History Recap / TheDefenders2017S1E1TheHWord

A scene transition later, and we're suddenly in Seagate Prison, where [[Creator/MikeColter Luke Cage]] is being escorted down a hallway by two guards while the inmates cheer him on. He's being released from prison now that all the charges against him have been dropped. As he's being discharged, he is greeted by Foggy Nelson, who thanks Luke for his friend Bobby Fish supplying the necessary evidence to exonerate him. Foggy congratulates Luke for his restraint, making it through his time served without a single incident. Luke asks for Claire, but Foggy tells him only the lawyers are allowed back here. As Luke leaves, Foggy gives him his business card and lets him know that he can always reach out to Hogarth Chao & Benowitz if he ever needs help. Luke assures him he doesn't need to start over, he just needs to move forward, [[ArcWords always]]. Foggy helpfully lets him know that most people call him Foggy, to which Luke quips, "And you let them?" which earns an amused smirk from Foggy.

Ultimately, Matt wins his client $11 million in punitive damages. As they are emerging from the courtroom, Aaron's parents walk ahead to talk to the group of reporters that are there to report on the verdict, while Aaron hangs back. Aaron is very nervous, and clearly having a hard time adjusting to his new circumstances. Matt hangs back and gives Aaron a little pep talk. He suggests to Aaron that he shouldn't let his disability and other people define who he is. Rather, he should define who he is by himself. Aaron seems to be won over by Matt's sage advice, and wheels away to join his family during their little hallway press conference. As Matt lingers, he senses someone standing right behind him. Much to his delight, it's [[Creator/DeborahAnnWoll Karen Page]], who is here covering the case in her new capacity as a reporter for the ''New York Bulletin''. Karen congratulates Matt on winning the case and is complimentary toward him and what he did in the room. She timidly mentions that she needs a quote from him for the ''Bulletin'' story, and suggests that maybe they could go out and do it over lunch. Matt seems surprised at the offer, and happily agrees to do so, once he's done his part giving a statement to the TV reporters.

Danny and Colleen are flying back to New York on a company plane. Danny has a vivid nightmare in which he sees the dead bodies of the monks in K'un-L'un and himself being chastised for them getting killed. Colleen rousts him and tries to get him to talk about the screaming, which he tries to shrug off as turbulence terrors, but she's not buying it. They talk about the man they hunted down in Cambodia and its clear that he's feeling guilty about his death, and is still feeling guilty about the not being at K'un L'un to protect his city. Colleen insists that it's not his fault, but Danny remains unconvinced.

In some sort of nondescript medical facility, a woman named [[Creator/SigourneyWeaver Alexandra]] is waiting for an appointment. An employee comes up and leads her to a really bare, empty room, and asks Alexandra to change into a patient gown. The nurse brings her out of the room and to a larger room with a CAT scan machine. The doctor greets her warmly but has bad news for her, which she seems to be expecting: her blood cell count is precipitously low and her body's organs are starting to shut down. She asks what the doctor is going to do about it, and he says there isn't anything they can really do, which is an answer that doesn't satisfy her. When Alexandra asks how long she has, he guesstimates around a few months.

Jessica returns to her apartment, which has still not been fixed since the fight she and Trish had with Will Simpson. The window is boarded up and the apartment itself is still absolutely trashed with holes in the wall and Simpson's bullets right behind Jessica's desk. There are two people standing outside the door as she approaches: Michelle Raymond and her teenage daughter Lexi. They've heard about what Jessica did and want her to take a case: Michelle's husband John has been missing for a week, and she's worried for him. Jessica flat out refuses. As Michelle presses her case, Jessica goes into mocking mode, and suggests that everyone thinks their partner would never do anything like this, but usually they're always cheating. Lexi lobs a few snarky comments at Jessica and her mom, and finally the two of them leave. Jessica has a moment of remorse as she prepares to open her door, turns around, and calls out to them. Michelle turns around hopefully, but Jessica only says that she hopes they can find him soon. Just as Jessica is settling down in her apartment, her phone rings. A man using a scrambler to disguise his voice gives her a simple message: do not look for John Raymond.

Jessica gets on her computer and spends the afternoon researching information on John Raymond. At one point, Malcolm Ducasse strolls in, which pisses Jessica off. She's apparently already told him to stop coming into her apartment unannounced. He insists she gave him a key, she counters that he made himself his own copy of the key, to which he helpfully clarifies because he was helping her get her locks changed. Malcolm lights up at seeing that Jessica is on her computer and researching a case. She insists she hasn't taken it...yet, and he's already celebrating that she's totally taken the case and runs over to hover over her shoulder while she's researching, which pisses her off. They talk briefly about the missing man. John Raymond is an MIT graduate and an architect at Duncan & Dotter Designs, and has designed numerous skyscrapers all over the world. Malcolm posits the possibility that the threatening phone call is actually from an amateur, and maybe Jessica could trace the call back by calling the phone company. Jessica immediately picks up the phone and calls the operator, pretending that she received a call from her grandfather who is missing from dementia and gets the number. The address the number is connected to is a payphone at 11th Avenue and 49th Street, which Malcolm remembers from his days as an addict in Kilgrave's employ is a shooting gallery - a super shady place that people generally use to get off the grid to use drugs, and other illicit vices.

Luke and Misty take an afternoon stroll through Harlem, exchanging small talk along the way about taking down Diamondback. Now that Luke's back, he's interested in taking down [[Creator/AlfreWoodard Mariah Dillard]] and [[Creator/TheoRossi Hernan "Shades" Alvarez]]. Apparently they've been keeping a low profile. Misty reveals that she has been made lead detective on a citywide task force combating a new crime syndicate that's popped up in the months since Luke's arrest. Their conversation takes them to the charred remains of a parked car, which is decorated with flowers from an impromptu shrine. Misty explains that since Diamondback's arrest, Harlem has been hit by a string of suspicious murders that bear striking similarities: young black males in their twenties get recruited into some kind of mysterious well-paying job, move their mothers out of the projects into nice houses in Westchester County, then turn up dead. No one knows what the job is, and whether it's drug running or it could be something more sinister, Misty doesn't know. But the real kicker, is that this burned out car belonged to Sean Miller, and if that last name sounds familiar, it's because his sister was Candace Miller, the would-be witness who would've gotten Mariah convicted for Cottonmouth's murder had Shades not killed her off. Candace and Sean had another brother, Cole, and last Misty heard, Cole wasn't exactly on the right side of the law. She hopes Luke can talk some sense into Cole before his mother loses her last child.

