Iron Fist, Season 1, Episode 6: Immortal Emerges From Cave
So a significant portion of the earlier episodes had Danny kind of flash into him in Chinese clothes on a mountain, and it's left ambiguous whether he literally had his soul or mind or whatever return to a spiritual plane, or if he's having flashbacks. A good chunk of this episode shows Danny talking to the spectral image of what I assume was his master (Lei Kung?) admonishing him for not being able to let go of the material world and embrace his destiny as the Iron Fist, living weapon and destroyer of the Hand. Danny Rand should be dead, and only Iron Fist should remain.
Multiple characters like Madame Gao and her warriors also make note why the legendary Iron Fist has descended from K'un Lun when he should be guarding the gate, so yeah, all of this does raise questions as to just what the fuck K'un Lun really is, what Danny is doing, and why is he in New York. Is he banished? Is he on a mission to destroy the Hand? Is he escaped? The stuff that Ghost Master was talking about did seem a fair bit brainwashing-esque, so maybe he's just tired about that, and refuses to deny his 'Danny Rand' persona?
There's a nice bit of ambiguity whether Danny's master is a ghost, communicating through him from K'un Lun, or if Danny's just hallucinating it all. Certainly none of the others can see the dude. It's all very interesting and comic-book-y, for sure, and learning bits about Iron Fist's enigmatic backstory while simultaneously learning little is a bit frustrating, especially when you consider some of the earlier episodes could've told the K'un Lun story alongside its corporate stuff, but at least we're getting there.
So the cast is basically divided into three groups at this point. After saving the chemist, Rodovan, Danny decides to track down his kidnapped daughter, ignoring poor Ward's attempts to just get him to come to a crucial meeting. Meanwhile, Claire and Colleen go bring the dying Rodovan to a hospital, and Ward deals with his own drug addiction and basically self-destructs.
The B-plots in this episode are nice additions, for sure, following the theme of urgency around Danny Rand's life at this point. His big gesture to appease the crying mother is putting the company in jeopardy. Joy pulled some strings to get someone to help out, but Danny refuses to even come to the meeting (sending Ward instead of Joy there is a bit of a dumb move, though) and Ward's going through drug withdrawal. He throws away all his painkillers in an attempt to appease his sister after overdosing last episode, but this leaves him sleepy, jumpy and jittery during the meeting, possibly dooming it even worse than it already is. Ward's spiral into even worse decisions is honestly not necessary and I'm not sure it required the amount of focus it did.
Colleen and Claire, meanwhile, are forced to bring Rodovan to a hospital and I for one am a little happy that Claire's nurse skills doesn't just magic away every single life-threatening disease. They end up being bamboozled by the hospital, which is infiltrated by Hand agents already, and while Claire and Colleen do their best (including a pretty badass takedown of a Hand agent by Colleen) it still really doesn't do much to catch interest.
There's a cool, kung fu movie 'gather the fighters' scene as various invitations on purple pillows are sent out over the course of the episode's first few minutes, as we're introduced to a group of villains. A pair of Russian meat butchers, a female Korean scientist experimenting with spiders, and a psychotic dude that karaokes Take On Me as he brutally murders people. The latter two are apparently actual Iron Fist enemies Bride of Nine Spiders and the Scythe, and, well, they certainly feel like comic villains that carry the flourish of their comic book origins while still feeling at home in the more grounded adaptation.
Basically, Madame Gao sends a challenge to Iron Fist, expecting Danny to go around in that Aston Martin of his and find the decapitated head of the goon from last episode that Gao killed... but find it he did, and Iron Fist enters this holy ritual to fight the Hand, observed by Gao. The three villains (well, four, but the butcher twins fight as one) act like boss levels in a video game, and, well, finally we get some martial arts. A little ham fisted in how he still has flashbacks with his master and basically having a conversation with him, but hey.
