iron fist season 2

I cannot stress enough how Season 2 of ‘Iron Fist’ just seems to have more momentum and much better direction, which is highlighted yet again by the opening scene of Episode 2. It starts off simple enough with a gang-style deal going down, and then everything going to hell when the Hatchets kill the delivery guy, rather brutally, and let him stagger out onto the street in broad daylight, a message that war has indeed begun between the Hatchets and the Golden Dragons. My only problem with the whole scene is the convenience of Danny just happening to be there to see the guy die and piece together the whole situation but, ah well, this is a show based on a comic book and that sort of thing does happen quite often in the comics.

Danny himself goes through a lot in the episode. After finding the dead man he gets out of work as his boss cancels all operations that day out of fear of more violence on the streets. He runs into Mary, who we are all just waiting for her to crack, and brings her home (You fool! Now she knows where you live!) where she meets Colleen.  Although Colleen tries to play it cool, I don’t think either woman really cares for the other, especially when Colleen makes it clear she thinks Mary is “crushing” on Danny. Mary loses it and does her whole crazy water thing in the bathroom and heads out, but not before showing off her art and giving Colleen and Danny a sketch.

Later, Colleen convinces Danny to try to convince the head of the Hatchets, Mr. Yang, to stop the war before the violence gets worse. Danny speaks to the boss, who we met previously, but fails to convince the man to end the war. Danny seems to lose his cool yet again smashing his Iron Fist through the man’s desk in a moment of anger, all of which I find rather suspect considering last season Danny struggled to get his fist to glow at all, and now he cannot seem to control it. He then meets up with Colleen who had a run-in with the kids from the last episode who tried to attack her. They learn she is a kind of a bad-ass and one with a good heart who takes pity on them. She learns from the kids that something big is going down that night between the rival gangs, so she and Danny head over to an event run by Yang’s wife where Colleen convinces the woman to speak to her husband to de-escalate the situation for the good of the community. The woman agrees and calls her husband. Colleen and Danny head home, congratulating themselves on a job well done that day. And yes, we are all sure their efforts will be for not as this is Episode 2 and there are still 11 episodes left of the season.

Meanwhile, throughout Danny’s tumultuous day, he keeps flashing back to the day in K’un Lun when he and Davos fought for the honor to face the dragon and become the Iron Fist (3 separate flashbacks!). But in a very cool nod to the costume from the comics, both Davos and Danny are sporting yellow masks that look exactly like Danny’s mask in the original ‘Iron Fist’ comic. It is a down and dirty and very bloody fight, where it seems like Davos has the upper hand. Luckily for Danny, though, the rules demand a fight “to the death.” Davos keeps asking Danny to yield, which Mr. Rand does not do. It turns out Danny has been playing coy with his friend waiting for the sun to hit the right angle where he could use it to partially blind Davos, which Danny uses for his offensive, striking his old friend while his sight is obstructed by the sun. Danny wins the day, though Davos looks pissed off and heartbroken, and we understand partially why there is so much bad blood between the two now.

Speaking of Davos, he really, really wants this bowl from a friend of Joy’s, but the friend will not sell it to them just yet as she knows how valuable it is. Joy sets another plan in motion, which sadly for Davos does not involve killing the woman which is how he wanted to solve the situation. Instead, Joy basically pimps out Davos, who she knows her friend is attracted to, and records their lovemaking as her friend is married to a politician who is up for re-election, the plan being to use the video to blackmail the woman and get what they want. Davos is especially unhappy with the tactic as his monastic lifestyle does not usually involve giving into the desires of the flesh, though he seems to go along with it quickly enough once he sees the sense in it. Unfortunately for Mr. Yang, at the end of the episode Davos did not actually seem to enjoy the experience. He is not in a good mood when he later meets up with the gangster, which is why he is especially pissed off to hear about the plan for peace between the Hatchets and the Golden Tigers, especially when it means the Hatchets will not be taking control of the docks, which is something Davos needs them to do. He pretends to be ok with the new development and offers a hug to Mr. Yang, who foolishly takes it, and is unprepared for the quick jabs to his neck that Davos delivers, which at first seem to do little, but once Davos leaves, seem to leave Mr. Yang either with a stroke, paralyzed, or dead. Which is how the episode ends.

Not bad for Episode 2 and they definitely are moving things along a lot faster now. They even managed to make Ward more likable with his interactions with his assistant and his scenes with Joy where he is walking the fine line of the brother still wanting to be part of her life and the business rival warning her that he will get to the bottom of whatever it is she is up to. Here’s hoping they manage to keep the quality episodes coming!

See you back here soon for the next episode!