# Iron Fist (Netflix) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 17, 2017, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iron-fist-netflix/782431 "2017-03-17T19:56:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![bmoak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@bmoak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmoak)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iron-fist-netflix/782431/101 "2017-03-24T23:56:59Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > I really enjoyed it, too. I never read a great deal of _Power Man & Iron Fist_, but Danny Rand and Luke Cage should be interesting as a team. Did their stint in the Defenders comic predate or post-date their being a crime-fighting duo? The original long-running Defenders series of the 70s and 80s has nothing to do with the Marvel Netflix Defenders. Originally, the Defenders was just Marvel taking its most popular characters not named Spider-Man or in the Avengers that were able to hold down a solo title: Dr. Strange, The Hulk, and Sub-Mariner, with the Silver Surfer thrown in for good measure. TPBP realized they had a group made up loners and/or people who don’t always play nice with others and christened them a “non-team”, who didn’t really get along or hang out, but came together to save the day. Given the characters and their power levels, it was a natural for the Defenders to be about weird cosmic and mystical adventures. The title shifted focus and members numerous times over its run (the original line-up didn’t last long), but generally kept something of the “non-team” aspect. Actually, Luke Cage was a member of the Defenders for a while early in their run. The Hulk was missing/unavailable and the team felt it needed to replace his muscle, so Dr. Strange straight up paid Luke to work with the team for a while. ---
**Author:** ![Fair\_Rarity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fair_rarity/32/153_2.png) [@Fair\_Rarity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fair_Rarity)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2017, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iron-fist-netflix/782431/102 "2017-03-25T01:52:21Z")
The best thing I can say about it is that it didn’t suck so badly that I couldn’t finish watching it. I mean, I disliked it, but it was so blah that it was non-distracting to have on and I figured it’s just background research for The Defenders… which, incidentally, better not suck after the hours of shitty shows I’ve had to watch since it was announced. I’d skip that too if it clearly wasn’t the only way I’ll ever get another Jessica Jones (show) fix. ---
**Author:** ![ArrMatey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrmatey/32/3522_2.png) [@ArrMatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArrMatey)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2017, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iron-fist-netflix/782431/103 "2017-03-25T03:27:25Z")
> [@Kron](#): > > Danny Rand (and Davos!) supposedly have spent all of this time training, and are SUPPOSED to have absolute control over their emotions, but 75% of their screen time is devoted to ridiculously over-the-top emotional outbursts. My wife and I were both baffled by this, and decided that the monks at K’un Lun were obviously just shit at training people. > > Maybe that explains Danny’s obvious lack of real martial arts ability… I want this to happen. I want, if there’s a season 2, for Danny to finally have a full flashback to his training, while explaining it to everyone he cares about. He finishes, opens his eyes, and sees everyone looking at him in both pity and horror. “Danny… You know none of that is actual kung-fu, right…?” ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2017, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iron-fist-netflix/782431/104 "2017-03-25T05:00:23Z")
> [@icon](#): > > \The end scene with Joy was a big disappointment as well. She went from, “hey we screwed Danny”, to “let’s kill him” in like 0 seconds. Davos being resentful, that was understandable, but Joy? there was nothing in the series that would cause one to believe such a drastic change.\ Well, consider this: Joy had thought for the last 12 years that her father was dead. She’s just processing that he’s alive (so to speak), and they’re reunited. She finds out that Danny knew he was alive (so to speak), and then Danny kills him, taking her father away from her all over again. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2017, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iron-fist-netflix/782431/105 "2017-03-25T15:53:26Z")
In general I’m finding this show very inferior to Luke Cage, Daredevil, and, especially, Jessica Jones. The one thing that has actually made me perk up is Ward Meachum falling apart. I laughed out loud when he flipped the bird to all the walls in his office and I loved his freak out when he and Danny found the head in the truck. Those moments were very well played. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2017, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iron-fist-netflix/782431/106 "2017-03-25T16:17:30Z")
