This week’s episode of Fightland turns up the pressure on Duke as he gets pulled deeper into the dangerous world surrounding the Marshalls.
What starts as another step in his rise through the promotion quickly becomes something much bigger, with Duke proving that he has more going on upstairs than anyone might have expected.
Honestly, I did not expect Duke to be this strategic. As a boxer, he has obviously shown that he can handle himself in the ring, but this episode gives us a much better look at how well he can think several moves ahead. Lazaro clearly thinks Duke’s latest idea is completely crazy, but he eventually goes along with it. That decision leads to one of the episode’s biggest moments when the two discreetly plant a bomb in the casino. Lazaro even points out that Duke sounds like a terrorist, which is pretty funny considering how casually Duke approaches the whole situation. Of course, the plan goes off, literally, in the worst possible way.
The episode also gives Duke more opportunities to establish himself within the Marshalls. Zeek shares his vision for what he wants the promotion to become and makes it clear that Duke is an important part of that future. Duke also gets involved with training some of the fighters, giving us another side of his character. The training scenes work well because Duke is clearly comfortable around fighters and understands what it takes to prepare for a fight.
His conversation with Eric Coleman adds another layer to Duke’s growing position, while Zeek’s offer takes things even further. He wants Duke to fight in the ring as part of the deal, putting $50,000 on the table. Naturally, Duke shows up to the party. He even meets a young fan who recognizes him and ends up play fighting with him, which gives the episode a surprisingly sweet moment in the middle of all the chaos.
Meanwhile, Kim has her own dangerous plan. She figures out a way to get close to Duke so she can gather evidence against Kingsley and eventually take him out of the picture. It puts Duke in an even more complicated position because he is becoming useful to multiple people who all have their own agendas.
There is also plenty happening outside of Duke’s storyline. Joy and Cebella have a conversation that adds more tension to their relationship, while Cebella’s secret affair with Nikolai continues to get messier. She seems to be having a very good time with it too. When she tells Nikolai, “I want you now” in Russian, she makes it pretty clear where her head is.
Then there is Simeon’s body being discovered, which immediately raises the stakes.
And yes, Duke and Joy finally get another romantic moment. These two have some seriously good chemistry, and their scenes together feel natural. Of course, Zeek nearly catches them, because apparently these two cannot get a moment alone without somebody almost walking in.
By the end of the episode, Zeek wants Nikolai eliminated and asks Duke to help make it happen. Between the $50,000 fight, the growing pressure from the Marshalls and Duke’s increasingly complicated alliances, he is officially way too deep in this world now. Fightland continues to make Duke more interesting with every episode, and this week showed that his biggest weapon might not be his fists at all.
