Danny Rand sees a shrink (against his will) and sends Joy a candygram.
Full spoilers for Iron Fist's second episode follow.
By the end of this second episode, Marvel’s Iron Fist still has yet to develop any real personality for most of its characters or for the show itself. It’s tough to care about what’s happening or why. The dialogue is sometimes painfully on-the-nose, the pacing slow, and the action pedestrian. While it has moments that engage, the fact that it’s part of the Marvel brand is the only truly noteworthy thing about the show.
In this episode, Danny Rand finds himself confined to a mental hospital thanks to Ward Meachum. With no real proof that he is who he claims (his Canadian passport says he’s “John Anderson”), Danny comes under the observation of psychiatrist Dr. Paul Edmonds (a character who appeared way back in Avengers #227).
While there are a few flashes to young Danny (Toby Nichols) post-plane crash, parts of his origin story here are related verbally to Dr. Edmonds, a fantastical tale that certainly doesn’t help Danny seem sane. (Edmonds’ observation that since the Battle of New York many people claim to possess super powers when they in fact have psychiatric disorders was interesting.)
Overall, though, this gaslighting/mental hospital story didn't really deliver. Danny never quite seemed as imperiled or as manipulated as the episode's premise could've allowed.
On the boardroom front, Ward and Joy were still debating if the guy they’ve locked up in the psych ward might really be Danny. But thanks to some egregious M&M product placement, Danny’s able to prove his identity to Joy. Well, at least for now (he still needs to prove it legally). As for the other Meachum, the not-so-dead Harold’s visit to a drugged, hospitalized Danny led to his decision to keep Danny alive in case he needs his help against The Hand.
Ward and Harold’s relationship, like much of Harold’s dialogue, is of the contrived “daddy likes his surrogate son more” variety. We also get hints that Ward may have a substance abuse issue. Although, to be fair, it’d be hard to not want to day-drink or pop pills if you were tasked with stashing your twisted, resurrected father away in a high-rise while also having to run his empire and keep your sister in the dark.
Colleen Wing is by far the most likable character on Iron Fist. She might not be a Daughter of the Dragon yet, but her moral code and street smarts prevented her from selling out Danny, someone she barely knows, to Ward for financial assistance she clearly needs. I also liked the misdirection in the scene where her confrontation with would-be assailants turned out to be a training exercise with her pupils (including Marquis Rodriguez’s Darryl, who also appeared in Luke Cage).
For viewers waiting for a truly Marvel-ous moment to finally happen, the very end of this episode gave us our first look at the “Iron Fist” in action as Danny punches his way to freedom. His glowing hand aside, though, what we’ve seen of Danny’s fighting prowess remains underwhelming. Sure, he was drugged but he’s supposed to have been trained since childhood by warrior monks and yet a few orderlies can get the better of him? He’s Iron Fist, the only one, so he proclaims, who can possibly stop The Hand, but so far it seems a lot more like he could simply use a hand.
The Verdict
The Meachums remain a soap opera family with a soap opera plot and Danny Rand has yet to convince that he’s a physical force to be reckoned with.
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