Harold is getting all dolled up in a nice suit as our finale begins, while listening to a news report about the DEA placing Danny at the top of their most wanted list. He then shows up at Rand as security says he can’t park on the street, but Harold just throws him the keys and tells him to go wash it. Meanwhile Ward, clean, sober, lucid and fully aware of everything that’s going on, is meeting with Jeri, telling her he knows for a fact Danny is innocent of the drug charges, that his position on Danny has changed after everything, and that he wants to help. Who knew he’d be the one to pull a face turn? Jeri says Danny was stupid to punch out a DEA agent, and thus his life is in danger. Harold walks in and Jeri says faking his death is fraud on the highest level. Harold is unfazed and asks her to leave. Ward questions the logic of Harold being out in public. Harold genuinely believes that he can play it off as some sort of cryogenics miracle and thinks the world will be overjoyed to see him back. Ward thinks he’s loopy. He tells Harold he owes Danny for freeing him from the Hand and Harold couldn’t care less. Ward thinks he’s been messing with Danny since he got back. Harold smiles a sick smile and casually says he’s being messing with Danny since LONG before that, likew he was confessing to changing his sandwich order. Opening credits.
Danny surprises Colleen in the park and she shows him a newspaper headline calling him a fugitive. He asks how she’s doing and they get nervous when they hear a distant siren. Danny thinks they should find out what evidence the DEA has on him so they can figure out how to refute it. Danny can’t understand how Harold could betray him like this. Colleen gets Claire to approach Jeri so they can arrange a meeting without the DEA knowing. Claire catchjes up to Jeri on the street later and hands her a $5 bill with “J-Money” written on it, Danny’s old nickname for her. She follows Claire and they meet up with Danny and Colleen in a surprisingly clean alley at the bottom of a staircase. Jeri tells Danny and Colleen the full charges against them both, tells them how bad it will be if they turn themselves in, and shows them what the DEA has. Danny realizes the evidence against him is actually the evidence against Gao with the names changed.
Jeri tells them they have 3 options. Run away back to magic monk land and never look back, surrender and laguish in the pokey, or, fight it and prove their innocence. She says since the “evidence” Harold altered is digital there must be another copy of it somewhere, and does he know who might have it. Danny frowns and says yes but it’s the only person he trusts less than Harold. I’d bet my left leg it’s Gao.
Aaaaaand sure enough the next scene is Danny and Colleen breaking into the apparently now completely abandoned Hand school compound. They’re both creeped out by how silent the compound is, and go looking for Gao, who the Hand actually left behind to starve. They ask her for the information but she says she erases her computers daily. They say she’s lying but she says she’s never lied to them. Gao asks Danny if he’s ever wondered why he survived the plane crash without a scratch. She says deep down he knows she didn’t kill his parents. She’d never have hidden it behind a plane crash. She tells him what the audience figured out around 5 episodes ago, that Harold was behind it. She tells him how and why Harold did it and tells him he has two paths to choose from; kill Harold, purge the anger that’s limiting him, and become the true full Iron Fist, or let the anger consume him and be buried by it. They leave her to her fate but she says you can’t lock up the truth.
Danny is seething back in the alley as they fill Claire in. He rafes about knowing his mother might have survived the crash and he couldn’t save her. Claire says every other superpowered person she’s met were dark and damaged but when she first met Danny he was light and ionnocent, but the more he rages and fights against his anger and grief for the crash 15 years ago the darker he becomes. It’s a fight he can’t win and he needs to let go. He says he can win any fight and Claire ssnaps back that there are some things he just can’t punch. She and Colleen both tell Danny that they know he thinks killing GHarold will make him feel better and make everything right but it won’t. Colleen reminds him how much she wanted to kill Bakudo, (the joy of being deaf in one ear; all this series I thought everyone was saying Akuda until I checked IMDB. Apparently it’s Bakudo. But all the other recaps are already in the can so ehn, screw it. Honest mistake, I honestly thought everyone was calling him Akuda, not Bakudo), but that she refrained. She’s glad she didn’t because if she had she’d always wonder if it was for the right reason. So SHE offers to kill Harold so Danny won’t corrupt his chi. Claire is all of us when she throws up her hands in pure “oh for the love of…” exasperation and asks if there’s any version of this plan that doesn’t result in anyone getting killed, and tells them to ask Ward if he can get the tablet with the original files.
Joy is still recovering in the hospital, reading. Ward shows up and she tells him he shouldn’t be here because she never wants to see him again. He says everything he did was to protect her. She says who says she needs protection. He says as long as she still thinks Harold is still their father he does. She says he lied to her all these years, she can’t trust him. He says Harold made him under threat to her life from the Hand. She says who made him lie about Harold abusing him. He gets visibly shaken and says that’s different. He says yes he’s an asshole and a liar and he won’t dispute it but he’s not lying about Harold. She tells him to leave and he says not until she understands why he did what he did last night and shows her the newspaper headline about Danny.
