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 “Shadow Hawk Takes Flight,” Danny Rand spends a lot of time within the walls of a hospital as the Meachums makes moves around him. Let’s jump into this but be warned, there will be spoilers.
1. Danny Rand In The Hospital
All of this episode features Danny Rand confined in a psychiatric hospital after being drugged by Joy. The confusion about Danny’s identity is legitimate. If a guy shows up saying he’s someone who died 15 years ago, you’ll want some proof or else you’ll probably believe he’s not all there. Putting Danny in a hospital to monitor and basically interrogate his a very heel thing to do which is why it makes sense for Harold but it kind of falls flat because it wants to make a point but doesn’t actually do that. This episode goes out of its way to show how bad a place like this can be for the sake of doing that but never actually talks about it. There is a small push to make Danny believe he isn’t who he says he is and I wish they had taken that even further. It’s an intriguing idea that doesn’t go far enough and no one in these scenes pushes it enough. It’s all very quiet and paced badly.
2. Cutting To the Chase
While in the hospital, Harold Meachum comes to visit Danny and Danny tells him what he is and who he is and that he’s the only one that can defeat The Hand. Knowing nothing about what happens the rest of this season, I kind of wonder what the bigger point of the show is because it’s pretty clear the big bad villain involved in The Defenders will be The Hand. The Marvel Netflix series are often criticized for running a little longer than they need to and suffer narratively for it. Danny just told us what he does and what he’s supposed to do and it’s something that could have been worked into The Defenders very easily as part of what brings the whole cast together.
3. Colleen Can’t Be Bought
Colleen Wing is not to be trifled with by anyone and I kind of love that about her. I love that she’s street smart and tough and is willing to fight back against Ward Meachum but her own motivations are still really lacking. I know her but I don’t know why she does anything that she does. She gets a pretty cool fight scene and her constant confused look at Danny is great but I want more.
4. Weird Skepticism
In the real world, it makes sense for anyone to be confused and/or dismissive of someone who says they have superpowers but in the Marvel Universe, even in a mental hospital, I question the immediate dismissal of that. This doctor is in a hospital in New York City where literal aliens fought against a giant green man in the middle of the day. Super powers are not that shocking of a thing in this world so maybe give Danny a little chance to show what he can do off medication. Harold Meachum is still a confusing villain but at least he’s willing to believe in something that isn’t so far-fetched anymore.
5. FINALLY We Get Some Action
At the end of this episode we finally get to see Danny Rand actually be the Iron Fist and it’s not terribly exciting but at least it’s something so far. I find it weird that he’s been gone for 15 years and doesn’t actually have control over what he does. Jessica Jones is not actively running around the city trying to save lives but even she can control what she does. Danny Rand is almost like a baby hero which is strange when he describes himself as a warrior.
What did you think of this episode? Let me know in the comments below!
