*Note: While I will spend some time specifically talking about The Defenders here, I’m also using it as a shorthand for the Marvel Netflix universe of shows in general.*
I’ve been gradually rewatching the Marvel Netflix shows, which of course have now all migrated to Disney+. Chronologically, I’m now up to season 1 of The Punisher, which means I’ve revisited at least one season of each of the series in this sub-universe. After watching season 1 of Iron Fist and The Defenders lately, I’m reminded of how much I appreciate the friendship between Claire and Colleen.
Claire, of course, is the glue that holds The Defenders verse together. But while she first meets Matt, Jessica, and Luke by happenstance, encountering these powered people at times when they’re badly injured and in need of a discreet nurse, she doesn’t enter Iron Fist via a random meeting with Danny. Instead, we first see her as a student of Colleen’s, taking private self-defense lessons at the dojo.
First of all, this is just a smart thing for Claire to be doing. She’s very much not-super and knows it, but at this point, she’s decided that “helping special people” is her purpose in life, and that inevitably means winding up in dangerous situations. She has no illusions that she’s going to rival Matt in hand-to-hand combat or throw somebody across a bar like Jessica, but she wants to do what she can to keep herself safe when the shit goes down.
So, as Danny repeatedly attempts to insert himself into Colleen’s life, Claire is there to witness it and slowly finds herself getting involved as well, sometimes in her capacity as a nurse and sometimes as a level head amid all the ancient sects and mystical wildness. She’s there for Danny, lending a hand when someone needs patching up and trying to talk sense into him when he’s going off half-cocked, but she’s there for Colleen, too.
As we move from Iron Fist into The Defenders, we see the bond between them as two non-powered women who’ve gotten tangled up in the lives of these powered vigilantes. To me, it takes on an extra dimension beyond, say, Foggy and Karen or Malcolm and Trish. Colleen is someone who’s frequently on the frontlines, fighting alongside Danny with only her skills to keep her alive, no powers to protect her or give her an edge. That places her more in the thick of things than most of the non-powered friends/lovers in this universe, and as all the heroes bring their loved ones to the Harlem precinct to keep them safe from the Hand, Colleen does not think she should be counted as one of them.
This leads to what’s honestly one of my favorite scenes in The Defenders, Claire and Colleen discussing the wild superhero shenanigans they’ve gotten mixed up in, and what it’s like to care about and help these heroes while knowing they can’t fully be in that league. As Colleen gets down on herself, upset at being relegated to the sidelines, Claire reminds her how incredible she is and how much Danny relies on her blade. In turn, Colleen champions Claire for her serious guerilla nursing skills, saving the lives of these heroes (along with Colleen herself) more than once. Claire may think of herself as a cut below, but Colleen points out that none of the others can do what she can.
I love that, this commiseration between non-powered people who are trying to keep up and do their part, worrying about their people and wishing they could do more to help. Sometimes, to recognize the extraordinary within the ordinary, it takes someone else who doesn’t have powers, a costume, or a moniker, and Claire and Colleen are that for each other. Their support for one another is beautiful here, and it’s great to see them do their vital part to help take down Midland Circle while the actual Defenders are doing battle with the Hand. Never to be counted out, these two.
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