REVIEW: Ironheart – Season 1, Episode 6, “The Past is the Past”

Television Reviews

Well, they tried; they really tried to keep that theme of accepting the past going, as the title of the Ironheart season/series finale, “The Past is the Past,” indicates. And they kind of succeed. “The Past is the Past” isn’t very good overall, but it does go to some unexpected places and speaks more honestly about Riri Williams than I thought it would, even if that wasn’t the intention. It’s still dumb and inconsistent, with an underwhelming final battle and many plot threads that are completely dropped. But at least parts of this one hold your interest.

Riri takes off to fight the Hood and get his magical cape. The origins of the Hood’s powers are revealed. Ezekiel remains an unwitting tool of the Hood.

“The Past is the Past” immediately returns to the night Parker Robbins and Cousin John broke into Parker’s father’s mansion. As they make their escape, Parker is followed by an overwhelming security force and, in a tunnel that looks more like a big city park than the grounds of an estate, he’s about to be caught… until a mysterious fellow in a cape offers to help him. They leave the tunnel through a door that magically appears – the door to the pizzeria that will become Parker’s headquarters. Inside, the mystery man offers Parker some pizza (which isn’t Chicago, style; is that a mistake, or do they have normal pizza in Chicago too?) and offers to give him the tools to achieve everything he desires. Parker accepts with a simple handshake and finds himself in possession of the man’s cape, the one that will turn him into the Hood. What does the man ask for in return? He doesn’t specify, but he assures Parker, “You won’t even miss it.” You see where this is going, yes?

***SPOILERS***

The man, of course, is Mephisto, and he’s played by Sacha Baron Cohen, just like all the rumors said. So, Marvel’s equivalent of the Devil finally makes his appearance – in Ironheart, of all things – and, shockingly, he’s quite good. We don’t see him in his more devilish form yet, with the red body, pointy tail, and demonic face, but we see him do what he does best: collect souls by offering favors. Sacha Baron Cohen is excellent in the part, and he’s around for much of “The Past is the Past,” which I didn’t expect because Marvel doesn’t like to give audiences what they want anymore. Cohen plays Mephisto with a sense of humor, an immensely powerful figure who’s been around so long and done the handshake so many times that he likes to amuse himself as he goes about his trade. The humor also makes him enticing to his potential customers; they see a friendly guy who wants to help them, and Parker is all too happy to accept a deal for an ungodly amount of money. And that’s what he gets; I saw many people guessing that those contracts Parker gave his victims were for their souls on behalf of Mephisto, but that’s not the case. They’re just for money, and Mephisto seems happy with Parker’s soul – although, as he tells Parker later, he has many clients throughout the world.

In the present, Riri is unable to get NATALIE back, so she takes off to fight the Hood and worry about her AI later. (Zelma says they don’t know why the magic made NATALIE disappear, but we never find out, so I guess it doesn’t matter; this show is so poorly plotted, it’s not even funny.) She and her new suit arrive at the pizzeria, and Riri spends most of the rest of “The Past is the Past” in battle. First, she’s got to fight Ezekiel, who is still possessed but talks like he isn’t, so what’s actually happening with him is confusing. You would think at least some of his dialogue would communicate that he doesn’t want to kill Riri but has no control of himself, but instead, he says he’s going to kill her so the Hood doesn’t find out he lied about doing so in the previous episode. Then, when Riri corners him in a kitchen freezer, he agrees to let her override his possession, which sounds like he doesn’t really want to kill her. What is actually going on in this scene? I doubt even the writers know. But Riri breaks the spell by kicking Ezekiel in the balls – seriously, this is the master science genius’ plan – and putting a super-duper, handy-dandy anti-magic-mind-control device on Ezekiel’s neck. It sounds like I’m making it up, but it’s really that stupid; despite not knowing that Ezekiel was under mind control, Riri has a device specifically designed to counteract mind control, provided the subject is kicked in the balls first. I can’t think of a better way to stress how dumb Ironheart is.

But okay, Ezekiel is taken care of, and Riri is entirely unapologetic about getting him into this mess in the first place, assuming that they’re cool now because she kicked him in the balls. So, she goes after the Hood, and they have an epic battle that tests the bounds of both science and magic in a… yeah, no, I’m kidding. They have a fight that barely lasts two minutes and ends when Riri tricks him with a hologram and easily lifts the cape off his shoulders; I guess when he realized she fooled him, he was so ashamed that he forgot he had magic powers that overwhelmed her suit a few seconds before and just let her remove his clothing. Also worth noting is that Mephisto had just told him that he would only be allowed to keep the cloak and its power if he could hold onto it; he had every reason in the world to fight like hell for that cape, but he just let it go. This is the villain who was so “scary” all season, the guy Riri dreaded facing? In the end, the Hood was yet another in a long line of lame-o Marvel villains, defeated easily and reduced to a pathetic mess in a disappointing fight. I do appreciate his reaction to the loss of his costume, though; he feels pain throughout his body and crumples to the floor, shivering and alone. So much for the big bad.

Much better is the final scene of “The Past is the Past,” where Riri comes down to the pizzeria’s restaurant again and meets Mephisto, who offers her the same pizza and a handshake deal he offered to Parker long ago. Riri can have what she most desires, and in her case, it isn’t riches or power but her best friend, the piece of her past she lost and has just learned how to let go of. And if you think you can figure out what’s coming, you’re as wrong as I was because Ironheart does something truly unexpected and has Riri shake Mephisto’s hand and sell her soul to bring Natalie back to life. That’s how the show ends, minus a mid-credits scene. (Parker seeks out Zelma and asks for her help; I expect this to go exactly nowhere.) I honestly think this is great because it confirms who Riri Williams is; she knows what she’s doing, she’s seen what magic can do, the havoc it can wreak on others, but she shakes the Devil’s hand anyway. She’s selfish, she’s shortsighted, and she’s happy to damn others to make herself happy. Mephisto knew exactly who Riri was, just as the people who have been criticizing Ironheart did, and it turns out we were right. The irony is that I doubt the writers and producers see it that way; they accidentally turned Riri into a consistent character. I would love it if this is the last we see of Riri Williams: a selfish dope whose soul now belongs to the Devil. Mephisto even repeats the line “You won’t miss it,” perfectly summing up her character.

As good as Mephisto is and as satisfying (for all the wrong reasons) as the wrap-up turned out to be, there are plenty of problems with “The Past is the Past.” Remember the Hood’s gang? They’re nowhere to be found, having exited the show completely last time. These evil thugs will never pay for their crimes, and they left with Ironheart presenting them as good guys. NATALIE, the AI, is also gone for good, I guess, having been completely forgotten by Riri. There’s no wrap-up for Riri’s mother or Xavier, who only existed at Riri’s convenience. Zelma is a plot device more than a character. There’s no justice or reciprocity for the people Riri and the others robbed, extorted, and/or killed, probably because Riri never cared about them in the first place. And despite all her tirades and the way she judged her mother for not keeping up the garage, Riri doesn’t even try to resurrect her stepfather when Mephisto makes his offer. These are all fairly big plot holes, and while the way Ironheart ends amuses me, it really isn’t good. But it is over, and I take an enormous amount of comfort in that.

Let us know what you thought of “The Past is the Past” in the comments!

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