Following lunch with Karen, Matt goes to his church and sits down in the {{confessional}} box to speak to Father Lantom. It's been three days since his last confession, and he's going more consistently and often. Matt and Father Lantom start the conversation by talking about his reunion with Karen. Matt feels bad, telling Karen a white lie about not missing Daredevil. Father Lantom assesses Matt's mood about the conversation, and the conversation changes to Elektra and how Matt is dealing with her death. Matt is clearly hung up over how she died, and wonders if he's disrespecting Elektra's memory by hanging up the Daredevil armor.

Alexandra is in Central Park, sitting on a bench and feeding the pigeons. Madame Gao sits down and says she thought she'd find her here, as it's always been her favorite spot. Alexandra muses about how surprised she is that the park hasn't already been razed to the ground and replaced with high rise buildings, as she remembers when it used to be forest. She reminisces about how the Dutch bought Manhattan for 24 dollars, though in her opinion, it was 24 dollars too much. They move onto discussion of more important things, like the Hand's nefarious evil plans. Madame Gao updates Alexandra about some part of this plan and says in a few months they should be ready to make their move. Alexandra quickly shuts this down, which seems to take Madame Gao by surprise. Instead, Alexandra wants to make her move now, which Gao tries to talk her out of. She doesn't think it's a good idea, they still need more time, but knowing what we know about Alexandra's updated life expectancy, she obviously can't afford to wait.

As night falls, Luke heads over to Cole's apartment, full with flickering lights and loud rap music. Luke encounters a group of guys in front of an apartment and asks them where he can find Cole. They're about to snap at him for interrupting them until Luke pulls down his hoodie, at which points their jaws snap shut and they direct him one floor up. Luke lets himself into the apartment, sees Cole, and walks up to an expensive looking speaker set up to turn down / off the music. Cole angrily exclaims, thinking that his friends are messing with his equipment and is surprised to see its Luke. Luke says he's here to pay his respects for his siblings. But Cole pretty much stubbornly refuses to listen or provide any information on his brother's work. Luke notices that for a kid between jobs, Cole seems to have some pretty nice things (the music / speaker system, a very spacious apartment, really nice shoe collection) and asks if he might have taken on the same job his brother had before he died. Cole is silent, and Luke exchanges a few words of wisdom before he leaves.

As Luke exits down the stairs of Cole's apartment, we change to Jessica coming up the stairs in a similarly sketchy apartment building: flickering lights, sounds of people fighting and/or having sex. She heads up the stairs to the specific apartment belonging to John Raymond. She bangs on the door, shouting to John that she knows he's inside. After getting no response, she breaks in by breaking the doorknob. The TV is playing the evening news, but the place is otherwise dim and abandoned. Jessica slowly walks through, peeking into the bedroom and rounding back out to the living area. She spots some boxes, opens one up and immediately pales as she notices that the boxes are full of explosives.

On the rooftop gardens of Rockefeller Center where she once had a meeting with Wilson Fisk, Madame Gao lets Alexandra know that things have begun, which seems to please Alexandra greatly. We see the plans begin to unfold and affect the other characters.

* PetTheDog: Alexandra, despite obviously being up to no good, takes some time to feed pigeons and tells Gao to continue doing so when she leaves.

* BiggerBad: Madame Gao has always been calm and collected, always in control across multiple series, even when locked up by Bakuto. So to see her nervous and deferential in her conversations with Alexandra speaks ''volumes''.

In Manhattan, we are introduced to [[Creator/KrystenRitter Jessica Jones]], passed out drunk in an empty bar. She gets rudely awakened by the bartender, who helpfully informs her that its morning and she should probably leave. Outside, [[Creator/RachaelTaylor Trish Walker]] runs to keep her car from getting towed, as she accidentally parked illegally in a loading zone. The parking enforcement officer writing the ticket is unsympathetic and refuses to unhook her car, that is, until Jessica shows up and rips Trish's car off the tow cable with her bare hands. As they go for a walk, Trish and Jessica talk about Jessica's life state ever since Kilgrave's death. Jessica's life apparently now involves a lot of drinking and zero working, which greatly concerns Trish. Trish lets Jessica know that she's been getting a lot of calls from publicists, and wants Jessica to take some interviews on ''Trish Talk'', if only to make some extra money while dodging her PI business. Trish is disappointed that Jessica could take such a triumphant event like defeating Kilgrave and make it all negative, but Jessica tries to tell her not to worry. Trish takes a sip of her coffee and nearly spits it out. It turns out Jessica had accidentally handed her coffee to Trish, which is laced with whiskey.

In his apartment, [[Creator/CharlieCox Matt Murdock]] is brewing his morning coffee, rehearsing his remarks for an upcoming court case as his notes are printed off on a Braille printer. He freezes up mid-speech when he hears the sound of a fight breaking out outside. Matt tenses, trying to resist the urge not to rush off as Daredevil. He relaxes when he hears the police arrive to break up the situation and resumes practicing his speech. The scene immediately switches to a courtroom, where Matt is cross-examining a witness in an injury lawsuit. Matt is representing a family that's suing a construction company for faulty construction and using substandard materials, which caused their son Aaron James to have an accident that has left him permanently paraplegic. Matt manages to pin the executive on the stand into a corner and goes in for the kill.

Ultimately, Matt wins his client $11 million in punitive damages. As they are emerging from the courtroom, Aaron's parents walk ahead to talk to the group of reporters that are there to report on the verdict, while Aaron hangs back. Aaron is very nervous, and clearly having a hard time adjusting to his new circumstances. Matt hangs back and gives Aaron some advice: he shouldn't let his disability and other people define who he is. Rather, he should define who he is by himself. Aaron seems to be won over by Matt's wisdom, and wheels away to join his family during their little hallway press conference. As Matt lingers, he senses someone standing right behind him. It's [[Creator/DeborahAnnWoll Karen Page]], who is here covering the case in her new capacity as a reporter for the ''New York Bulletin''. Karen congratulates Matt on winning the case and is complimentary toward him and what he did in the room. She timidly mentions that she needs a quote from him for the ''Bulletin'' story, and suggests that maybe they could go out and do it over lunch. Matt seems surprised at the offer, and happily agrees to do so, once he's done his part giving a statement to the TV reporters.

