Ranking Marvel’s Netflix Shows By Season

With Jessica Jones S3 coming out last month, Marvel’s shows with Netflix came to end. And now a lot of the actors are signed on to new projects, so even if Marvel wanted to/legally could revive the shows on Disney+, it’d take a lot to make it happen, so I think it’s highly unlikely. Anyway, since we’re essentially done done, I thought it’d be fun to rank the shows by season (6 shows, 13 seasons). I was going to just tweet this, but then I figured I’d explain my choices and get a blog post out of it. Yay content!

I usually have trouble ranking things because I can never settle on how I feel and don’t want to commit to an order. My top 10 favourite musicals is really like a top 3 and then 8 others in no particular order (and yes, I am aware 8+3≠10). But I think I’ve managed to actually decide on how to rank these Marvel shows, so here they are, from least favourite to favourite.

(Note, I’ll try to keep spoilers to a minimum, but there may be some, so be aware!)

13. Jessica Jones Season 2
This season was the pits. Trish was way out of character, the villain was lousy, Jessica’s new boyfriend was boring, and it just did not have the same edge as the enjoyable S1. This was the first Marvel show I watched at double speed, and I have zero regrets.

12. The Punisher Season 2
This season was just really weird for me. I didn’t love Amy or how much she derailed Frank’s doings with her random issues, I didn’t like Billy’s story with the not-Maggie therapist, and I never really liked Agent Madani all that much so I didn’t care for her all that much. Frank is cool and I do like him, but it seemed that everyone else just dragged him and the story down. Plus, the whole season was just unnecessary. Continuing on the S1 plot that had closed nicely this way was just not needed and it bored me.

11. Luke Cage Season 2
Luke is just not leading man material for me. He’s too boring and uninvolved. He doesn’t say much and because he’s near invincible, I find the fight scenes dry. I honestly do not remember the plot of this season, so that’s all you need to know about how interesting it was. I do like some of the characters though. I love Misty, and Shades is a creepy dude, but even that wasn’t enough to save the season, because he and Mariah weren’t really the Big Bads. Overall, not impressed.

10. Daredevil Season 2
Yeah, another second season here at the bottom. My biggest issue with this season was Elektra. She was the worst. Her arrival was unneeded, all she did was take Matt away from his friends and work, and their relationship was just bad. If it weren’t for the introduction of Frank and the contrast between him and Matt, I think this season would be at the very bottom. It was such a let down for me.

9. The Defenders
The shorter season worked for and against this show. It forced away filler and got right to the plot, but for such a big team up and such a big villain, the pacing was off. I mean, the Defenders didn’t even get together until four episodes in. I wish we saw them work together more and get to know each other more. But otherwise, I thought it was cool to see the little crossovers and see them all face the Hand, who most of them had dealt with in their solo stories. It was worth waiting for, but it could have been done a lot better.

8. Luke Cage Season 1
As I already said, Luke doesn’t thrill me. He’s a good guy and I root for him, but I just didn’t connect to him. As for the show, I didn’t love how the villain shifted halfway through from Harlem gangsters to his random brother. This season wasn’t totally bad and I enjoyed watching it and getting to know Luke and his area, but compared to other seasons of Marvel Netflix shows, it was lacking for me.

7. Iron Fist Season 1
Listen, I didn’t hate Iron Fist. I did not find it racist and I did not find Danny entitled. It wasn’t the most thrilling of shows, but it wasn’t awful for me. I think it was just such a huge shift for Marvel and it didn’t perfectly flow. I mean, we go from enhanced abilities due to science to ‘I punched a dragon’s heart and now I have these (underwhelming) powers!’ And we never even got to see the dragon! The villain wasn’t great either. But despite this, it was interesting enough to see Danny try to navigate his old friends along with his new friend, and understand his power.

6. Jessica Jones Season 3
Season 3 surprised me. It wasn’t half bad! It wasn’t superb, but it worked with what it had and put the focus on the right things. Trish’s behavior, though still a bit out of character from what we were introduced to in S1, came full circle, and I came to appreciate the story and what it did for Jessica’s character. I liked the new guy with the feelings and thought he worked in well without stealing focus. I wish this season wasn’t the very end of Jessica’s story or Marvel’s Netflix shows, but I think it was a strong note to end on, and one that very accurately represents the grittiness of this Marvel chapter.

