Originally published March 20, 2017. Updated April 11, 2018.
Shaun Munro reviews the fourth episode of Iron Fist…
Surprise, surprise, Danny survives his climactic tumble out of a window in one of the more transparently tension-free cliffhangers in recent TV history. Though this episode in fact signifies a rather dull downturn for Danny, at least he has an interesting meet-up with Harold at the beginning, resulting in an exposition dump that actually works pretty well because the audience is in the same clueless position as Danny. This isn’t one character explaining something to another for our sole benefit, as this show has already been guilty of several times.
The twisted father-son triangle between Danny, Harold and Ward is really quite comical, though, especially the eye-rollingly on-the-nose – if certainly hilarious – reaction shots of Ward looking like someone just pissed in his cereal anytime Harold is remotely affectionate to Danny.
After his intriguing gas with Harold, however, Danny ends up pulled into the tedium of the Meachum’s fetid business subplot. Does it benefit anyone to have Iron Fist poured into a tailored suit and forced to go on the PR defensive? Having Danny argue with Rand Enterprises shareholders about medication prices is pretty much the exact opposite of what most people want to see, and it’s stamina-drainingly boring. Furthermore, the legal and business logic of Danny being able to railroad an entire board-room of executives seems shaky at best (once again despite the show’s insistence otherwise).
Thankfully there’s more considered character work elsewhere; Colleen’s hypocrisy regarding her cage fighting antics is competently lampshaded even though she continues to attend. While this subplot is incredibly goofy and probably should’ve been a one-off, at least her brawl in this episode boasts an entertaining roughness.
And most importantly of all, this instalment does feature a fantastic fight scene as its showpiece, a hallway battle (fast becoming a Marvel-Netflix staple) as Danny fends off Triad kidnappers looking to make off with Joy. It’s easily the best action sequence in the series up to this point – not that this is saying very much at all – aided by electric fight choreography and dynamic direction from Miguel Sapochnik, who also helmed Game of Thrones‘ legendary “Battle of the Bastards” episode this past summer. Even when the action gets extremely confined in an elevator, Sapochnik smartly takes a split-screen approach to keep the viewer abreast of all the carnage; such is the virtue of hiring a director well-versed in action.
As the episode comes to an end, intrigue surrounding The Hand heightens somewhat, with an outrageous moment of shocking brutality that’s as bracingly effective as it is gloriously pulpy (pun intended). In many ways this violent final act feels like a line being drawn on the show’s prior mediocrity, for though episode four ultimately only settles for being good, it’s still a considerable step-up from what we’ve seen so far, as it feels like things are actually moving along somewhat.
All the Meachum maneuvering remains pure hokum, but it sure is more tolerable when paired with other narrative strands that are clearly going somewhere, as well as a healthy side-order of well-crafted action. If that’s not enough, a Daredevil namedrop is rarely a bad thing, right?
Shaun Munro
