Before we get started, I feel it’s
important to let you all know something. On my last post, The Scorpion, a fan
reached out asking for a guide on how to potentially get into comics,
specifically Marvel. I am currently working on this post, but it’s going to be
a little while before I get it all finalized. I want to give you, my audience,
the best most comprehensive guide that I can produce. But if you can’t wait,
the shortest bit of advice I can give is check out Marvel.com. Thank me later.
Let’s get to it.
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| Not the face you want to make when your hand is glowing. |
We open to Harold Meachum in his
weird sleep pod thing. He’s rudely awaked by a pair of Hand goons. They are
because their boss, Madam Gao, had recently learned that Danny Rand is in fact
the Iron Fist. Something that troubles her, as Harold went so far as to break
his near hermit like isolation to visit Danny in the mental hospital. Harold
feints ignorance, claiming he has no idea what the Iron Fist is, or that Danny
is it. The goons are debating what Harold’s “punishment” should be, chopping
off a finger or his tongue, when Danny bursts in. Worst. Timing. Ever. The two
men fight off the goons, and Harold kills them both. He then chops off his own
finger, to hopefully fool The Hand into thinking the goons came in, did their
job and then died at some point after leaving. I just feel the need to ask, why
didn’t the Hand have somebody watching the penthouse from a distance? For this
very situation? Whatever, moving on.
With the two younger Meachums, Joy
is chastising her brother for his flagrant substance abuse. Something that,
again, she’s apparently known about for a while but somehow didn’t come up
until like last episode. So bizarre. During their heated debate, Ward gets
called up by Harold. He rushes over to the penthouse, and learns that Daddy
just wants him to dispose of the bodies. And considering that Ward walked in
while Harold was smashing their teeth out, this might actually be the worst
timing ever. Because Ward has no backbone when it comes to his Dad, he agrees.
He’s rewarded by finding another vial of his pills in the back seat. Hooray? He
dumps the bodies, and then checks a bank account. He’s got a couple million
dollars in said account… how interesting.
Meanwhile, Colleen stitches up
Danny’s wounds from his death match against the Hand. They then share a drink,
and Danny gives her a small explanation of his Iron Fist tattoo. The large
winged dragon on his chest, FYI. Namely, that being made the Iron Fist
increases his strength, and allows him to channel his Chi more effectively.
Colleen and Danny then get… better acquainted. It’s a good thing that the Iron
Fist doesn’t have to take a vow of celibacy, just saying.
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| Madam Gao is probably the best part of this series thus far. She's this little itty bitty old woman that fills me with dread. |
The next morning, Danny arrives at
his office and asks his secretary to look into all of his father’s files. He’s
shaken up by Gao’s claims that she knew Wendel Rand. Joy arrives, grabs Danny,
and shows him the statement he’ll give to the board of directors. Basically,
it’s a “sorry I spoke out of turn” note. The board meeting completely flies out
of Danny’s mind, as Madam Gao herself hobbles into his office. She brought him
a bonsai tree, how nice. She gives a few vague hints about her past, how she’s
incredibly old and that she’s had dealings with previous Iron Fists. She
mentions that despite how long she’s been around, she’s just now seeing a
paradigm shift. The devil of hell’s kitchen, the man with unbreakable skin, and
now a weapon that left it’s post, these things are unusual, even for Gao. And I
guess Jessica Jones is chopped liver. She gives him another ultimatum, namely,
stay away from her dealings and enjoy being the head of Rand. She departs and
shows off a special ID badge in the elevator.
Danny forces the doors of the
elevator open, summons the Iron Fist, and slides down the shaft after them.
Madam Gao stops at the 13th floor of the building, a floor that
apparently needs a special pass to access. Danny sneaks in and overhears some
of their dealings. The Hand has it’s fingers in a lot of pies, as the saying
goes. After Gao departs, Danny assault’s her secretary, and gives the young
woman an out. Leave Rand, and New York, and he’ll destroy the Hand so they
can’t follow her. Not a terrible deal, really.
While this is going on, Colleen
gets a visit from an old friend, someone named Bakudo. Bakudo is some sort of
mysterious martial artist, and knows that Danny is the Iron Fist. How odd? And
with the Meachums, Joy and Ward reconcile, and Ward is clearly looking to make
a break for the Bahamas. Joy is under the impression that he’s going into
rehab. Poor trusting girl.
Danny suits up for the board
meeting, and is really disappointed about what his secretary was able to dig up
about Wendel Ward’s files. She literally was only able to find his old pass.
Shoot. At the meeting, Danny tosses out Joy’s note, and reveals his plan. He wants
them to shut down the plant, until they know for sure that their Staten Island
plant isn’t causing cancer. And that they don’t fire the workers. <Sign>
Danny, ask Tony Stark how well this sort of idea goes over with a board of
directors. Sort it doesn’t go over well.
Later, he gives Harold all of the
data that he got out of Gao’s secretary. They learn that the Hand is using Rand
to ship product all over the world, and that their plant is most likely in
Brooklyn. Danny grabs Colleen, and then the two get the Ax Gang… I mean the
Hatchet men from the previous episode to help them raid the Hand facility. They
smash through the place, but are too late to save the Chemist, Radovan. He,
with his last few breaths, lets them know that Gao now has his formula for the
synthetic heroin, and that she is heading to Anzhou, a city in China. The very
city that the Rand family was heading to before their plan crashed. How
interesting.
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| There's heavy handed symbolism, and then there's this craziness. |
Meanwhile, things aren’t going well
for the Meachums. Joy is informed by the Board of Directors that after an
emergency meeting, she, Ward and Danny are getting ousted from Rand. Now, I
have no history in business, but I feel like you can’t kick the majority
shareholder off of anything. Correct me if I’m wrong. Ward, meanwhile, tries to
head for somewhere warm and sunny, but is informed that his card was declined.
And when he checks his account, all the money is gone. He goes to the one man
that could have done that. Harold laughs at his son’s fury. Harold informs Ward
that he was well aware of Ward embezzling from Rand from the beginning, and
furthermore, was the reason that the IRS or the accounting department at Rand
never found out about it. He chastises Ward for trying to run, and beats him a
few times when Ward claims the last happy day of his life was the day that
Harold died. Ward, finally having hit his breaking point, grabs the knife that
Harold had used earlier, and stabs his father in the gut repeatedly. He then
drags daddy out to the glade again, and buries him with the Hand goons. Well,
that was dark.
Honestly, most of the elements in
this episode should have appeared in the first half of the season. Danny
meeting his opponent, Madam Gao, Rand starting to fall apart after the fall out
from Danny’s incompetence, and Ward snapping at his father. Ward has been one
of my least favorite characters in this show, but this episode does make up for
some of it. Seeing him hit his breaking point, when his pills are gone, his
body is barely hanging together, and he’s being asked by Dad again to swallow
his pride and be a good boy. Yeah, I can see why he’d stab his daddy. I have no
idea what’s going on with that Bakudo guy, other than his name sounds like
Bakugo, but he’s much calmer and collected then that Anime psycho. So yeah,
this episode is an upswing from some of the rest of the season, and I hope it
continues.
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