Shaun Munro reviews the ninth episode of Iron Fist…
We now enter the “final act” of Iron Fist‘s first season, and honestly, this could be the episode that kills the show for a lot of people. It opens with a shockingly silly event that might be one step too goofy for some, and honestly feels like something that’d be much more at home in a Ghostbusters movie rather than here. No spoilers for this turn of events, but the actor involved is unfortunately pretty hapless against the ropey writing, though it does give them a chance for one thoroughly unpleasant, effective burst of violence.
Even if the audience accepts this ridiculous twist, there’s plenty of daft storytelling to be found elsewhere; Danny plans to use sodium pentethol (aka “truth serum”) on Gao in order to get the information he wants, but it plays more as risible than cool because it’s such an eye-rolling Hollywood cliche. In addition to the fact that truth serum in such plain terms doesn’t exist, this subplot kick-starts a boring fetch quest for Danny to acquire the various ingredients to make the serum.
The eventual interrogation isn’t much more interesting either, taking place in a small room and going nowhere of mention, even though Gao continually hints that something crazy may happen. Confining so much of the episode to this location gives off another whiff of budgetary constraints.
Some good does come out of the episode, though; Wai Ching Ho gives a great performance as Gao, slippery and cunning as she gets inside Colleen’s head, and once again we get to see women talking to women without a man involved, which is always great.
The climax meanwhile evolves Danny’s powers in an unexpected way, even if it does reek somewhat of a deus ex machina. In effect “The Mistress of All Agonies” is bookended by two major revelations, one ridiculous and ham-handed, and the other harbouring intriguing implications for the show moving forward.
The closing moments also finally give Joy something to do after just being part of the furniture for so long, but it requires the viewer to accept that absurd aforementioned reveal first. As for Ward, his substance issues return in spectacularly boring fashion, and his antics will surely exit your memory before the end credits even roll.
In fairness, this wasn’t an aggressively bad effort like the previous episode, but the big reveal sees the show taking a ginger tightrope walk as far as tone is concerned. If upcoming episodes can make something good out of the outrageous plot point, then it’ll be worth it, but for now, the show desperately needs to prove it’s going somewhere with this. With just four episodes to go, Iron Fist has to start pounding the pavement.
Shaun Munro
Originally published March 25, 2017. Updated April 11, 2018.
