Daredevil Ep. 23 – “The Man in the Box”

“The Man in the Box” begins with a chilling scene of police investigating the bloody remains from the previous episode. Even the few people still alive are clearly emotionally scarred. This is a precursor to a fairly gruesome episode.

Suspense is built throughout the episode, as Claire needs to take care of the victims of said massacre and sees how they’ve had their fingerprints burnt off. Matt warns Karen and Foggy that they could be next. We see how real his warning is when they have a meeting with DA Samantha Reyes and she is violently gunned down with machine gun fire. Matt is only able to save himself, Karen and Foggy because of his hightened senses. But even with Matt’s interference, Foggy is wounded.

After Matt seemingly becoming smarmier throughout this season, this episode shows the good man is still there with the aforementioned scene of him rescuing his friends. Matt has a great monologue with Claire where he ponders if his presence is harming everyone he cares about. One subtle moment is when he is confronted by Fisk, who threatens to ruin both him and Nelson and Matt offers to bite the bullet for both of them.

Speaking of that scene, the confrontation between Matt and Fisk in prison is the highlight of the episode. The tension between the two is thick enough to be cut with a knife and the cinematography is well done – Wide shots are designed to emphasize distance while closeups are done in low angles – low enough to create subtle tension but not be distracting. Once again, we see how Fisk can go from calm (but still intimidating) to furious and violent without warning. It is a unique look at Fisk’s psychology that Matt’s threat of preventing Vanessa from entering the US is what sets Fisk off.

There are other good highlights – Elektra is involved in a martial arts heavy fight scene where she debuts her trademark sai. The Punisher confronts Karen in her apartment – this is a tense moment where Castle has to defend that he did not attack Reyes. When Karen’s apartment is shot up and Castle protects Karen, she finally believes him. The episode ends on a titanic cliffhanger with Hand Ninjas swarming a building and Daredevil donning his costume, preparing for battle.

Overall, this is a great episode – there is plenty of action. Even the quiet moments in between action and engaging, and every major character does something.

Daredevil Ep. 22 “Seven Minutes in Heaven” Review

How does Daredevil follow up a great action light episode? With a great action-heavy episode.

This episode begins with an okay scene about Matt and Foggy confronting each other about the dissolution of their friendship and law firm. With the direction this season has been going, I was concerned this tone would carry out through the rest of the episode. Luckily, it was only this scene – which is a tolerable dose of the melodrama. Plus it is a good examination of how Murdock views his dual life. There is also a B-plot about Karen investigating the Castle case further. This is okay but nothing special – it is good that this stuff is used so the viewer is not too overwelmed by action, but onto the good stuff.

Murdock spends most of the episode as Daredevil. There is some suspence as he interrogates his way through the Hand by way of accountants. Without going too far off the rails, Daredevil shows his intensity in intimidating villains. This episode features some pretty intense and brutal fight scenes. Fights are fast-paced and well-edited – including a rematch from the fighter who pushed Daredevil to his limits in season 1’s “Speak of the Devil.” Even after everything he has learned, Daredevil still gets tested in this battle.

Roughly half the episode is spent with the Punisher meeting Kingpin in prison. It should be no surprise that a meeting between two of the best things in the series is a highlight. Just the opening scenes of these two meeting and talking carries so much intensity with the strong personalities both men have. Even in the grey bar motel, Fisk has amassed some power. However, there is someone who’s managed to be higher on the food chain and he had a hand in murdering Castle’s family. Fisk pulls some strings and a deal is made.

The scenes where Castle confronts this man are pretty good with Castle showing just how menacing he can be with just a knife. There’s a pretty brutal fight where Castle fends off three inmates by himself. Following this is a scene where a wounded Punisher confronts Fisk. Fisk still manhandles Castle – wounded Castle may be, but we still see how brutal and unapologetic Fisk can be.

