Television 

Five Thoughts On Iron Fist’s “The Deadly Secret…”

By | September 10th, 2018
Posted in Television | % Comments

Everyone knows that trick where you throw the pasta against the wall to see if it’s done! But then, I guess Joy is too rich to have ever cooked. I hope you’re ready for the world’s worst dinner party. Seriously, it’s terrible. If you’ve ever had a more awkward meal with your archnemesis, tell us about it in the comments below! Otherwise join us as we dive in Iron Fist season 2, episode 3: “The Deadly Secret…”

 

1. Staring out the window

One thing I liked from the get-go in this season of Iron Fist was how Danny and Colleen’s relationship skipped over a lot of the superhero TV malarkey. Colleen knows who Danny is- the Immortal Iron Fist, enemy of the Hand, protector of K’un Lun and… (etc. etc.). She knows he was a need to go out and stick his fist in the faces of evil. So when they abruptly reverted to a typical superhero/girlfriend fight, I was not happy.

It’s not that Colleen or indeed, any of the girlfriends (and they are almost always girlfriends) act in this fight. It’s that we the audience know that if the superhero was more reasonable, came home on time, didn’t go out at night punching people, we’d be watching This Is Us and not The Flash or whatever. There’s no stakes in the argument, no drama. If the superhero stops superheroing, there’s no more show. Writers: if you feel like addressing this particular point, don’t.

 

2. Ward off every good idea.

Ward is as bad at Narcotics Anonymous as he is at everything. And for some reason that makes me want to be watching him all the time. He so consistently and colorfully ruins everything he touches, it’s hard not to be fascinated. So when he proposed a dinner party, I started freaking out. OMUndying Dragon, this is going to be terrible!

Also whenever he’s cast in shadows, Ward looks so much like Peter Greene the bad guy from The Mask and Zed from Pulp Fiction, that it’s distracting. But I’m into it. We need more sallow-eyed craggy heavies on TV.

3. The worst dinner party

So, putting the heroes and villains in a room for homemade spaghetti and wine is a great idea. Imagine if Matt and Foggy had Fisk over for dinner. Would it make sense? Probably not. Would you watch the hell out of it? Don’t even front, it would be amazing. But before we get there, we need to spend some meaningless time with Joy.

There are times to keep secrets from the viewer. Secrets can be intriguing. Joy’s secret evil plan however, has zero intrigue to it. Like, just tell us what’s up, it has to be more interesting than nebulous talks about factories and production and propositions. I DON’T CARE. Those are just nouns. Stop wasting my time. Still, points for Joy rocking a bitchin’ plum blazer.

Then we get to the dinner party and Joy is all rich girl smarm and empty insults. She opens with mean cracks about living on the far East side. That’s some deep NYC shade. Is there even a subway? Do they live off the T line? I bet you a carton of mushu pork that they do not. But actually, the beginning of the dinner party would only be slightly awkward if not for Joy. Danny and Davos are trying to behave. Poor innocent Colleen is trying her best. She ain’t done nothing wrong. It’s only Joy being a cutty, salty hater for no reason.

4. THE WORST

And then Danny and Davos are almost cute together. I much prefer their reminiscing to Danny’s consntant K’unsplaining of his childhood. They make meatball kabobs, which might actually sound delicious? Respect to Davos. I totally buy that he would be civil right until the moment he needs to do a murder. Being evil doesn’t mean you have to be impolite.

The real balls at this party are Colleen’s. Once she finally gets sick of Joy’s rudeness and Davos’ coldness she gets sick of playing games and tells it like it is. For a moment, I actually believed that it was going to work. Joy lays it all out on the table. Davos throws a fit and starts storming around the apartment. But they came so close to common ground! All Danny had to say was, “I’m really sorry Joy. There aren’t too many people in this world I care about, and I totally should have told you your father was alive, but the whole thing was so weird and spooky that I thought your life was in danger. I made a mistake, and even if you can’t forgive me tonight I hope you don’t cut me out of your life. You’re my family and I love you.”

Continued below

He doesn’t say any of that. The dinner is a bust.

 

5. Not exactly a saint Walker

Mary. Is. So. Weird. I’m totally into it though. Colleen starts losing patience with her, and even Danny is ready for her to be straight with them. But she isn’t and she vanishes like some kind of ninja (hmmmm) after telling them to look out for someone named Walker. We soon learn that Joy and Davos hired an investigator named Walker to spy on Danny, and after the dinner party, they go to pay her a visit. And who is Walker? Why it’s Mary of course. The episode ends with an exciting trip to crazy town and Mary holding a sword to Davos’s neck. “Whatever blows your skirt up,” she says. Awesome!


//TAGS | Iron Fist

Jaina Hill

Jaina is from New York. She currently lives in Ohio. Ask her, and she'll swear she's one of those people who loves both Star Wars and Star Trek equally. Say hi to her on twitter @Rambling_Moose!

EMAIL | ARTICLES



  • -->