Finally, someone seems to get it!
After five full episodes of complaining that the Iron Fist show isn’t doing enough to pay homage to its Kung Fu roots (could you imagine if Luke Cage had skimped on the blaxsploitation?), out of nowhere comes “Immortal Emerges From Cave” that finally tries to address the balance. Unsurprisingly, the director responsible for this long overdue segue into more Shaw Brothers territory proves to be a guest director who knows a thing or to about the finer points of old school, martial arts movies.
While Method Man from legendary hip hop group, Wu-Tang Clan popped up for a sizable cameo during an episode of Luke Cage, fellow member RZA (aka. Robert Fitzgerald Diggs), has decided to one-up him by not only helming an episode of Iron Fist, but uses his famous love of Kung Fu cinema to deliver easily the best, and tonally most accurate episode of the season by a county mile.
Wu-Tang Ain’t Nuthing ta F’ Wit indeed…
While Joy Meachum has stumbled upon her brother’s addiction to pain killers, his stash running out couldn’t have come at a worse time, as the siblings have been trying to perform some damage control thanks to Danny Rand’s overly honest approach to big business. However, while they need him around to speak to the member of crisis management they’ve hired, Danny’s now all-in when it comes to sniffing out the Hand and destroying them. After Danny and Ward discover the severed head of the vanquished bodyguard of the Hand’s injured chemist, Bernvig, they find an invitation to a challenge with his daughter’s life on the line.
Leaving the Meachums to grumpily sort out the issues at Rand Industries, Danny goes to participate in a life or death struggle that sees the Iron Fist square off against a clutch of the Hand’s best and brightest. The first wave sees him fight brothers Andrei and Grigori Veznikov simultaneously, while the second demands that he locks horns with the poison-dealing Bride Of Nine Spiders. But if he is victorious in the first two endeavors, Rand will have to fight the vicious Scythe, and he wins that final bout, he finally has the right to demand that the Hand accept defeat and leave New York for good.
However, when you consider that it’s the duplicitous Madame Gao thats presiding over the contest, there’s a definite sense that the Hand will attempt to bend the rules as much as they can, as Danny adheres to them like glue. But one thing we hadn’t counted on is the fact that Danny’s grueling childhood training in K’un-Lun has him seeing and speaking to his old mentor – Lei Kung the Thunderer – as if he’s actually there.
But while Danny is ultimately victorious, the Hand manages to pull some underhanded shit that not only ensures that the wounded Bernvig falls back into their clutches, but makes a thoroughly bamboozled Danny forfeit the challenge.
Due to the show’s insistance of keeping things as un-Kung Fu as it possibly can, the fact that we’ve suddenly now got an episode that belatedly deep dives into Iron Fist lore and indulges in something akin to the Kung Fu movies of the 70s, means that the show suddenly has an injection of something it’s desperately need for some time now – character. While all the other shows in the Marvel/Netflix pantheon found their distinctive identities fairly quickly, Iron Fist has been visibly struggling to find ways to merge it’s various aspects into something that actually makes sense. However, most of the time, it’s various business-based dramas have served to pull focus from the aspects of the charscter that might actually be fun – I mean, what would you rather watch: Ward’s drug addiction causing issues in the boardroom, or the Immortal Iron Fist squaring off against the Hand in a Game Of Death inspired scenario?
Luckily, we get both, but while it’s good that Tom Pelphrey gets to stretch his legs a bit while stress causes Ward to fray at the edges, you can tell that RZA can’t wait to embrace the comic in ways the show has neglected since episode one. For a start, the installment dredges up a bunch of deep-cut villains from various aspects of the character’s history to act as various opponents for our hero to face and each one has a gimmick for the director (and fight choreographer) to take full advantage of. Yes, Finn Jones’ Kung Fu obviously isn’t the equal of a Donnie Yen or a Jet Li, and the sequences still feel slightly over edited in order to paper over the joins – but it’s still easily the most Iron Fist the show has ever been. The fight against the Veznikov Brothers is a slick handicap battle, while the Bride Of Nine Spiders pulls more of a seduction ploy while jabbing him with poisoned needles, and then to round it all off, the final battle with the blade-twirling Scythe brings matters to a stirring close. But as a bonus, we even get an enjoyable side-mission as Colleen Wing and Claire Temple struggle to protect a convalescing Bernvig at Claire’s old hospital.
Hell, even Madame Gao joins in the fun, admiting that she too hails from K’un-Lun while displaying telekinetic martial arts mojo that finally explains why everyone was so shit scared of her in Daredevil. But possibly the most interesting thing that RZA brings is an undiluted, Shaw Brothers vibe that’s achieved by having Lei Kung deliver classic mentor monologues to his former pupil in a seriously grave tone. Even this provides a major callback to the comic as we finally get a good, clear look at the green and yellow robes that invoke the look of the Iron Fist’s classic costume (no mask yet, though).
While the episode isn’t perfect, it’s by far the best episode of the bunch to date, and because RZA has fully introduced the Kung Fu aspect while refusing to hold back, it actually even makes the non challenge-based aspects of the plot more intriguing in comparison. Ward’s cold turkey gets so bad, he resorts to slamming his own hand in a car door to try and score the pain killers that he so desperately needs, and watching him finally get a glimpse of Danny’s real life – severed head and all – is actually pretty funny as he freaks out. However, anyone who is familiar with how these shows roll know that we’re probably about to endure the usual cooling down period the Netflix/Marvel shows all insist on having after a big action episode. With Danny’s belief system all messed up after being screwed out of his victory by brazen trickery, he’s obviously going to need an entire episode (or two) to get his head back in the game while he whines about failing in the duties of the Iron Fist. Still, no matter what happens, at least we got one episode that finally hued closer to what the show should have been like from the word go. I mean it’s not hard is it? A martial arts character needs martial arts fights, right? RZA gets it.
Finally approaching the promise the show could have had if all aspects of the comic were addressed equally, “Immortal Emerges From Cave” provides the best episode so far by quite a serious margin. Ok, so veteran martial arts fans will undoubtedly cringe at all the editing and stunt doubles deployed to achieve that necessary Shaw Brother’s influence, but the fact that the show is now venturing fully into this aspect of the character is massively appreciated.
Now bow to your teacher.
🌟🌟🌟🌟