Marvel's Iron Fist Review: 3 Ups And 7 Downs

Downs...

7. The Meachums

The Meachums - Harold, Ward, and Joy - have known Danny all his life, and assumed control of Rand Enterprises after the deaths of the Rands some fifteen years ago. They are, in equal turns, business opponents of Danny, colleagues, friends, enemies, villains, not-dead-now-dead-not-dead again monsters, and incredibly dull.

Of the family, Harold fares the best, simply thanks to the wrinkle that everyone thought he was dead, but he's secretly alive and in collusion with the Hand. Then he dies again, comes back as a Frankenstein's Monster-esque character who doesn't even know what a hot dog is, coughs up some mud and somehow gets his memories back, and announces his return to the world, which everyone is cool with. David Wenham did his best with the character, but he was such a weird, misguided, at times OTT character he never made for a truly compelling villain.

Even worse were his children, who really should be serving as underlings at Wolfram & Hart but instead find themselves at the top of the ladder. Although they have differing arcs - Ward gets some redemption, Joy makes a villainous turn - neither are satisfying, mostly down to the blandness of the two characters. Unlike other supporting characters in this universe, who can be funny or smart or tough or just likeable (and in some cases all of those), there's nothing to make the Meachums work, which is a big issue when so much revolves around them.