Later Ward and Danny meet in secret. Ward tells him the tablet is locked in a safe in Harold’s office but he doesn’t know the combination. He says great, get everyone out of the building and he’ll take care of the rest. Ward warns him about the armed security outside Rand. Danny asks him why Ward is helping him. Ward says I’m helping me, I want dad locked up just as much as you do. Danny doubts that, but Ward say one night on the run doesn’t compare to a lifetime of abuse. Danny trumps him with he killed my parents. Danny has what I suppose could be described as a split second mini psychic seizure and tells Ward he’s going to put an end to Harold.
Joy meets Harold at Rand. He says she should be home resting but she needed to talk to him. He says he can drop by after work. She says no, now. He offers to order some takeout soup from that little place nearby she likes. She asks if he’s been spying on her given it’s only been open a year. She asks him why he framed Danny and he plays dumb, but she reminds him she saw the files. He tries to claim he withheld info to spare her feelings. She asks to see it now and he claims he gave it all to the DEA. Joy calls bullshit because he’s beemn teaching her since childhood that information is power and he’d never let go of that info if he had it. He tries to play off Danny surrendering to Bakudo as being chummy with the hand and sticks to his bullshit story. She isn’t fooled. He swears Danny is a guilty piece of shit and he will not let Danny take away what is “rightfully” his. Joy leaves, refusing to buy it.
Ward arrives at Rand in time to see Joy leaving. She completely nosells him and leaves, and he goes upstairs. He wades through all the frankly ridiculously excessive security guards as Danny and Colleen and Claire wait for the cue. Ward phones them to warn them to call it off because of extra security and Harold clocks him. Danny and Colleen decide to go in anyway so Claire blows up a hot dog stand to distract the security outside. Danny surprises HGarold by smashing in through an outside window while Colleen comes from the stairs. They take out as much security as they can and Danny pulls an Iron Fist FALCON PUNCH and shockwaves the gun from Harold, who runs off like a coward. Danny gives chase while Colleen checks on Ward.
Up on the roof it appears I was wrong and Harold still has the gun, and shoots Danny. He starts telling Danny a story about the last time he was on the roof, how it was with Danny’s dad, how he had the urge to push Wendall off the building for no reason, and how his greatest regret was not doing it and preventing Danny from being born. Harold is completely delusional and says it was Danny and not he himself who turns Ward and Joy against him. Danny says it was him who ruined everything and destroyed both their families. Danny disarms him out of nowhere and they start duelling with pipes. He tells Harold it’s time he faces the truth. Harold beans him and Danny flashes back to Gao telling him he can only be the Iron Fist if he kills Harold and purges his anger. He kicks Harold away and Harold gets impaled on some pipe, and he taunts Danny daring him to finish him, but for no apparent reason Danny apprubtly decides he’d rather send Harold to jail. Harold pulls himself off the pipe and somehow has the gun again and shoots Danny but the bullet bounces off the fist. He goes to shoot again but this time Ward shoots him and he tumbles off the building.
Some time later Ward and Danny are settling loose ends with Jeri, who says that, given Danny was framed the DEA are dropping all charges including the assault on their officers, (and Danny will make a sizable donation to their widows and orphans pension). Harold will be cremated just to make sure he doesn’t come back, and Joy has taken a sabbatical after all the insanity and isn’t communicating with anyone. Ward says congrats on his freedom and says Danny should come back to Rand. But Danny declines, admitting he’s not much of a businessman. He and Ward have a sombre emotional moment, then watch as Harold’s body burns.
Colleen has resumed training Claire at the dojo when Danny shows up with pizza. Danny wants to go back to Kun Lun to apologize to his master and complete his training. Claire basically tells them both I love you but you’re both seriously fucked in the head and need massive therapy and leaves. Colleen tells Danny she’ll miss him, but he was hoping she’d come with him. She hugs him happily. Ward arrives at rand and sees that portraits of him and Danny have replaced the ones of Wendall and Harold.
Finally we find Joy, who is having lunch at an outdoor cafe with Davos of all people, who tells her that Danny destroys everything he touches. He tells her for her to reclaim her old life Danny needs to die, and he can help with that. Joy is listening, and so is Madame Gao who’s sitting at the next table smiling.
We close with Danny and Colleen scaling a snowcapped mountain. He tells her she’ll love Kun Lun, describing it’s beauty, but discovers blood on the pass. They find dead monks, and Danny continues onward, only to discover Kun Lun is gone, because he wasn’t there to protect the pass. His fist glows as we fade to black.
Definitely a failure amongst the Marvel Netflix shows, especially following the almost perfect greatness that was Luke Cage, but I’m still looking forward to Defenders this summer. Hope you enjoyed the recap folks! I’ll see you this summer for Defenders!