5. Iron Fist Season 2
I too am surprised that this was so enjoyable when all the other second seasons disappointed me. I thought it was fun and had a good plot and everyone was in character. Giving Colleen the power of the fist was a wild move and I wish we had gotten a S3 and been able to see what happened next, especially because the little flash forward at the end was so cool too, but I’m glad we got what we got.

4. The Punisher Season 1
Overall, this was good, though the second half was way better than the first. It was enjoyable, it was harsh enough to work with Frank, and it felt different enough to stand alone, but still feel connected to Daredevil and the rest of the MCU. As in DD2, seeing the softer side of Frank when he’s with Karen (or his family) is really fun compared to his tough army side. I think the Billy twist and fight was good, and I liked his partnership with David (though I haaaaaated David’s wife).

3. Daredevil Season 3
I was so glad that this show had a great comeback after a bad S2. It went back to its roots of Fisk being evil, Matt protecting Foggy and Karen, and the struggle of being a masked fighter and a good church boy. Plus I think Dex was very cool and made for several great fight scenes. Every episode was entertaining and the season didn’t feel too long because I was so into it. A solid season that really showcased how good the show was.

2. Jessica Jones Season 1
This was a very great show. The single season introduced a lot and wrapped it all up well. Jessica was very different from the first hero Matt, but that’s because her villain and her struggle were also very different and it made for a very different kind of dark and edgy. And it was cool to see her get a team and work with them begrudgingly whereas Matt went totally solo for the most part. Kilgrave was an amazing villain. He was creepy and monsterous in a real world way that made it watchable yet disturbing. I still think about the way he said her name. Chills.

1. Daredevil Season 1
I did not totally appreciate this show until I had seen all the others and realized just how strong we started. I mean, Matt from the start was so interesting and likable, and then we see his wonderful friendship with Foggy, and Karen slid in so well, and Fisk was a great and disturbing villain, and that one hallway scene…we had it good and I respect that. There was darkness and there was humor and there were great characters and I enjoyed it a lot. It was Marvel’s first foray into a darker side and I think they did great.

Overall, I think Marvel did well. They created a mini MCU within the MCU and it worked on Netflix for the darker, rougher content. Matt, Jessica, Luke, and Danny were very different and it was fun to see their stories alone but also with each other through The Defenders and the little crossovers. I especially loved Claire Temple and wish she stuck around to be in all the seasons as the one amazing connector. Though there were a lot of disappointments, there were a lot of really, really cool parts to these shows, and I’m going to do my best to remember those more. And who knows, maybe we’ll see them again in the MCU.

What was your favourite season from these shows? How would you rank them?

 

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Netflix: You’re Playing Yourself

Netflix is on some thin freaking ice over in this household, let me tell you.

What was once a revolutionary, groundbreaking platform servicing content lovers in a unique way is now a greedy, dime a dozen platform that really doesn’t understand its audiences at all. And I can’t wait to see it self-destruct, all on its own accord. Which it will, if it keeps up with its behavior.

As I said, Netflix used to be in a league of its own. It used to be the only streaming service, and for a good price too. For people who liked consuming content without commercials or binge-watching, it was perfect. But now it’s not alone. Whether anyone asked for it or not, there are several streaming services out now, and several more to come. Off the top of my head there is Hulu, Crave, Amazon Prime, DC Universe, and the soon to be available Disney+. And there are many more smaller ones as well as the regular old internet where you can stream anything for free if you know how and don’t mind the illegalness of it. So you’d think that if Netflix wanted to keep its users and compete with these newer platforms, they’d act like it.

But they don’t seem to care.

First the price: just last week in Canada, they raised the prices for all the plans by about 30%. Now Netflix prices are almost double what they started out as. How are students supposed to afford that? Even in other countries, there are price hikes. And I get that Netflix can raise prices and they have a right to increase profits when they spend so much on their original content, but it’s not conducive to retaining customers or attracting new ones in this competitive age. My father has announced that next year, he’s probably cancelling our subscription (we only got it in the first place because it came with our TV package for a year and we decided to keep it) and I’m not even that mad considering I don’t use it that often and can stream anything I want from other places if I so desire. With more and more streaming services out there, people aren’t going to want them all, so they’re going to look at two things: price and content.