I just finished it last night. One thing that puzzles me: How could the board vote Danny out when he had 51% of the vote, giving him the power to make major decisions unilaterally, as established previously? ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2017, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iron-fist-netflix/782431/107 "2017-03-25T16:39:37Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > I just finished it last night. One thing that puzzles me: How could the board vote Danny out when he had 51% of the vote, giving him the power to make major decisions unilaterally, as established previously? I was really confused by that as well. Leaving aside the casting controversy, it was a badly done series. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2017, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iron-fist-netflix/782431/108 "2017-03-25T16:44:40Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > I just finished it last night. One thing that puzzles me: How could the board vote Danny out when he had 51% of the vote, giving him the power to make major decisions unilaterally, as established previously? I thought the only thing that makes sense, is figuring that – once a year? Let’s say once a year – the shareholders get to vote on who will hold which positions in the corporation for the next year. So if you handle day-to-day stuff, you _can_ sneeringly disregard any and all requests from Danny, and he can’t actually do anything about it this month, or next month, or the month after that, or the month after that; but there’s eventually going to come a day when he unilaterally gets to decide whether to fire your ass, and so you’ll presumably defer to him. But if you reconsider and feel like ignoring him – well, he has no power right now. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2017, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iron-fist-netflix/782431/109 "2017-03-25T16:52:52Z")
I had somewhat made my peace with the show, trying to enjoy it for what it was—they can’t all be hits, and you’re bound to see some regression to the mean eventually, and, let’s face it, there’s worse superhero series around, it’s hard to keep up with the expectations generated by the other Netflix series, and so on—but man, that final episode was a stinker. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2017, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iron-fist-netflix/782431/110 "2017-03-25T19:40:40Z")
The Board of Directors job is to look out for the shareholders, including the majority shareholder. While not involved in the day-to-day decisions, the BoD can remove people (depending on corporate charter) acting against the best interests of the company, in their opinion, including the majority shareholder. Not having been present, Danny Ward had no opportunity to stack the BoD with people loyal to him, while the Meachums were simply outplayed. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2017, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iron-fist-netflix/782431/111 "2017-03-25T19:50:18Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > The Board of Directors job is to look out for the shareholders, including the majority shareholder. While not involved in the day-to-day decisions, the BoD can remove people (depending on corporate charter) acting against the best interests of the company, in their opinion, including the majority shareholder. Not having been present, Danny Ward had no opportunity to stack the BoD with people loyal to him, while the Meachums were simply outplayed. But Joy and Ward were told if they didn’t accept the offered settlement they’d get nothing, and no such offer was made to Danny. The implication being essentially “All your stock now belong to us.” ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2017, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iron-fist-netflix/782431/112 "2017-03-25T20:09:26Z")
At some point, it was still pointed out that he would simply own the stock, not be involved with the company bearing his name. The Meachums were negotiating golden parachutes in exchange for keeping their mouths shut and not fighting. No BoD has the power to take away owned stock, though there would have to be a lot of shenanigans to keep Danny from voting them all out and a new Board in, when next the Board would be up for re-election. ---
**Author:** ![Randolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Randolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randolph)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2017, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iron-fist-netflix/782431/113 "2017-03-26T22:37:56Z")
Finished it, and agree with most of the comments here. Very much a junior varsity level of series as compared to the other Marvel offerings. Mediocre writing, from the plotting to the execution. Fighting/training scenes that have two people exchange amateurish blows for a few moments, then talk about how amazing they both are. Vows of chastity that last nearly entire episodes. Lame realizations of power - “No door shall remain closed before me!” Supporting characters that have more depth and growth than the main protagonists. A man in complete control of his emotioI’M GONNA GO KILL THEM ALL!!1! And so on. Oh well. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2017, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iron-fist-netflix/782431/114 "2017-03-26T22:55:41Z")
Finished the series and enjoyed it. That said, I did quite often find myself laughing at the cheesiness of it all. Especially when Danny would start flailing his arms about and then strike a dramatic pose just before a fight. And his fight scene with the drunk guy. lol. Some of these scenes seemed like a straight up parody of those poorly dubbed karate shows I used to watch as a kid. Also, what’s up with Madam Gao? She had that one bad ass move where she knocked Danny on his ass just by waving her hand. After that, we never get to see a demonstration of this awesome power again. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2017, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iron-fist-netflix/782431/115 "2017-03-26T23:00:25Z")