The Russians have the least personality, basically asking Danny if he's the Iron Fist, and if he is, why did he abandon his post, blah blah, before being beaten down. But they felt a lot better than the Bride of Nine Spiders, who I think was kind of poorly realized. I do like that she's gloriously hammy, and while her introduction with spiders and whatnot is pretty cool, during the tournament she shows up in a gothic corset, and gets close and seduces Danny in record time -- literally walking up to Danny and stabbing her with a poison needle. It's definitely a little eyebrow-raising that the only female fighter dresses provocatively, doesn't actually throw a punch, makes everything about her revolve around her sexuality (unlike the other fighters, who makes references about the Iron Fist and duty and whatnot) and gets knocked down by a single kick.
Scythe's easily the best and most entertaining villain of the bunch, even from his introduction scene of singing karaoke after brutally murdering a bunch of dudes. His obsession with weapon clashes very well with Danny's insistence that he is the weapon, and the fight with Scythe, while partly obscured by the dark lighting of the scene, is still easily one of the best the show's done.
Gao isn't keen on honour, though, threatening to slit Sabina's throat if Iron Fist doesn't formally withdraw. Danny is actually taken aback that Gao would stoop to so low... yeah, he hasn't been out of the monastery much, has he? And the best thing is that the show's spent a not inconsiderable amoutn of its screentime telling us how idealistic and naive Danny is, so yeah, him expecting Gao to fully honour ancient traditions is definitely something that I totally see Danny as doing.
It's predictable that Danny's going to choose to save the civilian over destroying the Hand, which he also does earlier during his time in the office, choosing to ignore literally everything Ward is saying because he has to figure out where the Hand is, and he has to save the girl. Moreso than Daredevil, Danny Rand and Iron Fist are very much separated, and the real Danny is somewhere in-between, the guy who finds more purpose saving girls and fighting evil ninjas instead of staying in an office, yet he's also the guy that'll choose to not be on an autopilot "destroy the Hand" mode all the time.
The opaqueness of the whole K'un Lun stuff is irritating, to be honest. We're already buying into a show where a kung fu dude fights with a glowing fist that channels chi, so why keep it so secretive? It's really suffering from the same problem that Daredevil's second season does, but at least Daredevil has the excuse of switching from a 'vigilante takes down criminals' plotline into a mystical ninja cult plot. Here the premise has always been that Iron Fist is a mystical warrior, so while I'm not faulting the show for keeping some mysteries hidden for a later episode, it's getting frustratingly roundabout that we don't get a lot of answers but just more questions. And not knowing the full story, the full weight of being the Protector of K'un Lun, really hurts the climax of Danny choosing to be Danny Rand instead of Iron Fist a little.
Still, Gao reveals some nice tidbits about herself and Danny, too. She's from K'un Lun, or at least has visited there. She's met a previous incarnation of the Iron Fist, noting how different Danny is because he doesn't fall into all the brainwashing "kill your past self, you're only a weapon" thing. Also, Wendell Rand has something to do with her, at the very least... and whatever answers Danny is seeking ends up a dead end as Madame Gao can literally knock him halfway across the room with a single touch.
It doesn't end well with him. He has to forfeit the tournament and since Danny's an honourable fellow he's probably going to honour his part of the deal. He rescues Sabina, but he doesn't know that her father's been recaptured. His already-precarious position in Rand Enterprises gets shaken even more (though poor Ward's a lot more volatile than he is now). And Madame Gao shows that with a simple tap on the chest she can send even the mighty Iron Fist flying into a wall. And Danny's choice to save the girl instead of crushing the Hand causes his ghostly master to turn his back on him. Not a good day for Danny.
Still, as frustrating as the lack of information about K'un Lun is, and as ineffective as the Bride of Nine Spiders is, it's nice that the show's elements started to work a lot better. There are still a lot of things that didn't work and keeping both Iron Fist's backstory and the mechanics of his power ambiguous and only sparsely scattered is both maddeningly slow yet gives some nice mysticism to him. Also, yay for actual kung fu fight scenes, which, if nothing else, was a fun enough distraction from the weaker parts of the episode.