And Netflix isn’t shining in the content department, either. Especially not in Canada or countries other than America. I guess there are laws on what Netflix can or can’t have in other countries, but I can personally confirm that Canada’s selection is abysmal. There have been so many shows I’ve wanted to watch and Netflix has let me down. And while we do get every Netflix original, even they aren’t great. Sure, Netflix has produced a lot of winners, but there are also a lot of losers. Have you ever looked through Netflix’s originals catalog? There’s a lot there that I’ve never heard of. Not every show can get super popular, but you’d think that Netflix would specialize in shows people want to watch and get hype. And even the ones that do get hype aren’t always that great, in my opinion. Last year, everyone went gaga for A Christmas Prince. As a huge fan of cheesy Christmas movies, I obviously watched it. It wasn’t anything special. I’ve seen cheesier, better-acted, more original Christmas movies with way better romance from Hallmark, who cranks out dozens every year. And yet Netflix made a sequel this year. Surprise-surprise: it was way worse. Boring, not as cute, worse acting, and a dumb plot.

And my point isn’t that Netflix can’t have any crappy shows—goodness knows network TV has a lot of junk too—but you’d just think that since they’re the masters of their own domain and don’t have as many hoops to jump through the way other shows/movies do, there’d be more content of a higher quality. Instead we get Insatiable and 13 Reasons Why.

“But Netflix totally wants to please us! They kept FRIENDS!” Okay, yes, they did keep FRIENDS after the internet made a big stink about potentially losing it this week, but at what cost? 100 million. As this Tweet points out, there are many other ways to watch that show and that money could have been used to make new/better content or save beloved cable shows. But yeah, let’s keep raising monthly prices.

And I’ll be honest, a big motivator for this rant came from the cancellation of Daredevil. I was big time mad when it was announced. Though it may not have been Netflix’s fault as it seems Disney wanted it (or the property) for Disney+, the fact that Daredevil and the other Marvel shows are essentially done really lessens the attraction of Netflix for me and many people. And now there are rumors that because of contracts between Marvel and Netflix, if Disney+ wanted to keep the show going (and use the season four that was already planned out, by the way) they legally couldn’t use the same cast, so what would be the point of a new version? You can’t beat perfection.

Anyway, once Netflix cancels Jessica Jones and The Punisher, the only Netflix original show I’ll care about that’s still alive is Queer Eye, because I doubt Canada’s luck is going to turn and we’ll get good other content from them. Or from any of them. Hulu and DC Universe aren’t available here. I’ll just stick to watching things online illegally and watching the eventual downfall of all the streaming services (but especially Netflix). It’s why regular TV will never die.

So…is anyone else mad at Netflix (and/or the plethora of streaming services)? Be mad with me.

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Monthly Look Ahead: October 2018

Well, we’re now at October. The bad news is this means colder weather. The good news is that we’re now one month out from Christmas music beginning, and isn’t that what life is really about? Anyway, here’s what I’ve got going on this month of October:

• I registered for my local curling club! One night a week I’ll be joining a mixed social, so hopefully I’ll make friends and have a good time. I’ve curled before, but I haven’t done it in a while, so I’m excited to get back into it. I am a little worried that it’ll be mostly older people, though, so pray for me.
• Fall TV returns part 2! Coming back to my screen this month is The Flash, Black Lightning, Superstore, Blindspot, Supergirl, Arrow, and the one I’m most excited for, Legends Of Tomorrow.
• Coming to Netflix is Daredevil‘s third season. Season two didn’t wow me, but I’ve heard good early things about season three, so you can catch me watching that on the 19th. Matt and Foggy better be friends again, though. I need that.
• I’m debating watching The Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina, out on Netflix on the 26th. I’m on the fence for a few reasons. One, it’s from the same people who gave us the dumpster fire that is Riverdale (which I have quit) and two, it looks rather creepy, and I don’t do creepy. We’ll see.
• I’m also debating watching Titans. DC TV hasn’t been awful, but Titans looks like it’s trying too hard to be gritty, which is not my cup of tea. There’s a reason Arrow is my least favourite in the Arrowverse.
• Venom is out on October 5th, and I’ll probably go see it, just because Marvel’s name is on it. I think Venom looks cool but people don’t seem psyched about it. Honestly, I don’t know much about the character or this plot, but who am I to turn away from Marvel?
  