Madame Gao did that same move on Daredevil, too, and otherwise nothing dramatic from her in that series, either. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2017, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iron-fist-netflix/782431/116 "2017-03-27T15:05:08Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > Sorry but no, the guy wasn’t a toddler when his parents died. He should have a way better understanding of how the world works. Considering how many people I personally know who were surprised when their children inherited their house (which had been completely in the husband’s name) when their husband died… “should” and “would” are very, very different words. Danny was pretty lost back when he first appeared in the comics, too. And Marvel tends to treat anything related to legality or business as “a wizard did it”, that crap with the Board is pretty much at their usual levels. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2017, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iron-fist-netflix/782431/117 "2017-03-27T16:29:07Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > I love the actress playing Madam Gao. She’s wonderful at being creepy and utterly benign/polite at the same time. I was streaming some episodes of _Fresh Off the Boat_ while I was getting some work done and was pretty delighted to see her in an episode (the current season opener if anybody is interested). It was fun watching her play a completely different role since her portrayal of Madame Gao is so strong. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iron-fist-netflix/782431/118 "2017-03-28T23:11:57Z")
Echoing many of the sentiments here… mediocre but not terrible, I mainly watched it to be ready for _The Defenders_, and the most interesting parts were parts other than Danny (the Meachums, Colleen, Madame Gao). Other than the stuff already mentioned (what happened to Gao’s powers? how could a 51% shareholder be voted out?), I feel like the connection between Gao and Backuto and the compound in NYC and Colleen was poorly explained. So what did Colleen know about The Hand? What actual deceit occurred? Did she know that the organization she was a part of was called “The Hand” and that it did illegal stuff but not that it was BAD illegal? And how did they not chop Backuto’s head off once he was already dead? And I got very sick of all the agonizing over ever killing anyone. Whatever the calculus is for whether or not it’s OK to kill a centuries-old supernatural criminal mastermind who no court on earth could hold who flukishly (and somewhat ridiculously) ends up in your power, it’s not the same as for a random human bad guy. That needs to be acknowledged. I agree that Davos and Joy suddenly conspiring at the end with Gao right there unnoticed was idiotic. (One other thing that was poorly explained was why it’s so important to have an Iron Fist to guard the pass, and what they Iron Fist does the other 15 years while Kun Lun is out of phase, or whatever. Is the Iron Fist so much more powerful a fighter than every other monk in the monastery that his absence will automatically turn defeat into failure or vice versa?) ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2017, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iron-fist-netflix/782431/119 "2017-03-29T11:49:55Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > And how did they not chop Backuto’s head off once he was already dead? Yeah, that was a really stupid moment. I mean, leaving the bad guy for dead is always stupid, but if he’s the head of an organisation that’s known to have reanimation technology/magic, which just keeps bringing people back after one use, it’s completely inexcusable; add to that the fact that they not once seem to even speculate that just maybe, the head of the organisation that brings people back from the dead isn’t, you know, dead, and the characters seem like utter morons. Also, the whole ‘but we’re the _good_ Hand’-thing didn’t really work. I mean, if you’re a splinter group of an organization that’s basically synonymous with evil, and want to convince everybody you’re actually good guys, wouldn’t you at least try coming up with another name? ‘Yes, we’re Nazis, but we’re the good sort’ isn’t really going to convince anybody. And why was Colleen kept completely in the dark about the Hand’s true nature, while her students, there for a whooping what, three weeks? were already assigned the task of killing their old sensei slowly and painfully? ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2017, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iron-fist-netflix/782431/120 "2017-03-29T12:14:08Z")
I’m through 7 episodes and I’m still enjoying it pretty well. I can’t believe this got super negative reviews. Luke Cage was way more boring!! Can he not use his glowing iron fist often? I notice he only uses it once in awhile and it seems super useful. Every battle should be him with a glowing fist, but…he has to build up to it? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iron-fist-netflix/782431.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iron-fist-netflix/782431.md?page=7)