Ironheart – We in Danger, Girl review S1 E3

We in Danger, Girl felt like an unusual turning point in Ironheart’s first half of the season. Ironheart is doing something atypical from the standard superhero show as this episode provided some major detours on Riri’s journey to being a hero.

This also showed a problem with the former Marvel Cinematic Universe approach of introducing a character in a movie and then giving them their own limited series. In Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Riri is a supporting player with no time to focus on her background, struggles and early life trauma.

With the full spotlight on her, some of her flaws are being magnified. Is that a good or a bad thing? That will likely be answered in the back half of this season, but it certainly is making for an unusual approach to the formulaic hero’s journey.

We in Danger, Girl kicks off with Riri partying with Parker’s gang. It’s tough for the writers to sell the notion that Riri is having moral qualms about her actions when she’s palling around with her buddies shooting dollars in the air and otherwise having a blast. It feels like with We in Danger, Girl — the halfway point of the season, that Riri should already be having doubts. That split does play out here, but more from a CYA perspective instead of having a crisis of conscious over her actions.

Clown tries on Parker’s hood, which draws John’s wrath as he smashes her head on the desk. John has always been protective of Parker and he’s not going to let anyone, including the gang goof around with Parker or his hood. This was a bit intense and seemed like the kind of thing that Clown wouldn’t do seeing as how everything is going according to plan with Parker. There’s no reason for her to be disgruntled or even cross with him to start messing around recklessly. Again, there’s no time to spend on Parker’s gang and their backstory so some of their rash actions is simply because the story demands it instead of an organic falling out within the crew.

John’s actions don’t sit well with Riri, who asks Parker if they’re Oceans 11 or The Sopranos? What’s wild is someone Riri’s age probably wouldn’t have watched either of them to reference.

With ‘work’ starting to provide some stress, things don’t get any easier for Riri in We in Danger, Girl. Joe comes to her apartment with some ideas for some tech she can enhance for him. He’s using her strategy of not letting people walk over him any more to lightly blackmail her into doing it. That’s not all as N.AT.A.L.I.E. wants to get out from Riri’s room and go exploring.

There certainly feels like enough story between Riri and N.AT.A.L.I.E. to have been the core storyline of this six-episode season. We in Danger, Girl makes another strong case that Lyric Ross and Dominique Thorne’s interaction is the best part of Ironheart. Even in scenes that ‘shouldn’t” work like N.AT.A.L.I.E. piloting the Ironheart suit and dancing in Riri’s chair end up being entertaining because of this fun Disney-like dynamic.

N.AT.A.L.I.E. is also very concerned about Riri being influenced by Parker who she/it’s convinced is not a good guy. To reiterate that point, the police come by the apartment to ask Riri about Rampage who was found dead. Sounds like Parker and John don’t like loose ends. Working with Parker is definitely a job she needs to quit instead of getting fired.

It’s time for the latest heist, but Riri and N.AT.A.L.I.E. want to explore Parker’s hood. Thankfully, Joe has some designs that can help her get close to the hood and tear a piece off to analyze it. This seems like a bit of a backwards plan. Parker is the problem, not his clothes so why won’t Riri and N.AT.A.L.I.E. work on splitting from him and dealing with the hood later?

While visiting Joe, Riri accidentally knocks over a bag he has containing his father’s ashes. Turns out his dad is Obediah Stane, who Joe knows created his own suit of armor and tried to kill Tony Stark and not the cover story spread to the press. Joe’s real name is Ezekiel Stane and he’s trying to distance himself as far as possible from his father. That’s the real reason why he’s not trying to help Riri in her leaning closer into criminal activities. He does think Riri just might have what it takes to be a hero. That feels like something her mother or N.AT.A.L.I.E. should have said, but fine.

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The We in Danger heist is more complicated than the other scores they’ve done as the CEO has a smart defensive system set up to protect his greenhouses. That means Riri can’t go barging in with her armor. She’s got to stay on the perimeter and help Parker and company as they go inside. Riri thinks this will provide the perfect distraction to have N.AT.A.L.I.E. pilot the armor while she sneaks in and snags a part of the hood.

Parker is too busy killing the CEO to notice Riri very slowly taking a laser to burn off a piece of the hood. The smart building is occupied pumping carbon dioxide into the rooms, which is slowly killing Parker’s crew.  N.A.T.A.L.I.E. lets RIRI know We in Danger, Girl.

John notices Riri has a piece of the hood, and he starts attacking her. This fight largely plays out how it should seeing as how John is more ruthless and physical than the smaller Riri. The odds get evened out once they enter into a corridor where the carbon dioxide is pumping in. Riri has N.A.T.A.L.I.E. go get the rest of Parker’s crew. John is a liability since he knows she’s plotting against them Riri doesn’t try and save him when N.A.T.A.L.I.E. bursts in to rescue her.

That’s very sensible, but not exactly the most heroic thing for Riri to let happen. There had to have been a better way for the writers to get rid of John without making Riri look like a cruel bad guy. Even more so as Riri tells Parker that she spotted John and he’s not moving.

Parker is enraged and lashes out at some presence in his room alleging that he did everything he was told. Why did John have to pay the price. Whatever is in the room reveals John’s final moments and Riri standing watching him die. A huge problem then with We in Danger is that Parker has a legit reason to want to kill Riri because she watched his cousin get killed. There’s no excusing that and makes her come off like a lousy hero.

Meanwhile, Riri is having another anxiety attack and this time N.A.T.A.L.I.E. can’t calm her down.

We in Danger, Girl puts Riri in an unusual position for a hero, where she makes an aggressive move to keep her plans a secret even if it challenges the notion of what makes a hero.

Rating: 6.5 out of 10

Photo Credit: Disney

Enjoyed We in Danger, Girl? Check out the inspiration with the Ironheart: Riri Williams trade now available on Amazon.

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