Well, here we are. After thirteen episodes and and a lot faffing about, we’ve finally reached the end of the first season of Iron Fist only to discover that it’s the weakest entry into the Marvel/Netflix union by quite some margin. That’s not to say that the various shows that shined spotlights on the likes of Daredevil, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage, didn’t each have their occasional issues; but while those seasons each had strong main characters and clear views of what kind of shows they wanted to be, it frequently seemed that no one connected to the adventures of Danny Rand knew what the hell they were doing. Was it it a superhero thriller set in the world of corporate skullduggery? Was it an ode to the Kung-Fu flicks that inspired the original comics back in the 70s? Sadly, by the end, Iron Fist seemed nothing more than a confused, rushed entry purely put in place to ensure that the upcoming Defenders show would have four members instead of three when it rolled out months later. Making up the numbers is hardly the most righteous of goals… So does the final episode manage to restore any glory to the defender of K’un-Lun? I’m afraid not, as it delves even further into the frustrating realms of Kung-faux.
With Bakuto seemingly off the board and the jealous Davos temporarily routed, it seems all that’s left is to tend to the duplicitous Harold Meachum. However, while the guy’s villainous tendencies has hardly been tough to spot, it turns out that the man Danny Rand had chosen to put his trust in has been the author of his pain for quite a long period of time. Framing Danny for the drug business the Hand brought through Rand Industries, and pointing DEA Agents in his direction is one thing, but when Rand gets confirmation from Gao that it was Harold who had his parent’s plane brought down all those years ago, the shock that he’s been manipulated all along sends Danny into a psychological spiral.
Meanwhile, while Joy heals from her recent bullet wound, Ward still tries to convince her with little success, that her father is actually a monster without even the most basic of morals. Meanwhile, Harold has decided to throw off the parameters of his faked death and fully regain control of Rand Industries once more, but while Claire Temple attempts to talk Danny out of killing Meachum, they whip up a plan with Ward to regain the only evidence left that proves Rand’s innocence – a tablet locked in the hidden safe in Harold’s office.
However, despite being the Iron Fist and a formidable weapon in the battle against evil, Danny still seems to be rather susceptible to bullets and after getting wounded by Harold, they engage in a spot of cat and mouse on the roof of Rand Industries. Can Danny defeat his enemy, restore his innocence, regain his company and leave the overall franchise in a good place for the upcoming Defenders series? In this case, even scoring three out of four is still pretty poor…
There’s a moment in the episode entitled “Dragon Plays With Fire” that pretty much sums up the Netflix Iron Fist experience in a nutshell. During the climax, we find our hero wounded from a bullet from the villain of the piece, and we watch him hide as the bad guy scours the area to finish him off. By the measure of any other TV finale, it’s a suitably tense and dramatic enough concept as our protagonist looks suitably scared while his nemesis advances on him. However, when you have to be reminded that the character in peril is supposed to be one of the greatest martial artists in the world and is imbued with actual mystical abilities, while the man stalking him is a merely a middle-aged man with a gun, you can starts to see what’s gone wrong. Call me old fashioned, but wouldn’t it have been a good idea to end a martial arts show with a martial arts ending – or have I completely lost my mind?
Yes, we got a bunch of climactic final boss fights last episode, but why would anyone think that we wouldn’t want more? Plus, Harold Meachum may be crazier than a shithouse rat, but he really shouldn’t be that much of a physical threat to a man half his age who usually has the powers to punch a hole though plate steel. Obviously, the show has taken steps to significantly weaken the Iron Fist by suggesting that the strain of balancing his K’un-Lun training with the complexities of modern life have caused Finn Jones to enact a string of unconvincing, emotional shit fits which nerf him enough to try and build some tension for the finale. However, while this might have been a good idea if Danny had spent the previous twelve episodes flying around like a maniac, punching the heads off all comers with his glow-in-the-dark knuckles, we’ve barely seen him use his abilities to the fullest at all, which just adds to the mounting frustration even more.
Should we really be bending over backwards in 2017 to try so hard to think up reasons why we don’t have our superheroes use their powers? If it was a budget, or timing issue, then maybe thirteen episodes was simply too long, but considering that Finn Jones’ martial arts skills were hardly up to snuff either, a sizable draw of the character was consistently botched for the entirety of the show. However, far more damaging is that I now longer give much of a crap about any of the other aspects of the show either. Danny’s a tantrum throwing basket case, Colleen’s run out of things to do after vanquishing Bakuto, Claire’s become a bit of a bleeding heart, Joy’s backing the wrong horse and Ward’s speeding through a muddled redemption arc that I’m not too sure that he’s actually earned. However, what all of them have in common is that all of them are fairly annoying and not even David Wenham’s overblown, sneering villainy makes much of an impact any more.
So, in closing, we find that after Daredevil, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage have worked so hard to build up all this momentum in the build-up for their long-hyped team-up, Iron Fist’s been allowed to shatter it all within the space of a single season. Maybe sticking Danny in a group of his peers may cause him to perk up a little, because where this show leaves him (back in the Himalayas with Colleen, discovering that the way back to K’un-Lun is closed off) is about as enticing as attempting the break dance with sciatica. One of the reasons the MCU has experienced the longevity that it has is that it’s fully understood each character it’s trying to adapt, and then tailors the genre to reflect them best. But despite the other members of the Defenders all being gifted intuitive arcs to reflect the various tones of the source material, I actually couldn’t tell you – even now – what Iron Fist was actually supposed to be.
A massive miscalculation in bringing an admittedly strange character to the screen has resulted in the worst offering the Defenders Saga has witnessed by an considerable margin. While other Marvel based heroes have had weak starts, only to catch their full momentum later on, it’s going to take more than a couple of hours of meditating to get Iron Fist up to the levels of his peers. Danny may have punched a dragon in the heart to gain his powers, but it feel like he’s kicked me in the balls…
Good luck Defenders, you’re gonna need it.
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Where to watch Iron Fist – Season 1, Episode 13: Dragon Plays With Fire (2017):