Iron Fist returns for his second, and sadly last, season on Netflix. The recap Netflix offers thoughtfully includes Season 1 and the events of the Defenders series. The title of the episode “The Fury of Iron Fist” is a bit off, as he’s easily the most laid-back of the five Netflix/Marvel heroes. They were paying tribute to history, since that’s the name of the story Iron Fist first appeared in, but it still just doesn’t seem right.

The episode opens with an armored car robbery in Chinatown. The plan is well put together, but runs afoul of Danny, honoring his commitment to Matt in the Defenders to protect the people in Daredevil’s absence. It’s a nice action scene; they’ve stepped up their fight choreography since season one. Danny wins, but leaves a mess in his wake. As sirens approach, Danny confirms they are part of the Golden Tiger Gang and then slips away.

 

At home, Colleen is doing paperwork and banters with Danny about his food choices and timing when he comes in. They seem to be in a good place, making them the only happy couple in Netflix/Marvel I can think of. Hopefully that doesn’t mean one of them is doomed or they’re going to soap opera the relationship. Danny gets teased about buying “junk,” that he claims is cultural research for the fifteen years he missed. It reminds me of Oliver Queen’s being behind on things the first several episodes of Arrow, and it’s a nice touch. She patches him up from a minor wound, but refuses to get back in the fight with him. They fade out on a good note.

 

On the waterfront, Davos has a meeting with Mr. Yang, a gangster we last saw in Luke Cage’s final season. Yang and Davos disagree on prices, and Davos is not happy, venting some of his displeasure on a few henchmen before leaving. Danny has a new, humble job, and jokes with his boss, Albert. Traffic is bad in the neighborhood after a certain armored car incident the previous night. Albert offers some background on himself and insight on the Triads, which Danny ponders.

 

At the community center Danny helped set up, Colleen is assisting a woman with paperwork, and mentions a way she can get some aid with the filing fees. Colleen helps the woman’s young daughter find a winter coat in the donations, and runs across a wooden box with a distinctive pattern on it that she clearly recognizes and is thrown by. She asks around, but no one seems to know where it came from. Danny unintentionally messes up his boss helping a lost newcomer to the city, Mary. There’s some flirting, but I think it’s innocent on Danny’s side at least, and clearly annoying to Albert. After Mary leaves, Danny gets a call from his other business. Colleen tries to track down where the box came from, and walks into a protection shakedown. She chases off the thugs, but the man at the restaurant won’t help her.

 

Danny and Ward find they’ve been called to the same meeting, and are both confused about who summoned them. Going inside, they are surprised to find Joy. Joy is evasive about what she’s been up to, and has a business proposal she’s insistent about. Ward argues, but Danny signs at once, and makes sure she’s ok. Ward is not pleased, but he rarely is. She’s evasive about what she’s doing, and there’s one error in the scene about a payment schedule for a lump sum payment. If there’s a lump sum, it’s one payment, no schedule needed. That, or the term is inherently inaccurate.

 

Mary proves she’s not a random pretty face on the street, when we see her get home to be greeted by series of notes and then has some kind of breakdown. Danny gets home and Colleen tells him about the box and what it means to her. Danny listens and offers some good advice. It’s another scene that shows a healthy relationship and some real maturing on Danny’s part. Ward goes to some kind of AA style meeting, and we see he and his sponsor don’t exactly have the kind of relationship those programs would approve of. Joy and Davos are shown to be working together, but not exactly close friends.

 

Colleen and Danny go to dinner and engage in a gross-out/who had it worst contest. Danny mulls over some of the complications caused by the defeat of the Hand. Their worries about a looming Triad war get interrupted by the return of the punks that Colleen dealt with earlier. They push their way into the kitchen, and the greeter makes a frantic phone call. In a nice scene showing a lot of mutual respect, Colleen goes back to the kitchen to deal with the punks, and Danny just sort of tags along. They both try and talk the young thugs down, and then Danny goes out front to deal with the complication of a team of Hatchet men arriving. His attempts to stall them are entertaining. This turns into two different fight scenes, as Colleen takes on the idiots in the kitchen and Danny deals with the Hatchets in the main room. Between them, I think they pretty much trash the place. Colleen calms Danny down when his temper slips a bit (maybe that’s the titular Fury?) and they get some information from the owner, who helps defuse the situation with the Hatchet men. Their banter about date night gets interrupted when Davos shows up to talk to Danny.

 

Danny agrees to go off with his former friend, leaving Colleen rolling her eyes. Danny and Davos argue, and fight a bit, about Danny’s decisions and what happened to K’un-Lun. It’s not a fun conversation. Davos ends up asking what seems like a pointless question, but he’s very insistent about it. Clearly, something is going on with that. Davos returns to Joy, and they sort of bicker some more and share desire for vengeance on Danny. I’m still not real clear on how Davos found Joy last season, but it bodes ill for our hero. Danny himself gets home, Colleen pretends to be asleep (not a good sign), and Danny slips back out again. He goes to some odd deserted storeroom in the subway and beats up some doors.

 

What I liked: I was one of the few who liked the first season of this show, but then, I’ve been a fan of the character for years. The fight scenes were done very well, and I like Danny trying to fill Daredevil’s boots. It was nice to see that Danny and Ward are not necessarily close, but friendly. I liked Albert. I suspect I know who Mary is supposed to be, and that should be interesting. Including Yang is a nice bit of trying the shows together, which they excel at. It was nice seeing at least one of the heroes happy, and I like Danny and Colleen together.

What I didn’t: I’m hoping that near the end scene with Colleen doesn’t mean she and Danny are heading for problems. Where all the other Netflix/Marvel seasons have been 13 episodes, I see Iron Fist is short-changed to 10, and I’m not wild about that. Danny has some bad news coming from the Davos/Joy alliance, and I’m sure the man has no idea.

 

It was a good start to the season. I’ll give it a solid 3.5 out of 5. It’ll be interesting to see how all this comes together.