It's finally time to dive into the next chapter of the MCU. We come to the second season of a show spotlighting one of the MCU's most revered heroes, both in and out of universe, the immortal Iron Fist. That's right, fan-favorite Danny Rand is back.
Honestly, I didn't hate the first season as much as everyone else did. Still, you can see an uptick in quality just in this episode alone. Danny is written well here. A lot of emphasis is put on his easy-going and personable demeanor, which was always one of his stronger attributes.
It works especially well with his scenes with Colleen. Given the focus that their relationship has in the episode, it's definitely an asset.
Speaking of Colleen, it seems she's retiring from crime fighting. Danny, for his part, encourages her to jump back into the fray and fight alongside him again, but after what happened to Misty, she'd rather help people in other ways. It's not really a surprise that she ends up partaking in the episode's climactic fight, though she seems disappointed about it rather than reinvigorated, so we'll see if she gets pulled back in or if that was just a one-off.
I do have to give credit to the mooks this episode. Usually, they're just beat down fodder, but they actually hold their own pretty well all things considered.
It was a little amusing that this episode sets up the idea of Danny attempting to stop a gang war. That was literally the plot of the last show (that Danny himself had appeared in no less). I guess you need something that can hold a candle to the Hand, but still.
On that note, the Hand is directly reference as having a....hand in what's happening now. In another parallel to "Luke Cage", Danny surmises that the Hand was keeping the city's other gangs in check (much like Mariah.) With them gone, it's created a power vacuum with multiple groups vying for new power and influence. You have to wonder if Danny will call Luke in to help broker a treaty as he did once he acquired Mariah's club. It would be strange if his newfound position wasn't at least mentioned in some capacity.
To the show's credit, it does seem like other factors besides just another gang war will come into play. Joy Meachum and Davos return and begin to set a plan in motion to get what they believe is to be their retribution. It's been a long time since I saw the show's first season, so I couldn't really remember off the top of my head why Joy had beef. I didn't remember Davos' name at first, but I did at least remember his general jist.
He already resented Danny before, but the fall of K'un L'un did not help things...at all. Even the fact that Danny destroyed (or at least helped destroy) the Chaste's nemesis does little to convince Davos that Danny is the rightful bearer of the fist.
Joy, for her part, does waver a bit when Danny is genuinely kind and supportive of her in one of the episode's early scenes. She still commits to the revenge plan, but it is another example of how much better Danny is used here than he has been in the past.
All in all, this was a solid start. The episode was well paced, the character moments worked, and there was enough solid action to satisfy viewers on that front as well. We'll see if the show can use the momentum to its advantage.
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