The episode ends with a chilling double cliffhanger as Daredevil learns his former assailant is not only not dead but claims death doesn’t exist for him. Secondly, the Punisher – thanks to Fisk – is escaping jail among a riot squad. Overall this is a great episode with exciting action and enough drama and story to keep the overall story arc going.

Daredevil Ep. 21 “Guilty as Sin” Review

After Elektra is wounded in battle, Matt is greeted by Stick: Just as he was previously, Scott Glenn is on point as the sardonic, blunt-talking trainer. He has a great moment where he tells the story of the hand in a moment that is quite foreboding. The episode begins with a downright gruesome scene of Matt and Stick trying to heal Elektra’s wounds. The fast-paced editing creates the frantic pace needed while Elodie Yung bellows in agony, selling the agony her character would be in.

This episode is one of Elektra’s best as she is coping with her duality – she wants to be with Matt permanently, but Stick reminds her that she is permanently attached to her lifestyle. The episode features an intense between out-of-costume Matt Murdock against an assassin. The assassin wounds Murdock, but he gains the upperhand. While trying to interrogate the would-be assassin, Matt grows a soft spot upon realizing how young he is. However, Elektra slits his throat, solidifying who she really is.

The main plot of this episode continues the story of Nelson & Murdock trying to defend Castle in court. The evidence is piling up against Frank, his sanity is coming into question, and the trial is becoming more of a spectacle with people speaking out in court. Foggy and Karen believe that putting Castle on the stand and letting the jury see his mental condition will save him. However, problems are arising when Karen finds Elektra in his apartment, complicating the trial.

The highlight of the episode comes when Matt is trying to give a defense of the Punisher saying the city is under such disarray, it needs vigilantes and Castle couldn’t help himself because of his mental condition. This would have been a solid moment on its own, but what puts it over the top is Castle’s reaction. After sitting calmly, Castle reveals he dislikes the insinuation that he is insane before going ballistic and revealing that he knew what was doing, loved doing and would do it again if he had the chance. This intense and frightening moment is one of Bernthal’s best moments as the Punisher.

There have been plenty of action-light or Daredevil-light episodes (There are action scenes, but Murdock only appears as Daredevil at the beginning of the episode), and in that category this is one of the better episodes. Everything worked in showing the pain and frustration these characters are going through and how everything is tying together. Plus, the episode ends with the return of Kingpin. So that’s a plus.

Vincent D’Onofrio Teases a Return for Kingpin

Best things about Daredevil (in no particular order):
1. Charlie Cox is super handsome and a pleasure to look at
2. Foggy has classic lines all the time – “why are you fancy?” is still said in our house all the time
3. Karen giving Matt a balloon was hilarious
4. The 2 epic corridor fight scenes
5. The villains – both Kingpin and Punisher were incredible

Vincent D’Onofrio‘s star turn as Wilson Fisk was one of the highlights of season 1 for me. No cat stroking, one-dimensional bad guy here; Fisk was portrayed as sensitive, deep, and all together reasonable in his villainy. D’Onofrio was terrifying with his calm, quiet, anger culminating in violent, deadly rage. At times, he cut quite an empathetic figure, and creating that in the big bad is a real talent.

Fans were delighted earlier this year when Fisk had a cameo appearance in Daredevil season 2 (resulting in an incredible prison fight sequence), and D’Onofrio has not ruled out a reprisal of the Kingpin in future Marvel series. Last week he spoke to LRM Online, and said that although he hadn’t signed on to do any further work with Marvel, he would go back to the character if the right chance came up.

He told the website, “Marvel, the company, and especially Jeff Loeb, who runs Marvel Television, he’s a clever dude. All those people over there are pretty clever and they love talent. There’s no giant commitment for me at Daredevil. Like I didn’t have to sign my life away at all. When Jeff tells me there’s something coming up and if I’m available, I’ll be there. And because it’s written so well, I’m going to show up. I’m going to do everything I can because the writing is so good. And then there’s a company like Netflix and they’re not pressuring you either. They just want good material, good content. They give you money to make good content, so they’re not pressuring actors to sign their life away either…. I think that there’s this common ground where they say, ‘Look, if the material is good are you going to show up?’ and I said,  ‘Definitely’.”

