We finally come to it: the final Defender, Iron Fist. By now, you’ve been treated to the full live tweet of Iron Fist, led by our very own Alice W. Castle. Now sit down, get some tea, and get ready for these full breakdowns of each episode. In “Black Tiger Steals Heart,” Danny sees the truth and it is ugly. Let’s jump into this but be warned, there will be spoilers.
1. Danny Continues To Be Useless
Danny is useless. He can fight but he is extremely untrained and those responsible for his training did a bad job. Danny left home early but I again question why he was given the power in the first place. He’s too trustworthy and easily manipulated to the point that his chi is ruined and he can’t harness the power of the Iron Fist. I have yet to see evidence in this show why he’s the guy for this job.
2. Has The Hand Lost Its Intrigue?
With the entrance of Bakuto, The Hand has taken a kind of turn. Madame Gao and Bakuto represent different aspects of the organization but you must keep in mind how Daredevil Season 2 ended as well. Elektra is still somewhere in the background. I do question if this is the right time to introduce this into the overarching plot of the Netflix universe. I think there’s something interesting in here with a splinter group within The Hand because you have an opportunity to maybe do something where the heroes have to help one of these splinter groups. Daredevil teaming up with The Hand is ground the comics have covered, not to great effect but it has been approached. I worry that doing this now may hurt The Hand as villains because it is coming in late in Iron Fist, a show that’s already struggling so much.
3. FOCUS
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Iron Fist has no structure. Davos is a character we should have met much earlier if he’s there to kind of help Danny get his act together and be useful. You cannot introduce him and a whole history with him ten episodes into a thirteen episode season and expect me to connect with him at all. The Colleen reveal, the entire thing with Bakuto, fine, save that for now because I can see how you transition that into The Defenders but Davos is tied to Danny’s origin and that’s something we should be long past now.
4. Frankenstein Meachum Loses His Punch
Harold Meachum was honestly a big bright spot for me as the series went on. I like this kind of villain but I kind of rather he had stayed dead. Ward’s development has suffered for it and now Harold is too much of a wild card. He’s too unhinged to be effective and it has hurt him as a character big time. I would have liked to see Ward really come into his own as a straight up bad guy after killing Harold and doing what Harold does to get Joy and Ward back into Rand. That would have been something that finally would have made me care about Ward, even if it would be for the wrong reasons. Better to have someone be cared about as a villain than have them languish in some weird middle ground that never goes anywhere.
5. COLLEEN NO
Colleen Wing is part of The Hand with Bakuto but wait! She ends up saving Danny, a guy she barely knows, risking her own life as she does it. Jessica Henwick has done a great job making this part more than what it is written to be but that still comes up short. Colleen Wing had a lot of potential early on in this series but I’ve kind of grown tired of her. She’s evolved but evolved into a love interest and former sidekick. I hope that the final episodes can salvage her arc.
What did you think of this episode? Let me know in the comments below!
