‘Iron Fist’ Season 2 continues to build momentum in the 6th episode, titled ‘The Dragon Dies at Dawn,’ which opens with Misty interrogating both Joy and Walker in Danny and Colleen’s apartment, though she gets little information from either of them. Eventually they all come to the conclusion that their best course of action, especially with Danny’s insistence that there might be a part of Davos worth saving (because, you know, he’s the hero and grew up with the now psychotic Davos), is to steal back the Fist from Davos and put it back into Danny and let the cops deal with Davos. Only problem is finding out how to do that. Luckily, Misty does get a lead about the 3 tattoo artists who worked on the serpent tattoo on Davos’ back, so she and Colleen head out to track down the three women, leaving everyone behind in the apartment, where they are supposed to wait for Misty to get back before doing anything else. Clearly, we all know they will not be staying behind.
Walker easily frees herself from Misty’s handcuff’s and approaches Danny and Ward with a new plan, which actually came from Joy, which involves facing down Davos now and allowing Danny to try to talk him down, but also bringing along a sedative so they can take Davos back regardless and do the ritual again. And even though Danny is supposed to be resting because HE ALMOST DIED, he thinks it’s a good idea to go along with her to Davos’ lair.
Davos meanwhile continues his rampage through Chinatown, killing Triads left and right with the help of his eyepatched assistant, though he does take an interest in the group of street thug youths who had accosted Colleen earlier in the season, seeing the potential to build his own army and give these kids a sense of purpose and justice (which is what Davos thinks he currently has).
Colleen and Misty meanwhile do manage to track down the tattoo ladies, but they are not about giving up information easily and attack Colleen and Misty, resulting in one of my favorite action scenes of the season so far. The fight really showcases Colleen’s warrior skills and lets Misty show off a bit too, my favorite bit being Misty knocking a fleeing woman off her motorcycle just by sticking out her robot arm. Once subdued, the tattoo ladies (I believe they are called the Crane Sisters or something) prove much more amenable to conversation and agree to help in the second ritual but inform Misty and Colleen it will only work if they get the bowl back from Davos.
Back at the apartment, Joy and Ward have a moment or two catching up, with Joy sniping at her brother while Ward opens up with more truths about their father, including his frequent beatings and the fact that he often packed bags and thought about fleeing town with Joy just to protect them from their father, though Joy points out Ward never had the courage to do it. Their relationship seems to be softening a bit, but Joy is still holding a hard line about wanting space and to discover who she is alone, which does make Ward a little sad.
In the main story-line, Danny and Walker head back to Walker’s place to get more sedative, and Walker opens up about her dual personalities when Danny questions why she “toyed” with him by pretending to be his friend. She even reveals the trigger to bring out Mary which is prolonged exposure to cold, running water, and strobing lights, (which felt a bit like bald exposition as you knew that was going to come into play later in the episode).
They head to Davos place to wait for the man to return, and Danny confronts Walker about her true purpose there, accusing her of actually just wanting to kill Davos to end the threat and not bother with trying to save the man or regain the fist, which Walker confirms. They come to an agreement that Danny will be given a chance to try to help his friend just in time as Davos returns and is confronted by Danny about his actions. He claims that he is merely doing what Danny did not have the strength to do himself. Of course, a fight ensues and while Davos does get dosed with the sedative, he manages to break Danny’s leg before he goes down. Walker drags Danny out of the warehouse and calls an ambulance, but while waiting, it begins raining, and when the ambulance and police arrive with their strobing light (surprise surprise), Walker becomes Mary again and forgets the mission and about retrieving Davos from inside. Danny is powerless to do it himself as the EMT’s are pulling him into the ambulance. He tells Mary about Walker’s plan to buy a house and settle down somewhere safe which frightens Mary and she flees, leaving Danny stuck in an ambulance knowing Davos will escape and do more damage in Chinatown while he recovering.
Mary/ Walker is definitely an intriguing character. I liked the cliffhanger ending to the episode but I just wish they hadn’t telegraphed what was going to happen so much. And while I loved the fight between Misty and Colleen and the Crane Sisters, their eventual willingness to help made the whole fight seem a bit unnecessary, like the writers were just looking for a good reason to have another fight scene with Misty and Colleen. All in all, while the pacing was strong and it built the momentum going into the final stretch of episodes for the season, I would have to say this was not exactly the strongest episode of the season, and I hope they have a good plan in mind for getting Danny back in the fight now that he has a broken leg.
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