• I may also go see A Star Is Born because it’s getting good reviews, which I don’t doubt given it’s Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper, and music.
• On October 29th, NBC is broadcasting a 15th anniversary Wicked special and I am excited because I adore Wicked.

Soooo that is my October. I’ll be really glad when my TV shows are back and all my evenings are ‘busy’ again. It gives me something to look forward to during the day, ya know?

What are you looking forward to this October? Are you one of those people who gets really into the Halloween season? Please feel free to make a Monthly Look Ahead of your own!

 

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Monthly Look Ahead: March 2016

You can’t tell, but I started writing this post on February 7th…Is that impressive or nah?

I changed the design of this! Feel free to use it in your posts!

While I may not have had a lot of exciting things to share in February, March is looking good! Which is great, because I also foresee a lot of school work to be done (insert loud groan here), so I’m super glad I’ll have things to look to forward to. Such as…

• Daredevil Season 2! Coming at ya on the 18th on Netflix. Like with Jessica Jones I’m hoping I’ll be able to plan my life enough so I can be able to watch them as soon as possible. It’s weird, I didn’t LOVE season one, but I’ve really missed the characters and I’m super ready to get back to the show!

• My Quidditch team is hosting a tournament/scrimmage thing, so that should be fun, and I think the following week we may be attending another one.
• A friend and I got tickets to go see Darren Criss and Betsy Wolfe sing Broadway songs downtown, and I am so excited for that. I can’t even explain how excited I am for this. Darren Criss is so talented and is my #1 celebrity crush, and every time he has come to town for whatever reason, I haven’t been able to go. So I can’t wait!
• Divergent: Allegiant pt 1 is out in theaters on the 18th…this is iffy for me because I wasn’t thrilled with the past two movies, but I enjoyed the book, so we’ll see. I’ll probably wait to see it…
•  Easter! Aside from the chocolate, it’ll be nice to go home and chill for a few days.
• At the end of the month I’ll be going downtown to see Kinky Boots with my parents, and I’m very excited for that as it’s such a fun show with great music!

And that concludes my March. I’m also crossing my fingers for warmer weather, but it’s Canada so anything can happen. What do you have planned for March?

On a different note, today is the 29th of February…it’s a leap year! And while Modern Family‘s Dunphy family may try and do something exciting when they can, I’ve always considered leap days to just be another day of normality. I’m still going to class and watching regularly scheduled TV and feeling like I do every day. But fellow blogger Colette sort of challenged her readers to make the day special, so in honour of that, I’m forcing myself to get out of my comfort zone and go to a presentation this afternoon at school. I may have to interact with people, but in the name of leap days, I’ll do it! 😀

P.S. I have a new blogging friend! He reached out to me to help him with his new blog (I think he thinks I’m cooler and better at this than I really am) but go check out his site: Ryan’s TMBG

My Relationship With Marvel

I saw Avengers: Age Of Ultron today. Don’t worry, I won’t spoil it!

But I sat in the theater waiting for the movie and I was thinking about how my life has changed so much since the first Avengers movie in regards to Marvel.

Truth time: I used to dislike superhero movies. You see, I am bothered by predictable movies and most superhero movies go the same way: attractive (and usually nerdy) male gets powers and tries to stop bad guy while keeping identity a secret, hooking up with a hot chick in the middle and never dying no matter what the danger. And while that theory does still hold water for the most part, I’ve come to see that sometimes, superhero movies are more than that and can actually be really cool.

