The Irrational
The Irrational finds a behavioral scientist asking questions about memory and the human condition while investigating murders.
It ain’t easy to be the heir of a massive multicontinental corporation and a super-secret martial arts discipline. Just ask Danny Rand.
See, the thing about inheriting the family business is that, well, the rest of the family has to die first. That’s exactly what happened when Danny was just 10: While he, his mom and dad were jet-setting over the Himalayas, something mysteriously went wrong with the family plane and it crashed, presumably killing all aboard.
Only Danny didn’t die, but was taken in by a ridiculously reclusive group of martial arts masters who taught him all they know—including how to call upon the power of the Iron Fist. Super-nifty, that.
But alas, when he returns to New York City, Danny discovers that the family business is under the control of the Meacham family these days, and everyone still believes that he’s dead. And even when Danny starts convincing folks that he’s very much alive, it’s soon quite clear that some people wish he wasn’t.
According to critics, it doesn’t look like Netflix saved the best for last.
For more than two years, as Marvel’s various Avengers have been making money hand-over-hammer in theaters, the streaming service has been building its own team of comic book crime fighters known as the Defenders.
First came Daredevil, a dark, brooding and often bloody show featuring a blind lawyer turned vigilante. Jessica Jones, a noirish, salacious thriller featuring a cynical, super-strong private eye, came next. Then Luke Cage, whose title character’s skin is literally as tough as nails (and whose antagonist, “Cottonmouth” Stokes, was also newly minted Oscar winner Mahershala Ali). All three shows were rife with content problems, but all three also experienced varying levels of critical approval.
But with Iron Fist, the last member of Netflix’s Defenders squad, most critics feel the franchise has taken a step or two back. Slow and unconvincing, they’ve said.
Obviously, a show’s aesthetic merits aren’t our main concern here at Plugged In. But Iron Fist still falls short for us content-wise, too. And even if its problems aren’t significantly worse than the Netflix series that preceded it, neither are they much better, as we’ll see.
It’s not that Iron Fist is all bad, of course. Danny is naturally a heroic sort, willing to put his life on the line to protect those close to him and to defend all that is pure and true (in his estimation). The villains lined up to defeat him are, indeed, often quite villainous. Harold Meacham, Danny’s dad’s former business partner, is quite the piece of duplicitous work. An old ex-pal from the mystical city of K’un L’un, where Danny learned all his special kung fu tricks, proves nettlesome as well.
Unlike Netflix’s other superhero series, Iron Fist is relatively restrained thus far when it comes to sexual content. We’re not exposed to noisy bedroom scenes like we see in Jessica Jones and Luke Cage. Nor are there the lingering, sultry love triangles that Daredevil sometimes dabbles in.
But if Iron Fist minds its manners (relatively speaking) in the bedroom, the hero’s opponents certainly don’t mind theirs in the streets. Or in dank apartment buildings. Or, well, anywhere. People die, sometimes in grotesque, splatter-filled ways. Bad language—a perennial problem in these Netflix superhero stories—is still frequently present. It doesn’t take long for us to see (and hear) one of the main reasons Iron Fist received its “mature audiences” rating from Netflix.
On top of those concerns, we have to lather on one more. While Daredevil’s Matt Murdock is a sincere (if troubled) Catholic, Danny Rand is a devout Buddhist monk. He meditates. He offers nods toward religious concepts such as reincarnation. And while the show doesn’t delve too deeply into Buddhism’s actual tenets, there’s little question that his powers take on a quasi-spiritual, seriously supernatural bent.
Obviously, Netflix’s superheroes are a known quantity now. Fans of them won’t find much unexpected here. But beware: You, like Danny Rand, just might suffer a serious blow or two.
In the first episode of Season Two, Danny assimilates to his life in the blue collar world, away from Rand Enterprises. Colleen, Danny’s lover and a fearsome martial arts expert in her own right, receives a mysterious family heirloom. Joy Meacham, Danny’s bitter rival, steps down from Rand Enterprises, to her brother Ward’s bewilderment, and she and Davos (Danny’s “brother”) plot Danny’s demise. There’s rumor that a Triad war is brewing in Chinatown.
Iron Fist and several others go hand-to-hand in battle. People punch and kick and people are shot, stabbed and brutally killed (with plenty of blood to go along). Other dangerous weapons come into play (such as an axe and chains). Death threats abound. Cars are destroyed and one explodes. Colleen and Danny joke about eating bugs and drinking blood.
Danny and Colleen reference sex and are seen in bed (kissing and fully clothed). Ward tries to attend an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, but before he can sit down, he instead meets a woman in a closet, where we see them kiss, make out and, eventually, have sex. Nothing critical is exposed, but the woman takes off her underwear and her upper thighs are exposed. Men go shirtless.
God’s name is misused a few times. The s-word is uttered three times and other profanities include “b–ch,” “freaking” and “h—.” A man is called a “fool” and a woman, a “whore.” Joy drinks a glass of wine.
Danny arrives in New York City after a 15-year absence and is promptly kicked out of the building that bears his family name. It seems the siblings in charge of the corporation now—Joy and Ward Meachum—believe that their old childhood chum is dead and gone, and that this guy calling himself Danny is either insane or a play-actor hired by one of their cutthroat competitors.
It’s not long before the fists (iron or no) begin to fly. First, Danny takes on a bevy of security guards in the Rand building lobby. More people take on Danny in New York’s mean streets, brandishing guns. Danny disarms them and, through a flurry of fists and feet, knocks them all unconscious—but not before questioning one of them while giving his arm a sickening, cracking twist or two. In flashback, we see a young Ward Meachum give the kid-version of Danny a sharp hit under a table, presumably to the crotch. (“Danny’s been kind of a problem,” Ward lies when talking with Danny’s parents.)
In another flashback, we witness the last few moments before the Rand family jet crashes in the Himalayas. Danny’s mom tries to comfort her son before the roof rips off and she’s sucked into the void. Danny’s father, strapped in, tells his son that he loves him before the plane goes down.
A homeless man dies with a syringe sticking out of his arm, suggesting that he overdosed on drugs. Danny and Ward brandish guns at each other. Danny is nearly hit by a car, but instead flips gently over it. Joy drugs some water she serves to Danny. Next thing he knows, he’s in a psychiatric hospital, strapped to a hospital bed and being injected with other drugs. Danny reminds Ward of all the mean things he did to him as a child, including serving him a dead frog and kicking him in the crotch “every chance you had.”
A homeless man tells a shoeless Danny that he can get hand-me-down shoes at a nearby shelter, but advises him to urinate in them first to eliminate the spirits of previous owners. (He adds that it’s either that or cleanse them with the “blood of a she-goat.”) Danny seems to meditate at times. In one case, he apparently charms a guard dog into submission. He also talks about reincarnation and his purpose being to “honor the sacrifice of Shou-Lao, the undying.” There’s a reference to people living on the earth for “a couple million years.”
Characters say the s-word five times. We also hear uses of “b–ch,” p—ies,” “p-ss,” “d-ck” and “h—.” Jesus’ name is misused once.
Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.
Kristin Smith joined the Plugged In team in 2017. Formerly a Spanish and English teacher, Kristin loves reading literature and eating authentic Mexican tacos. She and her husband, Eddy, love raising their children Judah and Selah. Kristin also has a deep affection for coffee, music, her dog (Cali) and cat (Aslan).
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