FIVE FAVORITE EPISODES OF "IRON FIST" SEASON ONE (2017)

 

Below is a list of my favorite episodes from Season One of "IRON FIST", the Marvel Netflix adaptation of the Marvel Comics hero. Created by Scott Buck, the series starred Finn Jones as Danny Rand aka Iron Fist:

FIVE FAVORITE EPISODES OF "IRON FIST" SEASON ONE (2017)

1. (1.06) "Immortal Emerges from Cave" - Danny Rand aka Iron Fist and Ward Meachum, the son of his late father's partner, Harold Meachum; search the Rand Enterprises warehouses for clues as to the operations of the criminal organization known as the Hand. Meanwhile, Danny receives an invitation from one of the Hand's leaders, Madame Gao, to fight three operatives for the freedom of one of their hostages.

2. (1.13) "Dragon Plays with Fire" - With the Hand no longer around to monitor him, Harold Meachum takes control of Rand Enterprises. Danny learns of Harold's role in the deaths of his parents and both he and Ward are forced to confront the former CEO in this season finale.

3. (1.11) "Lead Horse Back to Stable" - Danny refuses to return to K'un-Lun, the mystical city where he became the Iron Fist, despite the urgent demands of his friend, Davos. Former Hand acolyte and dojo owner Colleen Wing tries to convince Danny that she knew nothing about the Hand's activities. Harold and his daughter Joy Meachum plot to prevent the Hand from taking over Rand Enterprises.

4. (1.01) "Snow Gives Way" - In the series' premiere, Danny returns home to New York City after spending fifteen years at K'un-Lun. Because he was presumed dead, along with his parents, Danny has difficulty convincing Ward and Joy of his true identity and the fact that he controls 51% of Rand Enterprises.

5. (1.10) "Black Tiger Steals Heart" - An injured Danny finds himself at the Hand dojo where Colleen had been trained and meets her former mentor/trainer, Bakuto. Meanwhile, Harold kills a board member in order to pave the way for Joy to convince the others to reinstate her, Ward and Danny back on the company's board.

"IRON FIST" Season One (2017) Photo Gallery

 

Below are images from Season One of "IRON FIST", the Marvel Netflix adaptation of the Marvel Comics hero. Created by Scott Buck, the series starred Finn Jones as Danny Rand aka Iron Fist: 



"IRON FIST" SEASON ONE (2017) Photo Gallery

MARVEL Netflix Franchise and the Serial Drama Format

MARVEL NETFLIX AND THE SERIAL DRAMA FORMAT

I have only seen two shows from the Marvel Netflix franchise – “DAREDEVIL” Season One and “JESSICA JONES” Season One.  Overall, I enjoyed both shows, but . . . I have noticed a flaw regarding both.  I have also noticed that other bloggers and television critics have noticed, as well.

I do not think the writers for the Marvel Netflix series know how to write a TV serial drama very well.  Many have complained that their shows are “too slow”.  Let me put it another way . . . the franchise’s 13 episode format for the franchise is a deterrent for the shows and they come off as being too slow.  Frankly, I believe this is bullshit.

There have been TV shows in the past that utilized the serial drama format – especially in the science-fiction/fantasy genre or the comic book genre (which might be more or less the same thing).  But these past shows have more or less aired a season long story arc within 22 episodes.  Remember “BABYLON 5″?  “BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER”?  “LOST” (until Season Four)?  Arrowverse shows like “ARROW” and “THE FLASH”?  Until recently, even “AGENTS of S.H.I.E.L.D.” and “GOTHAM” have utilized a 22-episode story arc.

So, what happened?  When did television viewers and critics stop tolerating longer story arcs in television serial dramas?  More importantly, when did TV writers stop knowing how to utilize the serial drama format?  When did it become difficult for them to balance action and drama, while writing a season long arc within 13 episodes?

While watching Season One of “DAREDEVIL” (which I enjoyed), I can recall at least two or three episodes that seemed to feature a lot of talk and very little action. I am thinking of the episode called (1.10) “Nelson v. Murdock”, in which Foggy Nelson confronted Matt Murdock after discovering that the latter was dark clad vigilante wanted by the New York police at the end of the previous episode.  At first, I found Foggy’s confrontation with Matt rather interesting.  Eventually became somewhat boring to me.  If it were not for the plot lines involving characters like Karen Page, Ben Urich and Wilson Fisk sporadically interrupting the Matt-Nelson interaction, I would have ended up regarding this episode as a two-man stage play between actors Charlie Cox and Elden Henson.

I am not advocating less drama and more action.  I still have bad memories of Season Two of “AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.”, in which the addition of more action, at the expense of drama, nearly ruined that season for me.  Marvel Netflix’s solution to their problems – at least as far as their fourth series, “IRON FIST”, is concerned – was to shortened that series’ 13-episode arc to 10 episodes for its second season.  And yet . . . the seasons that followed Season Two of “AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.” managed to provide a better balance of drama and action without shortening its next three seasons.

Balance.  Perhaps that is the true problem with the Marvel Netflix shows.  There is no real balance between the use of drama and action in their shows.  If that is the case, I do not see how limiting the number of episodes from 13 to 10 will solve the problem.  After all, Marvel Television is only willing to do this for “IRON FIST”.  And this lack of balance seemed to be a problem with all six shows.  If the show runners and writers of the other five Marvel Netflix series do not want to reduce the number of episodes per season, perhaps they and their staffs need to learn to balance the use of drama and action in their narratives.