After the opening credits, we see [[Creator/KrystenRitter Jessica Jones]] passed out drunk in an empty bar and gets rudely awakened by the bartender, who helpfully informs her that its morning and she should probably leave. Outside, [[Creator/RachaelTaylor Trish Walker]] runs to keep her car from getting towed, as she accidentally parked illegally in a loading zone. The parking enforcement officer writing the ticket is unsympathetic and refuses to unhook her car, that is, until Jessica shows up and rips Trish's car off the tow cable with her bare hands. As they go for a walk, Trish and Jessica talk about Jessica's life state now that Kilgrave is dead. Jessica's life apparently now involves a lot of drinking and zero working, which greatly concerns Trish. Trish lets Jessica know that she's been getting a lot of calls from publicists, and wants Jessica to take some interviews on ''Trish Talk'', if only to make some extra money while dodging her PI business. Trish is disappointed that Jessica could take such a triumphant event like defeating Kilgrave and make it all negative, but Jessica tries to tell her not to worry. Trish takes a sip of her coffee and nearly spits it out. It turns out Jessica had accidentally handed her coffee to Trish, which is laced with whiskey.

Ultimately, Matt wins his client $11 million in punitive damages. As they are emerging from the courtroom, Aaron's parents walk ahead to talk to the group of reporters that are there to report on the verdict, while Aaron hangs back. Aaron is very nervous, and clearly having a hard time adjusting to his new circumstances. Matt hangs back and gives Aaron some advice: he shouldn't let his disability and other people define who he is. Rather, he should define who he is by himself. He seemingly gets through to Aaron, who wheels away to join his family during their little hallway press conference. As Matt lingers, he senses someone standing right behind him. It's [[Creator/DeborahAnnWoll Karen Page]], who is here covering the case in her new capacity as a reporter for the ''New York Bulletin''. Karen congratulates Matt on winning the case and is complimentary toward him and what he did in the room. She timidly mentions that she needs a quote from him for the ''Bulletin'' story, and suggests that maybe they could go out and do it over lunch. Matt seems surprised at the offer, and happily agrees to do so, once he's done his part giving a statement to the TV reporters.

As Luke exits down the stairs, we change to Jessica coming up the stairs in a very sketchy apartment building: flickering lights, sounds of people fighting and/or having sex. She heads up the stairs to the specific apartment belonging to John Raymond. She bangs on the door, shouting to John that she knows he's inside. After getting no response, she breaks in by breaking the doorknob. The TV is playing the evening news, but the place is otherwise dim and abandoned. Jessica slowly walks through, peeking into the bedroom and rounding back out to the living area. She spots some boxes, opens one up and immediately pales as she notices that the boxes are full of explosives.

* UnresolvedSexualTension: Despite their estrangement due to the events of season 2, Matt and Karen's attraction to each other is still visible first when Karen approaches Matt in the courthouse, and during the diner conversation

In his apartment, [[Creator/CharlieCox Matt Murdock]] is brewing his morning coffee, rehearsing his remarks for an upcoming court case as his notes are printed off on a Braille printer. He freezes up mid-speech when he hears the sound of a fight breaking out outside. Matt tenses, trying to resist the urge not to rush off as Daredevil. He relaxes when he hears the police arrive to break up the situation and resumes practicing his speech. The scene immediately switches to a courtroom, where Matt is grilling the head of a construction company. Matt is representing a family that's suing a construction company for faulty construction and using substandard materials, which caused their son Aaron James to have an accident that has left him permanently paraplegic. Matt manages to pin the executive on the stand into a corner and goes in for the kill.

Ultimately, Matt wins his client $11 million in punitive damages. As they are emerging from the courtroom, Aaron's parents walk ahead to talk to the group of reporters that are there to report on the verdict, while Aaron hangs back. Aaron is very nervous, and clearly having a hard time adjusting to his new circumstances. Matt hangs back and gives Aaron some advice: he shouldn't let his disability and other people define who he is. Rather, he should define who he is by himself. He seemingly gets through to Aaron, who wheels away to join his family during their little hallway press conference. As Matt lingers, he senses someone standing right behind him. It's [[Creator/DeborahAnnWoll Karen Page]], who is here covering the case in her new capacity as a reporter for the ''New York Bulletin''. Karen congratulates Matt on winning the case and is complimentary toward him and what he did in the room. She timidly mentions that she needs a quote from him for the ''Bulletin'' story, and suggests that maybe they could go out and do it over lunch. Matt seems surprised at, and agrees to, once he's done his part giving a statement to the TV reporters.

Jessica returns to her apartment, which has still not been fixed since the fight she and Trish had with Will Simpson. The window is boarded up and the apartment itself is still absolutely trashed with holes in the wall. There are two people standing outside the door as she approaches: Michelle Raymond and her teenage daughter Lexi. They've heard about what Jessica did and want her to take a case: Michelle's husband John has been missing for a week, and she's worried for him. Jessica flat out says no. As Michelle presses her case, Jessica goes into mocking mode, and suggests that everyone thinks their partner would never do anything like this, but usually they're always cheating. Lexi lobs a few snarky comments at Jessica and her mom, and finally the two of them leave. Jessica has a moment of remorse as she prepares to open her door, turns around, and calls out to them. Michelle turns around hopefully, but Jessica only says that she hopes they can find him soon. Just as Jessica is settling down in her apartment, her phone rings. A man using a scrambler to disguise his voice gives her a simple message: do not look for John Raymond.

As Luke and Misty walk through Harlem, they exchange some small talk about taking down Diamondback. Apparently Mariah and Hernan "Shades" Alvarez are still active, but they're not Misty's priority, as she has been made lead detective on a citywide task force combating a new crime syndicate that's popped up in the months since. Their conversation takes them to the charred remains of a car, which is decorated with flowers. Misty explains that since Luke went to jail, Harlem has been hit by a string of suspicious murders that bear striking similarities: young black males, all from Harlem and all in their twenties, get recruited into some kind of mysterious well-paying job, move their mothers out of the projects into nice houses in Westchester County, then turn up dead. No one knows what the job is, and whether it's drug running or it could be something more sinister, Misty doesn't know. But the real kicker, is that this burned out car belonged to Sean Miller, and if that last name sounds familiar, it's because he was a brother of Candace Miller, their would-be witness who would've gotten Mariah convicted for Cottonmouth's murder had Shades not killed her off. Candace had one other brother, Cole, and last Misty heard, Cole wasn't exactly on the right side of the law. She hopes Luke can talk some sense into Cole before his mother loses her last child.

Alexandra is in Central Park, sitting on a bench and feeding the pigeons. Madame Gao sits down and says she thought she'd find her here, it's always been her favorite spot. Alexandra muses about how surprised she is this place hasn't already been razed to the ground and replaced with high rise buildings, as she remembers when it used to be forest. She starts into a mini history lesson about New York City and how the Dutch bought Manhattan for 24 dollars. Then she drops a burn: it was 24 dollars too much. They move onto discussion of more important things, like the Hand's nefarious evil plans. Madame Gao updates Alexandra about some part of this plan and says in a few months they should be ready to make their move. Alexandra quickly shuts this down, which seems to take Madame Gao by surprise. Instead, Alexandra wants to make her move now, which Gao tries to talk her out of. She doesn't think its a good idea, they still need more time, but knowing what we know about Alexandra's updated life expectancy, she obviously can't afford to wait.

