Episode Title: Eight Diagram Dragon Palm
Originally Aired: March 17th 2017
This show doesn’t seem to be one for cliffhangers, when we left last week, Danny had been pushed out of a penthouse window and this episode opens with him waking up on a couch. No answers to how the Meachums got him off someone else’s balcony, but I’m assuming the answer is money. The theme of this episode for me is, the returning, the return of people everyone thought was gone, the return to a world you cannot resist and the return of excitement.
Howard Meachum is back from the dead thanks to the Hand, Danny’s sworn enemy as the Iron Fist as we have heard once or twice before. He didn’t fake is death which was the easiest assumption after learning he was not dead. He in fact had pancreatic cancer that had spread all over his body before killing him after three years of treatment. He is back now and looking better than ever. He may be this shows princess trapped in an ivory tower but I have the feeling he is just another devil trapped in a brimstone spire. He doesn’t know how the Hand brought him back and what their end goal for him is and as a man who spent most of his life in a position of power he is being driven crazy by the unknown.
Danny is back at Rand with full control of his 51% of shares and his father’s old office. He wastes absolutely no time making his presence known in a board meeting about the pricing of a new drug. Ward, Joy and the rest of the board want to do the right thing and price the drug at a point that will keep the company and the research going while Danny wants to sell it at the cost of production. This is a common battle in our society and I enjoy its presence in the show while most reviews and comments I have read wish this plot line would be pushed out of a window. Danny lived in this world and then spent 15 years in another before returning and he returned with the black and white view, the impulsiveness and naivety of a child. I am looking forward to him growing into adulthood, being more complex, and not expecting to get everything he wants because he is a Rand.
Colleen’s frustration has boiled over again and she has returned to the fight club. Despite being outed by her students and having her first fight go viral she cannot resist the need to punch someone repeatedly in the face. I am eager to find out if it is just the frustration of owning a fledgling business or something darker that drives her to fight illegally. I am not sure how many times she will return before it becomes stale and a way to stall the progress of the season but I won’t mind if it is a few more trips because the fights are exciting. Even if we know she is going to win, it is fun to see how she gets there.
Another thing making a comeback this episode is the exciting fights from last week. Between fights in the boardroom, Colleen’s cage fight and Danny’s hallway/elevator fight with hatchet wielding members of the triad this episode was packed with excitement for me. I am looking forward to seeing if next week will continue this excitement while beginning to unravel the nefarious plans of the Hand.
Lastly, I have an update on the mystery of the episode titles. It turns out that someone them are actual moves or a grouping of moves in Kung Fu. The rest of the episodes are just an attempt to keep that pattern going and hint at what will happen in the episode.
Channel: Superhero 