Daredevil: Season 2 (2016)

*CONTAINS SPOILERS*

What I liked:

• Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle/The Punisher was beyond freaking epic. He was amazing, but also the portrayal of his backstory was so good. I am a fan, obviously.

• The dark, gritty, brooding, dripping intro and that damn theme that builds with it. I watch it every single episode (provided I can keep the remote safely away from my husband).
• The brutality of this season. It really just went all out and upped the game. No punches were pulled, and it makes for some heavy, yet very rewarding, watching.
• The friendship between Matt and Foggy, even though it definitely did see some harsh and difficult times this season.

• The cinematography is, as always, wonderful. It sticks to the brooding, gloomy, washed-out settings the show became famous for, and it just serves to make this show super gritty.
• How much Foggy grows in this season, really gets ballsy and takes a stand.
• How Frank and Karen sort of come together as a team.
• The score for the show is so good.

What I didn’t like:

• Elektra. The one word that sums up all that is wrong with this season, and that crushes me. She grated on my absolute last nerve – every time she came on screen, she just pulled the whole season back.
• Sometimes it felt that too much was happening at once, but in the end it comes together nicely.
• Matt and Karen come together and then splinter apart. It just sort of felt like an unnecessary development, it happened and ended so fast – but it was nice to watch while it lasted!

Rating:

Ah guys, here we are, yet another season, and man oh man, I thoroughly enjoyed this one! Who knew that Daredevil was going to become the series to keep your eyes peeled for? This season starts with a bang and pretty much doesn’t let up. It comes back with all that was amazing in season one, and just adds to it. I think my favourite addition to the whole show was The Punisher, hands down. Speaking of, let’s get into that.

Right from the off, we have a new big bad in town, mysterious and all, and he is soon revealed to be The Punisher. I have mad love for this character, so naturally I was beside myself with anticipation. The big thing was just to see how the character was going to be handled. For the record, Jon Berthal absolutely nails this character. I mean wow. He is, without a doubt, my favourite rendition of The Punisher ever. He was so bloody brilliant he actually overshadowed Matt/Daredevil, and all his shenanigans for me! He was brutal, unforgiving, driven, broken. I can go on for ages about this, so I should probably stop. I am beyond excited about the standalone series. I NEED MORE!
#obsession

A major theme throughout this season was the vigilantes, and how they go about getting things done, as well as what their values and mores are. Technically they aren’t being policed, and they can do things however they want. This was constantly evident when Frank and Daredevil were with one another, and their drawn out ideological conversations. Frank is so blunt about things, the realist, that Matt’s arguments of “hope” seem to just fall right out the window. These conversations were such a highlight of the season for me, and I was totally enthralled. There was also Elektra (more on this in a few), who was also trying to (again) convince Matt that her way, to kill, was the right way, and he was (again) warring that nobody needs to die, the justice system will handle it.

Okay, so to elaborate on Elektra, she was the biggest drawback of the season for me. Every time I saw her on screen, I was like this:

Okay, so the mere fact that this woman breathed pissed me off. I thought the actress was annoying, I thought her character was annoying, she did not grow (personally), and I did not warm to her one little bit, though I really tried. Every time I thought this season was set to surpass its predecessor, this bitch came on screen, and it detracted from being better, for me. I swear, she peeved me on a Carrie Mathison level, and that is saying something.

The choreography was really good, once again, though there were a few times were things looked a little off and a little dodgy, but nothing overkill. The show sticks to the darkness, gloominess, and washed-out settings from the first season, and it works. It definitely ups the ante this time around when it comes to the bloody brutality of it all, but this was a definite winner in my books.

I particularly enjoyed how the interpersonal relationships shifted and changed in this one, for better or worse. Karen grows even more as a character, and then there is Foggy, who is totally changing, and I still adore him. Karen shifts away from the legal offices and more into journalism, and Foggy learns to stand his ground. Matt gets seriously annoying at times in this, because he can be really preachy. The addition of Frank Castle is beyond awesome, because his character alone starts to make the other characters question themselves, and that is always interesting.

It was also cool to see that old characters were brought forward again, as though just to remind us they are there, and some new ones were introduced, although sometimes this made things feel a little messy and cluttered. Not a big deal though, because aside from that and Elektra, there was very little to complain about in this season.

What this all boils down to is that this is another fantastic season, a worthy follow up to season one, even though it was held back by Elektra. That being said, it is propelled with a ferocity by Frank Castle. This show is dark, gritty, and brutal, and absolutely worth the watch, I highly recommend it.

Daredevil: Season 1 (2014)

*CONTAINS SPOILERS*

What I liked:

