I wanted to comment on the series a week ago while it was fresh in my memory, but oh well.
Honestly, the series was tepid at best. Considering that the show is primarily based on martial arts, I found the choreography really underwhelming, with stuntmen waiting to get hit by telegraphed punches and such. Although the acting by all was good, I felt the scenarios were poorly conceived which ruined the pacing. Like with Jessica Jones, I got the impression that since they’re bound to a 13 episode format, they get caught in a struggle to find ways to put unnecessary drama as filler- which makes you even more confused as to where the story was headed. I got the impression the writers didn’t know whether to make have a “cheesy” martial arts homage or a high stakes “House of Cards” drama, and in the process ended up failing at both. The only thing that kept me going was cute little miss Sand Snake and the fact that Marvel makes many tie-ins, so I didn’t want to miss anything.
Things that bothered me in particular:
Spoiler
-The incessant “don’t kill/ this is murder” pontificating by people was downright annoying. We get it, murder is bad, even when you’re dealing with a soulless group of semi-immortal ninjas, with unknown connections in major conglomerates, law enforcement, and the government. I’m sure allowing a manipulator with (inconsistent) force push/ warping powers like Gao to live is a smart idea, surely, nothing will go wrong. It almost felt like these people were deluding themselves about the enemies they were dealing with. Although we occasionally get this morality spiel in other series, it was more obnoxious here.
-Which also begs the point of how Danny and his “angels” managed to fly all the way back from China with a bound Madame Gao in tow, then back to Colleen’s dojo with no suspicion or tail whatsoever?
-How comes a drunken fighter is the sole guardian of a major Hand facility?
-Danny, being such a high level fighter was being bested by random basic training thugs and having gimmicky assassins getting the better of him constantly. Most notably, the whole scene with the spider venom harlot was soooo painful to watch. They made Danny into a full blown retard getting “caught in her spell”.
-Danny’s best friend’s heel turn was unconvincing and juvenile for a supposed honor-bound warrior from Kung Lung. The exchanges between them also seemed weirdly homoerotic at times too.
-Unlike with Luke Cage, the whole hip hop vibe they occasionally tried to do with Danny felt forced. Overall, his entire character didn’t feel fleshed out, other than his emotional turmoil he had from his parents being murdered.
-Considering the heavy scrutiny the Rand corporation was under, it seemed rather odd that a recently resurrected Harold Meachum could have a fully armed goon squad patrolling the entire building and not create any red flags by the media and law enforcement. Also, it seemed rather easy for non-Rand employees to get in the building at all hours later in the series compared to when Danny first walked in.
5/10