Iron Fist Season 1, Episode 1 "Snow Gives Way" (USE SPOILER TAGS!)

[Mike Murdock]

As those of you who follow my posts (probably nobody), I make a specific drink to go with each show. For Daredevil, it was a Manhattan, for Jessica Jones, it was a Gin Cassis (a purple drink), for Luke Cage, it was a Harlem Cocktail (yellow drink). For Iron Fist, I am going with a Midori Sour. There's a couple reasons. It's green, which fits both today as St. Patrick's Day and Iron Fist (particularly with the yellow of the sour mix). Midori is Asian. That being said, it's in an American style, so maybe there's a political message, I don't know. Regardless, I'm excited to sit back and hopefully enjoy the show.

I think the opening is underwhelming. There seems to be an ink thing going, which would work if maybe the ink was used to write Iron Fist or something. But combined with the music, it's a bit dull. I also thought the opening was a bit weak with some awkward dialogue. But I'm also not sure how to make that dialogue not awkward. I think the "away for awhile and everyone thinks I'm crazy" thing is hard to make work. That being said, it picked up as it went. The slowness could be engrossing at times. I thought the contrast between wealth/privilege and poverty was interesting so far. Putting Danny in a position of homelessness works great. But I didn't like that Harold faked his own death. I also thought the ending didn't have a strong hook.

Three and a Half Stars. Good moments, but very much a slow burn.

 

[Dark Raven]

This first episode is really boring. I don't think it's even been 30 mins and it's a struggle.

 

[The Whizzer]

Wow. That opening fight scene was embarrassingly bad. He moves like Steven Seagal before they cut to the stunt double.

 

[Dark Raven]

So far the fighting is really unimpressive for someone who is supposed to be a master. And he wants to teach Kung Fu? He should be taking a few lessons.

 

[Mike Murdock]

The scene where Danny randomly starts speaking Chinese to Colleen and just assuming she spoke the language... That made me burst out laughing since it reminds me of all the times that people on the street assumed I spoke Spanish. How did that scene not get cut in post?

I can see why it would be problematic (usually, you run into the issue in Asia (at least Japan) when you're an Asian person, they'll assume you speak Japanese, but not if you're a white person). Still, I think it was important to show to Colleen that isn't a random homeless person. When he claims he knows Kung Fu, there's possible truth to it.

Wow. That opening fight scene was embarrassingly bad. He moves like Steven Seagal before they cut to the stunt double.

I don't like the way it's cut in this episode. I'm used to cutting before the blow hits, but this feels like it cuts before the punch is thrown. Or that people are getting knocked unconscious by nothing. That being said, I know from the preview clips that at least some fights are better than this one.

 

[Elayis]

If I was going into this show cold without any ties to the character or the brand, I most likely would’ve stopped watching after this first episode. Lots of forced conflict, Finn’s accent is wonky, the wirework/fight scenes are terrible, weird Tron-y music (for a martial arts show?) and that ending…

Just judging from this episode, one could get the impression that it’s the worst of the Marvel Netflix shows (and I don’t even like Jessica Jones or Luke Cage). Luckily I’ve stuck with it and the show seems to have turned a corner (just finished episode 3). Not a good start, though. Wonder how the producers were comfortable releasing a pilot in this bad of shape.

 

[Dark Raven]

I'm not sure exactly what happened at the very end of the episode. I momentarily dozed off in the last couple of minutes and just saw him lying on a bed with people saying he was mad. Was he taken there after being drugged or are we to interpret it some other way? I didn't feel like winding back to see what actually happened because it was so dull.

Also, are these titles meant to spell out something? They sound like episode titles for Blindspot that spell out a message when rearranged.

 

[Web-Head]

I'm not sure exactly what happened at the very end of the episode. I momentarily dozed off in the last couple of minutes and just saw him lying on a bed with people saying he was mad. Was he taken there after being drugged or are we to interpret it some other way? I didn't feel like winding back to see what actually happened because it was so dull.

Also, are these titles meant to spell out something? They sound like episode titles for Blindspot that spell out a message when rearranged.

Joy drugged him, yes.

 

[Dark Raven]

Joy drugged him, yes.

I know she drugged him. I wondered what happened after that between the drugging/ mini flashback and when he woke up.

 

[metaphysician]

I'd say the core flaw of this show is that it has a *really* slow introduction. It doesn't fill in any of the characters solidly, it doesn't introduce a compelling conflict, and it doesn't give the hero any real chances to show off.

 

[DorkyFresh]

If I'm being absolutely, unapologetically honest....this is one of the worst premiere episodes for a tv series I've seen in recent memory. Flat acting, paper thin characters, bad dialogue, sloppy editing, and the rare action sequences has no impact. And for a tv show about a character who's supposed be able to do everything that Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Jet Li, and Donnie Yen can do and more, that's pretty sad. It's not a good sign when...[BLACKOUT]the most interesting person is a homeless, disposable side character that almost immediately gets killed off.[/BLACKOUT] If the next episode doesn't improve then I probably won't watch the rest.

