OPINION -- My Problem With The Marvel Netflix Shows In The Wake Of The Defenders "Experiment"

I wrote about what I thought about Marvel's The Defenders in a review about a year ago and it pains me to see that these Netflix Marvel Cinematic Universe-centric shows are still treading the same waters and repeating the same mistakes that plagued that crossover/team-up series.

I keep getting asked by friends, peers, and acquaintances about what do I think of the shows that followed The Defenders - Jessica Jones Season Two, The Punisher Season One, Luke Cage Season Two, and more recently Iron Fist Season Two. I felt like that it wasn't worth my time and effort to discuss those shows individually because I keep getting the sense of deja vu watching each of these shows. It's nowhere as bad as the CW's writing and handling of their DC Comics-based properties at times, but goddammit the writing here frustrates me to no end on how a lot of these shows are handled.

*** MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD ***

Don't read ahead unless you have seen every

Marvel Netflix series up to this point following The Defenders - The Punisher (Season 1), Jessica Jones (Season 2), Luke Cage (Season 2), and Iron Fist (Season 2)

The Good

Colleen Wing and the potential of a Daughters of the Dragon spin-off

The tail end of Iron Fist Season 2 finally got things right as Colleen Wing was gifted with the power of the Iron Fist as it was revealed during the finale that she was "destined" for this power all along and not Danny Rand - who somehow manifested a new variation of the power after having it stolen away from Davos/Steel Serpent. Critics and fans alike (me included) have agreed unanimously that Colleen Wing/Jessica Henwick was the best thing to come out of everything else that was awful in Iron Fist Season 1 and I'm glad that the writers of this show had the sense to make her the focus and key titular player here instead of Danny Rand. I can't speak for anyone else but when I think of Iron Fist, I think of this being like one of those old school "kung-fu" TV dramas like from days of old or something along the lines of the wandering samurai who slays evil when they encounter it, thanks to their own code of bushido (something that Colleen Wing herself has mentioned on multiple occasions in both seasons that she has studied and practiced in her life).

The best moments of Iron Fist Season 2 were the "buddy cop" moments between Misty Knight and Colleen Wing. The MCU has something special here and I really hope that they don't squander this opportunity. Remember it was Colleen Wing who pulled Misty Knight out of the gutter when her life was spiraling out of control in Luke Cage Season 2 following her recovery. Colleen was there for Misty as a friend when she needed it to find and renew her resolve to badassery and Misty returns the favor here in Iron Fist Season 2. To say that I'm still not too crazy about Simone Missick's casting as Misty Knight, I can't deny that her and Jessica Henwick's Colleen Wing have chemistry in every scene that they share together to make this partnership and friendship work on multiple levels. Hell, I dare say it clicks more than Danny Rand and Luke Cage's "friendship". 

Screw a Heroes for Hire spin-off, let's just get a Daughters of the Dragon spin-off green-lit and going. 

Impressive fight choreography in Iron Fist Season 2 and The Punisher Season 1

Looking at the fight scenes between Season 1 and 2 of Iron Fist is like looking at day and night in terms of differences. That's not a bad thing that's a great thing that they changed the fight choreography for the better here. No excuses this time as Finn Jones had plenty of time between the end of The Defenders and the filming of this season to get his combat/martial arts training down instead of learning it on the set as he cited in interviews after critics tore into his performance in Iron Fist Season 1. 

Great performances from returning cast members

Jessica Jones in Jessica Jones Season 2

Out of the three Defenders left in the wake of Daredevil's sacrifice at the end of that series last year, Jessica still comes across as my personal favorite. She knows she's a flawed person, but still strives to do the right thing. She's not "addicted" to her powers (Iron Fist/Danny Rand) nor does she try to present herself as to being something bigger than she is (Luke Cage).

Krysten Ritter continues to impress in this role and still has that extra "weight" on her that looks healthy on the character (I mentioned this briefly in my write-up for The Defenders) instead of how scrawny she looked in the first season. Allegedly, Jessica Jones Season 2 was filmed almost immediately following The Defenders, so that's why she looks the same here as she did in that series.

Kilgrave in Jessica Jones Season 2

You have to sit through the bulk of Season 2, but Kilgrave returns in the tail end of Jessica Jones Season 2 after Jessica finds herself forced to kill an adversary who was mere seconds away from ending her life. She instantly regrets the decision, seeing it as her own devolution into becoming "the monster" that her mother has become, thanks to the same experiment that she underwent to obtain her powers. Kilgrave appears to her as a hallucination, much like The Joker did to Batman during the events of Batman: Arkham Knight, despite being already dead. Kilgrave exists as the dark side of her psyche, taunting and reminding her that she's destined to be just like him.

How can you hate Kilgrave when he reminds us of how much he enjoyed Trish's "I Want Your Cray-Cray" music video?

Mariah Stokes/Dillard in Luke Cage Season 2

From as much as I felt that she wasn't a strong enough villain to fill in the void left after Cottonmouth's demise in Luke Cage Season 1 as the head of his criminal empire (no pun intended...) in Harlem, I thought she came into her own as a villain here in Season 2. Her stand out moments were her "hoodrich" moments where she seems to instantly drop her PR face and show her true colors; oftentimes belittling and berating those around her, especially Misty Knight and her underlings.

That awkward moment in Luke Cage Season 2 whereas they acted like Danny Rand was a completely new/different character in contrast to his pre-Defenders state.

Standout performances from newcomers

Alisa Jones (Campbell) 

The reveal that Alisa was the mother of Jessica Jones was one of the better elements of Jessica Jones Season 2, highlighted by the fact that actress Miriam Shor portrayed her with a lot of chemistry with Krysten Ritter's Jessica Jones to believe that she was her mother in all of their scenes that they shared together.

You could feel the tension in all of the scenes when she lost her grip on her sanity and her raging emotions until she gave into the monster that the experiments done to her made Jessica's mother into.