Marvel Easter Eggs Corner:
Multiple characters like Madame Gao and her warriors also make note why the legendary Iron Fist has descended from K'un Lun when he should be guarding the gate, so yeah, all of this does raise questions as to just what the fuck K'un Lun really is, what Danny is doing, and why is he in New York. Is he banished? Is he on a mission to destroy the Hand? Is he escaped? The stuff that Ghost Master was talking about did seem a fair bit brainwashing-esque, so maybe he's just tired about that, and refuses to deny his 'Danny Rand' persona?
There's a nice bit of ambiguity whether Danny's master is a ghost, communicating through him from K'un Lun, or if Danny's just hallucinating it all. Certainly none of the others can see the dude. It's all very interesting and comic-book-y, for sure, and learning bits about Iron Fist's enigmatic backstory while simultaneously learning little is a bit frustrating, especially when you consider some of the earlier episodes could've told the K'un Lun story alongside its corporate stuff, but at least we're getting there.
So the cast is basically divided into three groups at this point. After saving the chemist, Rodovan, Danny decides to track down his kidnapped daughter, ignoring poor Ward's attempts to just get him to come to a crucial meeting. Meanwhile, Claire and Colleen go bring the dying Rodovan to a hospital, and Ward deals with his own drug addiction and basically self-destructs.
The B-plots in this episode are nice additions, for sure, following the theme of urgency around Danny Rand's life at this point. His big gesture to appease the crying mother is putting the company in jeopardy. Joy pulled some strings to get someone to help out, but Danny refuses to even come to the meeting (sending Ward instead of Joy there is a bit of a dumb move, though) and Ward's going through drug withdrawal. He throws away all his painkillers in an attempt to appease his sister after overdosing last episode, but this leaves him sleepy, jumpy and jittery during the meeting, possibly dooming it even worse than it already is. Ward's spiral into even worse decisions is honestly not necessary and I'm not sure it required the amount of focus it did.
Colleen and Claire, meanwhile, are forced to bring Rodovan to a hospital and I for one am a little happy that Claire's nurse skills doesn't just magic away every single life-threatening disease. They end up being bamboozled by the hospital, which is infiltrated by Hand agents already, and while Claire and Colleen do their best (including a pretty badass takedown of a Hand agent by Colleen) it still really doesn't do much to catch interest.
There's a cool, kung fu movie 'gather the fighters' scene as various invitations on purple pillows are sent out over the course of the episode's first few minutes, as we're introduced to a group of villains. A pair of Russian meat butchers, a female Korean scientist experimenting with spiders, and a psychotic dude that karaokes Take On Me as he brutally murders people. The latter two are apparently actual Iron Fist enemies Bride of Nine Spiders and the Scythe, and, well, they certainly feel like comic villains that carry the flourish of their comic book origins while still feeling at home in the more grounded adaptation.
Basically, Madame Gao sends a challenge to Iron Fist, expecting Danny to go around in that Aston Martin of his and find the decapitated head of the goon from last episode that Gao killed... but find it he did, and Iron Fist enters this holy ritual to fight the Hand, observed by Gao. The three villains (well, four, but the butcher twins fight as one) act like boss levels in a video game, and, well, finally we get some martial arts. A little ham fisted in how he still has flashbacks with his master and basically having a conversation with him, but hey.
The Russians have the least personality, basically asking Danny if he's the Iron Fist, and if he is, why did he abandon his post, blah blah, before being beaten down. But they felt a lot better than the Bride of Nine Spiders, who I think was kind of poorly realized. I do like that she's gloriously hammy, and while her introduction with spiders and whatnot is pretty cool, during the tournament she shows up in a gothic corset, and gets close and seduces Danny in record time -- literally walking up to Danny and stabbing her with a poison needle. It's definitely a little eyebrow-raising that the only female fighter dresses provocatively, doesn't actually throw a punch, makes everything about her revolve around her sexuality (unlike the other fighters, who makes references about the Iron Fist and duty and whatnot) and gets knocked down by a single kick.