 

[Drizzle]

Just judging from the first episode, I didn't think it was that bad. It's slow, but so was Luke Cage. The biggest problem is the actor who plays Ward, he's just awful. And the fact that he looks older than his father is really distracting.

 

[Dark Raven]

Is that Jessica Stroup as Joy? I thought she was always much younger. She doesn't seem such a young girl anymore. How did she get so old?

 

[Elayis]

If I'm being absolutely, unapologetically honest....this is one of the worst premiere episodes for a tv series I've seen in recent memory. Flat acting, paper thin characters, bad dialogue, sloppy editing, and the rare action sequences has no impact. And for a tv show about a character who's supposed be able to do everything that Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Jet Li, and Donnie Yen can do and more, that's pretty sad. It's not a good sign when...[BLACKOUT]the most interesting person is a homeless, disposable side character that almost immediately gets killed off.[/BLACKOUT] If the next episode doesn't improve then I probably won't watch the rest.

As bad as this first episode was, TV can still be a bad place of a lot worse. I don't watch much network TV, but I watched the MacGyver pilot when it aired and oh man, I didn't realize they still made television that horrible. I'm sure there are other shows that are just as bad that I regularly skip.

 

[Dark Raven]

How did the critics manage to get to episode 6? That feels ages away. This is going to take months to finish.

 

[Web-Head]

How did the critics manage to get to episode 6? That feels ages away. This is going to take months to finish.

Not really. It picks up around episode 4

 

[DorkyFresh]

As bad as this first episode was, TV can still be a bad place of a lot worse. I don't watch much network TV, but I watched the MacGyver pilot when it aired and oh man, I didn't realize they still made television that horrible. I'm sure there are other shows that are just as bad that I regularly skip.

Oh I have no doubt that there are worse shows but they don't have a brand name attached as currently well regarded as Marvel. MacGyver is a revival of a dead series so it could have gone either way but Iron Fist is a show that had all the potential and opportunity in the world to be a smashing succes even WITH all the racial controversy surrounding it.

 

[Elayis]

Well maybe Scott Buck (the showrunner) learned some bad habits on Dexter (his last show). There was truly some bad writing in there. But beyond that, the production values were terrible. These Marvel shows don't have very large budgets, which hampers what a superhero show can do. This was the most CW looking of the lot so far, yet Supergirl has much better VFX.

I think it would help immensely (both from a narrative and production point of view) to reduce the number of episodes to 10 or even just 8. There'd be less filler and the episodes should look better having more money at their disposal.

 

[StarLord]

I watched the first episode earlier and enjoyed it. Different strokes I guess.

Never read the comic, but I like Finn Jones and I'll be watching a few more episodes on Monday night. Not binging this one.

 

[Dark Raven]

Well, we'll see if Scott Buck can even handle 8 episodes of the Inhumans and make the budget last longer. I have my doubts that even with 4 episodes he can do much.

 

[DorkyFresh]

Well maybe Scott Buck (the showrunner) learned some bad habits on Dexter (his last show). There was truly some bad writing in there.

I've heard great thing about Dexter (haven't seen it) but if it had bad writing then that explains a lot of Episode 1 of Iron Fist.

But beyond that, the production values were terrible. These Marvel shows don't have very large budgets, which hampers what a superhero show can do. This was the most CW looking of the lot so far, yet Supergirl has much better VFX.

I certainly understand how lack of budgets can effect production values but it all starts with the writing. The writing is the foundation on which all stories and experiences through various media are built upon. If the foundation is weak, the rest of the creation will crumble no matter how much money you throw at it.

I think it would help immensely (both from a narrative and production point of view) to reduce the number of episodes to 10 or even just 8. There'd be less filler and the episodes should look better having more money at their disposal.

Definitely in agreement there but at the same time I feel like if stories that take place entirely in NYC like DD, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage can work with 10 episodes then so should a story that covers international ground like Iron Fist. However, if they have weak writers then they certainly should have reduced the episode count for a more energetic, focused and cohesive script.

 

[Elayis]

Dexter started out strong but by season 4 they just started wheelspinning. Season 5-8 are basically junk, but I really liked the finale. Having said that, I never read the books.

And I certainly agree with you about writing, it's the single most important element in tv/film, yet so many times it's an afterthought. It helps that TV is usually a writer's medium (which is why get classics like The Sopranos, The Wire, Breaking Bad), but with franchise shows writers are little more than hired guns.

 

[legendkillin]

Dexter was a fun show up until the Tom Hank's son season. I still enjoyed some of that season but still the show stopped caring after that. They completely changed who Dexter was and the last season was terrible.

 

[Lencho01]

I agree with those who feel this was a slow and weak opening.

 

[Dark Raven]

So it's meant to be pick up by episode 4? But that means 2 more episodes of extreme slowness. And even then, I get the feeling it probably won't pick up that much, which means it will just be slightly less slow by episode 4 but still dragging.

What kind of show is this that you've got to tell yourself that you've just got to get past half the episodes of the season before it can become vaguely more interesting?

Imagine entering into a marriage where you're told you've just got to make it to 10 years and then it will start to get better.