SOME SPOILERS AHEAD.
I don’t want to get ahead of myself or get my hopes up, but it feels like the series is picking up and starting to get interesting. I’m more invested in episodes now (what’s taking place in them) and in the characters.
I actually kind of care about Ward and I felt sorry for him. I even cheered him on not to go into the clinic, thinking that the reason he was taking so long to get out of the car was because he was conflicted. He was just gearing up to smash his hand in the door. He never asked for any of this and yet still, albeit briefly, got caught up in something that he obviously cannot handle.
It wasn’t wise of Danny to get Ward involved in the search for Sabina. Ward is just an everyday civilian. What would Danny have done if they had been attacked? I thought that Danny was suggesting that he and Ward split up to check the warehouses, in order to cover more ground more quickly, but that would have been worse if Ward had been caught by The Hand alone. Particularly because they know that he works for his father and knows of their relationship with him. It was a good thing, for Ward at least, that Danny was challenged and had to do it alone.
I wish Danny had given Claire and Colleen more context about his powers and why he was so confident that he would win. He was so vague. Or just make his fist glow and show them his power, rather than speak to them in ways and about things that they don’t understand.
Either the fights in this episode were more kinetic than others have been thus far, or I’ve gotten used to how sluggish they are. From Colleen’s beat down of the nurse in the hospital to Danny’s fights in the challenge, none of them felt as slow as they usually do. Danny’s fight with Sycthe, especially, felt a lot faster and like it had more energy.
The challenge was more than just between Danny and The Hand, it was between himself and the Iron Fist; what he’d been taught and what he’d been prepared for and if he’d truly embraced his role as the Iron Fist and the mission that went along with it. And it looks like he failed.
If it’s true that he’s not supposed to leave K’un Lun, then why did he? If not to defeat The Hand, then what other reason does he have? Besides wanting is old life back. Is he pursuing The Hand as the Iron Fist and fulfilling the duty that goes along with that? Or is he after them as Daniel Rand in an effort to preserve his father’s company and his family’s legacy? I think that it’s the latter.
I knew the second that Claire and Colleen took Randovan to the hospital, and the one that she used to work at no less, that The Hand would get him. They’d infiltrated it before and there was no reason to believe that they weren’t still there, or at least could infiltrate it again. They didn’t have much of a choice, though; he was deteriorating and needed help beyond what Claire could do for him at Colleen’s.
Team Iron Fist manage to save his daughter, but now they don’t have a father to take her to.
Random thoughts:
- You could always just fish those out of the bin, Ward. Throwing them away isn’t convincing.
- Ward: “Monastery boy in an Astin Martin.” I know right? Isn’t he supposed to not be into lofty things like that? And when did he get his licence?!
- Should they be doing this in broad daylight?
- You should be used to weird by now, Claire.
- They know that you’re the Iron Fist now, Danny!
- These dudes are really confident for people going up against the Iron Fist.
- Is this monk actually there?
- Was all of that just so she could have proof that there really is a new Iron Fist?
All 13 episodes of Iron Fist are currently available for streaming on Netflix.