As night falls, Luke heads over to Cole's apartment, full with flashing lights and loud rap music. Luke encounters a group of guys in front of an apartment and asks them where he can find Cole. They're about to snap at him for interrupting them until Luke pulls down his hoodie, at which points their jaws snap shut and they direct him one floor up. Luke lets himself into the apartment, sees Cole, and walks up to an expensive looking speaker set up to turn down / off the music. Cole angrily exclaims, thinking that his friends are messing with his equipment and is surprised to see its Luke. Luke says hes here to pay his respects for his siblings. But Cole pretty much stubbornly refuses to listen or provide any information on his brother's work. Luke notices that for a kid between jobs, Cole seems to have some pretty nice things (the music / speaker system, a very spacious apartment, really nice shoe collection) and asks if he might have taken on the same job his brother had before he died. Cole is silent, and Luke exchanges a few words of wisdom before he leaves.

As Luke exits down the stairs, we see Jessica coming up the stairs in a very sketchy apartment building: flickering lights, sounds of people fighting and/or having sex. She heads up the stairs to the specific apartment belonging to John Raymond. She bangs on the door, shouting to John that she knows he's inside. After getting no response, she breaks in by breaking the doorknob. The TV is playing the evening news, but the place is otherwise dim and abandoned. Jessica slowly walks through, peeking into the bedroom and rounding back out to the living area. She spots some boxes, opens one up and immediately pales as she notices that the boxes are full of explosives.

On the rooftop gardens of Rockefeller Center, Gao lets Alexandra know that things have begun, which seems to please Alexandra greatly.

Matt returns to his apartment from his confession with Father Lantom. Just as he's about to grab a beer from the fridge, the ground suddenly begins shaking and he freezes, unsure what to do. The shaking intensifies, dust and debris flying off, and he can only freeze up in fear. He huddles down on the floor by the couch and waits for the shaking to stop.

Jessica, in the sketchy apartment, is also looking around in a mixture of confusion and fear as the pictures on the walls begin shaking and the TV newscast flickers out.

In Harlem, the tremors cause entire rows of cars to bounce up and down on their wheels and knocks down several streetlights. One of them nearly hits Cole's mother, who is lighting candles at the memorial for Sean, but Luke appears in time to bear the weight of the falling lamp and pushes it back up and away from her.

Danny and Colleen have just gotten off a helicopter after an evening aerial tour of the city, but just as they walk off the landing pad, the ground cracks beneath them and between them, they hear loud crashes, and the lights of several nearby skyscrapers briefly go out.

As the shaking stops, Matt goes into sensory overload as he is overwhelmed by the sounds of cries for help.

Ultimately, Matt wins his client $11 million in punitive damages. As they are emerging from the courtroom, Aaron's parents walk ahead to talk to the group of reporters that are there to report on the verdict, while Aaron hangs back. Aaron is very nervous, and clearly having a hard time adjusting to his new circumstances. Matt hangs back and gives Aaron some advice: he shouldn't let his disability and other people define who he is. Rather, he should define who he is by himself. He seemingly gets through to Aaron, who wheels away to join his family during their little hallway press conference. As Matt lingers, he senses someone standing right behind him. It's [[Creator/DeborahAnnWoll Karen Page]], who is here covering the case in her new capacity as a reporter for the ''New York Bulletin''. Karen congratulates Matt on winning the case and is complimentary toward him and what he did in the room. She timidly mentions that she needs a quote from him for the ''Bulletin'' story, and suggests that maybe they could go out and do it over lunch, which Matt seems surprised at, but agrees to.

Jessica returns to her apartment, which has still not been fixed since the fight she and Trish had with Will Simpson. The window is boarded up and the apartment itself is still absolutely trashed with holes in the wall. There are two people standing outside the door as she approaches: Michelle Raymond and her teenage daughter Lexi. They've heard about what Jessica did and want her to take a case: Michelle's husband John has been missing for a week, and she's worried for him. Jessica flat out says no. As Michelle presses her case, Jessica goes into mocking mode, and suggests that everyone thinks their partner would never do anything like this, but usually they're always cheating. Lexi lobs a few snarky comments at Jessica and the mom, and finally the two of them leave. Jessica has a moment of remorse as she prepares to open her door, turns around, and calls out to them. Michelle turns around hopefully, but Jessica only says that she hopes they can find him soon. Just as Jessica is settling down in her apartment, her phone rings. A man using a scrambler to disguise his voice gives her a simple message: do not look for John Raymond.

As Luke and Misty walk through Harlem, they exchange some small talk about taking down Diamondback. Apparently Mariah and Hernan "Shades" Alvarez are still active, but they're not Misty's priority, as she has been made lead detective on a citywide task force combating a new crime syndicate. Their conversation takes them to the charred remains of a car, which is decorated with flowers. Misty explains that since Luke went to jail, Harlem has been hit by a string of suspicious murders that bear striking similarities: young black males, all from Harlem and all in their twenties, get recruited into some kind of mysterious well-paying job, move their mothers out of the projects into nice houses in Westchester County, then turn up dead. No one knows what the job is, and whether it's drug running or it could be something more sinister, Misty doesn't know. But the real kicker, is that this burned out car belonged to Sean Miller, and if that last name sounds familiar, it's because he was a brother of Candace Miller, their would-be witness who would've gotten Mariah convicted for Cottonmouth's murder had Shades not killed her off. Candace had one other brother, Cole, and last Misty heard, Cole wasn't exactly on the right side of the law. She asks if Luke could maybe some sense into Cole before his mother loses her last child.

* BiggerBad: Madame Gao has always been calm and collected, always in control across multiple series, even when locked up by another faction of the Hand. So to see her nervous and deferential in her conversations with Alexandra speaks ''volumes''.

** Right before leaving prison, Luke says to Foggy, "I'm moving forward," a variation of something that Pop would always say to him back in his solo series.

*** The opening scene of Matt in court, and him meeting Karen Page right after his little pep talk to Aaron, takes place in the same courtroom that Frank Castle's trial in season 2 and John Healy's trial in season 1 took place in.

