The fourth episode of Iron Fist’s second season is “Target: Iron Fist,” originally used for Danny’s own comic back in 1977 (Issue 13).  The episode uses a trope I’m getting really sick of: a dramatic opening scene and then rewinding to see how we got there. I don’t know why this is so popular in the superhero genre, especially over the last year, but it can stop anytime. We do get a guest star that almost makes up for it, so there’s that.

Danny and Colleen are at home, talking about the events of last night. Neither of them can make sense out of the ambush or who the attackers might have been. Danny’s worried, and Colleen does her best to reassure him. After talking about wishing for a more normal life, they decide to try and approach Mrs. Yang again about another peace talk. Joy and Davos are with Mary, trying to sort out how Danny got the surveillance photos Davos saw during the abysmal dinner party. Davos eventually leaves, and Joy and Mary spend a lot of time talking about what’s going on. Mary makes the point that she’s been watching Danny for a long time, and knows more about him than anyone else, and that not too many people could handle “what his fist can do.”

Ward and Bethany continue their very unorthodox sponsor relationship. To her credit, Bethany is aware this isn’t how it’s supposed to work, and is not comfortable with it. She gives Ward some advice about his damaged relationship with Joy, and makes a suggestion about their future. Danny and Colleen go to the Yang’s place, which is very impressive. They get a cool reception from the hired muscle, but Mrs. Yang shows up and prevents a fight that would have not done great things for her home décor. Danny and Colleen press their case for peace, but Mrs. Yang has some things to tell them that make it a lot less likely. Colleen and Mrs. Yang end up continuing the talks while Danny wanders the Yang’s home. He finds Mr. Yang, and recognizes what was done to him.  Yang gasps out a desperate message to Danny, which doesn’t do wonders for his condition, and first an irate nurse, then a more irate Mrs. Yang shoo him out and away. Danny and Colleen are on the street trying to puzzle out all this and how Davos is involved when Misty Knight shows up and says they need to talk.

Back at Colleen and Danny’s place, Misty compliments the improvements they’ve made, and then they get down to business. The mysterious third force at the peace talks was the NYPD, and they were trying to run a sting against the Triads. One of Misty’s friends was hurt in the fight, and told Misty about a “guy with a glowing fist” showing up. Danny and Colleen do their best to bring Misty up to speed, but a mystical hidden city and a dragon aren’t normal things for an NYPD Detective to deal with. Between them, they figure out that Davos had a shipment coming in and the chaos around the docks did something to screw it up. Misty orders Danny to stay away from all this, and Danny goes to the balcony to “clear his head.” You can guess what happens from there.

Joy wanders Mary’s apartment, telling stories and poking at things she finds there. She does admire Mary’s artwork, but Mary doesn’t appreciate Joy’s prowling. Finally, Joy finds some medical paperwork that explains a lot about what’s going on, but she still manages to annoy Mary a lot. Colleen and Misty talk about their shared history with weird things, and Colleen trying to stay out of it these days. Misty understands and approves, and they eventually discover Danny’s departure.

Joy pushes things a bit too far, and Mary shows why it’s not wise to annoy potentially unstable people. Mary goes on a rant about her condition, and Joy agrees to just about anything at that point, since she’s not in a great negotiating position. The two come to a sort of understanding, and Joy leaves. Davos, not waiting for Joy’s meeting to end, goes to the docks and shows that, while he might not be Iron Fist, he’s a very dangerous man. Some of the Golden Tigers find this out as Davos goes through them without breaking a sweat to find his mysterious shipment. We finally see what it is, and, while I didn’t see it coming, it makes some degree of sense once it’s revealed. Davos get to work, and it’s ugly. Danny gets there a bit too late, stepping over bodies to make his own discoveries. Misty and Colleen catch up, and Misty isn’t pleased. It looks like they’re going to come to blows before Colleen steps in and calms everyone down, making a few excellent points. She convinces Misty to let Danny go, and he does.

Davos puts the things he’s been collecting together for a ritual. While it’s nothing I’ve ever seen in any of Iron Fist’s comic appearances, I get what they’re doing and it doesn’t seem too terribly improbable in this world. Ward catches up with Joy and does his best to make peace, but let’s face it, his best isn’t great in this area, and Joy is still really pissed at him. That ends on bad terms, and leaves Joy so upset she ignores the call she gets from Danny. I’m not sure them talking would have changed anything, but we’ll never know.

Danny leaves a desperate message for Joy, trying to get her to meet with him. He makes his way into the subway, and we see the pieces start to fall into place for that opening scene we’re working back towards. Danny, while a great fighter, can be headstrong and doesn’t have a lot of experience in some areas. Mary uses all that against him, and takes him down with a mixture of planning, skill, and trickery. She’s very good at what she does, and Danny doesn’t really have much of a chance here. Even with so many things stacked against him, he holds his own for a bit, it’s just not enough.

Later, he awakens in a really bad spot. We see what Davos is up to, although what effect it’s going to have on Danny I’m not sure. I can’t imagine it’s going to be good. Mary hides in the shadows, listening to what happens, and puts her earbuds in. Whether she’s bothered by what’s going on or just wanted some music, I’m not sure. She might not even be sure. Davos finishes what he’s doing, and Danny just looks really confused.

What I liked: One of the things I’ve really enjoyed about the Netflix/Marvel world, and will miss with it going away, is how well things flowed and connected from show to show. Misty showing up here made perfect sense, and I liked her talk with Colleen. Danny is trying so hard, and just doesn’t have the perspective, experience, or detective skills to work out what’s going on in time. Davos’ ritual was interesting and unexpected. The Joy/Mary scene was well done, and showed some strengths and weaknesses for both characters. Mary did well with her takedown of Danny.
What I didn’t: I get that he’s trying, but even when he’s attempting to be a decent human being, I just don’t like Ward. He’s annoying, and whiny, and I kind of want to punch him. Davos’ smug self is right behind Ward for me.  I’m really curious who Davos’ unnamed, unexplained, never seen before acolytes were. I already mentioned my thoughts on the “how did we get to the opening” format.

I thought it was a pretty good episode. I’ll give it a solid 3 out of 5.