*This review contains minor spoilers*
Click here for my YouTube SPOILER review
After the extremely weak and barely watchable first season, “Iron Fist” had nowhere to go but up for its second season. The question is, how far up would it go? The answer is, high enough to give us a very watchable show, but still the least interesting out of the Marvel Netflix shows.
My biggest issue with season one was the total lack of direction for most of the show’s run. There was no urgency, and there was nothing enticing about a martial arts superhero going up against a bunch of corrupt businessmen that posed no physical threat to him. This time, we have an enemy for Danny that is his equal in skill that has strong personal ties to him. Unfortunately, the stakes aren’t very high. There’s nothing in Davos’ plan that screams out that Danny must stop him before something terrible happens. For the most part, Davos is just doing Danny’s job of cleaning up the crime in the neighborhood, albeit with Punisher-like finality. They only hint that he is going too far and might start killing the innocents that don’t play ball with him.
The show works hard to correct the other big disappointment from season one: Danny himself. While he showed potential as a fun character in the early part of last season, he quickly became a wet blanket that was constantly pouting and telling anyone that was listening that he was the Immortal Iron Fist. And even worse, this master of Kung-Fu seemed to struggle with all his fights, and actor Finn Jones looked out of his league in all his action scenes. Before this new season, we got to see Danny popup in “The Defenders,” where his character was slightly improved, followed by an appearance on a “Luke Cage” season two episode where they finally got him right. This version was much more relaxed and sure of himself. But, this version of Danny never shows up on his own show. The “sorry for himself” version is gone, but he’s under too much pressure to be the chilled out that he was in that last appearance. He is, however, a lot more relatable and grounded, thanks in large part to his relationship with Colleen Wing.
Like last season, Colleen is a strong enough character that she pretty much steals the show from Danny. She has a bit of her own story arc, but it gets pushed to the background until the final few episodes, and even then it’s left hanging for another day. Most of her story is teaming up with Danny, but it’s more fun when she gets to team back up with Misty Knight. Initially, Misty just pops up randomly and feels out of place, but the more involved she gets and the more she teams up with Colleen, the more she fits right in.
As for other returning characters, the Meachums are still a mixed bag. Joy has become a watered-down Mariah Dillard. She’s always scheming behind the scenes and trying to charm her way out of trouble. It was a stretch in the first place to have her turn on Danny, and almost everything she does never seems to lead to a big payoff. Meanwhile, Ward is mostly just there. He gets the “fighting addiction” storyline to keep him busy, and he pops up in the main plot when needed.
The major new addition to the cast is Alice Eve. Because it was announced that she was playing Typhoid Mary, and officially listed in the cast as Mary Walker, there wasn’t much surprise that the characters of Mary and Walker were the same person. Either way, her portrayal was fine, but just not how character is in the comic books. She has the split personalities, but no superpowers and she rarely feels like the wildcard that her darker persona should be.
“Iron Fist” season two is a vast improvement over its freshman season, and is a fun show to watch thanks to a tighter plot, much better fight sequences and an improved lead character. But, the show still lacks urgency and the supporting characters outshine the lead.
Season’s best episode: “Heart of the Dragon” (Episode 5): We finally get the big change in status quo that they were working on since the beginning.
Season’s worst episode: “The City’s Not Burning” (Episode 2): Too many oddly placed flashbacks hurt the flow, and a lot of moments that were supposed to feel dramatic were just bland or confusing.
**1/2 out of *****