Such a shame that we won't get to see her return in Season Three, but at least there's a possibility in flashbacks as all of the questions concerning the origins of Jessica's powers after being experimented on by IGH

Only downside is that she's a piss poor "final boss" of sorts for Jessica at the end of Season 2. Then the narrative allows Trish to kill her instead of Jessica to just throw a wrench into everything up to that point

John McIver/Bushmaster

Effin' Bushmaster. A character who I honestly wrote off as being a cannon fodder when I read the casting news for this season, but I was glad to be wrong. That dude could have be nice to see in a Black Panther sequel TBH. Mustafa Shakir already got the accent and fighting style (Capoeira) down.

The guy doesn't just beat Luke Cage once, he defeats Luke Cage or manages to hold his own against the super-powered hero multiple times over the course of Luke Cage Season 2.

My only issue with Bushmaster was that after all of that hype and time spent on this guy the entire season, we don't even get the satisfaction of seeing him get a definitive end of his journey this season.

One of the minor characters just calmly state that he went back to Jamaica off-screen. I wouldn't be surprised that he died from that concoction of potions and voodoo nonsense that he was hyping himself up on finally did him in. If it doesn't happen in the next season of Luke Cage, then I wouldn't be surprised that it happens in the rumored second season of The Defenders with a spin on Marvel Comics' Dark Avengers with a sort of Dark Defenders to stand against the heroes.

Mary Walker/Typhoid Mary

I can promise you that after most people are done watching Iron Fist Season 2, the only thing people will be talking about is this character instead of Davos or the Meachum Family in terms of "antagonists" for that season.

It was excellent on how Alive Eve was able to juggle both roles flawlessly. The shy and timid Mary while Walker was calm and collected, yet prone to violence. I'm very anxious to see what the writers have in store for this characters' future in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Just about all of the newcomers and reprising cast members in The Punisher

I've never been a fan of The Punisher character in comics, but everyone from Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle / Punisher, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as David Lieberman / Micro, Ben Barnes as Billy Russo, Amber Rose Revah as Dinah Madani, Daniel Webber as Lewis Wilson, and even to Jason R. Moore as Curtis Hoyle contributed to making the initial season of The Punisher worth a watch, even though I felt like the series dragged on excessively at points. Pacing hasn't a strong suit for any of these post-Defenders Marvel Netflix shows. I can't stand Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page since the first season of Daredevil and I continue to feel like she's a waste of space in this series - along within Daredevil to boot; so for those wondering, she's the lone exception to my statement here.

The Bad

The Lack of Claire Temple (Rosario Dawson)

I don't know if they could afford to keep Rosario Dawson on payroll after these shows got into full swing, but the lack of her as the glue that kept all of the Defenders working like a well-oiled machine is painfully glaring at this point. At the same time, I wonder if her disappearance is on purpose to symbolize that the Defenders came together when she was present in all of their shows while they fall apart when she walks out of their lives. If that's the case, then that's some genius-level foreshadowing and symbolism.

Then when you see articles like this floating around online, it doesn't give any high hopes that she's coming back to the MCU in any capacity.

The Meachum Family drama was just awful

It was bad in Iron Fist Season 1 and I don't understand why they continued it in Season 2 with Joy's motivations making little to no sense at all for first plotting with Davos against Danny then siding against Davos to foil his plans. 

We don't see enough of Ward's "addiction" to care so his whole therapy arc kind of fell flat right off the bat. Adding a pregnancy towards the end of the season didn't do it any justice either. Seriously though, what was up with the writers trying to tease that him and Misty Knight could have a thing though? I'm STILL trying to wrap my head around that one...

Luke Cage is just so damn corny

This article right here put this much better than I could have in any shape or form. 

In terms of character evolution/development following The Defenders' events, a lot of these heroes have taken steps backwards. I can't include The Punisher in that conversation as his series was off in it's own little world, separate from went on during The Defenders since he wasn't in that series at all, despite playing a part in foiling The Hand's plans at the end of Daredevil Season Two. 

Jessica Jones falls back to her anti-social tendencies after learning to open up and function as a part of the team during The Defenders, thanks to her time bonding with Matt Murdock/Daredevil. She comes around by the end of Season 2 by bonding with Arocho's family, but she's still disconnected (more than she ever was) to her "sister" Trish Walker and "business partner" Malcolm Ducasse, despite their "help" over the course of the season on her case(s).

Luke Cage ends up becoming what he was fighting against all of this time for two seasons - the head of the criminal empire, claiming that it's the only way to maintain "order" in Harlem.

Danny Rand loses the Iron Fist to Davos, mostly thanks to his own self-doubts and imbalance with the power that led to him becoming "addicted" to the thrill that using it provides under the excuse that he was fighting for justice. He hasn't learned anything from Matt Murdock's sacrifice in The Defenders and continues to attempting to walk the path others have carved out for him instead of making his own. What's really frustrating is that when we see Danny in Luke Cage Season 2, he seems like he's mellowed out and actually enjoying life while at the same time finding the balance to master his powers. When we return to following his adventures in his own show, it's like all of that was thrown out of the window to revert back into the adopted boy yearning to be accepted by his K'un L'un family by following their teachings without question.

Without even seeing Daredevil Season 3, we can deduce from the teaser trailer that Matt Murdock is spiraling further down the rabbit hole as he wants to abandon his responsibilities as Murdock altogether and solely be Daredevil. To be fair, Murdock has been dealing with the struggle to juggle both parts of his life to tragic results since Daredevil Season 2, so I wasn't expecting a fix for that issue when he basically put the costume back on devoted to be martyr to save both the city and Elektra from The Hand. 

The heroes are only as "smart" as the narrative deems "appropriate" or necessary for the plot to move forward

A lot of this is across the broad for majority of the Marvel Netflix shows, but Misty Knight is the biggest culprit to this crime. In professional wrestling, fans have come to call this "stupid babyface syndrome" in that medium's narratives. Misty Knight comes off extremely stupid at times (she's three for three if you add up all of her fuck-ups between both Luke Cage seasons and The Defenders), even after that same stupidity got her arm chopped off - hence repeating the ever present issue plaguing these narratives that the heroes are only as "smart" as the narrative deems "appropriate" or necessary for the plot to move forward the narrative.

