TV Talk - Iron Fist Season 2

Well, at least the mask made it in one scene.

Well, this month went by quick! I guess that happens when you find yourself on another shift. There were a couple of more things I wanted to touch upon, but Into the Badlands and a possibly crappy Bruce Lee video game will have to wait.  Last for the month is a return to Netflix’s Iron Fist. I have to admit that I wasn’t a fond fan of that first season. It had some good moments, but it and even the series that followed it (The Defenders) left much to be desired. I guess after finishing this season, I won’t have anything to look forward to, and I don’t know if that’s a bad thing or not for this show. It probably is for Daredevil and Luke Cage, though. More on my opinion of those cancellations later.

Season 2 of Iron Fist takes place a couple of months later Defenders. With Matt… not in the picture anymore, Danny Rand has taken it upon himself to fight crime as a vigilante. He’s also moved in with Colleen Wing’s dojo to live with her. As for Colleen, she’s given up the fighting for a normal life. Meanwhile, Ward Meachum is trying to get help for himself. What none of them know is that Davos, Danny’s friend from K’un L’un, and Joy Meachum have made an alliance with one another. They both have it out for Danny and plan on making his life hell. Add a Triad gang war, a weird redhead with serious mental issues, and you get a season that is much better than its predecessor.

PROS

This season was much better than the first season. While I did like the first season, there is a reason it got pretty low ratings. I thought the overall story was much stronger here. Since the season is at 10 episodes, there’s not a lot of the fluff these Netflix shows get. It’s also not as widespread as the last season was since the threats are pretty clear.  Since the Hand was vanquished in Defenders, the Triads are at war with one another.

We pretty much get a standard Iron Fist story here.  It even goes places where I wasn’t expecting at the end especially with the lore. Let’s just say that Colleen and Danny end up getting put on different paths. If the show was continuing, this would have been interesting to see. I’ll also go on and say that the fight scenes are much better in this season. The standout fight for me was Danny’s fight with Davos in the past where they fought for the Iron Fist. While they aren’t perfect at times, they do look better and cooler here. Finn Jones (or his stunt double) almost even looks the part.

The lead actors were good for the most part. We got Danny in the role we wanted him to be, though he’s not doing the rich boy thing this time. His arc also went places where I didn’t think it would go. As usual, I thought Jessica Henwrick rocked as Colleen Wing. She’s as much a star of the show as Finn Jones is and I still think she’s the best character on the show. Her role in the story felt more satisfying. I also thought Ward Meachum (Tom Pelphrey) was much better here. I didn’t like him all that much in the first season, but I barely liked anyone (save for Colleen) in that season. He’s the ass of the show, but here, he at least knows it and is trying to change. I’ll get to his sister, Joy (Jessica Stroup), in the next section.

I’m kind of mixed on Davos, but he wasn’t a bad villain. I did like that there was a little depth added to his character. Also, I did like that he wasn’t an all-out villain. Without spoiling too much, he ends up bringing a more harsh brand of justice to the city. As for new characters, I thought Mary Walker (Alice Eve) was interesting. For those who don’t know, she’s Typhoid Mary, a character with serious Dissociative Identity Disorder. I thought all of that was played well here and she was an interesting wild card. Finally, while she’s not a new character, it was cool to see Misty Knight (Simone Missick) play a supporting role here.  Her and Colleen’s team ups were the best parts of the show.

Mary Walker was all over the place and in a good way too.

CONS

After two-ish seasons, Danny's... okay?

As for the cons, there are a few. This is Iron Fist, after all, and the show still isn’t on the level of most of Marvel Netflix. While I liked him better in this season, Finn Jones’ Danny just feels a little bland to me. I don’t know if it’s the writing, Jones, or a bit of both. It could also be the fact that I’m not a big fan of Iron Fist in general. Still, His arc wasn’t bad and I did like how they basically called out Danny’s impulsiveness in this season. You also had some acting that wasn’t that great, but it was with some of the lesser characters.

On the left is Davos. On the right is annoying character named Joy.

The family drama with the Meachums was a bit on the “meh” side especially when Joy was involved. She and Ward completely did a  switch-around with me because I couldn’t stand her. I can understand why she’s mad at Ward (Danny less so), but she just rubbed the wrong way the whole season. While Davos was a fine villain, he was lacking in areas. They try to give him depth, but he just wasn’t that interesting. If the series was a little longer, maybe he could have gotten more depth. Also, while I liked that the season had less episodes, you still had some fluff here and there. This a problem with all of Marvel Netflix, so I guess it’s something you gotta deal with. Other than those things and some nitpicks (where’s the costume???), this was a fine season.

……………………………………….

Well, that ends that. When I had heard that Iron Fist wasn’t getting another season I wasn’t sad about it. Now that I’ve watched the second season, I’m still not torn up about it. Still, what they were setting up at the end of the season looked interesting. Now, when concerning the other Marvel Netflix shows, I’m not happy on how those got tossed out. Daredevil was especially shaping up to be pretty awesome. I can save that rant for another day when I eventually finish Daredevil, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, and maybe the Punisher. For now, I can finally wrap this Martial Arts Month up just in time. Now if you excuse me, I gotta jump on a train… a comics event train. Until then, Peace, God Bless, and be careful out there.