**This review contains spoilers for “The Fury of Iron Fist” and events that occurred in Marvel Netflix shows prior**
“Where were you when it was time to defend our City?”
Danny’s back, and right off the bat we get the show’s first attempt at a costume! At least they are sort of listening right? Before I dive down into Danny’s new developments, I have to address the elephant in the room: the fight sequences. It’s clearly the first thing they wanted to show off—and it’s safe to say that there has been a definite improvement. From the truck scene, to Davos’ quick tantrum, to the huge kitchen fight…everything looks a lot better. The fighting is not only much more convincing and hard hitting, but smoother and easier to watch. My favorite change/improvement is easily that to Danny’s fighting style. In the chaos of everyone else’s attacks, Danny’s strikes are all calm and precise. It’s really neat to watch, and the fact that it’s convincing that Finn Jones is actually performing these moves is a feat by itself its self.
Speaking of Finn Jones, while his portrayal of Danny (and the character himself) has certainly improved, it wasn’t perfect—at least not yet. While his fighting style may have improved, most of the cringe worthy dialogue that came from this episode was straight from him. Not only that, but he’s still so annoyingly naive. The episode also seemingly tries to show us that Danny still has some anger issues—something that goes against his recent journeys and his appearance in Luke Cage. However It’s not all bad when it comes to Danny Rand. Finn brings some much needed confidence to his portrayal this time around. It’s much better than watching Danny mope and complain all day long. Add the fact that is he actively defending the city, and using his Iron Fist abilities more often, things are certainly looking up for the character’s interpretation.
Jessica Henwick as Colleen Wing (left) and Finn Jones as Danny Rand (right). Photo courtesy of ComicBookMovie.com.
Now while Danny is going out protecting the city via vigilantism, Colleen has chosen not to take that same route. In fact, it would seem that Colleen is slowly getting fed up with Danny’s hero act and the collateral damage that follows. While the two generally seem to be in a happy place now, I can’t help but feel that the show is leading to a big separation between the two of them. As for Colleen outside of Danny, her season arc really has only just begun. A mysterious family heirloom suspiciously pops up at the center, leading her to obsess over how it got there. I’m always up for learning more about a character’s close family and past, and that seems to be where the show is going with Colleen. I’ll also take this moment to say again how badass Colleen was in that kitchen brawl.
Now let’s talk about the Meachums. I was extremely happy to see Ward again so soon. He was easily the best part of the first season, and it looks like he will continue to be a shining star in the show. Ward is dealing with running the company that Danny is actively ignoring, and clearly it’s driving him up the wall. Tom Pelphrey’s performance was fantastic when Ward saw Joy for the first time again. His desperation for help at the company was evident, as was his disappointment and anger at Joy’s betrayal and departure from the company. As for Joy, her first scene was immediately impressive. She now has an impressive, mysterious, and almost scary presence to her. Bravo to Jessica Stroup for stepping it up. It’s no surprise to learn that secretly she is aiming to tear down Danny’s life, just as he inadvertently did to her.
Jessica Stroup as Joy Meachum. Photo courtesy of ComicBookMovie.com.
Joy isn’t plotting a secret revenge plan against Danny alone however. Her partner in crime is none other than Davos, who I can confidently say was the best part of the episode. While the character and performance were good last season, Sacha Dhawan has also stepped up his game. The introduction to Davos in the warehouse was fantastic, and his tantrum did a great job of reminding us of the threat that he represents. The episode also dug deep into his ethic and moral intentions, something that really served to strengthen Davos as a character. If the show can maintain this quality and drive with Davos, he could easily join the likes of Kilgrave, Kingpin, and Bushmaster as a top tier villain. I cannot wait for his rivalry with Danny to finally reach the tipping point.
Iron Fist’s sophomore premiere proved that not all hope is lost, and that the show is in better hands now. The opening episode did a great job at reintroducing us to the characters, and setting up the multiple antagonist threats poised to go up against the Iron Fist (we even got the briefest tease of Typhoid Mary as she was gently introduced). While there were still things to criticize, the potential for the show moving forward can easily be seen. Here’s to hoping that Raven Metzner can recover the show’s reputation, and maintain improved quality moving forward.
Bonus Notes:
- Joy being knocked off balance by Danny’s Naive niceness was a fantastic touch. Especially once you learn that she intends to rip apart his life like he (unintentionally) did to her.
- Those dragon sound effects at the end of the episode though.
- Lots of villainess forces posing a threat for Danny. Davos, Joy, The Hatchets, The Tigers, and eventually Typhoid Mary. Here’s to hoping they are able to achieve a good balance.
- Iron Fist easily has the worst opening credits of all of the Netflix Marvel shows. Also why is the color scheme still blue? Out of all of Scott Buck’s mistakes, you think that would be the easiest one to fix.
- Colleen’s worry about collateral damage and a potential split with Danny, certainly remind me of another recent Marvel Netflix season.
You can catch Iron Fist Season 2 available now on Netflix.
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