“Daredevil” Mid-Season Two Review

Jazzmyn Peterson, Editor

images-3SPOILER ALERT: If you do not wish to read spoilers from seasons one and two of “Daredevil,” do not read further.

The season one finale of “Daredevil” started off with the funeral of beloved character journalist Ben Urich. Fans enter the episode as Urich’s casket is lowered to the ground after he was murdered in a rage by Wilson Fisk, a.k.a Kingpin. Karen is seen attempting to deal with her guilt for indirectly getting Urich murdered and is consoled by Urich’s widow. As the episode continues, fans are thrust back and forth between lighter moments, such as Matt and Foggy making up, and darker moments such as Kingpin killing the double-crossing Owlsley. Ending with the defeat of Kingpin at the hands of officially-costumed Matt Murdock, a.k.a Daredevil, the show lived up to its hype. After a nearly one year hiatus, “Daredevil” season two officially hit Netflix, and this season is just as entertaining as the last.

Season two begins with various gangs attempting to fill Kingpin’s spot as the top dog in Hell’s Kitchen. Fans enter a bar scene filled with Irish mafia members who are discussing a way to take over Hell’s Kitchen. It does not take long for the action to begin, as bullets begin to spray through the walls, killing all but one of the group. For comic book fans, the aggressively violent murder of the Irish mafia plays right into the introduction of the fan favorite antihero Frank Castle, a.k.a Punisher.

Punisher, played by Jon Berthal, commands every scene he is  part of. Perfectly capturing the mysterious yet violent nature of the comic book character, Berthal brings Punisher to life in a way that gives depth to the character and the overall story of the show.

As the season goes on, fans see several clashes between the natures of Daredevil and Punisher. Daredevil follows the general rule of not killing people when giving them his brand of vigilante justice, while Punisher believes that executing these criminals is the only way to ensure a drop in the crime rate in Hell’s Kitchen, the place both men call home.

In one of these clashes in episode three, fans experience one of the most entertaining and well thought-out fight scenes to ever grace a superhero TV shows. After Daredevil successfully subdues Punisher, he fights off a horde of members from the Dogs of Hell biker gang in what has been dubbed the ‘Stairwell Fight Scene” (overshadowing the old fan favorite fight scene dubbed the “Hallway Fight Scene”). A mix of top notch cinematography and choreography, this nearly four-minute scene encompasses what makes this show so addictive: the amazing story combined with entertaining, well-done action scenes.

The introduction of Elektra, played by Elodie Yong, in episode five seemed a bit early, but overall it was exciting to see the memorable assassin ex-girlfriend of Daredevil. The writers contributed quite a bit of screen time to overlapping Elektra’s story with Punisher’s and then connecting both of them back to Daredevil. Yong portrays Elektra in all of her glory, an independent, tough female character who commands the scenes she is a part of, and one that promises more excitement to come in later episodes.

Overall, the first of half of season two has stayed true to what makes “Daredevil” memorable; the dark, gritty nature of the show as a whole combined with excellent storytelling and fast paced, well thought out fight scenes. The only issue so far is that the writers seem to be so focused on making sure that the show does not flop (like the failed “Daredevil”movie), that they choose to push the main character to the side at times. But from the way things are going, the next of half of season two is promising.