• The intro. I loved the drippy, bleeding black and red and awesome all over, and the theme song fit so perfectly and got stuck in my head for days, which was quite the annoyance.
• How dark and gritty this show is. I really didn’t have much hope, and watched this purely because Cara was gushing about it. Getting to it, it is no lighthearted affair, though there is plenty humour sprinkled throughout it. Instead it gives us a dark and brooding character and a great villain for him to stand against. Not only that, there was a sense of realism to things, even where others are just slightly too fantastical, the vast majority of the show (like how the bad guys are, corruption, etc) actually seems viable.
• The casting. I know that my fiancé might want to shoot Charlie Cox due to characters he has played in the past, but I think that he was perfect for this. He truly brought Matt Murdock/Daredevil to life, Elden Henson’s Foggy Nelson needs credit, as well as Deborah Ann Woll’s Karen Page. The actors all seem to gel nicely with one another, too, which is always a good thing.
• The big bad guys. I am talking here about Toby Leonard Moore’s James Wesley and Vincent D’Onofrio’s Wilson Fisk. Both are great characters, and I was a huge fan of Wesley. The guy was so calm and creepy and incredibly well spoken and groomed up the wazoo and loyal to Fisk. Then there is Fisk himself, who was insane. He starts out so calm, cool, collected, and his introduction was delayed and perfectly executed, but then he starts unravelling. And trust me, what’s underneath isn’t really pretty. You go from feeling for him to thinking he’s just gone off the rails, plain and simple.
• The choreography. Really, it was great, and looked way better than what you expect from superhero series.
• The violence. I know this might be what kills it for a few people, but I think it was necessary. It got right down to how screwed up everything is, and how rough things have gotten and who sits where on the pecking order. It also helps a lot with development of certain characters, plot, as well as reveals and such.
• The origin stories. Granted, we actually only got to see the stories of Murdock and Fisk, but just the way the two were handled and sprinkled throughout the season was clever. Not too much, not too little, and consistently, always giving you a little something to chew on, heartbreak and happiness, all laced throughout it. It really gives you more insight into the choices of the two, as well as their thought processes.
• The camera work. It was clean, smooth, followed the action, and was used seamlessly to focus attention where it was needed, when it was needed. It was never jarring.
• The humour. It was dark, and used sparingly, so it has a pretty cool flavour when it finally does come around.
• The character development. Seriously, Matt goes from this attorney digging around some dark things, to this part-time vigilante, to this full-fledged crime fighter, losing friends and putting his life in danger all the time. As for Fisk? He goes from this unnamed terror to someone we see, don’t understand so we step closer, then get zapped with the level of crazy housed in that man. I just cannot wait to find out more about these two!
• The build up to the suit. The suit wasn’t there from the off, which also means we get a Matt Murdock who is becoming Daredevil, becoming a vigilante, not someone in the thick of things and we must all play catch up. Let me tell you, it works. Matt struggling to find a way to fit that into his life, the simple black suit, his intensity? Great. Then we finally get to see the suit, and none of this Smallville pussyfooting around where we watched ten goddamned seasons for a few second payoff in the last damn episode. It was so worth the wait… except the mask (which I will discuss just now).

What I didn’t like:

• To be very honest, I was so excited to see the suit. When it eventually made an appearance, I really liked it but then it got to the mask and… well… it sucks. It doesn’t do the suit any justice and doesn’t fit overall, which is a real pity.
• The way that Wilson Fisk talks sometimes. I thoroughly enjoy the character and D’Onofrio does such a great job, but sometimes the way he talks is disjointed and annoying and doesn’t always gel.
• How quickly things suddenly because “Matt, Foggy and Karen”, like one big happy family with virtually nothing to connect the dots to how we got there. She also just stepped in, from being a client, to thinking she has a say in their friendship, etc. At times that got a bit grating. Also, while we are at it, Karen could be real demanding sometimes, but I do like her.
• How quickly Foggy moved from Karen back to Marci. Left me reeling a little bit because there was no real rise to it, it just wham happened. Alrighty then…

Rating:
So when I went in for this, I didn’t really have too much hope. Constantine left a sour taste in my mouth (though I still intend on finishing it) and I never made it through the first season of Arrow, among other things, just so you can understand my excitement. Now, all sarcasm aside and all, I was hooked on Daredevil within minutes. Not even joking here. There is just so much right with this, so much that works and amazes and engages you and keeps you coming back for more. Plus two, I love the fact that all these episodes come at once. It means that I can binge without guilt and without having to wait for it to finish before I can get to what has been happening for weeks. There were other, smaller things that I also appreciated, such as the fact that Matt would take a beating and actually look like it the next day (hem hem Banshee), and it wouldn’t disappear overnight, which was also really cool. I absolutely adored the friendship between Matt and Foggy, it was super sweet and came together so well, and also bringing in Father Lantom, nice and slowly, not just there and that is that. Daredevil is certainly dark and not for kids, and it is most likely why I am a fan of it. It is not inundated by silly cheese and lack of drama and a story. Instead, we have interesting characters, plots coming together smoothly, bad guys you can identify with (again, the perfect villain is one you also want to see succeed), good guys you can understand but aren’t so perfect they seem unnatural, and events that get you thinking. Everything is slowly and deliberately built on, too, which is awesome, instead of some rush job. The show takes its time introducing you to people and places and moving things along. I mean Fisk himself didn’t make a physical appearance until much later on, which is why I think it was so successful to spend a few episodes showing how people didn’t really say his name and how terrified they were of him. Nice going guys! Ben was a great character, too, and I really loved to see how he pushed for investigation, honesty, integrity and the truth in a time where nobody seemed to care too much. Ben was a solid character to have around and brought quite a bit to the table. I thoroughly enjoyed DeKnight saying that the Matt Murdock they were going for should be one bad day away from The Punisher (check the article here). I think that they nailed this. Charlie Cox truly was the answer for this role here, I love what he has done with the character, and Elden Henson was just right for the comic relief we needed from time to time. Anyway, obviously I don’t have much to complain about. I would highly recommend checking Daredevil out, whether you are a superhero fan or suffering from superhero fatigue, there is a lot of good stuff going on here that deserves the chance to be checked out. I promise, you won’t regret it!