The a lot of these subplots for minor characters either not making sense or falling flat completely.

Tilda Johnson's introduction and character path/journey over the course of Luke Cage Season 2 was just all over the place.

It ultimately didn't make not one lick of damn sense. If she just wanted peace with her life and not to be caught up with her "mother's" shady dealing then why did she make a deal with Bushmaster to begin with? Plus we already know that she's set to become a villain (Dr. Nightshade) in Season 3 due to the titular actress spoiling that in an interview, so I'm just throwing my hands up at this point on this fuckery. You could say that she was doing this to save her own skin in that situation but she could have easily killed Bushmaster in the same manner that she poisoned her own mother.

She had plenty of chances to walk away from the world that the Dillards/Stokes drew her into but didn't. She has herself to blame more than anything else. Anyone with a fully functioning brain could tell that Mariah was using the "relationship" with her daughter as bold PR move.

I'm sure that the revelation of how she came into this world was the thing that threw her over the edge, but after that outburst of how Mariah didn't want her, why was she surprised that her mother would leave her anything in her will? You're trying to tell me that her own pettiness for her mother that she didn't really want nothing to do with at that point anyway is the reason she wants to become a super villain out of spite to Dillard leaving Harlem's Paradise to her? That's as lame of a motivation as Lex Luthor's hair falling out from that lab accident with Superman on Superfriends... 

While Shades and Mariah Dillard's "romance" will more likely be the talk out of most things that happened in Luke Cage Season 2, no one would have guessed that his noteworthy role in this season would be a gay subplot.

Poor Shades ends up being the victim of horrible lazy writing in Luke Cage Season 2.

All season he had his actions and motivations downplayed as merely the actions of a lovesick puppy trying to impress his lady (Mariah Dillard/Stokes) with a homosexual relationship with his former prison mate, Comanche, hinted at between the lines of a homosexual relationship between the two. I know I'm not the only one who caught that throughout the course of the season as it's pointed out in one conversation between Comanche and Shades that they were "lovers" in prison, but Shades merely brushes it off as comforts of the circumstance. Between juggling his extreme loyalty to Mariah and his "friendship" to Comanche, Shades' insecurities led him to kill his own best friend and frame the murder on one of Misty Knight's fellow officers who also died at the scene of the crime. It didn't take much for Misty Knight to get a confession out of him in order to save his own skin when Mariah Dillard was getting locked away. To say that guy spent all of this time embedded into Mariah's servitude as part of her "empire" of sorts, it didn't take much to make him sing like a bird to save his own skin once shit hit the fan. To be fair, this was one of the better "sexual identity/discovery" subplots on one of these superhero TV dramas, but ultimately ends in the same Hollywood cliches with the homosexual partner ending up dead and nothing really resolved on that front, leaving audiences wondering "what if?" after it's all said and done.

How the mighty have fallen... Shades was one of the best written characters in Season 1 and they just fucked him all to hell here. By this point, I felt that Shades should have had some higher goals for himself instead of being content on being a lackey. 

Trish's journey in Season 2 to get superpowers seemed more like after-school special "Don't Do Drugs" PSA than anything positive. It just painted the picture that she was always jealous that Jessica had powers and never really wanted them, but she did out of envy.

Jessica Jones Season 2 content involving Trish Walker that led to her getting superpowers that were "teased" at the end of that season was a little in bad taste I felt.

I understand that Trish did it to help protect Jessica Jones at first. Later on, it turns into an addiction that turns into an obsession to have what Jessica has. I thought they already did the redemption story on the consequences of drug abuse with Malcolm in the last season while Trish gets caught up doing the exact opposite here. If they are going to make Trish a heroine off the result of her drug addiction then that's going to rub a lot of people the wrong way in my honest opinion.

The filler/unnecessary baggage that each of these shows (except for Iron Fist Season 2, which only spanned 10 episodes) to stretch out to justify that episode order of 13 episodes. 

This unnecessary baggage hurts both seasons of Luke Cage more than it hurts the other two series as let's be honest, there's not that much compelling storytelling nor action on his end of the spectrum on this side of the MCU. How many times can we just watch him stand still and shrug off bullets and just throw guys to the ground like they were nothing? Or the off chance of him getting drugged and getting his ass kicked? At least Bushmaster spiced things up a few times in Season 2, but the bulk of the action in Luke Cage is poor.

The Ugly

Narrative across the board is still muddled. No cohesive thread/bond like found in the feature films. Each show is written as if there's no regard nor recognition that the same outcomes and themes are recycled in show to show. 

At this stage, there's NO excuse for this, especially when all of this stuff is supposed to be "connected" in a sense. The more people say that the more it's lost in translation when it comes to these Marvel Netflix properties. 

Every single one of these shows have fallen into the same pattern and it's infuriating that the writers and more people in general haven't picked up on this.

• The obligatory sex scene in the first six episodes to justify the R-rating on Netflix
• Everything in the first half serves as either filler or fluff to build up to a catch-22 twist at the halfway point of the season where everything and anything hits the fan to set the stage for the last act
• Season Finale serves as climax against the season's "final boss" of sorts while providing an epilogue to explain and elaborate on everything that either didn't make sense, wrap up loose ends, and/or tease the next season on what's to come. i.e. Pretty much dumbs down last episode of the season as "let's just try to wrap everything up SAW style with details you might have missed to make us look smart" but not really because it's lazy writing
• Insert random super-powered obstacle or villain that we're going to drag out motivations that has family ties/prior relationship to main cast
• BS filler until roughly Episodes 6-9
• Oh and cameo from other Netflix hero/minor-cast member (optional)

I KNOW I can't be the only one who has picked up onto this pattern... It drives me nuts to no end in terms of frustration to see that EVERY SINGLE ONE of these Marvel Netflix shows follow the same patterns and tropes, honestly to the same effect. It paints the picture to me from series to series and season to season that the writers aren't watching each others' shows and a lot of this is recycling and rehashing the same territory. Y'know how people complain about how many times Spider-Man/Batman movies and cartoons have been rebooted and/or remade over the years? That's how it feels here. It's like almost no one looks at what came before and just throwing shit against the wall to see what works. 