In the sewers below Phnom Penh, Cambodia, an unnamed man is being chased and attacked by a hooded Elektra Natchios. The two exchange blows, and the man is clearly getting overwhelmed in the fight. Before Elektra can land the killing stroke, [[Creator/FinnJones Danny Rand]] appears out of the darkness and engages her. Danny holds his own against Elektra, but she manages to score a thin slice across Danny's tattoo; in his shock, Elektra gets the opening she needs and stabs the mystery man to death. Danny tries to chase down Elektra as she flees, and manages to land one Iron fist-packed punch on her, but she disappears as quickly as she appeared. When Danny returns to the man, [[Creator/JessicaHenwick Colleen Wing]] has caught up with him, and he clearly has seconds to live. With his final words, the man tells them that their fight is in New York City. Danny is extremely frustrated, as this man has been one of their biggest leads in their search for the Hand, and just like that, he's gone.

After the opening credits, we see [[Creator/KrystenRitter Jessica Jones]] passed out drunk in an empty bar and gets rudely awakened by the bartender, who helpfully informs her that its morning and she should probably leave. Outside, [[Creator/RachaelTaylor Trish Walker]] runs to keep her car from getting towed, as she accidentally parked illegally in a loading zone. The parking enforcement officer writing the ticket is unsympathetic and refuses to unhook her car, that is, until Jessica shows up and rips Trish's car off the tow cable with her bare hands. As they go for a walk later on, Trish and Jessica talk about Jessica's life state now that Kilgrave is dead. Jessica's life apparently now involves a lot of drinking and zero working, which greatly concerns Trish. Trish lets Jessica know that she's been getting a lot of calls from publicists, and wants Jessica to take some interviews on ''Trish Talk'', if only to make some extra money while dodging her PI business. Trish is disappointed that Jessica could take such a triumphant event like defeating Kilgrave and make it all negative, but Jessica tries to tell her not to worry. Trish takes a sip of her coffee and nearly spits it out. It turns out Jessica had accidentally handed her coffee to Trish, which is laced with whiskey.

A scene transition later, and we're suddenly in Seagate Prison, where [[Creator/MikeColter Luke Cage]] is being escorted down a hallway by two guards while the inmates cheer him on. He's being released from prison now that all the charges against him have been dropped. As he's being discharged, he is greeted by his lawyer Foggy Nelson, who thanks Luke for his friend Bobby Fish supplying the necessary evidence to exonerate him. Foggy congratulates Luke for his restraint, making it through his time served without a single incident. Luke asks for Claire, but Foggy tells him only the lawyers are allowed back here. As Luke leaves, Foggy gives him his business card and lets him know that he can always reach out to Hogarth Chao & Benowitz if he ever needs help. Luke assures him he doesn't need to start over, he just needs to move forward, [[ArcWords always]]. Foggy helpfully lets him know that most people call him Foggy, to which Luke quips, "And you let them?" which earns an amused smirk from Foggy.

In his apartment, [[Creator/CharlieCox Matt Murdock]] is brewing his morning coffee, rehearsing his remarks for an upcoming case as his notes are printed off on a Braille printer. He freezes up mid-speech when he hears the sound of a fight breaking out outside. Matt tenses, trying to resist the urge not to rush off as Daredevil. He relaxes when he hears the police arrive to break up the situation and resumes practicing his speech...and the scene immediately switches to a courtroom, where Matt is grilling the head of a construction company. Matt is representing a family that's suing a construction company for faulty construction and using substandard materials, which caused their son Aaron James to have an accident that has left him permanently paraplegic. Matt manages to pin the executive on the stand into a corner and goes in for the kill.

Ultimately, Matt wins his client $11 million in punitive damages. As they are emerging from the courtroom, Aaron's parents walk ahead to talk to the group of news cameras that are there to report on the verdict, while Aaron hangs back. Aaron is very nervous, and clearly having a hard time adjusting to his new circumstances. Matt hangs back and gives Aaron some advice: he shouldn't let his disability and other people define who he is. Rather, he should define who he is by himself. This gets through to Aaron, who wheels away to join his family during their little hallway press conference. As Matt lingers, he senses a familiar heartbeat standing right behind him. It's [[Creator/DeborahAnnWoll Karen Page]], who is here covering the case in her new capacity as a reporter for the ''New York Bulletin''. Karen congratulates Matt on winning the case and is complimentary toward him and what he did in the room. She timidly mentions that she needs a quote from him for the ''Bulletin'' story, and suggests that maybe they could go out and do it over lunch, which Matt seems surprised at, but agrees to.

Meanwhile, Danny and Colleen are flying back to New York on a company plane. Danny has a vivid nightmare in which he sees the dead bodies of the monks in K'un-L'un and himself being chastised for them getting killed. Colleen rousts him and tries to get him to talk about the screaming, which he tries to shrug off as turbulence terrors, but she's not buying it. They talk about the man they hunted down in Cambodia and its clear that he's feeling guilty about his death, and is still feeling guilty about the not being at K'un L'un to protect his city. Colleen insists that it's not his fault, but Danny remains unconvinced.

Luke, meanwhile, returns to Manhattan, reentering on a bus ride over the Queensboro Bridge, and he takes in the sights of Harlem, including Pop's Barbershop, which has been restored to mint condition since Diamondback tore up the place. He gets off the bus, which is plastered with a New Harlem Renaissance ad, hinting that Mariah Dillard is still active. As he disembarks, he's greeted by [[Creator/RosarioDawson Claire Temple]], who has been waiting for this moment and asks him if he wants that coffee. They end up back at her apartment and immediately have very passionate sex, overturning furniture, going at it all over the place, on the floor and on the dining room table. As Luke and Claire bask in the afterglow, they make small talk on what Luke might do now that hes back in New York. He calls Claire out a little bit, saying that he knows she kept some things from him in the letters they exchanged while he was away. She confesses a lot of things happened and are still going on in the city, and she's concerned about Luke trying to be a hero. Their post-coital chat is interrupted by a knock on the door. It's Detective [[Creator/SimoneMissick Misty Knight]], amused to see Luke at Claire's place so quickly after being let out. Misty politely asks Luke if he'd like to come out for a stroll with her.

Jessica gets on her computer and spends the afternoon researching information on John Raymond. At one point, Malcolm Ducasse strolls in, which pisses Jessica off. She's apparently already told him to stop coming into her apartment unannounced. He insists she gave him a key, she counters that he made himself his own copy of the key, to which he helpfully clarifies because he was helping her get her locks changed. Malcolm lights up at seeing that Jessica is on her computer and researching a case. She insists she hasn't taken it...yet, and he's already celebrating that she's totally taken the case and runs over to hover over her shoulder while she's researching, which pisses her off. They talk briefly about the missing man. John Raymond is apparently an MIT graduate and an architect at Duncan & Dotter Designs, and has designed numerous skyscrapers all over the world. Malcolm posits the possibility that the threatening phone call is actually from an amateur, and maybe Jessica could trace the call back by calling the phone company. Jessica immediately picks up the phone and calls the operator, pretending that she received a call from her grandfather who is missing from dementia and gets the number. The address the number is connected to is a payphone at 11th Avenue and 49th Street, which Malcolm remembers from his days as an addict in Kilgrave's employ is a shooting gallery - a super shady place that people generally use to get off the grid to use drugs, and other illicit vices.

