Well, after guest director RZA swooped in and finally added some Kung Fu delights to a martial arts series that been seriously lacking them, we find that Iron Fist has returned to its faintly annoying basics in only a single episode. I guess I understand it in some regards, but part of what makes the MCU great is the need to embrace other genres to really make the character resonate. Imagine Captain America: The First Avenger not being a war film, or Guardians Of The Galaxy not being a goofy space comedy – its what gives the various properties and characters their variety, which is still something that Danny Rand’s show is still sorely missing.
Still, with that being said, despite its return to the corporate world, at least “Felling Tree With Roots” is packed full of reveals, twists and incident as Iron Fist celebrates reaching the halfway point by aggressively flipping the narrative table like an outraged card player.
It’s become fairly apparent that the Hand is getting fed up with Harold Meachum trying to play both sides and groom Danny Rand into vanquishing the cult for him, so they send a couple of thugs round to the penthouse to give some stern lessons and take a finger. However, in the midst of this, Danny pops in for advice after Madame Gao cheated him out of a victory during his recent challenge and in the kerfuffle, Harold brutally murders the two goons and tries to put a shocked Danny at ease. But while Rand ultimately finds solace in the willing arms of Colleen Wing, Harold requests help to clean up his mess from the only person he can – Ward.
Poor old Ward’s been going through the wringer of late. His company has been going down the tubes since Danny resurfaced, his sister, Joy, has discovered his drug addiction and he’s also currently going through some serious withdrawals too – so a call from his “dead” father to dispose of some mutilated bodies is possibly the worse thing that could happen to his mental state. However, after ditching the bodies, he vows to Joy to leave and get clean thanks to the sizable funds he’s embezzled over the years. But Harold keeps his kids under a far tighter leash than Ward ever realised and his dreams of starting afresh are dashed when he discovers that his father has purged his ill-gotten loot.
Meanwhile, Danny is further stunned when Madame Gao shows up at Rand Industries like she owns the place (she even brings a plant and complains about the Feng Shui) and it turns out that she and Danny’s father had some choice words back in the day. Now suspicious that the Hand is responsible for his parents death, Danny also finds out that the criminal organisation actually works out of the thirteenth floor of his very building to sell the synthetic heroin that’s started this mess to begin with. But while Danny vows to clean up his company, it causes a beef with the board that may see Danny, Joy and Ward outsed from Rand Industries for good. However, that’s nothing compared to the fit of formerly repressed rage that explodes out of Ward that leads him to stab his father to death and dump his body.
It’s tough to be too harsh on “Felling Tree With Roots” because even though it ditches the classic, neo-Shaw Brothers vibe that RZA attempted to provide and goes right back to slow-paced corporate intrigue, so much happens during the episode, it manages to keep you locked in in spite of itself. In the space of an hour, Harold slaughters two members of the Hand and bashes their teeth out to hide their identities, Danny loses his virginity, Madame Gao reveals her connection to Rand Industries, the board kick out both Danny and the Meachums and Ward finally goes nuclear and murders his father in a fit of blind rage. To be fair, it’s pretty hard to be overly disgruntled when so much occurs in such a short time, but I have to say that some of it was marred by some slightly questionable writing.
I guess one of the main sticking points of the episode is that it’s got me wondering if the Hand has ever heard of CCTV, or even a NannyCam at least. Why would an all-encompassing, shadowy ninja cult not be monitoring such a tricky subject like Harold Meachum every second of the day if so much of their nefarious plan hinges entirely on a man who classes being a “duplicitous bastard” as a positive trait. Similarly, if the Hand is stacked with utterly devoted acolytes, why would Harold assume that a couple of them suddenly going missing wouldn’t be such a big deal, especially seeing that he’s involved. He cuts off a finger to cover his ass, sure, but the overall plan is weaker than watered down piss. Furthermore, while Madame Gao actually having office space is proof of just how brazen the Hand can be, and having her enter via the front door just to rub Danny’s face in it is something of a foolhardy move for a villain normally shown to be so careful. Yes, I get that it’s all supposed to show how obscenely overconfident the evil secret society has gotten, but considering that they’ve recently got their butt handed to them by Daredevil, you’d think that Gao would exercise a modicum of caution.
Anyway, Danny gets laid, so that’s nice for him, but while it helps ease the sting of his recent loss against the Hand, not even Colleen’s embrace (complete with 80s synth) can stop his growing frustration with Gao’s infiltration of his company. However, the revelation that the Hand are maybe responsible for the plane crash that killed his folks and stranded him in the Himalayas is hardly a shocker, as shit like this is practically superhero plotting 101. Similarly, I’m getting pretty pissed that a show named Iron Fist isn’t actually letting the Iron Fist use his Iron Fist powers and while I understand the need to not make the lead character too overpowered too early, we’re now at episode seven and watching him use the ability to slide down an elevator cable isn’t exactly doing it for me either.
Thank God, then, for Ward’s long overdue breakdown, that’s seen him get sweatier and sweatier and his fringe get floppier and floppier with every new layer of stress. With his father’s mistreatment, the return of Danny, constant corporate hiccups and his drug problem, the character’s been building to something destructive. But I guess the semi-regular sight of mutilated corpse (severed head last episode, smashed in faces this episode) have finally pushed him over the edge and we get to watch years of frustration explode in the form of multiple knife wounds delivered to his controlling patriarch. Of course, it once again brings the quality of security of both the Hand and Rand Industries into yet more question, considering Ward can murder his father within the Hand’s secret penthouse and sneak him out of a corporate building as easy as delivering a parcel…
While that shock death goes a fair way towards holding our attention, it seems that Iron Fist has gone back to it’s regular habits after an episode that gave us a glimpse of what the show could – and should – have been. I’m hoping that the twists here will shake things up a bit (or at least give Joy something more to do than just look annoyed), but as we enter the second half of the season, the Iron Fist could use some more iron in his daily intake.
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