thoughts:
Narratively, not the worst MCU show. I enjoyed it more than Moon Knight, Cap/WS, Daredevil and Agatha, less so than Loki and Wandavision.
I can buy Riri falling into "the wrong crowd" in her attempt to get ahead, though this could've been fleshed out to be more believable. I think a line of dialogue that amounts to "One of my inventions was the cause of war between two nations, I have to have the money to build *INSERT UNOBTANIUM INVENTION* to fix things!". This ties into her motivaiton to protect people (her reason for building the suit in the first place).
(sidenote: I also think they need to tie Tony Stark into her origin more. The couldve inserted another flashback or line of dialogue of her seeing Iron Man for the first time and getting the idea to build armor).
Not to mention, the show does a solid job of incorporating past elements of the MCU into Chicagoland. Like in a world where a purple man killed half the universe with a glove, it shouldnt be so out there for your next door neighbor to be trained in the Mystic Arts.
Lastly, I like the personal stakes of the show. Instead of an inconsequential adventure (cough* Cap and Winter Soldier*) or a side story just meant to give a character something to do (Secret invasion), the events of Ironheart seem like a catalyst in the growth of her character. I’m not necessarily sure what they were going for with the ending of the series. I can understand how audiences are disappointed in that seemingly RiRi does not learn a thing and goes through with another “too good to be true” offer (is that the lesson? that she is always seeking shortcuts?).
However, It could be setting RiRi up as a compromised hero In future MCU installments (which is always a fun concept). And the notion of a tech hero being infused with dark magic is something we don’t see very often (Dark angel from marvel UK notwithstanding) and I’m not mad at it as this is a concept that can carry over to the comics and give RiRi something that differentiates her from Tony Stark.
acting wise, Sasha Baron Cohen pretty much steals the show as Mephisto. Reagan Aaliyah as Zelma was also a pretty strong performance, she’s one of the few actors she really understood the line delivery and overall personality of her character. I thought Aiden EhrenReich did a solid job as Zeke, but his heel turn seemed really forced.
Now onto the bad.
To be honest, very few of the acting performances were good. One of my biggest issues is that the director was really going for a “ let’s make authentically black, GenZ characters from Chicago in the Marvel universe” which isn’t inherently a bad thing. But this choice often time tonally clashes with the dialogue and narrative set up of the show. The biggest victim of this disconnect is Lyric Ross and her performance as Natalie. She does her best with what she’s got and she is an actress that has a lot of charisma, however a lot of her more tech jargony line readings come off as wooden, as if she wasn’t really sure what the dialogue meant or when to put emphasis on the lines that weren’t GenZ lingo.
Dominique Thorne doesn’t really do much for me as the lead, but shes certainly not doing a bad job. If Anthony Mackie is a 4 on the charisma meter she is about a 5.5 (they have got to start styling her in a more attractive way like with the curly hair , she exudes dyke energy with corn rows). she needs a script/direction that gives her a real character arc. Ramos had no aura as the hood, never took him seriously as a threat.
And the casting of the Hoods crew was disgracefully agenda laden. im sorry.
Seeing two 5’4 Mexican Dykes as enforcers and some nikka with acrylic nails
and strutting around in heels and thinking that this was supposed to be a competent and dangerous crew of criminals was simultaneously hilarious and sad.
Combine that with the fact that the only black male character on the show, Xavier , was completely unimportant to the plot and had no chemistry with Thorne and you get a show that isn’t doing yourself any favors with finding viewership among men, especially black men.
I’d give the show a six out of 10.
For a supposed super genius Riri's character sure is dumb 