When asked directly if he would be appearing again in a Marvel/Netflix series, D’Onofrio was coy. “That I can’t answer. I do know, but I can’t answer… so take that how you will. Jeff and Charlie (Cox) and Netflix love Kingpin, and so, Kingpin is good for Marvel’s television stuff and I think they agree.”

So, although our favourite Kingpin might not be back on Netflix for Luke Cage on 30th September, we might not be waiting too long to see him again.

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Daredevil Season 1 Overview

After reviewing every single episode from the first season of Daredevil one by one, it’s time to give a look at the first season overall.

Looking at the season overall, it is important to look at how things changed over the course of 13 episodes. The first season relied heavily on suspense and buildup. Matt Murdock’s origins are spaced out through each episode. The opening shot of the series is Matt being blinded and every episode puts together a new piece of the puzzle – meeting and being trained by Stick, becoming friends with Foggy. Daredevil’s story isn’t even complete during the course of the season as he spends most of the season in a cheap ninja costume, never donning the famous red Daredevil suit until the finale.

As entertaining as a lot of the movies are, they have to tell their stories in a two-and-a-half hour time-frame. Pacing these events over 13 hour-long episodes gives us the chance to experience the full story. Matt makes mistakes, he is assaulted by hoods and other villains. Every loss is a lesson, he builds on what he learns.

Speaking of changes, I talked time and again in individual episodes of what a draw Fisk/Kingpin was. First, the series builds suspense for the character by showing little of him. Once we finally do see him, he does not disappoint. His subordinates built him up as a violent threat and they weren’t joking. He seems willing to kill anyone, even his right hand men, he can hold his own in fighting. His romance with Vanessa shows his unique honor system and every episode features a new face to the man’s personality.

Speaking of the 13 episodes, the first season is paced wonderfully. I was tempted to do a best/worst comparison, but it was hard because there were no real bad episodes or weak links. There were slower episodes and episodes lighter on action, but EVERY episode served some purpose – they established character, established part of a character’s origin or at least kept the flow of the story going. Some of these slower episodes worked because instead of cramming every episode with action, they were able to pace things out in a cinematic way – heavy action, then a slower episode to pace things out and not overwhelm the viewers.

There were a few weak links. Foggy and Karen largely seemed to just be there. Both had moments to shine. Foggy was a little more engaging with his relationship with Matt, which was explored greatly in “Nelson vs. Murdock”, but he also had a relationship with an old flame that really didn’t add up to match. Karen was an alright character, her subplot of hunting Fisk through investigating with Urich. Her intro is exciting when she is wrongly accused of murder and toward the end of the season, she actually commits a murder to save her life. In between that is little to write home about. However, those were minor nitpicks.

Overall, the first season was superb. There was a perfect balance of story, action and good character development.

Daredevil SN1 EP13 – ‘Daredevil’

No, that title is not a typo or a redundancy. This is the episode where Matt Murdock sheds himself of the cheap black costume and the cheap black costume and officially becomes the man in the red costume, Daredevil. With plans do a full overview of season 1, I plan on talking about this in greater detail in there, but I will say the reveal is great. We see a few scenes of Matt in action as the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen for the last time. Seeing these really hammers home that this is more than just a change of threads for the hero.

As the season finale, the best way to describe this episode is the final chapter. Everything comes to a head as Foggy & Murdock, Karen and the police finally crack down on Fisk and corner him. Daredevil meets Fisk and the two finally have a fair one-on-one battle. Even before the encounter, Fisk shows he’s still got his viscous side, murdering Owlsley after finding out he was in on the plot to poison Vanessa. Plus he has a great dramatic moment when he escapes the police in a great monologue that once again shows how terrifyingly he can change on a dime.