As Luke and Misty walk through Harlem, they exchange some small talk about taking down Diamondback. Apparently Mariah and Hernan "Shades" Alvarez are still active, but they're not Misty's priority, as she has been made lead detective on a citywide task force combating a new crime syndicate. Their conversation takes them to the charred remains of a car, which is decorated with flowers. Misty explains that since Luke went to jail, there have been a rash of somewhat suspicious murders that bear striking similarities: young black males, all from Harlem and all in their twenties, get recruited into some kind of mysterious well-paying job, move their mothers out of the projects into nice houses in Westchester County, then turn up dead. No one knows what the job is, and whether it's drug running or it could be something more sinister, Misty doesn't know. But the real kicker, is that this burned out car belonged to Sean Miller, and if that last name sounds familiar, it's because he was a brother of Candace Miller, their would-be witness who would've gotten Mariah convicted for Cottonmouth's murder had Shades not killed her off. Candace had one other brother, Cole, and last Misty heard, Cole wasn't exactly on the right side of the law. She asks if Luke could maybe some sense into Cole before his mother loses her last child.

Following lunch with Karen, Matt goes to his church and sits down in the confessional box to speak to Father Lantom. It's been three days since his last confession, and he's going more consistently and often. Matt and Father Lantom start the conversation by talking about his reunion with Karen. Matt feels bad, telling Karen a white lie about not missing Daredevil. Father Lantom assesses Matt's mood about the conversation, and the conversation changes to Elektra and how Matt is dealing with her death. Matt is clearly hung up over how she died, and wonders if he's disrespecting Elektra's memory by hanging up the Daredevil armor.

As night falls, Luke heads over to Cole's apartment, full with flashing lights and loud rap music. Luke encounters a group of guys in front of an apartment and asks them where he can find Cole. They're about to snap at him for interrupting them until Luke pulls down his hoodie, at which points their jaws snap shut and they direct him one floor up. Luke lets himself into the apartment, sees Cole, and walks up to an expensive looking speaker set up to turn down / off the music. Cole angrily exclaims, thinking that his friends are messing with his equipment and is surprised to see its Luke. Luke says hes here to pay his respects for his siblings. But Cole pretty much stubbornly refuses to listen or provide any information on his brother's work. Luke notices that for a kid between jobs, Cole seems to have some pretty nice things (the music / speaker system, spacious apartment, really nice shoe collection) and asks if he might have taken on the same job his brother had before he died. Cole is silent, and Luke exchanges a few words of wisdom before he leaves.

On the streets of Harlem, the tremors cause entire rows of cars to be propelled upwards with some sort of strange force before slamming back into the ground. A streetlight breaks and nearly crushes Cole's mother, who is lighting candles at the memorial for Sean, but Luke appears and immediately bears the weight of the falling lamp and pushes it back up and away from her.

Danny and Colleen have just gotten off a helicopter after an evening aerial tour of the city, but just as they walk off the landing pad, the ground cracks beneath them and between them, they hear loud crashes, and the lights of nearby skyscrapers go out.

** Matt's first scene has him practicing his performance for the court room, only to [[SuperSenses hear a commotion outside]]. He's on the verge of [[ChronicHeroSyndrome going out to break it up]], but calms down when he realizes it's been handled by the police, showcasing his focus on his heroism nearly overstepping his law profession, but not to the degree of making either too badly handled.

** Alexandra's first scene has her going to a medical facility to undergo a CT Scan.

In the sewers below Phnom Penh, Cambodia, an unnamed man is being chased and attacked by a hooded Elektra Natchios. The two exchange blows, and the man is clearly getting overwhelmed in the fight. Before Elektra can land the killing stroke, [[Series/IronFist2017 Danny Rand]] appears out of the darkness and engages her. Danny holds his own against Elektra, but she manages to score a thin slice across Danny's tattoo; in his shock, Elektra gets the opening she needs and stabs the mystery man to death. Danny tries to chase down Elektra as she flees, and manages to land one Iron fist-packed punch on her, but she disappears as quickly as she appeared. When Danny returns to the man, Colleen Wing has caught up with him, and he clearly has seconds to live. With his final words, the man tells them that their fight is in New York City. Danny is extremely frustrated, as this man has been one of their biggest leads in their search for the Hand, and just like that, he's gone.

After the opening credits, we see Series/JessicaJones2015 passed out drunk in an empty bar and gets rudely awakened by the bartender, who helpfully informs her that its morning and she should probably leave. Outside, it's a rainy morning as Trish Walker runs to keep her car from getting towed, as she accidentally parked illegally in a loading zone. The parking enforcement officer writing the ticket is unsympathetic and refuses to unhook her car, that is, until Jessica shows up and rips Trish's car off the tow cable with her bare hands. As they go for a walk later on, Trish and Jessica talk about Jessica's life state now that Kilgrave is dead. Jessica's life apparently now involves a lot of drinking and zero working, which greatly concerns Trish. Trish lets Jessica know that she's been getting a lot of calls from publicists, and wants Jessica to take some interviews on ''Trish Talk'', if only to make some extra money while dodging her PI business. Trish is disappointed that Jessica could take such a triumphant event like defeating Kilgrave and make it all negative, but Jessica tries to tell her not to worry. Trish takes a sip of her coffee and nearly spits it out. It turns out Jessica had accidentally handed her coffee to Trish, which is laced with whiskey.

A scene transition later, and we're suddenly in Seagate Prison, where Series/LukeCage2016 is being escorted down a hallway by two guards while the inmates cheer him on. He's being released from prison now that all the charges against him have been dropped. As he's being discharged, he is greeted by his lawyer Foggy Nelson, who was able to clear the charges thanks to Bobby Fish supplying the necessary evidence. Foggy congratulates Luke for his restraint, making it through his time served without a single incident. Luke asks for Claire, but Foggy tells him only the lawyers are allowed back here. As Luke leaves, Foggy gives him his business card and lets him know that he can always reach out to Hogarth Chao & Benowitz if he ever needs help. Luke assures him he doesn't need to start over, he just needs to move forward, [[ArcWords always]]. Foggy helpfully lets him know that most people call him Foggy, to which Luke quips, "And you let them?" which earns an amused smirk from Foggy.

