Full spoilers for Iron Fist's fourth episode follow.
There was finally some forward narrative momentum and a good fight scene for Danny Rand in the fourth episode of Marvel’s Iron Fist.
After surviving a push from a skyscraper window, Danny awakens inside Harold Meachum’s penthouse to discover the seemingly dead co-founder of Rand Enterprises is very much alive. Danny too naively accepted Harold’s explanation about The Hand saving his life, though, as well as their infesting the company. Ward did just try to kill you, Danny, so maybe keep your guard up around the Meachums before being so quick to hug it out with Harold. Especially as you are the Iron Fist, sworn to destroy The Hand, and they are so closely tied to your business partners. Just a thought.
Harold also got Ward to drop the firm’s litigation against Danny so he could he be publicly restored to the company and his fortune. (Harold obviously wants Danny’s help against The Hand when the time comes.)
Danny, who has spent 15 years away and has no business experience whatsoever, almost immediately upsets a Rand pharmaceutical deal that, in turn, gets the Meachums once again working against him. The business machinations in this episode at least led to some better action beats than they previously had, as the triads made a move against Joy over her firm’s pier acquisition.
This, in turn, led to what is now a staple of Marvel-Netflix series, a hallway fight! We finally get to see Finn Jones’ Danny Rand looking like an effective martial artist even if this brawl, like the others on the show so far, felt overly staged. Still, it was Danny’s best fight yet.
(Speaking of good fights, it was great to see Colleen Wing step back into the ring as “The Daughter of the Dragon” and take on not one but two opponents. However, her fight club scenes here didn’t really advance the plot. Colleen also gave Joy some martial arts lessons, but we’ll see whether those pay off in a future episode.)
The triad’s ill-advised move against Joy also allowed Harold in on the bloodletting when The Hand exacted retribution on them. It also led to Danny receiving a message bearing a very familiar dragon symbol -- which Danny then dramatically reveals is tattooed on his chest. This was our first (good) look at the superhero’s signature symbol.
This episode also saw the welcome return of Madame Gao (Wai Ching Ho), the more dangerous than she appears criminal who previously appeared on both seasons of Daredevil. I’m curious how this scene-stealing character plays out in the homestretch of Iron Fist’s first season.
The Verdict
This fourth episode was a marked improvement over the first three. It had more of a pulse, began to move past the soap opera elements and into The Hand subplot, we got to see more of Colleen kicking ass, and Danny had his best battle yet. And, as a character, Danny was far less passive and more active than he's been. Plus, we finally got to see his Iron Fist tattoo.
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