Closing Thoughts

We still have Daredevil Season Three to hold out for in terms of hope that the Marvel Netflix end of the Marvel Cinematic Universe spectrum could turn things around. There's times where I'm watching these shows and wondering if they should even continue them in this state if they are going to continue rehashing the same material over and over with different players (namely a new villain of the month). That series drops within the span of the next couple of days, so we'll see whether or not that my opinions will change on this matter after the devils of Daredevil Season 3. 

REVIEW -- Marvel's Iron Fist (Netflix) - Season One

Marvel's Iron Fist, or simply Iron Fist, is an American web television series created for Netflix by Scott Buck, based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), sharing continuity with the films of the franchise and is the fourth in a series of shows that will lead up to The Defenders crossover miniseries. The series is produced by Marvel Television in association with ABC Studios and Devilina Productions, with Buck serving as showrunner.

Finn Jones stars as Danny Rand / Iron Fist, a martial arts expert with the ability to call upon the power of the Iron Fist. Jessica Henwick, Tom Pelphrey, Jessica Stroup, Ramón Rodríguez, Sacha Dhawan, Rosario Dawson and David Wenham also star. After a film based on the character spent over a decade in development at Marvel Studios, development for the series began in late 2013 at Marvel Television, with Buck hired as the series showrunner in December 2015 and Jones cast as Rand in February 2016. Filming began in New York City in April 2016 and concluded in October 2016.

Iron Fist had its premiere on March 15, 2017, in New York City, with the full season of 13 episodes releasing on Netflix on March 17, 2017.

Cast: 

Main

Finn Jones as Danny Rand / Iron Fist
Jessica Henwick as Colleen Wing
Tom Pelphrey as Ward Meachum
Jessica Stroup as Joy Meachum
Ramón Rodríguez as Bakuto
Sacha Dhawan as Davos
Rosario Dawson as Claire Temple
David Wenham as Harold Meachum

Recurring

David Furr as Wendell Rand
Barrett Doss as Megan
Alex Wyse as Kyle
Marquis Rodriguez as Darryl
Wai Ching Ho as Gao
Ramon Fernandez as Kevin Singleton
Clifton Davis as Lawrence Wilkins
John Sanders as Donald Hooper
Elise Santora as Maria Rodriguez

Guest

Victoria Haynes as Heather Rand
Murray Bartlett as Paul Edmonds
Carrie-Anne Moss as Jeri Hogarth
Craig Geraghty as the ringmaster of an underground fight club.
Henry Yuk as Hai-Qing Yang
Samantha Herrera as Becca
Olek Krupa as Radovan Bernivig
Shirine Babb as Sandi Ann
Jeanna de Waal as Sophia
Tijuana Ricks as Thembi Wallace
Hoon Lee as Lei Kung
Nikita Bogolyubov and Stan Demidoff as Andrei and Grigori Veznikov
Jane Kim as the Bride of Nine Spiders
David Sakurai as Scythe
Suzanne H. Smart as Shirley Benson
Jon Kit Lee as a blind beggar who provides Wing with information on Gao in China.
Lewis Tan as Zhou Cheng

Plot: (FULL Spoilers)