In his apartment, [[Series/Daredevil2015 Matt Murdock]] is rehearsing an argument for an upcoming case as his pages are printed off on a Braille printer. Suddenly, he freezes as he hears the sound of a fight breaking out outside. Matt tenses, trying to resist the urge not to rush off as Daredevil. He relaxes when he hears the police arrive to break up the situation and resumes practicing his speech...and we switch immediately to a courtroom, where Matt is grilling the head of a construction company. He's being sued for faulty construction and using substandard materials, which caused a young boy named Aaron James to have an accident that put him in a wheelchair. Matt manages to pin the executive on the stand into a corner and goes in for the kill.

Ultimately, Matt wins his client $11 million in punitive damages. As they are emerging from the courtroom, Aaron's parents walk ahead to talk to the group of news cameras that are there to report on the verdict, while Aaron hangs back. Aaron is very nervous, and clearly having a hard time adjusting to his new circumstances. Matt hangs back and gives Aaron some advice: he shouldn't let his disability and other people define who he is. Rather, he should define who he is by himself. This gets through to Aaron, who wheels away to join his family during their little hallway press conference. As Matt lingers, he picks up a familiar heartbeat standing right behind him. It's Karen Page, who is here covering the case in her new capacity as a reporter for the ''New York Bulletin''. Karen congratulates Matt on winning the case and is complimentary toward him and what he did in the room. She timidly mentions that she needs a quote from him for the story shes writing, and suggests that maybe they could go out and do it over lunch, which Matt seems surprised at, but agrees to.

In some sort of nondescript building, a woman named Alexandra is waiting for an appointment. A person comes up and leads her to a really bare, empty room, and asks Alexandra to change into a patient gown. The nurse brings her out of the room and to a larger room with a CAT scan machine. The doctor greets her warmly but has bad news for her, which she seems to be expecting: her blood cell count is precipitously low and her body's organs are starting to shut down. She asks what the doctor is going to do about it, and he says there isn't anything they can really do, which is an answer that doesn't satisfy her. When Alexandra asks how long she has, he guesstimates around a few months.

We cut to Luke on a bus as he crosses the Queensboro Bridge into Manhattan and takes in the sights of Harlem, including Pop's Barbershop, which has been restored to mint condition since Diamondback tore up the place. He gets off the bus, which is plastered with a New Harlem Renaissance ad, hinting that Mariah Dillard is still active. As he disembarks, he's greeted by Claire Temple, who has been waiting for this moment and asks him if he wants that coffee. They end up back at her apartment and immediately have very passionate sex, overturning furniture, going at it all over the place, on the floor and on the dining room table. As Luke and Claire bask in the afterglow, they make small talk on what Luke might do now that hes back in New York. He calls Claire out a little bit, saying that he knows she kept some things from him in the letters they exchanged while he was away. She confesses a lot of things happened and are still going on in the city, and she's concerned about Luke trying to be a hero. Their post-coital chat is interrupted by a knock on the door. Much to Luke's delight, it's Detective Misty Knight, amused to see Luke at Claire's place so quickly after being let out. Misty asks Luke if he'd like to come out for a stroll with her.

Matt and Karen are sitting in an uptown diner. They exchange some small talk about their jobs. With the closure of Nelson & Murdock, Matt has been doing pro bono lawyering. Meanwhile, Ellison has been giving Karen free reign as she gets settled in to her new career. Karen really feels like this journalism work is what she's meant to do, and a great way of honoring Ben Urich's legacy. She lowers her voice a bit and asks Matt whether he misses being Daredevil. He hesitantly admits that he doesn't regret it, but he doesn't miss it either. Karen seems to be satisfied with that response, and comments that she really feels like they needed some time to figure themselves out and, now that she knows Matt is Daredevil, they're in a much better place. She mentions she's been covering the police beat and she really thinks the police are doing a good job handling crime, at which Matt cracks a bit of a cynical smile, realizing that maybe he actually did it-he was the hero this city needed and now they don't need Daredevil anymore. But Karen thinks that right now the city needs more of Matt Murdock. She then remembers that she still needs that quote, which Matt quickly gives her.

Jessica gets on her computer and begins researching information on John Raymond. At one point, Malcolm Ducasse strolls in, which pisses Jessica off. She's already told him to stop coming into her apartment unannounced. He insists she gave him a key, she counters that he made himself his own copy of the key, to which he helpfully clarifies because he was helping her get her locks changed. Malcolm lights up at seeing that Jessica is on her computer and researching a case. She insists she hasn't taken it...yet, and he's already celebrating that she's totally taken the case and runs over to hover over her shoulder while she's researching, which pisses her off. They talk briefly about the missing man. John Raymond is apparently an MIT graduate and an architect at Duncan & Dotter Designs, and has designed numerous skyscrapers all over the world. Malcolm posits the possibility that the threatening phone call is actually from an amateur, and maybe Jessica could trace the call back by calling the phone company. Jessica immediately picks up the phone and calls the operator, pretending that she received a call from her grandfather who is missing from dementia and gets the number. The address the number is connected to is a payphone at 11th Avenue and 49th Street, which Malcolm remembers from his days as an addict in Kilgrave's employ is a shooting gallery - a super shady place that people generally use to get off the grid to use drugs, and other illicit vices.

As Luke and Misty go out for a stroll, they exchange some small talk about taking down Diamondback. Apparently Mariah and Hernan "Shades" Alvarez are still active, but they're not Misty's priority, as she has been made lead detective on a citywide task force combating a new crime syndicate. Their conversation takes them to the charred remains of a car, which is decorated with flowers. Misty explains that since Luke went to jail, there have been a rash of somewhat suspicious murders that bear striking similarities: young black males, all from Harlem and all in their twenties, get recruited into some kind of mysterious well-paying job, move their mothers out of the projects into nice houses in Westchester County, then turn up dead. No one knows what the job is, and whether it's drug running or it could be something more sinister, Misty doesn't know. But the real kicker, is that this burned out car belonged to Sean Miller, a brother of Candace Miller, the would-be witness who was killed by Shades to keep her from testifying to witnessing Mariah kill Cottonmouth. Candace had two brothers, and Misty wants Luke to track down the last brother, Cole, who last she heard wasn't exactly on the right side of the law, and talk some sense into him before the mother of that family loses her last child.

Matt goes to his church and sits down in the confessional box to speak to Father Lantom (Peter McRobbie). It's been three days since his last confession, and he's going more consistently and often. Matt and Father Lantom start the conversation by talking about his reunion with Karen. Matt feels bad, telling Karen a white lie about not missing Daredevil. Father Lantom assesses Matt's mood about the conversation, and the conversation changes to Elektra and how Matt is dealing with her death.

