Episode Title: Immortal Emerges From Cave
Originally Aired: March 17th 2017
Butchers, entomologists and cold-blooded killers, oh my. Oh my indeed, Danny is offered and accepts the grand duel challenge from Madame Gao. Danny must take on four of The Hand’s best fighters in a three round tournament to save the life of the chemist’s daughter. While Danny does have bigger fish to fry he is also acting like a child by not accepting responsibility for the trouble he is causing for the company he tried so hard to be a part of.
Things are coming to a head for the Meachums as well. After Danny was caught on film, apologizing to a mother with a sick child, Rand is forced to hire a crisis management company to help lessen the blow. In the short time since he has come back Danny has cost the company billions of dollars and created a legal and public relations nightmare that has the company on its heels. Things might recover a little more smoothly if Ward’s addiction didn’t have him at an all-time low. As with most addicts, things usually deteriorate over time, but Ward’s condition was pushed into warp speed by his father, Danny’s arrival and finding a head on a spike. Joy who recently found out about what was going on with Ward has quickly grown tired of the situation and doesn’t seem to be far from putting ward in the same padded room they sent Danny too.
The grand duel features a version of two classic Marvel Characters, the Bride of Nine Spiders and Scythe. The bride uses her intelligence, and beauty to distract her enemies while poisoning them, making it easier for her to move in for the kill. Scythe is a man who lives to fight and to kill as a way to prove his strength, even though he killed multiple people in this episode he is not the one that comes the closest to defeating Danny. Why they are working for or with The Hand is unclear. Do they prefer living normal lives until a battle worthy of their talents presents its self; or is The Hand trying to get its warriors to infiltrate every aspect of normal life so they are always ready to strike? The duel also shows us a new side to Madame Gao, she has been a player in things on a much larger level than anyone would imagine from watching Daredevil. She knew Danny’s father, she has met an Iron Fist before, she has been to K’un-Lun and she has some sort of power. With a flexing of her hand, she was able to send Danny flying backwards, who knows how many more secrets and abilities she may be hiding.
This was the best episode of the series so far with the different fighting styles and the corruption of The Hand spreading. The writing at least as far as the dialog is concerned was clunky, especially when it concerns Danny. Maybe it’s because they were trying to write him as a man-child or maybe it’s just poor writing. I’m hoping that as the season goes on and Danny comes more into his own or the writers comfort level increases that the dialog will improve.
Channel: Superhero 