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
1	"Snow Gives Way"	John Dahl	Scott Buck	March 17, 2017
Danny Rand enters Rand Enterprises, asking to meet Harold Meachum, but is ignored due to his appearance. He fights his way through security and reaches Harold's children Ward and Joy, who state that Harold has been dead for years, not believing him to be Rand. He starts spending his nights in a park, befriending a beggar calling himself Big Al. He also meets Colleen Wing, whom he asks for a training job in her newly opened dojo; but she ignores him too. Rand makes another attempt to convince Joy, and later Ward. The siblings believe that the rivals of Rand Enterprise are planning to show a leadership struggle within the company now that they are going to announce their expansion in China. Rand is attacked by Ward's mercenaries. Wing attempts to save Rand, but witnesses him overpowering them. Harold is revealed to be alive and in hiding, being in contact with Ward. The former considers the possibility that Rand is alive and orders Ward to leave the situation to him. Rand faces Joy and tells her about Ward's actions. However, she poisons Rand, who is taken to a hospital. Flashbacks show Rand as a child when his family plane crashes in the Himalayas.
2	"Shadow Hawk Takes Flight"	John Dahl	Scott Buck	March 17, 2017
Rand is revealed to be at a psychiatric hospital, assigned to Dr. Paul Edmonds. Rand continues insisting on his true identity. Harold is revealed to be surveilling the hospital. He has Ward talk to Wing. Ward offers her money in exchange for her confirmation of Rand's alleged condition. Harold secretly visits Rand, who reveals that he is the current Iron Fist, the sworn enemy of the Hand. Wing visits Rand, who reveals his true identity and why Ward is afraid of him. She refuses Ward's offer. Joy deduces that Rand is right and tells Ward, who refuses to free him. Edmonds also learns the truth and asks Rand about after the crash. The latter states that he was transferred by two monks to K'un-Lun, another dimension that becomes connected to the Earth every fifteen years. Edmonds does not believe it and diagnoses him with an anxiety disorder caused by trauma. Harold decides to move Rand to a safe place since he can be useful. Instead, Ward orders his men posed as patients to kill Rand, who overpowers them by summoning the Iron Fist, which he uses to break out of the hospital.
3	"Rolling Thunder Cannon Punch"	Tom Shankland	Quinton Peeples	March 17, 2017
Harold is revealed to be under the control of an unknown woman who punishes him for temporarily leaving the penthouse. Wing is attacked by Ward's mercenaries, whom she overpowers before being confronted by Rand, whom she allows to stay at the dojo. Rand visits Joy, who offers him 100 million dollars if he changes his identity and leaves the Meachums. He refuses and later meets Jeri Hogarth, an old friend of the family. She promises to reclaim his identity in exchange for a permanent contract between her firm and Rand Enterprise. Rand attacks an impolite student of Wing's, provoking her to expel the former, who goes to an apartment owned by Hogarth. In a meeting, Hogarth and Rand show Ward and Joy a handmade ceramic bowl of the latter's containing a younger Rand's fingerprint, thus proving his claim, promising to present it in the upcoming court. Deducing that Harold is alive, Rand follows Ward to the penthouse, where he climbs to the window, which he opens before being pushed down by an unknown person. Meanwhile, Harold forces Ward to buy a specific pier, which is secured by Joy's intellect. Flashbacks show Rand being beaten by the monks.
4	"Eight Diagram Dragon Palm"	Miguel Sapochnik	Scott Reynolds	March 17, 2017
Rand wakes up in the penthouse, where Harold reveals that his cancer was secretly cured by the Hand, which demanded his loyalty in return and allowed him to reveal the truth only to Ward. Harold asks Rand to destroy the Hand in order to free the former, which he accepts. In exchange, Harold orders Ward to accept Rand's return to the company, where his return is announced in a press conference. In a board meeting, Rand uses his position as the majority shareholder to enforce his decision to sell a newly developed leishmaniasis drug at cost in order to save more lives. At his apartment, Joy is attacked by Triad operatives, whom Rand overpowers. He takes her to the dojo before confronting the Triad leader, who reveals that they hold a grudge against Joy for robbing the pier. However, he completely surrenders to Rand's position after the latter reveals that the Hand was behind it. As a reward for securing the pier, the Hand allows Harold to observe Joy from distance. He notices she has been wounded and asks to be allowed to kill the Triad member responsible, which is accepted. Rand receives a message from Yang Hai-Qing.
5	"Under Leaf Pluck Lotus"	Uta Briesewitz	Cristine Chambers	March 17, 2017
A new synthetic heroin appears in New York City. Rand connects it to the Hand; but Ward dismisses it. After a chemical factory owned by the Rand Enterprises on Staten Island produces carcinogenic waste chemicals, Rand personally apologizes to a complaining citizen, with the conversation being recorded by a lawyer and later disclosed to the media. In a board meeting, where Rand is absent, Ward convinces the shareholders to stand against the accusations instead of accepting responsibility. However, the anxiety of being always watched by Harold causes Ward to have a drug overdose. Rand meets Claire Temple, who trains at the dojo. He convinces Wing to help him infiltrate the pier in order to prove his theory. At the pier, they find the containers apparently loaded with normal supplies. Rand enters one of the containers, where he finds a hidden room housing Radovan, the chemist who created the formula since the Hand has his daughter hostage. Rand engages and overpowers a bodyguard after the latter critically stabs Radovan, whom Rand takes to the dojo, where Temple stabilizes him. Wing vows to help Rand defeat the Hand, which is revealed to be run by Wilson Fisk's old ally Madame Gao.
6	"Immortal Emerges from Cave"	RZA	Dwain Worrell	March 17, 2017
In order to satisfy Joy, Ward throws all of his drugs away. He and Rand start searching the warehouses of Rand Enterprises in order to find clues. They find a message left by the Hand challenging Rand to a combat. Rand tells Ward to proceed to the crisis management meeting about the video alone. Rand enters the building, demanding the Hand to free Sabina, Radovan's daughter, and leave his company if he wins, which Gao accepts in exchange for Rand to leave the Hand alone if he loses, which he accepts in return. Rand wins all three rounds by the help of his mentor from K'un-Lun; but Gao threatens to kill Sabina if Rand kills the last opponent. Rand spares him, against his mentor's orders. Gao frees Sabina, revealing that she has been in K'un-Lun before, and also knowing Rand's father. She easily overpowers Rand and allows the duo to leave. Meanwhile, Radovan's condition becomes critical, forcing Temple and Wing to take him to a hospital, where the Hand abducts him. Ward shows withdrawal symptoms in the meeting, forcing him to leave in order to search for drugs. Joy stops him from causing trouble at an infirmary.
7	"Felling Tree with Roots"	Farren Blackburn	Ian Stokes	March 17, 2017
