Season 1

While I think people have been especially harsh on this series, there are a few problems (as I see them):

Pacing: I'd have to verify, but I was thinking the three previous series ran closer to 45 minutes per episode, while each Iron Fist episode ran around 55 minutes. Every episode had at least one point where I was checking the clock to see how much time was left. Tightening up the self-analyzing and philosophical debate sections would have helped everything flow better.

Character Development: When your title character seemingly grows the least over the season, there's a problem. I hate to blame Jones directly, as it could have been the directors and/or showrunners making some odd choices on the portrayals. I really feel by the end, Ward Meachum and Madame Gao were the most compelling of the cast. I was on board with Harold until the last two episodes, when he turned from background manipulator into one-dimensional, monologuing Bond villain. Likewise, Joy and Davos turning evil at the end... really? Davos I could buy since maybe if Danny dies, he'd be next in line for the Fist, but Joy seems like a major shift from how she was up to this point.

Fight Scenes: I hate the jump-cut, frenetic editing that seems to be the vogue these days. Since martial arts are the focus of the series, how about letting us actually see the fights instead of cutting the scene every 1/10th of a second?

I have a few more specific issues, but that jumps into major spoiler territory. Admittedly, I'll probably watch Season 2 when it comes out, but I'm hoping the creators saw some of the criticisms and make some positive changes.

Honestly, the entirety of Iron Fist Season 1 felt like the lackluster second halves of Daredevil Season 2 (Hand/Elektra) and Luke Cage Season 1 (Diamondback).

Oft-maligned as the weakest of the MCU's Netflix era "Defenders Saga," Iron Fist's debut season isn't as bad the internet chatter would have you believe, though it is far from great. Upon rewatch, I was surprised at how engrossing the slow burn of the first 3 episodes was. There is deliberate world-building and character development that draws you in, and a setting of stakes that is as interesting as all get out. How would a child who had been lost and presumed dead at 10 years old reclaim his life after 15 years? And what if that 10 year-old kid had been the sole heir to a multi-billion dollar industrial conglomerate? It's a fascinating concept that is thoroughly explored and fun to watch unfold. Unfortunately, as enjoyable the initial arc and the overall storyline are, the reason that Iron Fist is not remembered more fondly is that the show can never overcome its cardinal sin: The casting of Finn Jones as Danny Rand.

Jones, a Game of Thrones alum, was supposed to bring heat to the role, but he's a middling actor drowning in a heavy role, and his lack of martial arts experience is embarrassingly evident- especially when he squares off with or alongside Jessica Henwick's Colleen Wing. Henwick fights circles around him, and her acting chops are far superior. She should have been cast at the Iron Fist. (Here in 2023 We can only hope that Marvel will pick up from where season 2 left off and let her loose on the MCU with her chi-enhanced sword.) David Wenham surprises with a mesmerizing turn as the sociopathic Harold Meecham, but by the second half of the season his performance is wasted on a boring, soapy storyline involving his children. And this, beyond the miscasting of Jones, is where Iron Fist really fails. The incessant whining and contrived conflicts between characters is annoying at best. (Colleen's secret history & its clash with Danny's mission is the exception, as it's probably the best story flex of the season.) This is personified by Rosario Dawson, as her Nurse Temple, by now the Nick Fury of the Defenders-verse, is reduced to pointless contrarian nagging for the sake of generating emotional conflict to make it look like decisions and motivations are more fraught than they are. Iron Fist is definitely worth a watch; just be ready for lots of skipping through the annoying stuff.

Finally got to watch this. So, as you can guess from the pitch it's pretty much exactly like Arrow. Billionaire heir comes back from the dead as a super crime fighter.

minus the business part
Danny having disappeared as a kid, he has no idea how society functions even less his company. Almost every boardroom scene is a bore (and there are some in each episode).

minus the cool toys
For the same reason, he doesn't know how to use his money and company for his side gig.

minus the interesting side characters
Ward turns out ok despite the part where he goes full junkie in one day. From spoiled brat to victim of his father to actually killing him to crazy to trying to be better to really doing the right thing and being an unexpected ally. There is a real coherent growth.

Gao is fun as a villain with her calm "I'm like 200 years old, you're just kids to me" vibe.

And obviously crossover Claire makes every scene better.

The rest is meh at best, totally incoherent more often.

minus the flashbacks
Arrow's flashbacks have a story, complex, tied to the main story, and reveals informations and hints about Oliver. Here flashbacks are very scarce, and completely useless. We never see his time in Kunlun except monks hitting him and him speaking with Davos once.

minus the psychology
Danny is really a kid and behave like one. He's very naive. Mostly see everything in black and white. Got some trauma from plane crash, and some anger management issue towards the end, but it's all very superficial.

It's still entertaining but you can definitely do something else while watching it. There are a few good fight scenes, but for a kung fu god Danny really sucks at it most of the time.
Characters' change of heart or surprise reveal are incoherent at best. Villains are disappointing.

And what the end of season seems to plan for season 2 is pure garbage.

I'm currently at episode 11 - decided to force myself to watch it before Defenders - and this show oscillates between extremely boring and hair-pullingly frustrating. The main character is unbelievably stupid, and while I could chalk that down to naiveté in the beginning (E.g. when he's in the mental hospital and, just when his doctor finally believes him that he's Danny Rand, he pulls out the good old 'Yeah, I was in a monastery in a different dimension'), it happens so often over the course of the show that it just makes the character completely unlikeable (E.g. Instead of telling Colleen that he found the Hand's monitoring station, he just pouts about the fact that she lied to him, then immediately goes to the Penthouse, which he KNOWS is bugged, to discuss his attack plan against, you guessed it, the Hand). The only saving grace of this show is Night Nurse, though she's severely hindered by 'No Crossover'-Syndrome (because there is absolutely no good reason why she shouldn't be calling Daredevil as soon as the Hand is mentioned), not to mention that all four show's liberal use of her as the ultimate character development vehicle have made her look like the superhero of motivational speeches.

Edit: Having finished it now, I haven't really changed my opinion. It didn't really feel like Iron Fist's central conflict (Danny's search for his purpose) was solved in any meaningful way, and the rules of when and how he can summon the Iron Fist were very contradictory at times. Night Nurse seems to have god-given motivational powers, because I've never seen a character go that fast from 'YOU LIED TO ME!! LEAVE ME ALONE!!!" to 'We need to stop fighting and forgive' - I guess that was supposed to be character development, but it's a shame he almost immediately forgot about it again with Davos.