The fight between Daredevil and Fisk is spectacular – the first one-on-one encounter between these two had Kingpin wailing on Daredevil after he had a tough battle with someone else. This time, they’re on equal footing, and Fisk is STILL a tough customer for Daredevil. This episode may sound like all action, but there are serious moments, and they still work. There are two scenes with minimal dialogue – the opening scene is Urich’s funeral where the characters’ facial expressions and the somber music. Midway through the episode features an excellent montage where the cops on Fisk’s payroll are busted, set to opera music. Even some of the smaller scenes feel important. We see Foggy and Nelson restore their friendship to align against the bigger enemy. These scenes help build tension as we know action can go down at a moments notice.

The season ends on a bittersweet note. The heroes are triumphant, but must lament their fallen comrades. The final note sees Fisk behind bars but not fully stopped – especially since we’ve already seen what kind of power this man has – and Daredevil monitoring over the city. This is just about what anyone would want from a season finale – Perfectly wrapping up the story of the season while getting the viewer pumped for the next season.

Tune in next time when I give a summary of the season overall.

Daredevil SN1 EP12 – ‘The Ones We Leave Behind’

Warning: This review does contain spoilers. The episode may be a year old, but I have an honor system.

The plot of this episode is a little all over all over the place. However, it works. The breakneck storytelling captures the frantic mood of the characters’ trying to put the pieces of everything together. Karen just killed a man, put a gun against his head, pulled my trigger, now he’s dead (No, I couldn’t resist). Karen dealing with this decision is engaging as she has to deal with the paranoia that Fisk’s men can come after her, but the startling realization that she has taken a life.

Matt is in action as the devil, trying to hunt down the Japanese gangsters. The scenes as the Devil are as exciting as ever. However, there are some great scenes as Matt. There’s a tense moment where Matt confronts Foggy, both of whom acknowledging what they and we know without saying a word. This episode also features a thrilling foot chase – with Matt chasing a blind Japanese girl through the streets. The scene is cool on its own, but seeing Matt in action out of costume feels unique.

Fisk is on the hunt for the people who poisoned Vanessa and wants to stop everyone in his way – including Urich. Fisk has some frightening moments in this episode – first he violently assaults one of his lackeys for talking out of line – and still keeping this person loyal. (We also learn the real reason Vanessa was poisoned, which is clever.) The episode ends with Fisk murdering Ben. It’s a great scene in how gruesome it is. We see how Fisk can go from zero to sixty – he’s quite calm leading up to the killing – and just murder someone in cold blood. Not a henchman, he does it himself – all because Ben was investigating his mother.

This is the penultimate episode of the first season. If this doesn’t get your blood pumping for the finale, please tell me what does.

Daredevil SN1 EP9 – ‘ Speak Of The Devil ‘

This review does contain spoilers. You’ve been warned.

From the opening moment of Daredevil being hit in the face, this episode makes it clear that it will hit viewers head on and not back down. These fight scenes between the devil and a Japanese assailant are inter-cut between the main plot. Matt is facing another crisis – he knows he has to take out Fisk for the good of the city however he has another dilemma not just from a legal standpoint but from his faith. Murdock talking with his priest offer great emotional intensity and create conflict.

Matt tries to bring down Kingpin both in and out of costume. Ben Urich approaches them with an article that exposes Fisk. However, Murdock knows there has to be some validation or Fisk will have a libel case. So we do see scenes of Matt working undercover as Matt, which is a unique touch. The plot about Nelson and Murdock trying to tackle Fisk legally works because Karen and Foggy have a little more action after feeling like side characters in so many episodes. They have more emotional stakes as they are coping with the death of Elena, one of their first clients. She died because of Fisk’s poorly built houses which is giving them a little more legal standing. Unfortunately for them, Fisk is still able to put on his public facade.