Scythe's easily the best and most entertaining villain of the bunch, even from his introduction scene of singing karaoke after brutally murdering a bunch of dudes. His obsession with weapon clashes very well with Danny's insistence that he is the weapon, and the fight with Scythe, while partly obscured by the dark lighting of the scene, is still easily one of the best the show's done.
Gao isn't keen on honour, though, threatening to slit Sabina's throat if Iron Fist doesn't formally withdraw. Danny is actually taken aback that Gao would stoop to so low... yeah, he hasn't been out of the monastery much, has he? And the best thing is that the show's spent a not inconsiderable amoutn of its screentime telling us how idealistic and naive Danny is, so yeah, him expecting Gao to fully honour ancient traditions is definitely something that I totally see Danny as doing.
It's predictable that Danny's going to choose to save the civilian over destroying the Hand, which he also does earlier during his time in the office, choosing to ignore literally everything Ward is saying because he has to figure out where the Hand is, and he has to save the girl. Moreso than Daredevil, Danny Rand and Iron Fist are very much separated, and the real Danny is somewhere in-between, the guy who finds more purpose saving girls and fighting evil ninjas instead of staying in an office, yet he's also the guy that'll choose to not be on an autopilot "destroy the Hand" mode all the time.
The opaqueness of the whole K'un Lun stuff is irritating, to be honest. We're already buying into a show where a kung fu dude fights with a glowing fist that channels chi, so why keep it so secretive? It's really suffering from the same problem that Daredevil's second season does, but at least Daredevil has the excuse of switching from a 'vigilante takes down criminals' plotline into a mystical ninja cult plot. Here the premise has always been that Iron Fist is a mystical warrior, so while I'm not faulting the show for keeping some mysteries hidden for a later episode, it's getting frustratingly roundabout that we don't get a lot of answers but just more questions. And not knowing the full story, the full weight of being the Protector of K'un Lun, really hurts the climax of Danny choosing to be Danny Rand instead of Iron Fist a little.
Still, Gao reveals some nice tidbits about herself and Danny, too. She's from K'un Lun, or at least has visited there. She's met a previous incarnation of the Iron Fist, noting how different Danny is because he doesn't fall into all the brainwashing "kill your past self, you're only a weapon" thing. Also, Wendell Rand has something to do with her, at the very least... and whatever answers Danny is seeking ends up a dead end as Madame Gao can literally knock him halfway across the room with a single touch.
It doesn't end well with him. He has to forfeit the tournament and since Danny's an honourable fellow he's probably going to honour his part of the deal. He rescues Sabina, but he doesn't know that her father's been recaptured. His already-precarious position in Rand Enterprises gets shaken even more (though poor Ward's a lot more volatile than he is now). And Madame Gao shows that with a simple tap on the chest she can send even the mighty Iron Fist flying into a wall. And Danny's choice to save the girl instead of crushing the Hand causes his ghostly master to turn his back on him. Not a good day for Danny.
Still, as frustrating as the lack of information about K'un Lun is, and as ineffective as the Bride of Nine Spiders is, it's nice that the show's elements started to work a lot better. There are still a lot of things that didn't work and keeping both Iron Fist's backstory and the mechanics of his power ambiguous and only sparsely scattered is both maddeningly slow yet gives some nice mysticism to him. Also, yay for actual kung fu fight scenes, which, if nothing else, was a fun enough distraction from the weaker parts of the episode.
Marvel Easter Eggs Corner:
- The cast of the hospital previously appeared in Daredevil season two, including Claire's long-suffering superior Shirley.
- Claire drops Luke Cage's signature "sweet Christmas" when chasing the Hand ninjas in the hospital.
- The crisis manager dude mentions the Hulk in "that incredible green guy".
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