Iron Fist 1.04: “Eight Diagram Dragon Palm”
Iron Fist‘s fourth entry begins right where the last episode left off, with Danny Rand (Finn Jones) falling a little further before passing out on top of a ledge that stopped his descent. Ward (Tom Pelphrey) brings him inside and defends his actions by presenting Danny as a common thief, but the real kicker is when Harold reveals himself.
In an interesting twist, Danny dissolves into pure naivete when he sees his father figure again, seemingly ready to believe anything he says. Harold explains that he was diagnosed with cancer, and members of The Hand offered him a “cure” in exchange for being forever in their debt. The catch? He had to die first. Harold’s true motivations are to use Danny to free himself from The Hand, and to do so he welcomes his surrogate son back into the family. Ward cautions him against trusting his father – but considering Ward’s been ready to kill him all this time, Danny has no reason to listen.
Colleen (Jessica Henwick) enters her classroom to find a roomful of impressed students, who all watched her fight on YouTube thanks to Darryl (Marquis Rodriguez). While Colleen is ashamed of having stepped outside the of Bushido, she has ironically given her students hope and potentially earned some extra money for her dojo. Her scenes always include an extra layer of complexity, whether it’s due to Henwick’s talent as an actress or the script genuinely investing in her journey.
Joy (Jessica Stroup) and Ward set up a conference call at Rand Industries for Danny to reintroduce himself and announce his title as dominant shareholder, although he has no specific job at the company. He gives an impressive performance and speaks more kindly of the Meachums than they deserve, in parts thanks to Jeri Hogarth’s (Carrie-Anne Moss) coaching. Now that Danny is actively investing himself in the company, the storyline feels more urgent.
Finn Jones seems more at ease as an actor here than in the more traditionally Iron Fist scenes, managing to combine the innocence of a ten-year old boy with the maturity of a man ready to take over his father’s business. And his heart of gold shines through more than ever, when he admonishes that “No one should make a profit off the misery of others” and demands that Rand Industries sell a life-saving drug at cost. Joy may be regretting helping him back into the business if it means taking a loss, she also admires him and vice versa. Meanwhile, Ward has to clean up his father’s mess by talking down an inquisitive reporter.
Colleen continues holding down the fort when it comes to excellent fight sequences, returning once more to the cage fighting ring. Despite not knowing much about her moral struggle, it comes through clearly in her scenes and makes the stakes of her fight higher. She’s going against her code in order to save her martial arts school, so it will be even worse if she loses. The juxtaposition between her fight training and Danny’s is stark, however. We listen as Danny explains more of his time in K’un-Lun to Joy, but we still don’t get to see it. He declares that it made him who he is today, and Joy’s response of “And who is that?” feels truly appropriate.
He gets the chance to prove who he is when some Triads come to kidnap Joy. It’s by far the best fight scene including Danny, and the Iron Fist itself makes an appearance in a new and interesting way. Once they run off, Danny takes Joy to Colleen for safety before going to face the head of the Yongshi Gonsi himself. It’s a nice change of pace to see him taking charge and acting like a hero rather than a victim.
In the middle of a self-defense training session, Joy tells Colleen of her childhood with Danny. The interplay between the two women is delightful, but tragically comes in very small doses. The interaction between Danny and Colleen becomes more and more charged as well, and Henwick really sells that her character could be intrigued by and attracted to someone like Danny.
Iron Fist ends with Harold receiving a gift from Madame Gao and the Hand as thanks for brokering the pier deal last episode. Harold has a chance to see his daughter once more, and even repays the man who hit her with death. Twisted though it may be, at least it suggests he genuinely loves her. On the other side of town, Danny receives his own gift – an invitation to learn more about The Hand in a way that clearly connects to his past.
“Eight Diagram Dragon Palm” is arguably the best episode of the series thus far, though it still lacks the urgency and drive of Marvel’s previous Netflix series.
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