After the epic cliffhanger of Episode 6, it is not all that surprising that Episode 7 of ‘Iron Fist’ Season 2 (titled ‘Morning of the Mindstorm’) slowed things down a little bit, and took the time to really delve a bit more into the characters. It starts off with Danny in the hospital having his leg operated on and Colleen and the rest in the waiting room worried about their friend, not to mention wondering how they are going to stop Davos if Danny is out of the fight. Luckily for them all, Rand Industries happens to have a magical, er, technological fix for the problem with a brace that speeds up Danny’s healing, although even that is going to take a little bit of time.
Danny, however, know he does not have that kind of time and rushes himself out of the hospital following his surgery. He races through physical therapy and returns home much sooner than Colleen anticipated, making her very nervous for him and clearly wondering whether it is all about stopping Davos or also about getting back the Fist, which he is clearly obsessed with. Danny asks her to train him to get him back into fighting form, a request that Colleen resents as she gave up the life of a teacher following Season 1 and everything that happened with the Hand (hence the Dojo’s makeover into their home). She does indeed want to stay out of the fight but Danny is insistent and says if she will not train him, he will train himself. He begins making their home back into a make-shift Dojo, much to Colleen’s chagrin as she hears him practicing from the room next door, worried about how hard he is pushing himself.
As for the Meachum siblings, Joy visits Mary and discovers she has never met the softer side of Mary Walker, and is disappointed that Mary is suppressing Walker as she had hoped that she would be able to get Walker to be her protection against Davos. Mary reveals she has been trying to stay calm, avoid triggers, and is taking medication to prevent Walker from coming out, though Joy points out that Walker has always protected Mary and that Mary should learn to trust her other self as they are both looking out for one-another in the end. The last time we see Mary, she is prepping a video for Walker and apologizing for keeping her shut away and saying she will resign herself to whatever decision Walker makes about their future and thanking her for saving them both from their prison in Sokovia.
Following her visit with Mary, Joy seeks out Davos to get some inside information. She learns he is training street youths to be his army, something which seems to alarm her though she is playing coy with Davos and still pretending to be his ally. She learns that the bowl is essential to the ritual for the transferal of the Fist and that Davos keeps it close, not wanting Danny or anyone else to get their hands on it. Joy also realizes that BB, the gangmember who befriended Colleen earlier in the season, is uneasy with their alliance with Davos.
Ward does not take Joy’s rejection well, and spirals back into his addiction, landing in a bar in the middle of the day where he is confronted by his former sponsor, current lady-friend Bethany, who is not happy to see him drunk. She catches herself being tempted by Ward and leaves him there, despondent to see how far he has fallen. Luckily, she was not there when the drunk Ward gets into a fist-fight with the bartender, who easily knocks Ward to the ground. When Ward eventually pulls himself together, he returns to the NA center looking for Bethany and overhears her in a group session where she admits to her affair with Ward and also admits that she is pregnant with his child, a big reason why she is having such a hard time giving up on him, news that greatly concerns Ward.
Misty meanwhile speaks with Colleen on her decision to not train Danny. She agrees that Colleen should hold her ground, though she does remind Colleen that she has a knack for detective work and the vigilante life-style. Misty goes on to visit the art-house dealer who sold Joy and Davos the bowl and learns it is one-of-a-kind and they will need to get it back to perform the ritual again and give Danny back the Fist. While there, she also obtains a rare scroll which gives all the details of the ritual, which will surely come in handy later.
The episode concludes with Danny continuing to train himself, only to be stopped by Colleen, who finally has made the decision to train him, though it is clear it is with great cost and will affect their personal relationship moving forward.
Not too much action this episode, but again, it was a character building episode, and I liked really digging into the problems with Danny and Colleen, which seems to be simmering below the surface all season, and I also like the twist of Ward now becoming a father, as it might be the right catalyst to finally pull him out of his self-pity and addiction and get his life-together. I also like that Joy is being somewhat heroic by returning to Davos and gathering intel, and she might even be a good influence on the man, getting through to him when Danny could not, though only time will tell whether or not she actually can make him see the evil he is doing, or whether she will have to fully betray him and help Danny and company bring him down. As for the Mary storyline, I am looking forward to the return of Walker, who is a lot of fun and adds a great element to all of the action, though I hope the conflict between Mary and Walker does not dissolve entirely as her dueling personalities is one of her more interesting traits.
See you back here soon for the next review!
