**This review contains spoilers for “The City’s Not For Burning” and events that occurred in Marvel Netflix shows prior**
“That’s not Justice. That Escalation.”
We finally got to see the mask, with the white and gold uniform! After Danny’s confrontation with Davos last episode, memories of his victorious fight against Shau Lou started to surface—and they did so via very awkward and poorly done transitions. The fight itself, however was quite awesome, with the action being on point as both of their wills were tested. The set piece alone—as simple as it was—was ten times better than any glimpse of K’un Lun that we were given last season.
Davos wasn’t the only thing on Danny’s mind though. Not only did he have to worry about stopping an all out Triad war, but he also got more involved with Mary. Now everyone with knowledge of her comics background knows exactly who she is. Those who don’t, are probably very put off by her extremely odd nature and the exceedingly slow introduction to her true nature and purpose. I think the show’s method of introduction is working, but if it drags on any longer, it could easily weigh down the show. Hopefully her role in the story escalates sooner rather than later.
Sacha Dhawan as Davos (left) and Jessica Stroup as Joy Meachum (right). Photo courtesy of ComicBookMovie.com.
Danny isn’t the only one getting involved with the Triad war. Colleen, who made little progress in finding Yip’s cousin, ended up getting closer to those kids from last episode. The show is clearly trying to form a personal connection between Ryno’s crew and Colleen. This can’t be good, because it makes it seem that the show is setting up their death, so that Colleen has a personal stake in the Triad war. Colleen also provided the breakthrough that they needed in order to stop the immediate threat of a slaughter by getting through to Mrs. Yang. in the end though, her phone call didn’t do much—and you can thank Davos for that.
Davos continues to be the shining star of the season. Sacha Dhawan has really embraced the character, and it shows. While the writing is great, the performance is what is really pulling the entire character together. It easily could have gone down hill due to the reception of the first season, but good thing for us, it didn’t. His menacing, determined resolve hits a few roadblocks in this episode. First he has Joy convince him to betray his own morals in order to get what they want, and then he can’t hold himself together when he deems Mr. Yang to be a dishonorable man. When Davos issues a threat, I believe he will uphold it—and now Mr. Yang does as well.
(Pictured L-R) Jessica Henwick as Colleen Wing, Finn Jones as Danny Rand, and Alice Eve as Mary. Photo courtesy of ComicBookMovie.com.
Now let’s talk about the Meachums. Ward is just as funny as ever, but I hope his role in the story becomes more than just a comedic thorn in his sister’s side. I get that we probably won’t get anything nearly as deep and personal as last season, but with Tom Pelphrey’s incredible talent I can’t help but hope. As for Joy, she continues to be scary in her steely resolve, and the way she can masterfully manipulate people. Even though Davos could crush Joy in an instant, somehow Joy was still able to get Davos to go against morals (or as she put it, use unconventional methods). You could almost see the puppet strings as Joy maneuvered Davos into doing as she suggested. This is not to say that Davos is clueless to what’s happening—clearly that bowl and their plan is extremely important to him.
For the most part, the episode played out rather sluggish and awkwardly—even if it did have its moments. We got a fantastic fight scene in Kun Lun with the costumes and everything, but the build up of the story could be cleaner (especially when it comes to Mary). That being said, everything is still several steps above last season—so at least we have that.
Bonus Notes:
- How did no one know something was off when Davos killed Mr. Yang? I mean he clearly tapped him (with force) multiple times. That’s not a normal good bye.
You can catch Iron Fist Season 2 available now on Netflix.
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