Two Hand operatives arrive at the penthouse to interrogate Harold. Rand arrives and engages them with Harold, who kills both. Harold has Ward dump the bodies in a river. Rand develops romance with Wing. He starts investigating his father's past. Gao arrives at Rand Enterprises, advising Rand to stay out of the Hand's way. She leaves, with him tailing her to an office, where she discusses business with an employee loyal to her. After Gao leaves, Rand confronts the employee and convinces her to leave the city and give him her password. Rand and Wing persuade Yang to help them fight the Hand. Joy convinces Ward to go to a vacation. In a board meeting, Rand announces his decision to close the Staten Island plant while keeping the workers on payroll. Rand, Wing and Yang's operatives attack a Hand facility, where a dying Radovan reveals that Gao has departed for Anzhou, where Rand's family was headed fifteen years ago. The board ousts Rand, Ward and Joy. Ward learns that his personal account has been depleted. He confronts Harold, who humiliates him. Ward stabs Harold several times to his death. He dumps the body in the river.
8	"The Blessing of Many Fractures"	Kevin Tancharoen	Tamara Becher-Wilkinson	March 17, 2017
Rand deduces that his father was going to Anzhou to shut down Gao's operatios, but were targeted by her on the plane. The former, Wing and Temple head to Anzhou, where they acquire information from a nearby beggar. They infiltrate the facility just as Gao arrives. Rand engages Zhou, who has high martial skills despite being a drunkard. The former overpowers the latter and continues beating him until Temple and Wing arrive and stop him. Gao arrives and her men engage the trio, who overpower them. Rand deduces that Gao poisoned the pilots. He spares her life and apprehends her. Meanwhile, the board offers each Ward and Joy 100 million dollars as severance. He attempts to accept it; but she refuses, later showing him photos of the board members that can be used to blackmail them. Ward decides to tell her the truth about Harold and takes her to the penthouse; but hallucinations of blood change his mind.
9	"The Mistress of All Agonies"	Jet Wilkinson	Pat Charles	March 17, 2017
Rand takes Gao to the dojo, where Temple offers using truth serum to force her to talk. Rand steals the serum from Rand Enterprises. Temple injects it, with Gao stating some stories about Rand's parents before they turn out to be lies and Gao being resistant to torture. Wing is revealed to have been poisoned in Anzhou. She contacts her mentor Bakuto. Gao's military operatives attack the dojo, but are defeated. Bakuto arrives and instructs Rand to use the Iron Fist to heal Wing. Rand's energy is depleted and he falls unconscious. Bakuto, Wing and his men take Rand and Gao, leaving Temple at the dojo. An unknown assassin arrives at the dojo. Meanwhile, Harold recovers from his wounds and gains relatively normal mental function after hours, returning to the penthouse, where he confronts Ward and feigns absolution. Ward learns from Yang that those revived by the Hand become more psychopathic after each revival, and attack those closest to them first. Harold kills his assistant Kyle and places heroin in Ward's car, leading to his arrest and transfer to the psychiatric hospital, where he is assigned to Edmonds. Joy arrives at the penthouse and reunites with Harold.
10	"Black Tiger Steals Heart"	Peter Hoar	Quinton Peeples	March 17, 2017
Rand wakes up in a martial academy run by Bakuto, who teaches him how to recharge his "chi". The former becomes suspicious and infiltrates a restricted area, where he learns from an imprisoned Gao that Bakuto is a Hand leader. Rand confronts Wing, who states that Gao is the leader of an evil faction of the Hand. Bakuto offers Harold partnership; but the latter later determines to kill him. Rand learns that the Hand is conducting mass surveillance. He is confronted by Bakuto, whom he overpowers and attempts to escape before being surrounded by Hand operatives. The assassin, revealed to be Davos, comes to his aid. Bakuto stabs Rand by an unknown object. The duo fights its way to the gate, which needs to be destroyed by the Iron Fist, which Rand is unable to summon. The duo continues fighting the Hand until Wing opens the gate, allowing the duo to escape while she escapes in her own direction. Davos tells Rand that they need to return to K'un-Lun. Meanwhile, Harold kills board member Wilkins, staging it as suicide. Joy manages to convince the board to reinstate the Meachums and Rand. Harold denies his involvement in Wilkins' death to her.
11	"Lead Horse Back to Stable"	Deborah Chow	Ian Stokes	March 17, 2017
Rand tells Davos that they will not return to K'un-Lun until the Hand is destroyed. They go to Temple's, where she extracts the fragment of Bakuto's weapon from Rand's wound, stopping the bleeding, but failing to control the infection due to lack of antibiotics. Wing arrives and tries to reason with Rand. She goes to a hospital, where she asks an extern, also a Hand member, for antibiotics. Rand goes to the penthouse, where Joy has discovered that Bakuto has been transferring the Rand Enterprises money to his own accounts. Harold formulates a plan to flush out Bakuto and his operatives from the compound by having Joy freeze the accounts. The former and Rand agree to kill Bakuto, opposed by Joy. The Hand captures Wing and take her to the compound, where Bakuto decides to use her for revival. Outside the compound, Rand and Davos wait for Bakuto. Davos continues questioning Rand's motive for staying in New York. Joy freezes the accounts. Wing frees herself and escapes, spotted by Rand, who rushes inside and calms her. Davos learns about the romance.
12	"Bar the Big Boss"	Andy Goddard	Scott Reynolds	March 17, 2017
Ward escapes the hospital and goes to the penthouse, holding a gun and demanding Harold to let him take Joy. Bakuto and his operatives arrive, with the former calling Rand, shooting Joy and giving him half an hour to arrive at the penthouse in order to save the trio. Against Davos's objections, Rand decides to go, arriving just before Bakuto can decapitate Harold, the only way to kill him for good. The Hand locks Rand and takes him to the lobby, where Rand uses the Fist to free himself just as Davos and Wing attack the Hand, with Rand overpowering Bakuto, who escapes outside before he is cornered by the trio. Wing engages and overpowers him, refusing to kill him, which Davos does after Rand's refusal. The latter engages Davos and overpowers him, stating that he wishes to be both Rand and the Iron Fist. Davos departs and the pair finds Bakuto's body gone. Harold and Ward take Joy to a hospital. Rand and Wing return to the dojo. The next day, Ward texts Rand, alerting him that Harold has framed them of bearing drugs. The dojo is attacked by DEA agents, whom the pair defeats and escapes.
13	"Dragon Plays with Fire"	Stephen Surjik	Scott Buck & Tamara Becher-Wilkinson & Pat Charles	March 17, 2017
Harold enters Rand Enterprises and takes control of it. Rand and Wing go to Bakuto's facility, which is abandoned by the Hand. However, they find Gao, who reveals that Harold was the mastermind of the plane crash fifteen years prior. Ward tells Joy about Harold's actions. She confronts the latter, who denies framing Rand. She leaves for an unknown destination. Ward allies with Rand's team to defeat Harold. The former enters Rand Enterprises, but is spotted by Harold, who wounds him. Temple creates a distraction for Rand and Wing to infiltrate the building. Harold instructs his men to shoot Rand, since the Iron Fist is not bulletproof after all. Rand and Wing manage to overpower Harold's operatives. While Ward acquires evidence of Rand's innocence, the latter follows Harold to the rooftop, where they fight until Ward arrives and shoots Harold, who falls to his death. Ward has the body cremated. Rand convinces Wing to accompany him to K'un-Lun. In a meeting with Joy, Davos tells her that Rand must be killed, overheard by Gao. Rand and Wing arrive at the gate, but find it destroyed with bodies of Hand members.

