Joy proves herself a shrewd businessperson, Danny recalls a painful memory, and Colleen puts her talents to good use.

How does one prove yourself alive, especially when you didn’t live a public life? That’s the issue Danny Rand faces as it’s clear that his fight for his company won’t be easy. The first three episode of Netflix‘s Marvel’s Iron Fist feel like the Star Wars prequels focused on parliamentary procedure compared to the more action focused previous series.

The episode shows a little life though as Finn Jones shows some emotion and actual acting as things become clearer who’s screwing around with him. The series is a bit odd in that it has Ward Meachum doing all of these things to keep control of Danny’s company, but these are all things he could have done over the past few years while Danny was “dead.” It’d have been more subtle and while it would have taken away some of the action of this episode, it’d have deepen the mystery and conspiracy a bit.

What the episode really does is have Jessica Henwick as Colleen Wing take center stage in a fighting sequence that’s reminiscent of the first Spider-Man’s wrestling scene, but also the most action we’ve seen this entire series.

The episode isn’t all bad though. The use of Carrie-Anne Moss as Jeri Hogarth is a fantastic way to tie this series and the world of Iron Fist to the previous Netflix series. Also, how Danny’s identity is revealed is a creative twist to resolve the issue. But, it also emphasizes that the series feels like paper being pushed around. It’s slow, it’s full of process, it drags along.

Three episodes in and the issue is clearer. Marvel’s Iron Fist‘s greatest challenge is expectations. It’s different than what has come before and in being different it’s stumbling along the way. Again, not bad, but also not good.

Overall Rating: 6.0