Blind Justice

Daredevil Season 2

Premiering last year with one of the most watched launches for Netflix, Daredevil redefined the TV comic genre for the best. The series brought a necessary grit and toughness to a character that was long forgotten thanks to the 2003 film. With amazing fight scenes and intriguing characters, Daredevil delivered every expectation that Netflix had for their Marvel show which continued to Jessica Jones. Now, back by VERY popular demand Netflix debuted the next chapter in Matt Murdock’s (Charlie Cox) journey to bring justice to the Hell’s Kitchen section of New York City.

Last season we witnessed the birth of ‘The Devil of Hell’s Kitchen’ and Matt’s take down of the underworld boss Wilson Fisk (Vincent D'Onofrio). Though for every action there is an equal reaction. In this case there is a more violent reaction. A new vigilante is shooting up the streets of Hell’s Kitchen, taking out criminals and mob bosses with a shower of bullets. When Daredevil tracks down this new vigilante dubbed The Punisher by the local police, Matt meets Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal The Walking Dead) a man whose family was brutally gunned down during a drug deal gone bad in the middle of Central Park. Vowing to take the law in his own hands, Castle’s views on justice are more extreme than those of Matt’s. Now while Matt has to deal with Castle’s extreme tactics, an old girlfriend, Elektra Natchios (Elodie Yung Gods of Egypt) decides to reenter Matt’s life and asks Daredevil for his help. However, what was supposed to be a simply reconnaissance mission turns into a stirring of a hornet’s nest of The Hand. Elektra and Matt stumble upon a plan by the secret organization to resurrect an ancient evil called The Black Sky. If all of that wasn’t enough, Matt must confront his best friend, Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1) and Foggy’s feelings toward Matt’s extra-curricular activities.

Okay, this season is jam packed with story arches and subplots…oh yeah, and action galore. I absolutely loved this season and I can’t wait for season 3 to come next year. Trust me, it will come. There are so many things that I adored about this season that it is going to be fun to break all of this down. Now don’t worry, I will not include any spoilers unless you haven’t seen season one either. For that I am sorry then, I warned you.

First let’s start with the acting. The returning actors all step up their game for this season by giving their respective characters a little more depth. Cox this season brings a great duality to Matt Murdock. Cox is able to show the audience the internal struggle Matt has with his quest. Is what he doing right or even working? Should he be doing it at all? And with those questions, Matt knows he has to protect ‘his city’. The one actor out of the returning three that I was most impressed with was Deborah Ann Woll who plays Karen Page. Woll just does a great job with adding layers to Page’s character. We are shown a glimpse (and a very quick one at that) into her past and why she may be the way she is. Woll also really brings the light into Matt’s life and tries to show Matt the decency in everything. Now for the newcomers, they both brought an electricity to this season to give it the right spark to hurdle it over the sophomore slump. Yung gives Elektra a ferocity that can only be witnessed in the comics. Elektra in this season represents the opposite of Karen. Elektra is someone with darkness and someone that could really hurt Matt both emotionally and physically. Yung also brings a slight humor to Elektra that audiences haven’t seen before either and to me it was quite refreshing. As for Bernthal…well there are no real words to fully describe that pure awesomeness that he is as The Punisher. Bernthal is brutal, unforgiving, and scary good when he is on screen. Bernthal shows Castle’s tunnel vision when it comes to giving out vengeance for his family. I will be highly surprised if we do not see more of this Punisher.

Second, I would just love to praise the writers of this season. They build off of everything that was awesome about the first season and amp it up just enough to make this season great. The story arcs seem to flow into one grand story that you can’t see until the final episode. I thought the also did a magnificent job keeping the audience wanting more at the end of each episode as well. Hope these writers stay for season 3 or at least the next set of writers learn from these ones.

Here is where I have to nitpick at this season. I know that I stated that I loved the evolution of Foggy; however I thought he took a HUGE step back with his interactions with Matt. Every time Foggy confronts Matt on his alter-ego, Foggy is that of last season. That means that Foggy whines and nags at Matt to stop and come ‘into the light’ so to speak and when I say he nags and whines…he does it almost every scene they have together! That was it. Other than this minor deal, I loved this season.

Filled with great action and awesome stories, Daredevil season 2 is a great compliment to season 1. The cast is amazing which gives great testament to the wonderful writing for this season. I know that season 3 is inevitable, I just don’t know when. So for now, please take a look at Netflix’s Daredevil season 1 and 2. 

The Verdict: Worth Your Time