----

After recent events in their own lives and those around them, [[Series/Daredevil2015 Matt Murdock]], Series/JessicaJones2015, Series/LukeCage2016, and [[Series/IronFist2017 Danny Rand]] attempt to move on and continue their day-to-day activities. Meanwhile, an enigmatic white-clad woman works operations with Hand figurehead Madame Gao.

** [[Series/IronFist Danny]] is still afraid of flying and doesn't like turbulence. Ironically, he's been using a Rand Industries plane on his trip across Asia, no doubt given to him by Ward Meachum to make amends.

* OhCrap: Jessica's search for John Raymond leads her to an apartment full of crates. Crates that are full of ''explosives''. Whether or not they are going to go off is not the point. It scares Jessica enough that she doesn't hesitate to call the police.
-->'''Jessica''': Holy ''shit.''

* ShownTheirWork: Zigzagged in the MRI sequence. Alexandra is made to get in a hospital gown and remove all jewelry, which is accurate, yet is not given earplugs, a necessity as MRI's are very loud.

-->'''Trish:''' You've become a fullblown super--\\
'''Jessica:''' Do ''not'' say the h-word!

* VillainsOutShopping: Alexandra and Gao discuss the plans they and their confidants have while feeding the birds in Central Park.

-->'''Karen Page:''' Congratulations, Mr. Murdock.
-->'''Matt Murdock:''' Oh! Thank you, Miss Page.
-->'''Karen Page:''' It's okay. You can be proud of yourself...a little. I won't tell anyone.
-->'''Matt Murdock:''' Um, you're here for a statement?
-->'''Karen Page:''' Uh, yeah. Hey, you maybe wanna...do it over a bite?
-->'''Matt Murdock:''' Uh, sure! Yeah! Um, can you give me five minutes?
-->'''Karen Page:''' Yeah.

** Luke Cage wants to help more people the minute he's out jail.

*** When Karen runs into Matt in the courthouse hallway after the lawsuit, the music in the background is the same music that played over Matt and Karen's makeout scene in "[[Recap/Daredevil2015S2E5Kinbaku Kinbaku]]".

** One happens to cut from Matt rehearsing arguments in his apartment to him cross-examining a plaintiff in court.

* ActionPrologue: We get one between Iron Fist and Elektra in Cambodia.
* ActuallyPrettyFunny: Foggy's reaction as he sees Luke on his release from prison.

*** The opening scene of Matt in court, and him meeting Karen right after his little pep talk to Aaron, takes place in the same courtroom that Frank Castle's trial in season 2 and John Healy's trial in season 1 took place in.

** [[Series/JessicaJones Jessica]] still hasn't fixed the damage her apartment took in the fight with Simpson. She still has the bullet holes in the walls.

** [[{{Series/Daredevil}} Matt]] still goes to Father Lantom for confession.

** [[Series/JessicaJones Jessica's apartment]] is still damaged form her fight with Simpson. She still hasn't gotten the window fixed, either.

*** Malcolm also makes a mention of knowing about drug dens around the city as he is a former addict, albeit conscripted by Kilgrave into being an addict.
** Foggy mentions that [[Series/LukeCage Bobby Fish]] supplied the evidence needed to clear Luke's name.

* VillainsOutShopping: Alexandra and Gao discuss the plans they and their confidants have while feeding the birds at a park.

* CallBack: Right before leaving prison, Luke says to Foggy, "I'm moving forward," a variation of something that Pop would always say to him back in his solo series.

* MatchCut: From Alexandra in the MRI machine to Jessica getting off her elevator
* OhCrap: Jessica's search for the woman's husband leads her to an apartment full of crates. Crates that are full of ''explosives''. Whether or not they are going to go off is not the point.

* ChekovsGun: The boxes of C4 that Jessica finds will become important for the finale.

*** When Karen runs into Matt in the courthouse hallway after the lawsuit, the music in the background is the same music that played over Matt and Karen's makeout scene in "Kinbaku".

* ChronicHeroSyndrome:
** Matt Murdock has to physically restrain himself from going out to help people until he hears the cops coming to break up a fight.
** Luke Cage wants to help more people the minute he's out jail.

** Danny has him chasing down members of the Hand, first fighting normally before summoning the Iron Fist and knocking out his attacker in one blow. He then comes back to the one survivor, wanting to help him live, and is distraught at his death, showing his competency in combat and his compassion for others.

** Jessica's apartment is still damaged form her fight with Simpson. She still hasn't gotten the window fixed, either.
** Foggy mentions that Bobby Fish supplied the evidence needed to clear Luke's name.
** Luke tells Foggy that he's "moving forward", which was a variation of Pop's "Always forward".
** Luke's bus passes Pop's Barbershop on his way to meet Claire. The bus also has a New Harlem Renaissance advertisement on it, telling us Mariah Dillard is still around.
** Claire mentions "[[UnusualEuphemism coffee]]" to Luke. [[DestructoNookie Which they then act on]].
** Danny is still afraid of flying and doesn't like turbulence.
** Matt still goes to Father Lantom for confession.
** Mariah, Shades, and Diamondback are discussed in great detail. Mariah and Shades at least, are still in operation.
** Jessica is still dealing with Kilgrave's death and her sudden rise in popularity.
** Malcolm still has a habit of dropping in on Jessica unannounced.
** Malcolm also makes a mention of knowing about drug dens around the city as he is a former addict, albeit conscripted by Kilgrave into being an addict.
** The opening scene of Matt in court, and him meeting Karen right after his little pep talk to Aaron, takes place in the same courtroom that Frank Castle's trial in season 2 and John Healy's trial in season 1 took place in.
** Karen brings up Matt's vigilante life, which she learned about in the closing shot of season two.
** When Karen runs into Matt in the courthouse hallway after the lawsuit, the music in the background is the same music that played over Matt and Karen's makeout scene in "Kinbaku".
** The latest victim in the string of suspicious murders in Harlem happens to be a brother of Candace Miller, the would-be witness who would've put Mariah away for Cottonmouth's murder if Shades hadn't killed her.
** It's not clear here, but Matt has moved his old desk from Nelson & Murdock into his apartment, positioned at the end of the entry hallway.

** Malcolm also makes a mention of knowing about drug dens around the city as he is a former addict, as seen in the ''Jessica Jones'' series.

* BiggerBad: Madame Gao is shown acting deferential to Alexandra and delivering her messages to the "others", presumably the other leaders of the Hand.