You know my favourite part about this latest season of Daredevil was hearing this tune and seeing those hypnotic crimson visuals knowing that when they were over that i would be seeing brand new content. Thirteen hours of back to back binge-watching later, and I had instant buyers remorse because I know I have another 12 months until I see something new again.
The Man Without Fear is back for his second season and Netflix do not disappoint as they crank the show all the way up to f*cking eleven by being more bloody and brutal than the last season. With the Kingpin in jail, the other gangs and criminal empires fight to try to gain a monopoly over Hell’s Kitchen. Daredevil has managed to keep most of the gangs in-check, however things are about to get a whole lot more complicated with the arrival of The Punisher; a vigilante who would rather put a bad guy in the ground than see them spend a second behind bars. Borrowing some of the themes and progressions of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, we can now see that the actions from season one have lead to more extreme measures being invited into the world of the series.
Season one was honestly one of my favourite shows of last year, admittedly I am rather biased because Daredevil is one of my all-time favourite characters just behind Spider-Man. This season just does everything all the more confidently. Charlie Cox is more confident and comfortable in his role as Matt Murdoch and his vigilante alter-ego, to the point that sometimes he looks like he’s been lifted straight from a John Romita Jnr panel. The fight sequences are even more complex than before with two new and completely different hallway fight scenes that will leave you completely slack-jawed come the end of each nail-biting sequence.
Of course it goes without saying that the Punisher is the real standout of the series. Sure some people may think that he looks like a hick with an army jacket, and admittedly it took me a little while to get Shane from The Walking Dead out of my head, but Jon Bernthal brings the intensity that makes this the closest realisation of The Punisher to date. The show drip feeds his origin story to us whilst each episode is elevated by his presence. Whether it be stabbing a hundred prisoners with a shiv, blowing rock-melon sizes holes through gangsters, to taking a power drill to the foot like a champ, and debating Daredevil about his methods that actually makes you want to take his side in an argument, Bernthal delivers. And Bernthal is Punisher now.
The first season had essentially one key story thread running throughout, however this season really focuses on world-building, not only the Daredevil Universe, but also the extended Defenders Universe. As a result we have three to four different storylines running throughout, if this was a movie it would feel very cluttered, but it’s all balanced pretty well to the point that when all the stories merge towards the third act you don’t really realise or appreciate just how many balls they had juggling in the air. However the one thing you can definitely credit this season for his how well it develops character’s story-arcs to the point where everyone, main or supporting, are moving in new directions as we head into the third season. The showrunners have confidently set-up for the third season and the inevitable Punisher spin-off series.
The show continues to build both the action scenes and the crime procedural elements, including the law aspects; something that was definitely missing from the Affleck Daredevil film, but once again, that's the opportunities afforded to a television series. Matt Murdock's character is developed just as much as his crimson alter-ego however, it does make you wonder how he is even considered a "competent" lawyer, let alone a "good" one. His commitments to beating the living bejeezus out of everyone even remotely affiliated with crime sure must be a great workout, but the poor guy is late for everything and misses really important things such as opening statements for Nelson and Murdoch's court cases, along with cross-examinations, closing statements, etc;
For lovers of the first series, you'll be happy to know that almost all of the supporting characters from season one are back; sometimes for brief cameos, sometimes for even longer running times than the previous season. Regardless of any supporting character's duration on screen, each one serves an incredibly important purpose to the story which once again reinforces how tight the scripting for this show is. Some may complain about the pacing for Daredevil being uneven, but I would argue that the pacing is exactly what it needs to be. Without the quiet, slower moments in the series you would suffer from sensory overload, especially if you are a maniac like myself who watched every episode back to back without a break - including toilet breaks.
The show continues to build both the action scenes and the crime procedural elements, including the law aspects; something that was definitely missing from the Affleck Daredevil film, but once again, that's the opportunities afforded to a television series. Matt Murdock's character is developed just as much as his crimson alter-ego however, it does make you wonder how he is even considered a "competent" lawyer, let alone a "good" one. His commitments to beating the living bejeezus out of everyone even remotely affiliated with crime sure must be a great workout, but the poor guy is late for everything and misses really important things such as opening statements for Nelson and Murdoch's court cases, along with cross-examinations, closing statements, etc;
For lovers of the first series, you'll be happy to know that almost all of the supporting characters from season one are back; sometimes for brief cameos, sometimes for even longer running times than the previous season. Regardless of any supporting character's duration on screen, each one serves an incredibly important purpose to the story which once again reinforces how tight the scripting for this show is. Some may complain about the pacing for Daredevil being uneven, but I would argue that the pacing is exactly what it needs to be. Without the quiet, slower moments in the series you would suffer from sensory overload, especially if you are a maniac like myself who watched every episode back to back without a break - including toilet breaks.
I always felt that the first season was pretty much perfect, and even though season two is an incredible step up from the its debut, it isn’t perfect this time. Without giving too much away, there are one or two loose ends that really should have been tied up this season. One character’s fate is almost spelt out in the last episode of the season, especially if you know that character’s mythology, so that felt a little predictable. And the final Punisher reveal was a little underwhelming, especially considering some of the promo material that featured him in full costume, but that isn’t to discredit all of the awesome Punisher moments throughout the season.
The weakest link is probably Elektra. Don’t get me wrong, Elodie Yung is stunning and physically capable of the action scenes, and she’s 100 times better than Jennifer Garner’s interpretation of the character, but she still doesn’t quite feel like Elektra. Her motivations at times feel flimsy and instead of the cold, calculating silent assassin, her appearance here is more of an impulsive spoilt brat who gets off on killing. Once again, it’s an improvement on Garner, but was the one character that easily needed the most development.
Overall, with new costumes, new heroes, new weapons, new enemies and new threats, this is the part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe that excites me the most. While film often glosses over the finer details of a story due to time constraints, it’s the Netflix series that prove that they can flesh-out the characters and situations, yet still keep it as entertaining, if not more thrilling than it’s cinematic counterparts.
Daredevil Season 2 gets Four and a Half well deserved, but bloody and beaten Stars.
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