I get it now. I’ve been dancing around the issue with this show for the past nine episodes and here on the tenth I finally get why it is I don’t really like it. Stay tuned.
Iron Fist s01e10: Black Tiger Steals Heart
writer: Quinton Peeples
director: Peter Hoar
Netflix
Quick Review:
We are at one of those times where it is hard to separate the episode itself from the series. As a single episode, a lot of things happened. Plots thickened, hidden enemies are revealed, a betrayal or two happened. Possibly a powerhouse of a show. As a part of a series, well, I don’t feel very interested or connected to the problems they are presenting me with. Does any of it even matter. A tree can fall in the woods, and you see and hear it, but that doesn’t make it entertainment.
Spoilers Lurk Below
Analysis:
I don’t know why this clicked this episode. After all, I’ve had two consistent complaints about this series. Too much time being spent with the Meachums and very little emotional connection with the Danny story. And then it clicked. The show doesn’t know who the main character is.
On paper it is Danny. The show bears his name. So does the company. We’ve been led to believe that he is the main character. But, the characters that we are spending more time with and getting revelations about their motivations are the Meachums. So much of this particular episode was Daddy Meachum explaining to sister Meachum why he was doing what he was doing and what he had been through. And I didn’t care. I’m actually a little surprised by how bored I am by the Meachums.
I started thinking about Donald Trump during this show. I’m going to put politics aside for a little bit. I don’t think you have to look far on this site to guess my political belief, but they really aren’t relevant to this belief. This show features a controlling father, and his hot daughter and something son. So much of the show has been built around their power machinations that part of me wonders if rather than making a genuinely interesting story, that the writers just relied on the power of Trump to keep people interested. At this stage this is just the beginning of a theory. And maybe I’m the last one to the party. But either way, it isn’t working, because I don’t care about the Meachums.
I want to care about Danny. But its hard, because I don’t know how he is. All that time given to the Meachums is time taken away from Danny. I don’t know what he wants. He talks bad about the Hand, but I don’t know what his actually relationship with them are. We hear speculation about his upbringing in this particular episode. Shame that speculation doesn’t land because I don’t know what the reality is.
And then we get reveals about Colleen. Again, basically empty gestures because we are getting reveals about things that we have never discussed. Oh, and that it was a pretty cliched reveal. The new master that has hidden understanding about the hero? No, that can’t possibly be a bad guy in secret. Except for all those times that is exactly what happens.
Wrap Up:
When the support characters are getting the bulk of the emotional and motivational development and the supposed main character is left with just enough crumbs to service the story, something is off with the balance. Part of me wonders how much of the lack of exploring Danny’s past has to do with fear. I was looking forward to Iron Fist for an exploration of the mystic, kung fu side of super heroes. Instead we just get talk of business. Bait and Switch.
More Iron Fist reviews:
Episode 1
Episode 2
Episode 3
Episode 4
Episode 5
Episode 6
Episode 7
Episode 8
Episode 9
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Deadly Troubadour 