Ironheart – Take Me Home review S1 E1
Take Me Home kicks off Ironheart, the solo adventures of Riri Williams, who made a solid impression in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Without her Wakandan allies, can Riri carry her own series?
Whether Take Me Home wins viewers over will largely depend on if star Dominique Thorne’s infectious charisma can keep them invested through the table-setting season premiere. To some extent, Take Me Home plays out like the first episode of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, which saw Sam Wilson’s Falcon not carrying Captain America’s shield following the end of Avengers: Endgame.
Likewise, Riri is not full gear ahead in her unique suit of armor after her ‘internship’ in Wakanda alongside Black Panther/Shuri. It’s a path to go — one that’s not necessarily right or wrong, but this approach does ask viewers to patiently wait and hope the payoff is worth their time investment. For too many Marvel Cinematic Universe shows and movies as of late that’s been a 50/50 proposition.
Early on we learn her best friend, Natalie (Lyric Ross) and her stepfather, Gary (LaRoyce Hawkins), were gunned down. That checks off the required hero’s tragedy for Riri’s origin, but she still has a solid support system in her mother, Ronnie (Anji White), her best friend Xavier (Matthew Elam) and her Chicago neighborhood who’s still thrilled that the neighborhood prodigy is making something of herself.
About that… Riri gets kicked out of M.I.T. thanks to her dangerous experiments. She’s trying to innovate, but she is causing some serious property damage. But she also gave fellow students answers to tests in order to get some funding. Time to head back to Chicago in her early prototype armored suit — why white and black though. This is still an early model and can’t quite handle Riri’s command to take me home. With the suit dinged up and forced to half to walk the rest of the way back, she does make it home in time to hear Ronnie chatting with her pals (including Cree Summer).
Riri wants to revolutionize the world to help others, but she doesn’t have the immediate cash flow like a billionaire’s son Tony Stark had at his disposal from the jump. This is a tricky way to write Riri as she’s not lying yet being rich is considered a major asset for a comic book hero’s see T’Challa, Reed Richards, Hank Pym and Tony Stark. And that’s just on the Marvel side of things.
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She might have just found a way to make some serious cash fast. Turns out Parker Robbins (Anthony Ramos, Twisters) is in need of a better tech genius. His current guy, Rampage (Eric André), botched their latest breaking and entering job and it’s time for an upgrade. Parker doesn’t have time to do recruiting on his own and sends his cousin, John (Manny Montana), to make the pitch. John gets Riri’s attention by paying for the spare parts she needs for another crack at her suit.
Intrigued, Riri heads to the meeting location and gets an impromptu interview test. She’s got to escape from an elevator rapidly filling with gas before it kills her. Parker explains there’s a gas mask she can access, but Riri just opts to open the elevator instead.
Parker appeals to Riri’s vanity saying he can relate to her struggles in dealing with mediocre institutions rejecting her genius. “Soon you’re going to get tired of trying to make yourself so small to fit in their awkward boxes they put you in.” It’s interesting that Riri doesn’t question why Parker is wearing a cloak as that doesn’t seem like the kind of fashion statement a guy his age would make unless he was a celebrity making a fashion statement.
Parker’s spiel…and huge stack of cash proves tempting enough for Riri to join up for three jobs provided they don’t hurt anyone. That doesn’t seem like a promise Parker can keep, but let’s be optimistic. He just needs Riri to have her iron suit ready for the first gig tomorrow.
Take Me Home shows its’s not easy prepping to do some good ‘ol fashioned theft and extortion. Riri is up all night trying to get her suit ready. At least she doesn’t have to worry about financing it this time. She does some more tinkering around and creates something a little different — a holographic projection of Natalie. Who else would it be?
Take Me Home gets the series rolling on a positive note in explaining Riri’s goals, her eventual villains and the people she cares about most. Now it’s up to the rest of the episodes to deliver on this promising start.
Rating: 7 out of 10
Photo Credit: Disney
Enjoyed Take Me Home? Check out the inspiration with the Ironheart: Riri Williams trade now available on Amazon.
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