Strong and has a final to see

You can always tell when a show has undergone significant changes in leadership and artistic direction between seasons because it changes the overall energy –chi, if you want – browse the stories told. Marvel & # 39; s Iron fist has returned for a second season on Netflix and the influences of his new showrunner Raven Metzner and fighting choreographer Clayton Barber are immediately apparent.

The difficulty of adapting a character like Iron Fist in the Netflix MCU – a place more firmly anchored than Marvel's movies – has always been multiple even if you do not take into account the fact that Danny Rand is a true white savior. Between magic and dragons, and ridiculous (but still cool) costume, the Danny Rand from Marvel Comics has simply never been adapted to the MCU. And even, Iron fist did everything possible to make the source material work.

Iron fistThe second season is infinitely more aware of the narrative hook points inherent in the property than the first, but rather than avoiding them, it is really trying to turn them into something that is part of the Netflix MCU.

When we catch up with Danny (Finn Jones), he becomes a real New Yorker like his fellow defenders. Even if, at first, he says he filled the void left by Daredevil after The defendershe moved into the idea of ​​Manhattan's Chinatown, which is actually a little over six kilometers from Hells Kitchen. The reason why Danny claimed that Chinatown was his main asset to protect is twofold. With the hand now outright out of the New York crime scene, other criminal organizations are now competing to exist in this space and murder anyone ready to challenge them. At the same time, however, Iron fist Danny in Chinatown feels like an easy way to give Danny a reason to fight unnamed, and sometimes faceless, hordes of Asians, something that happens more often than necessary.

Although Danny's story is not initially the most competitive, what really makes him pop is how exciting the fight sequences are. In almost all other circumstances, the arrival of a new combat choreographer would not necessarily be very interesting, but Barber's keen sense of how battle bodies move in space and connect is at the times the actors took to heart. This time, Danny, the supposed Chosen One ™ chosen to defend the world with his fists, gives the impression that he knows a number of variants of kung fu which, even if they may appear superficial, immediately enhance the show.

Iron fistThe biggest problem this time is the fact that Danny continues to focus, even in moments when the other main actors in the series have begun to shine on camera. The series features her central antagonists – Joy Meachum (Jessica Stroup), Davos (Sacha Dhawan) and newcomer Mary (Alice Eve) – and the motivations for their actions are set to make you want to follow their intrigues. . Still fresh from their betrayal by Danny in the first season, Joy and Davos allied themselves and embarked on a revenge mission that defeated Danny from his legendary Iron Fist abilities.

Danny, who loses his powers relatively early in the season, puts him on a redemptive path that feels like both a trial that the legendary Shou-Lao dragon will choose for his last champion and a kind of penance that the hero must pay for to be the weakest link in his narrative fabric. Once again, Jones' performance is largely due to the actor's stiff and disconnected nature compared to the scenes he plays – a stark contrast to most actors in the series who do their best to raise the highest possible equipment. Colleen Wing (Jessica Henwick) and Misty Knight (Simone Missick) come back as Danny's support system and, as was the case for all other Dragon Girls, the time together is absolutely electric on screen .

As Davos begins to sneak into the New York subway to try to purify and purify the evil city by drastic means, it is Misty and Colleen who implement, mentally and physically, the villain's project. In addition to ridding the neighborhood of criminal syndicates of factions, Davos is on a mission to take the iron fist, which he believes to be his rightly, on behalf of Danny by all means necessary. Even if it is clear from the beginning that Davos is a deranged madman who has never deserved the power, the show projects him in a somewhat sympathetic light that makes you understand why he would feel resentment for the 39 outsider who stumbled upon K's an L & # 39; only to become his greatest supposed warrior.

Before Danny and Davos have their inevitable confrontation, Mary, a curious enigma of a character, goes on stage to draw inspiration from the life of Iron fistHero at first as a helpless spectator and later as a deadly assassin. Like his comic book counterpart, Typhoid Mary, Iron fistMary & # 39; s is a woman who lives with a dissociative identity disorder whose external stimuli bring out the different personalities. Refreshing, Iron fist do not consider Mary's state as a curious curiosity or something that can turn into a superpower and at no point is she really convinced of being a victim because of it. It is deadly, complicated and literally in conflict with itself, making it difficult to determine exactly where it stands in relation to everyone.

The family and community are recurring themes throughout the show that are transformed into some of the strongest and weakest of the season. The longstanding fraternal rivalry of Danny and Davos has the impression of having something impressive, but it finally feels like a story about family resentment and revenge. Colleen, meanwhile, is given a meaningful bow as she tries to unpack the mystery of her biological family and establish relationships with her chosen family. That includes Danny and Misty, yes, but also the people who depend on the local community center for support and protection.

Iron fistThe rhythm is in a way a situation half filled with glass / half empty. On the one hand, the season is blissfully short – 10 episodes – compared to the other Netflix solo, but as is often the case, much of the first half of the season is spreading several times. That being said, the last two episodes of the season are taking spectacular turns that introduce new ideas and set up a third season in a way that will surprise and delight your opponents and make the season worth watching. .

Real conversation-Rose ironThe second season is a kind of mixed bag. You will have a lot to do, but if you are ready to go to the finals, you will not regret it.