My dad took the family to see the first Avengers a week or two after it came out way back in 2012. He said it had gotten great reviews so we should see it. I protested because why would I, an active disliker of superhero movies, want to see one that involves several? Especially when I knew very little about them? I had maybe seen the first Iron Man and that Hulk movie ages before, but I didn’t recall much from either. But I went anyways, and I was confused, of course, but something magical happened too. I liked the movie. It was funny and interesting and well put together and I even almost cried when Pepper wouldn’t answer Tony’s phone call. I left the theater with no ragrets regrets.

And that was it, for a while. I liked the movie and would say so to anyone who asked, but that was it. Until my friend saw the movie. She liked it too, but her like reflected on her Tumblr page, where she would reblog many, many Avengers things, from art to gifs to jokes to theories. I didn’t have Tumblr, but I would go through hers and over time, I came to learn and understand so much more about Avengers and Marvel. And then Agents Of SHIELD was announced. You see, the Avengers fandom was very passionate about Phil Coulson not being dead and so when this show about Coulson not being dead came into existence, it was exciting. Though I didn’t care much for Coulson one way or another, I decided to watch the show’s premiere, if for nothing more than to bond with my friend.

When the show started, my friend didn’t even watch. But I did and I kept doing so out of boredom. I didn’t really watch shows that didn’t involve singing or straight up comedy, so it was new. But then episode 1×06 happened (‘F.Z.Z.T.’) and I changed. I realized how much I cared for these characters, and consequently the show, and that was it, man. That was the start. I don’t care what people say, this show was gold from the start, not just near the end of S1 (like, yes it did pick up and get crazy cool and complicated, but I liked the early episodes too!). Another friend watched the show too and we bonded real good over that. Like, I’m pretty sure our friendship is 95% TV shows now. Either way, I dove into the show. I started interacting with fans, getting to know the names of the cast, learning about how the show works, and then I realized that this show was unlike anything I had experienced before because this show had history. Marvel dates back over 50 years ago and I knew very little.

I’m learning. Slowly. I’ve seen all the movies related to the Avengers gang, and can list facts and trivia for them. They’re the most relevant ones to Agents Of SHIELD and to society, so I can now hold my own in a conversation. And when something outside of Avengers circle comes into play, I’m quick to pull up a Wikia article and get a basic understanding. You’d think that this age-old Marvel fandom would be pretentious and upset about all these randoms like me trying to get in on it, but they’re not. From what I’ve seen, people are more than happy to explain a concept or character to you and theorize about the future.

In the grand scheme of things, I still know very little, but am proud to know what I know. If it relates to Agents Of SHIELD and Avengers, I can probably talk to you (passionately) about it for a while. Likewise with Marvel’s two other shows that I happily watched, Agent Carter and Daredevil. Two shows that I would have never watched three years ago. And here I am now. Marvel TV trash.

And it doesn’t just stop at Marvel. I’m learning a bit about DC as well. Though I’m more team Marvel, I do know a bit about the other side. I watch and enjoy The Flash and there’s a fair chance I may watch Supergirl this fall (what is it with Glee cast members becoming DC heroes?). I know enough about Arrow, though I’ve only seen 5 episodes. I also know some facts about Batman and Superman and co., thanks to the shenanigans of Team Starkid. Just two weeks ago I had debates with a few guys at dinner about Batman and superheroes. Like, I was actually able to do that. Cool. And my best friends recently got some PS4 game called Injustice: Gods Among Us (…I think) which was basically Super Smash Bros Brawl with DC characters. I’m known to not care about the PS4 so I’m sure they were all shocked when I picked up the controller and played. The fact that I was able to recognize over half the characters was cool.

I guess the moral of the story is not to get too caught up in the cookie-cutter plots because sometimes those cookies can still be really delicious. Marvel (and DC) may have some flaws in their works, but the characters and ideas and stories are usually pretty original and fun. Agents Of SHIELD is my favourite show on the air and the fact that Marvel is so big right now means I’ll have many more years of awesomeness to look forward to.

And coming full circle back to Age Of Ultron…It was cool. I liked the first one more, but this one had the classic humour, some interesting new characters, and hit some emotional levels. I’m excited to see the gang again in Captain America 3.

So tell me, dear readers, what’s your relationship with Marvel (or DC) like and how did it come to be?