Davos has claimed his perceived birthright and become the Iron Fist. He lets Danny go and proceeds to become the city's newest crime fighter.
You'd think that this situation wouldn't be so bad. Danny's fine...ish, Davos and Joy have seemingly settled their grudge and the city still has a protector. Unfortunately, things aren't that cut and dry. It turns out that Davos is a fan of the ol' ultra-violence and his war on crime is less Danny Rand and more Frank Castle-esque. He voices his intent to not only end any potential gang war, but all criminals.
You'd think with a rogue Iron Fist that the idea of calling Luke into help would come up, but no. The idea of calling Claire to help tend to Danny's wounds is brought up and quickly shot down. It was a nice touch, though, regardless.
Joy herself tries to back off, stating that their business is concluded and that they shouldn't be seen together anymore to maintain a semblance of cover. Davos, of course, has other ideas. Admittedly, I'm not sure what he really needs her for at this point. He's the Iron Fist, he can protect the city as he sees fit without Joy's input. It's a typical villain move, but there's no sense to it in this case, at least not yet.
This does still have pretty serious consequences in terms of the overall plot, though. Joy hires Walker to stay on as security, though the mercenary is convinced that ending Davos is the only way to put an end to things. This also puts her in Joy's apartment when Colleen and Misty arrive at her apartment looking for information. It also prompts Joy to come clean about her part. Her betrayal was on the verge of being this big emotional moment, but it has its thunder stolen by Joy's declaration that Davos still has bigger plans ahead.
Interestingly enough, the episode spends a lot of time looking back. More specifically, giving us a glimpse into Davos' upbringing. We see how he was essentially groomed by his mother to be the next Iron Fist and get why he thinks of it as his birthright. It goes beyond just shoddy judges, as we see this goal as a fundamental part of his being. Suffice it to say, when he loses, his mom is not happy, at all and she doesn't mince words about it either.
As for Danny, he's mostly out of it. He wanders around town, wounded. Gets beat up some more, captured, and eventually rescued by Colleen and Misty. He does get to have a nice heart to heart with Ward about things. The banter between the two is well done. Ward gets some good snark in, but he and Danny also delve into deeper matters that give the scene a bit more weight.
While this episode is largely quieter and more character driven, it isn't completely devoid of action. In addition to Davos' wrecking gangsters, we also see Walker take on Misty and Colleen. The prior actually manages to maintain the upper hand throughout. Her win over Danny had extenuating circumstances, but she pulls the win here without having to resort to cheap tricks. It's a little weird that Misty somehow put up a better fight against Bushmaster, but there you go. Colleen fares better, but even she can't seem to gain an edge. It goes to show how good Walker is at what she does. Were it not for Misty pulling her gun, who knows what would have happened.
Speaking of Walker, Ward is able to shed some light on her. After doing some digging, her file came up in Rand's records. Not only does this allow the characters to piece how she and Joy are connected, but he also mentions a military background, which would explain her tactical prowess as well as her hand to hand combat skills.
Overall, the episode is OK. It does have some pacing problems and I doubt it will go down as the most memorable episode, but it did have some highlights and it did move things forward on several fronts.
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