'Iron Fist' Recap: 'Snow Gives Way'

Written by Scott Edwards

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

Months have passed and it is finally time to introduce another member of Marvel's Defenders and this one is Iron Fist a.k.a. Danny Rand. I have been very open about going into these series clean, as I do not do a ton of comics anymore and had not heard the name Iron Fist for quite a while until the series was announced. So with my little bit of knowledge about this, in that he is a master of martial arts, let’s jump in and see what our next Netflix Marvel Hero is bringing to the screen.

Returning home after years away, Danny Rand is happy to begin the process of getting his life back together, but he is quickly noticing that things have changed. Arriving at his father’s building, Rand Enterprises, Danny is not met with open arms when asking to talk to the president of the company, but instead is thrown out on the sidewalk like a homeless person. Trying again and this time making it to the top floor with little issue, Danny sees his old friend’s Joy and Ward Meachum running the company that their father’s built together, yet neither of them are willing to accept the shoeless, scruffy outsider as the boy they once knew. Throwing him out again, Danny will have to find some sort of way to convince them that he is who he says he is, and get his life back together.

Knowing that something out of the ordinary is going on, especially since the company is about to expand, Ward will not let his guard down and needs to find a way to get rid of this issue before something bad comes out of it. Even though Joy sees a little bit of her friend that she lost fifteen years ago in the stranger, she is still trying to convince herself that Danny died like the reports stated to fall in line with her brother's beliefs. But there is still a shred in her that wants to believe that it could be Danny and when seeing him outside of her house, she is starting to wonder if there is something more to the story. On the other hand, Ward is trying to keep his cool and winds up giving the intruder a moment of his time, but will stop at nothing to rid the world of this Danny Rand imposter.

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Danny sees firsthand how his world has changed over the years he has been gone. Seeing that Joy has moved into his family’s old house, he just needs to figure out what that means. Staying in the park, Danny is greeted by Big Al who is more than willing to help out a fellow homeless man with whatever he can. Seeing the sincerity in Big Al, Danny has not lost all faith in how all people are, but has had a very tough time trying to get anything to go his way since returning home. While doing his stretches in the park, a new opportunity may have presented itself when Danny meets a struggling teacher in Colleen who is in need of money to keep her dojo open and he may be able to give her the boost that she needs.

While trying to get a normal job teaching taekwondo for Colleen, Danny is met with men with guns who try to end his short time in the city. Being able to avoid the attacks, Colleen keeps a close eye on the stranger and watches as Danny is able to take the fight to the next level. But Danny is far from happy with having a target on his chest and is able to get the information about who is trying to have him killed, Ward Meachum. Knowing that the attacks will not stop until he is able to convince the brother/sister team that he is really Danny Rand, he must find another way to get at least one of them alone so he can plead his case. But that might be easier said than done as he finds out when he seems to have no friends left in the big city.

Not too shabby for the start of the Iron Fist series as the world is introduced to Danny Rand. Seeing how hard it is to come back to life in a world that believes you are dead is kind of refreshing, since it seems so easy for other characters in this type of tale that have been gone for a lifetime. I can tell that Joy and Ward Meachum are as focused on business as they are on their pasts, and it will be interesting to see if and how Danny is able to break down their walls. Danny already knows how difficult it is to get along in the world and sees once again how sad it can really be. With the hatred that is coming his way from every direction, he is able to find what he needs in meditation, which is great, but I think that it will wear off quickly if more people are trying to kill him at every turn. The flashes to his past are a little different and I am not sure how that is going to be utilized in the series, since he gets the shakes and something seems to happen to him while they are going on. Well, there are plenty of episodes to go, so I hope you are ready for plenty of Iron Fist coming up.

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