rand tells her that he's fine, although she doesn't believe him.
In the meantime, Alexandra Reid visits a hospital, where the doctors tell her that she will die within a few weeks or months and that not much can be done to help her. She orders them to continue to search for a cure.
Michelle Raymond visits Jones and tells her about her missing husband, John Raymond. However, Jones does not take the case. When she gets into her apartment, Jones receives a scrambled call telling her not to take it. Intrigued, she changes her mind and begins investigating John Raymond.
Cage arrives back in Harlem. He reunites with Claire Temple, and after the two have sex, they briefly discuss what Mariah Dillard and Shades have been doing to the community. Misty Knight visits and asks Cage to go on a walk with her.
Meanwhile, Murdock and Page have coffee. Murdock mentions her story last week about a school board scandal, and they discuss him revealing to her the truth about him being Daredevil and what that life is to him. She then congratulates him on the Aaron James case and asks him for a statement for her article.
Malcolm Ducasse visits Jones, who has found the location from which the blocked number call came. It was from a payphone in an area that Ducasse informs Jones is likely for crime. He admits that he knows this because he used to get his heroin from around there when he was still an addict.
In Harlem, Knight walks with Cage and they catch up about the goings on in the neighborhood. She shows him that Candace Miller's 25-year-old brother Sean Miller died recently. She reveals that many other young people have died in the same way and suspects that the cases are connected. Cage offers to help find out who's behind this, but Knight insists that he visit Sean's brother to prevent him from going down the same path to death.
Murdock goes to confession with Father Paul Lantom. He confesses his guilt of keeping his Daredevil identity a secret from the people he loves. He also laments about missing Elektra and ponders whether she would be proud of where he is now after abandoning his Daredevil life, to which Father Lantom assures that she would be.
In Central Park, Madame Gao and Reid talk about their plan while Reid feeds the birds. Reid insists that they must quicken the pace of the plan, despite Gao's objections. Eventually, Gao reluctantly assents, though warning Reid that they would have to sacrifice subtly by speeding things up.
Like Knight suggested, Cage pays Cole Miller a visit at his apartment to help steer him on the right track. However, Miller simply tells him to leave and refuses his help.
Danny Rand and Colleen Wing return to New York City in time to feel the earthquake
Jones locates and breaks into Raymond's secret apartment, but she quickly finds that he is not in home. Instead, she discovers several C-4 bombs.
Gao informs Reid that her arrangements have been made. She attempts to convince Reid to wait, however, but Reid gives the order to go on with the plan, anyway. As a result of their plan, an earthquake rumbles through New York City. Murdock, Jones, and Cage all feel it from their respective locations, as well as Rand and Wing, who had just landed in the city. Reid tells an uncertain-looking Elektra that it is nothing more than a city and that she will see many more fall.
Murdock uses his senses to hear the fear and panic throughout his neighborhood, incredibly tempted to be Daredevil again and help them.
Cast[]
Main Cast:
- Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock/Daredevil
- Krysten Ritter as Jessica Jones
- Mike Colter as Luke Cage
- Finn Jones as Danny Rand/Iron Fist / Danny Rand/Iron Fist / Danny Rand/Iron Fist
- Eka Darville as Malcolm Ducasse
- Elden Henson as Foggy Nelson
- Jessica Henwick as Colleen Wing
- Simone Missick as Misty Knight
- Rachael Taylor as Trish Walker
- Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page
- Élodie Yung as Elektra
- Rosario Dawson as Claire Temple
- Sigourney Weaver as Alexandra Reid
Guest Stars:
- Wai Ching Ho as Madame Gao
- Peter McRobbie as Father Paul Lantom
- J. Mallory McCree as Cole Miller
- Debbi Morgan as Dolores Miller
- Michelle Federer as Michelle Raymond
- Chloë Levine as Lexi Raymond
- Simon Feil as Berkowitz
- Marko Zaror as Shaft
- Gabe White as Aaron James
- Deborah Twiss as Aaron's Mother
- Shawn McLaughlin as Aaron's Dad
- Monica Wyche as Defense Attorney
- Danny Doherty as Bartender
- Johnny Solo as City Worker #1
- Pascal Yen-Pfister as Doctor
- Mellini Kantayya as Nurse
- Chantal Maurice as Waitress
- Paul Hickert as Warden
- Caleb Eberhardt as Young Man
- Pat Kiernan as Himself (uncredited)
- Jemarko Jones as Sean Miller (uncredited)
- Jeff Grossman as Police Officer (uncredited)
- Mark Langston as Dinner Patron (uncredited)
Appearances[]
Locations[]
- Phnom Penh, Cambodia
- New York City, New York
- Georgia
- K'un-Lun (vision)
- New Rochelle, New York (mentioned)
- Dubai, United Arab Emirates (mentioned)
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (mentioned)
Events[]
- Chase of Elektra
- Excavation of Midland Circle
- Attack on K'un-Lun (mentioned)
- Skirmish at the Hudson Ferry Terminal (mentioned)
- Raid of the Crispus Attucks Complex (mentioned)
- Assassination of Candace Miller (mentioned)
- Arrest of Luke Cage (mentioned)
Items[]
- Colleen Wing's Katana
- Mark of Shou-Lao
- Winston Supreme Canadian
- C-4
- Canada Dry
- Endexoprene (mentioned)
- Daredevil's Suit (mentioned)
Concepts[]
Vehicles[]
Creatures[]
Organizations[]
- Hand
- Chaste
- Alias Investigations
- Rand Enterprises
- New York City Police Department
- Hogarth, Chao & Benowitz
- New York Bulletin
- Order of the Crane Mother
- NY1
- Nelson and Murdock (mentioned)
- Duncan + Dotter Design (mentioned)
- Order of the Crane Mother (mentioned)
Mentioned[]
- New Harlem Renaissance (logo)
- Kilgrave
- Bobby Fish
- John Raymond
- Mariah Dillard
- Mitchell Ellison
- Diamondback
- Shades
- Candace Miller
- Sean Miller
- Pop
- Nikki Giovanni
- New York Mayor
Music[]
| Song title | Artist | Location(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Sunshine | Mos Def |
|
| Terminal | John Paesano |
|
| The Line | D'Angelo |
|
| Know What I Know | Lou U |
|
| Dr. Greenthumb | Cypress Hill |
|
References[]
External Links[]
The H Word on IMDb- The H Word on Disney+
- The H Word on Marvel Database
| Season One | The H Word • Mean Right Hook • Worst Behavior • Royal Dragon • Take Shelter • Ashes, Ashes • Fish in the Jailhouse • The Defenders |