Iron Fist 1.02

Shadow Hawk Takes Flight

Danny tries talking his way out of the mental hospital. He convinces the doctor examining him that he is who he says he is, Danny Rand. That turns out not to be enough because when he starts talking about the Iron Fist the doctor insists that he will have to stay.

A lot goes on outside of the hospital. Colleen Wing is approached by Ward Meachum. He has been sent there by his father. Ward wants Colleen to sign a document saying that Danny threatened her. The Meachums know about Colleen because Danny tried calling her while he was in the hospital and they have the place bugged. Ward tries bribing Colleen. She pays Danny a visit at the hospital. I'm not sure exactly how she was able to get in, but that happened. Ultimately, even though she still isn't sure about Danny she refuses to sign the documents.

Joy Meachum starts thinking that Danny is really Danny. She sends him a big bag of M&Ms. He sends them back via Colleen. He has removed the brown M&Ms. This is enough for Joy to believe that he is Danny.

Harold Meachum, father of the Meachum siblings, watches Danny in the hospital from his apartment. He starts believing that Danny just might be who he claims to be. He pays him a visit late at night, when he is still pretty heavily drugged. He pumps him for information. He already knows that Danny claims to have been found by a couple monks and lived in a place called K'un L'un. He claims to have been a warrior and wielded the Iron Fist. He claims to be a sworn enemy of the Hand. Harold starts seeing possibilities and value in Danny. He tells Ward to have him moved to a private home where they can keep an eye on him.

It looks like that is going to happen. Danny is forced into a straight jacket but instead of being put into a vehicle he is taken to a padded cell where he is attacked by three other patients. It seems like his attackers are working for the Meachums. One of the things that Danny told Harold was that he gets stronger the more he is attacked. That is exactly what happens. Getting beaten up enables him to manifest the Iron Fist and burn through the straight jacket. Prior to that he was unable to do so because of the drugs.

He beats up his three assailants and then uses the Iron Fist to break the door to the hospital. The episode ends with him running off into the night. Ward Meachum is watching thanks to his surveillance devices. I got the impression that learning just what Danny was capable of was important enough to him that he probably was the one behind the assault.

This is show is definitely a slow burn. I'm fearful that it will won't live up to the promise it has made to me in my mind but for now I'm still enjoying it.

The episode opens with Danny still in the mental hospital. I was pretty sure that he would be out one way or another before the end of the episode. I was right but it took right up to the end of the episode for that to happen.

I lost track of time while watching. I couldn't be sure how much time had passed. There was at least one moment that felt like it might be the final scene but there was probably another 15 before the episode ended.

There is at least one mystery that is not solved in this episode. Harold Meachum comes home from visiting Danny in the hospital. There is a palm print on the window and written on the window next to it is a note that reads "where were you?" or maybe it was "where are you?" or maybe "where did you go?" I don't recall exactly. He starts to wipe it all away but then he stops and leaves it there. My first thought was that it was Ward that left the weird note but I'm starting to think that it was someone else. someone who has not been seen yet.