After the traditional Netflix wheel turning and time wasting, we’re finally getting somewhere. I’m talking superhero costumes, superpowers, and dark rituals with inexplicable hipster witches. Welcome to Brooklyn I guess. Either way, I hope this means we’re getting into some real martial arts madness. Join me as we watch Iron Fist season 2, episode 4: “Target: Iron Fist!”
1. Two Eyes, two faces, no problems
Well if there was any doubt that Mary can kick some serious ass, the cold open dispels us of that notion. But then we back up and return to Mary having a one-on-one meeting with Joy. Unfortunately for Joy, she only got one move in her toolkit, and it is being rude. It seems to work for her (checking the stats) zero percent of the time. There is not a single example of Joy being rude and getting anything she wants. Maybe she should try harder.
I called it a one-on-one meeting but that’s not being fair to Mary. Mary is at the meeting, but she’s also contending with her other self, Walker. The whole thing is really wanting me to add Moon Knight to the mix. Get on it Netflix.
Oh snap, did you notice Alice Eve legit has heterochromia !? Her eyes are different colors. One is blue and one is green. Good job casting department.
2. CSI: Ninja Edition
Back at the triad mansion, Danny performs some martial arts forensics. This is a great idea and should be added to every police procedural. By looking at the symptoms and the obvious bruising on the victim’s neck, Dr. Danny diagnoses him as having a bad case of… the devil’s claw! Awesome. Danny also manages to get a word and a number: “Hancock 212.” That’s a silly sounding clue, and made entirely unbelievable that nobody wondered if it had to do with the NYC area code. It wasn’t, but let’s at least rule out the obvious before we start throwing open random shipping containers.
3. Misty Knight: Errant
Misty sure knows how to make an entrance, and it’s already wonderful to have her. Colleen agrees with me, because she looks at Misty in a way she never looks at Danny. I feel ya girl. Misty is a welcome addition to Team Fist, especially because she’s the only professional investigator. But then, she and Colleen make the idiot mistake of trusting Danny. After excusing himself for “some air” (sigh), Danny runs off to go find Hancock 212. This demonstrates a major flaw in the show. While all the ninja stuff is fairly watchable, none of the tension between the characters is actually rooted in the characters. It’s a bunch of nonsense.
“You should have talked to us,” Colleen tells Danny when they find him at the bloody warehouse. “I tried, you wouldn’t listen”, Danny says but what he means is, “I tried but you weren’t saying what I wanted to hear.” That’s not how talking works Danny! And it’s not like he has any moral high ground at this point. Misty informs them that by running and punching his way into situations with no intelligence, Danny ended up badly injuring an undercover cop. Danny’s excuse for his behavior? He’s sad that Davos is doing bad stuff… but maybe we’re sad that you’re hospitalizing innocent people Danny!
4. Dark days at Chateau Meachum
OK, so somehow I’ve arrived at a point where like Ward enough that I get excited when he’s on screen, but what’s the point of him? He just bounces around sucking at everything. He’s a jerk to his NA group, bad at being in a relationship (with his sponsor no less), and bad at trying to give his sister an olive branch. It doesn’t help that Joy doesn’t know how not to be rude. It’s her only move! The Meachums are a mess and I’m starting to think that Mary should just put them out of their misery already.
5. Ancient secrets
So I’ve complained a bunch about the futility of keeping the evil plan secret. It’s made the last three episodes a total slog, and I maintain that if the writers can’t find anything for the bad guys to do except have meetings about “production” and other improper nouns, they should just be caught. But I see what they were going for. When Davos found a dead Iron Fist in that shipping crate!? My jaw dropped!! Then the entire episode kicks into high gear.
Who are these witches!? What’s up with their amazing hipster outfits? Why don’t the actual comic book heroes and villains have wardrobes that cool? And then Davos is drinking expired skin juice to get superpowers? The witches are combining Danny’s blood with the old skin to make magic dragon ink? Davos is getting a Steel Serpent tattoo!? Ahhhhh! This is what’s up!
These episode sure know how to end on a high note.
