We’re at the halfway point, and things are happening. It’s amazing. We’ve got a superpowered supervillain, a couple of fabulous teamups and a loving scene between to people with some actual chemistry! Give me some more martial arts beatdowns and we’ll be set! Join me as we get into Iron Fist season 2, episode 5: “Heart of the Dragon.”
1. A Two Fisted Tale
Davos is a superhero now. He’s the Immortal Iron Fist! Now that he has superpowers, Davos is actually doing a pretty good job at cleaning up the streets. Sure, he’s a bit more murder-y than Danny or Matt Murdock, but lets face it. Those two have definitely caused fatal injuries or crippled people for life. We know from last episode that Danny is sometimes even putting the wrong dudes in the hospital. Based on his actions in this episode, I’m willing to say that Davos is at least as good an Iron Fist as Danny is. Sure his magic fist looks evil. Sure he used the evil fist on that dude’s chest. But at least it seems like he has a plan.
2. Davos: Year One
The most affecting part of this episode happened in flashback. I was fairly shocked and delighted by the two little kids who were baby brother Davos and Danny. The more we see of that, the better this season will land. The flashbacks don’t stop there though. We also see Davos in the immediate aftermath of Danny kicking his ass. At a time like that, you need the support of your friends and family. Davos gets his mother humiliating him and telling him what a loser he is. I wonder where all his issues come from.
The tragic clincher comes at the end of the episode, where Davos monologues through a closed door that he still loves his mom and will take down Danny and restore the honor of K’un Lun and all that jazz. His mom leaves him thinking she hates him, but silently reaches out to him from behind the door. Does it excuse her abusive actions? Hell no. But it makes the whole thing more tragic, which I dig. Davos’ mom loved him in a messed up way and surprise! It messed him up. And with K’un Lun gone, he’ll probably never get a chance to show her that he’s the big bad Iron Fist. Or Steel Serpent. Villain pathos. I love it.
3. Double Dragon Daughters
“I’m glad you’re here,” Colleen says to Misty. “I’m glad you’re glad,” Misty says to Colleen. And within a few minutes, every human being watching this show shouted, “Give these two their spin-off already!” They are great. Misty is an excellent cop and a great investigator. Colleen has the punching and kicking and street contacts. Let’s do this!
First stop is Ward who is greasy and smarmy and already has a thing for Misty. Who can blame him? I love all the shots of Misty liking Ward liking her, even though she finds him pretty repulsive. Like, there’s more character nuance in that one conversation than in the entire season so far. Amazing.
Then, Misty gets called in on a possible Code 616. “What’s a 616?” Colleen asks her. “Possible suspect with abilities.” A million points to team Iron Fist! Amazing worldbuilding, and hilarious comic book nerdery. I’m here for it. Great job you guys!
4. Danny’s terrible horrible no good very bad day
Let’s take an inventory of Danny Rand’s last 24 hours. Homeboy has been drugged, stabbed, drained of his superpowers, drugged again, beat, kidnapped, broke his own hand, and beaten again but this time with comically large pliers. I’m willing to call that a bad day. We did learn something though. It looks like there can be only one Iron Fist, and right now that’s Davos (hence the hand breaking). Danny is in trouble. The only lucky break is that Misty Knight is on the case and she’s got zero patience for a gang of street toughs. “What about NYPD did you not understand?” she asks with genuine incredulity. Misty is the literal best.
Oh and then Danny gets stapled by Ward’s doctor GF! The bad luck keeps on coming. Man, I bet they wish Claire was in town right about now.
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5. Resting in the recovery Ward
When Danny comes to, everyone has left except for Ward who is cleaning his wounds. The two of them make for cute bros and it’s more than a little bit homoerotic. It actually made me realize that there’s one thing that Ward hasn’t sucked at this season. He’s been awful to his sister, his girlfriend, his recovery group, everyone… except for Danny. The loving nature of their scenes together adds genuine intensity to Finn Jones’ performance. Of everyone on the show, Finn Jones has the most chemistry with Tom Pelphrey. For better or worse.
This relationship is going to be important because Danny needs someone he trusts grounding him. When Ward tells Danny that Davos, his blood brother who has been bragging about murder since they were 10 years old has been on a killing spree, doofus Danny Rand asks, “Davos killed someone?” Dude! Like, 7 people in the last 24 hours by my count, not to mention the times he’s told you about his plans to murder the Hand and the times he’s tried to murder you.
Ward is uncharacteristically humble. He doesn’t get all this talk about mystical fists and chi and destiny. But he knows something about addiction and hearing Danny talk about his fist he hears something familiar. He and Danny… they’re both chasing the dragon! Amazing. Amazing. Amazing. Subtext becomes text. Simply amazing.
