Episode Title: Royal Dragon Originally Aired: August 18th 2017
“Bullet proof, blind ninja and whatever you are” Danny isn’t exactly smooth in his recruitment speech to the group. I didn’t expect going in that after 5 seasons one of my favorite episodes would be one with no action, but the quality of the interaction and finally getting some answers made for a highly satisfying episode.
We finally learn about the leaders of the Hand that are called the five fingers. Madame Goa of course is one ten there is Alexandra, Bokuto, and introduced in this episode Sowande and Murakami. Sowande is the man in the white hat who I assumed was just a petty criminal, handling low-level projects for the Hand not a general in their army. Murakami is a man obsessed with fighting and challenging himself and pushing himself to the edge of death. It is the five fingers plus Elektra vs The Defenders, Stick, Colleen, Misty, and Claire. I think there will be losses on each side, when the dust settles we will be down at least Stick and Alexandra and one Misty appendage.
The interactions in this episode were great, everyone got to be who they are and play well off of each other. I know that doesn’t sound appealing for the people who are not fans of Iron Fist but he is the central figure and it can’t be escaped. He is young and ruled by his emotions which makes him impulsive and a less than ideal Iron Fist, but he is loyal to his friends and he will fight to the death for Colleen, Claire and the rest of the team. Matt just wants everyone to go their own way and forget about the hand because he is still struggling with the death and reappearance of Elektra and his promise to Foggy and Karen to just be Matt. He eventually gives in just a little and decides to trust the group with his identity even if he doesn’t want to join up. Luke is Luke, he wants to know what’s going on so he can protect the people he cares about and Harlem. He is willing to work with the others to solve this problem but will probably move on afterwards if they don’t make a true connection. Jessica is still my favorite, she is snarky and intelligent and figures out who Matt really is, she ditches the team but when her clients are in danger she returns to help them put the Hand down.
The episode is well shot but because of the obvious color scene they have been using you can tell that Danny is the most important because the group scenes are bathed in a green light. The Royal Dragon restaurant must have a ton of green neon dragons placed around the dining area. This episode ends with the promise of a major action scene which is very exciting after all of tonight’s build up. The two episodes should balance perfectly and be the best one two punch Netflix and Marvel has given us.
Channel: Superhero 