The Verdict: 

Those descriptions are SCARY accurate...

When I wrote my review on Luke Cage a few months ago, I ranked the Marvel Netflix shows from best to worst. Here, I'm going to start this review off by doing the same to set the tone for this review.

Daredevil (Season 1), Jessica Jones (Season 1), Daredevil (Season 2), Luke Cage (Season 1), Iron Fist (Season 1) 

Yeah, somehow Marvel managed to screw this one up worse than Luke Cage in my eyes...

People still ask me what was my issue with Luke Cage and allow me to clear that up first.

A few of you who know me personally who read this blog know that I'm black, but my issue with that show is that while it stems from trying to showcase and highlight black culture (namely the Harlem community that it takes place in), it still encourages the negative black stereotypes that I don't really much care for how Hollywood consistently enforces in television and film. Bravo to that show for it's stellar multi-cultural cast, but that show, much like Iron Fist, is riddled with tons of narrative flaws from top to bottom.

Casting

How most people felt about Finn Jones being cast as Danny Rand instead of an Asian-American actor...

Unlike most people, I didn't have an issue with Marvel's casting a white/Caucasian actor to play Danny Rand, as if I'm perfectly honest the casting wouldn't have made the depiction of this character here any better from the lackluster writing that we will be discussing shortly. Finn Jones starts off strong but transforms into a whiny, mentally-unstable teenager by the end of the series. Maybe the writing is more to blame as the actor can't make chicken salad out of shit, but still. I wasn't too crazy about his performance here. The breakout star of this series is Colleen Wing, played by Jessica Henswick. She made the most out of what she was given here, especially when the narrative was really bare bones and inconsistent on what they wanted to do with her character, but she made the most if it. As a result, she is a joy to watch in every scene that she's in. Rosario Dawson's Claire Temple is easy on the eyes as well as a delight to see bring her sass and charm here like she has throughout the other Marvel Netflix shows, so don't expect anything different from her here outside of her actually helping a bit in the action in this series. I was cool with Ramón Rodríguez as Bakuto and Sacha Dhawan as Davos, but those guys screamed villain from the second they showed up on the scene. Much like Henswick, they made due with the shit they were given in this show's script. I swear though, everyone from K'un-Lun came off like a bunch of whiny bitches instead of great warriors...

Narrative

Claire Temple is the shining grace in terms of dialogue in this series bar none. She voices EXACTLY
what the audience is thinking watching this show.

One thing that I notice a lot of reviews were citing when I read them prior to watching this was that they were saying that original Iron Fist comics were full of racist stereotypes (something the live-action adaptation of The Spirit had to work around when Frank Miller took up that task) and they didn't have much to go off of. That's a weak excuse when Luke Cage managed to work with what they were given - at least for the most part anyway, when that character has a FAR less impressive rogues gallery to work with... It just shows me that the minds behind this lack creativity and were stuck in that last second rush to get in every major and minor tie-in to set up The Defenders around the corner. As a result, this series ends up being the Iron Man 2 to the Avengers for the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, meaning that the show suffers from an identity crisis when there's so much bridging to be done to set up the next "big thing".

I'm hearing this while watching Iron Fist...

...While thinking back at THIS from Daredevil Season 2. Yeah, you're not the ONLY one, bro.
Once again, I'm left wondering if the various minds behind each of the Marvel Netflix shows watch
each others' shows at all??

The first few episodes did exactly what I feared going into this - the show has too much of an Arrow vibe from the CW. For what was promised to be an action-heavy narrative, Iron Fist ends up allowing the action take a backseat to enforce the "rich kid returns home after being lost/thought to be dead and acquiring special training" tired, yet true trope from Batman, (Green) Arrow, Ironman, and so on.
Danny's special training and zen-like control of his chi and mantra seems to go out of the window completely as there's far too many instances where he has no idea what he is doing. Perfect example? Why is a guy with the education background as far as grade school (no higher than elementary school if he was gone since he was roughly 10 years old) given a board meeting seat of a billion dollar conglomerate? Sure, he inherited 51% of the shares of the company but should have there been something in place that had senior members override him given his lack of experience and education? They could have just had it where the Meachums accepted him back in the family with open arms, gave him access back to his inheritance money that's been building up interest over the past 15 years and move on. We could have done this whole family double cross thing as a subplot for the following season where they reveal that Harold was still alive. Revealing that now seemed to jump the gun too soon (much like how Daredevil Season 2 blew their load on the Hand and killing off Elektra all in one season) and somehow managed to create a lamer first season villain than Diamondback in the last half of Luke Cage when it was clear Black Mariah or Cottonmouth should have been the major antagonist for the first season.

This show had so many in-between the line references and jokes at blue balls that I'm sure people are going to be making
memes from this for months to come.

This show could have been called "Keepin' Up with the Meachums" or "Harold Knows Best" instead of Iron Fist since there's a bigger focus on the Meachum family drama than on Danny Rand and his burden of responsibility as the Iron Fist. That subplot really bogs this show down with completely unnecessary weight to the point where I was beginning to wonder if the Meachums would end up getting their own spin-off from their unnecessary drama.

It seemed that Marvel didn't learn anything here after their mistakes and criticisms following Luke Cage and Daredevil Season 2 as Iron Fist recycling the same ideas and tropes from previous Netflix series.  For example, you have the potential best friend turned enemy (Diamondback in Luke Cage, Davos here, who will become the Steel Serpent later) and the mentally disturbed son pushed over the edge by oppressive father (Wilson Fisk kills his father in Daredevil Season 1, Ward kills Harold here, but Harold comes back to life later only to be killed off by Ward again in the finale).

Claire Temple used as the bridge to tie all of the Defenders together up to this point. Much like with Luke Cage, Claire grounds Danny here but Colleen Wing deserves more credit for that until her "betrayal" at the halfway point of the series. Claire seems more like the voice of the audience here than a bridge/tie to the other Marvel Netflix shows.