Daredevil is in action. As the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen, Matt circumvents the law – as he does – to track down the men Kingpin is working with. This leads to the aforementioned BRUTAL fight. The assassin wields a weapon which tears Matt apart – plenty of blood is shown. We even see someone set on fire! Adding injury to injury, the Devil has his first one-on-one battle with Kingpin. This is not some climatic battle of honor – Kingpin mercilessly whales on the Devil in another gruesome battle with Matt just barely escaping after taking some serious hits. The cherry on the sundae is that after everything this episode ends on a huge cliffhanger with Foggy discovering Matt under the mask.

This episode is just the total package – great psychology and character development. The action scenes are intense and it builds suspense for the next episode.

Daredevil SN1 EP8 – ‘ Shadows in the Glass ‘

After a few high-octane, high-stakes episodes, Daredevil was due for a slower episode. It’s just good-storytelling. Pretending for a second Daredevil season 1 were a 13-hour action movie, people need a break from action. Even in movies like Die Hard and Speed, there are breaks in the action. This episode is largely an origin story for Wilson Fisk. Kingpin has proven to be such an engaging, dynamic character that he can carry an episode that’s a little lighter on action.

We learn about Fisk’s past in this episode. His father was a wannabe politician who was also abusive toward his son and his wife. The scenes of the abuse are uncomfortable, but in a way that works. After all, this is a touchy subject so if it were anything but uncomfortable, the people behind the scenes wouldn’t be doing their jobs. The scenes with the young Fisk are effective in explaining Fisk’s psychology. His dad was violent but had a unique honor system – he was running for mayor because he wanted to do what was right for the city, he wants his son to stand up for himself. However, he takes his ideals a little too far in the wrong direction. He even goes out of his way to rough up someone for bullying his son. And that is fascinating because that is the kind of man Wilson Fisk grew up to be. He wants to save Hell’s Kitchen, but he does so with violence. After all, the young Wilson had to overcome his father’s violence WITH violence.

The psychology in the episode is also fascinating because in most other media, someone who stood up to an abusive father and overcame them would be a hero. And that’s part of the brilliance – Fisk finally comes out to the open and presents himself as the hero. He presents himself as a hero who is trying to save the city from the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen. We already know how dangerous and violent Kingpin is, but this adds an extra layer to the character – he does these things but now has the trust of the city. Vincent D’Onofrio’s acting is brilliant as he plays someone still coping with the mental scars of his past. Even though he is not the focus, Murcock/The Devil still has a role in this episode. His scenes are exciting, but Kingpin is the real star of this episode.

Overall, despite being a little slower and light on action, this is an engaging episode from a psychological perspective. We delve deeper into the biggest villain of the series, learn a little more about why he is the way he is and just how much power he has.

Daredevil SN1 EP4 – ‘In The Blood’

Up to this point, we’ve only received descriptions of the Kingpin with him only fully appearing for a single shot in the previous episode. So how does he behave in this episode? The first time we see him, he asks Vanessa – the art dealer out on a date. If this were any other show, we can imagine how he’d behave, she’d say no and he’d start acting intimidating.

Daredevil is a show that takes things in a different direction. Fisk asks her out, she says no and he apologizes, backing away. Vanessa eventually relents to go out with Fisk after he says one of my favorite quotes (“A woman who can be bought is not worth having”). Much of the episode is spent showing the date between Vanessa and Fisk. We see some unique shades to his character. It’s almost unnerving as we expect this character go violent at any second.

He is polite to Vanessa, but he is also surprisingly awkward, often not making eye contact when he talks to her or other characters. Despite his love of culture, Fisk does show his viscous side by the end of the episode. We learn all the talk characters have made for him was not in vain as he murders a henchman – quite gruesomely – for “embarrassing him” in front of Vanessa.

Daredevil himself is in action, rescuing Claire. This is exciting, but the highlight is a more intimate scene where Claire and Matt talk about how long Matt can handle taking these licks, and Matt reveals his secret identity to Claire. There are also b-plots about Foggy wanting to expand the office (with a fax machine – it sounds silly but it fits his character so it works) and Urich being on the case. It’s little new, but everything done right. Overall, this was a solid episode that is most memorable for fleshing out Kingpin’s character.