'Iron Fist' Recap: 'The Mistress of All Agonies'

Written by Scott Edwards

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

With their fate at Rand Enterprises coming to an end for the time being, Joy will not go down without a fight and has just the right thing to get herself and her brother back in their offices with no questions asked. But Ward is not too hot on the idea and is now trying to come clean about everything that has been happening behind his sister’s back for several years now. Danny on the other hand has no secrets and has been able to put some more pieces together concerning Gao and his father when seeing the poison track marks being left on her bodyguards and comparing them to what he saw on the pilot's skin after his family’s plane crashed. Now with one of the most valuable leaders of the Hand in his custody, Danny might finally be able to get some questions answered about what happened in his family’s darkened past.

With Madame Gao in their custody, Danny, Claire and Colleen are trying to see if the old woman will talk. Not wanting to resort to torture, the women want to take a less evasive route and convince Danny to pick up some sodium pentothal to use as a truth serum, but they have little idea what Gao has in store for them when they are alone. Talking to her first guard Claire, Gao knows her secrets about her being around the heroes of the city and while Claire is able to escape the mind games, Colleen is up next. With talk of her grandfather and his teachings to the young girl, she is not willing to admit that the old woman is right, but Gao knows all. 

Awakening out of the swamp he was thrown into, Harold Meachum is back in the world of the living and has some discovering to do again. Walking through the park and smelling food for the first time since his death, he finds himself outside of Rand Enterprises and is able to get inside with his old passcode. Checking on his children’s offices, Harold is shocked to see that nothing is the same anymore and needs help getting home and is able to contact his assistant Kyle for a ride. Talking with his right hand man, Harold is ready to start his now third chance at life and he will do anything to reconnect with his children, even Ward who left him for dead.

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Being able to secure the drugs that he needs, Danny watches as Madame Gao goes into a trance and starts spewing lies about his family. Seeing Colleen starting to succumb to the poison in her system, it is only a matter of time before she cannot be saved and Gao is offering the group a way out. Not believing anything that the old woman is telling them, the group prepares for battle and are able to defeat the first wave of troops that come through, but Colleen needs help soon or she will surely die. Calling her Sensei and leaving a message, Danny and Claire are not able to do anything else that they know of to help Colleen, so as they sit and wait for a savior to come knocking on the door, and while they wait, they are forced to listen to Gao tell them about what will happen to them unless they agree to free her.

Arriving at the penthouse and seeing his father alive, Ward is beside himself. With no hatred towards him for killing his father, Ward is welcomed back home with open arms and must promise to do anything that is asked of him. Not knowing what to do, Ward comes clean with his father about not wanting to be a part of the business and be released from under his shadow. While Harold agrees with what his son has said, he will need someone close to him to help free him from the hold that the Hand has over him and it must be family. With promise of bringing Joy into the mix, Harold has his plan in place, but Ward does not want any harm to come to her and is forced to turn to the Hatchet Men for advice on how to rid himself of his un-killable father.

Really just an episode of discovery for everybody, especially Harold, at least in my eyes. Coming back to life and taking in everything for what seems to be the first time, Harold quickly grows into his new role and only wants to be forgiven for his failures, but he cannot do that until he gets the family back together. Meanwhile the living are having their own revelations; Claire always being involved with the hero's downfall, Danny's healing powers, Colleen's love for her training, Ward being faced with an unspeakable decision to make and Joy seeing her father for the first time in thirteen years. I liked Madame Gao in this episode a little too much as she seems to be talking to try and protect herself, but everything that she is saying comes true, that is until Bakuto makes his way into the dojo, then she has a little bit of fear that I have never seen in her before. Now we have a new character to add into the mix that understands a little something about the Iron Fist, which may be pretty cool for the story and help Danny develop a little bit more, but it could be a wolf in sheep's clothing and provide nothing but despair for everyone involved. We shall see.

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