Speaking of other ties to the Marvel Netflix shows, Daredevil's Karen Page mentioned briefly during Danny taking a stand against his board members, but she is never shown on-screen. I'm guessing they didn't want to pay her for a 5 second cameo. Another minor tie-in was that Jessica Jones was indirectly mentioned as the private investigator who got the dirt on the Rand Senior Executives for Joy Meachum to blackmail them to get her and Ward's positions of power back within the company. There's a lot more easter eggs and tie-ins to the other Marvel Netflix shows and references, but you can check out that full list here.

Harold Meachum being the mastermind/culprit behind the Rand family demise/plane crash was so obvious that even Ray Charles could have seen that twist coming. I had so many questions on how come no one never exposed him living in that building all of that time over the past 15+ years to the point where the show got to the halfway point, I just said fuck it because it was so damn ridiculous. Better yet... it was just so fucking stupid - even more so on how naive and trusting Danny was of Harold. I love how Danny's zen-like mantras and mental conditioning and training went completely out of the window after Colleen Wing and Harold's deceptions. So much for all of those years of training to make his mind AND his body the ultimate living weapon when he loses his shit at the first sign of things not going his way.

This guy should've been around for more than one episode. I could say the same for ALL of the assassins/fighters thrown against Danny in this to be honest...

Why would Madame Gao want to kill Danny when it's painfully obvious that she's got just as much power to rival his own - along with the experience to boot - and her influence within Rand's corporation was so deeply rooted that Danny's 51% of control didn't mean jack shit. All of this corporate bullshit only bogged this show down even more with unnecessary bullshit when it should have been merely a show focusing on Danny's return to civilized society outside of K'un-Lun and learning the mastery of his powers as they focused merely on the Hand organization as a whole. Why is it that the Hand have been the "major" antagonists in roughly 2-3 of these Marvel Netflix shows but viewers barely know anything about them since this end of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been introduced? Back when I was watching both seasons of Daredevil, the excuse I kept telling myself is that "OK they can't go too far into the Hand until Iron Fist comes out where they'll spend the entire season establishing who and what they are..." Iron Fist came out and goddammit I was horribly wrong when I said that as the show did little to explain the Hand. Sure, they revealed that the Hand has a power struggle going on within rival splinter factions within their own organization, but they did nothing to establish what necessarily makes the Hand the bad guys or why they are understood as evil.

My reaction to every time Danny says that he's the Iron Fist or when someone back in Daredevil mentioned
Black Sky. 

Let's not to mention that both seasons of Daredevil failed to explain exactly what the Black Sky was (along with why were the Hand so obsessed with it) nor what or why were the Hand digging a hole underneath Hell's Kitchen. That has to be literally the biggest plot hole in the Marvel Netflix universe to date...

Action

This is exactly what I thought of when I was watching most of the fight sequences in this series. To be fair though,
most modern seasons of Power Rangers/Super Sentai have better fight choreography than this show and that's just damn
sad.

To say that this show was promised to be martial arts-inspired and action-heavy show, there wasn't much action here at all, especially during the first 6-7 episodes. Keep in mind that Danny Rand technically doesn't defeat any of the major villains in this season himself at all. Colleen Wing defeats Bakuto and Davos lands the finishing blow that "kills" him while Ward killed Harold himself when Danny refused to do it. I will admit that Colleen Wing's fights (ALL of them...) were the standout to the entire series, especially in the first few episodes when she was those street fights (that was pretty much Fight Club) for money. Then the whole sequence where Danny and Davos break out of Bakuto's sanctuary was pretty awesome too. I really didn't care for how the "final boss" sequence where Danny faced off against Harold during the season finale was pretty much a rehash of the original Sam Raimi Spider-Man film where the bad guy gets impaled on something to meet his end before Ward ends up finishing the guy himself.

When asked a general question about how he (Finn Jones) prepared for the exciting martial arts scenes, his reply is halfway between an excuse and an apology. 

“Well, here’s the situation,” he begins, explaining that he only had three weeks to train before filming. “Unfortunately, with the filming schedule, I wasn’t given as much time as I would have liked to continue the training.” Shooting for 12 or 14 hours a day took its toll. “I was learning those fight scenes just 15 minutes before we shot them, because that was the schedule... It would be 2am, 3am, I’d just done a long day of work, and usually the stunt department would come up and say ‘Hey, right, we’ve got this huge 30 person fight and you’ve got to learn it right now.’ So I was learning it on the spot, within 15-20 minutes, and then shooting it. That was the reality for six months.”

I'm not cutting Finn Jones any slack here. He knew what show he was getting cast for and he could have taken some martial arts classes for this to look better in some sequences, but the blame goes on the fight choreographer as well for not consulting whoever does the fights for Daredevil and Agents of SHIELD for the last two seasons. Hell, what's that guy who did the choreography for Captain America: The Winter Soldier doing now? If he's not working on Avengers: Infinity War, then whoever that guy (or gal) is needs a full-time job doing fight choreography for these films and TV shows for the MCU.

To be fair though, Danny's fight against this drunken master (and the whole gauntlet against the Hand's "best" - VERY loose term here - fighters) was actually very well done, but I was expecting more of that as the series went on but ultimately seemed like we got less action as the show dragged on

In my honest opinion, I would have forgiven the lackluster writing here (somewhat...) if the fight scenes made up for it. Instead, the fight sequences (majority of them anyway...) end up being this series' biggest shortcoming and disappointment.

Watch It or Don't Bother?

Why does the Iron Fist have to look like he's just holding a light bulb/flashlight in his hand?

As the last stop on the way towards The Defenders later this year, Iron Fist is an utter disappointment. There's some things to like here, such as the cameos by Jeri Hogarth and Claire Temple along with Jessica Wenwick's stand-out performance as Colleen Wing, but lackluster narrative and a sluggish pace that somehow manages to drag along slower than last year's Luke Cage weighs this series down with so much unnecessary baggage (if setting the stage for The Defenders wasn't bad enough...) that made watching this show much more of a chore than it need to be. It's not a complete trainwreck, but I highly recommend not going out of your way to watch it in one sitting.