Daredevil: A Cold Day in Hell’s Kitchen

 “What if this isn’t the end? What if this is just the beginning?”

This, in the end, is a fairly predictable finale, but it’s so well-crafted and emotionally resonant that that’s ok. It’s not much of a spoiler, given the forty years since Daredevil #181, that Electra dies, so why not have an emotional Matt pledge to be with her, and go with her anywhere, before their final battle against the odds, just to rub in the fact we all know she’s not going to survive?

It’s an all-out battle with Nobu and the Hand, with much of the supporting cast involved as hostages. Even Frank Castle, while taking a lower profile, gets to play his part at the end… while wearing that proper Punisher skull t-shirt. Daredevil finally gets his billy club, too.

It’s a highly satisfying closer, and that’s not even taking into accountthe cameo appearance of Jeri Hogarth from Jessica Jones- will Foggy take that high flying job? Will he appear in other Netflix Marvel shows before the next season of Daredevil? And we get that dramatic moment, right at the end, where Matt finally reveals to Karen that he’s Daredevil.

I’ll wait for the Netflix shows to transfer to Disney Plus, then I’ll carry on with the first season of Luke Cage…

Daredevil: .380

 "Stay away from me..."

The season is in the final stretch and things are speeding up. There's still time for character scenes- Claire once again warns Matt he's in too deep; Karen gets advice on not letting the love she has with Matt slipaway by Frank Castle, of all people, while he simultaneously uses her as bait; and Daredevil agrees with Frank to handle the Blacksmith his way "just this once"- but, as Frank points out, there's no going back from that side of the line.

There's a lot going on. Madame Gao is back. Matt and Frank are simultaneously on the trail of the Blacksmith, their paths converging towards the end, and Frank may or may not end up dead. We see more of this bizarre blood cult. Elektra is after Stick, ostensibly for revenge. 

And yet the real heroes of this episode are women. Claire quits her job rather than being implicit in the kind of cover-up, motivated by a need to please a donor, which makes a powerful argument in favour of America getting an actual health care system. And Karen, despite her obvious trauma, spends the episode reaching for the right thing to do, and doing it in spitre of her fears.

This is an episode filled with incident, but it's the characters that make this series so amazing.

Daredevil: Regrets Only

 "Well, you can't mask that ass. I'd know it anywhere."

This is probably the episode where the season starts to click into place: we have a high profile trial for the Punisher, which is part of a series of complex power games by DA Reyes, while ol' Hornhead and Elekra have their own arc, separate at this point, involving the Yakuza, or whoever these Japanese criminals connected to Roxxon may be. The extended martial arts fight scene before the credits is awesome, as it the use of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' "Date with the Night" as the Yakuza travel through the city on their cool motorbikes.

Matt is not exactly being unfaithful to Karen, with whom he has an increasingly heartwarming relationship: he makes it clear to Elektra that he's taken. Yet he's hiding from her the fact that he's doing stuff with his ex and, much as he makes it clear at the start of the episode that he wants Elektra gone, by the end the two of them are planning another mission for the following night... which, unless I'm very much mistaken, clashes with Matt's date with Karen. Awkward, and rather masterfully plotted.

Meanwhile, Nelson & Murdoch are representing Frank Castle at his upcoming trial as it's the right thing, on balance, to do, even if Reyes is going to absolutely crucify their firm for it. The scene between Frank and Karen, as they discuss his family and build a real connection, is incredible.

As is the season so far. This is a real step up from what was an impressive first season.

Daredevil: Penny and Dime

 No killing."

"Altar boy!"

Yep, this is a superlative bit of telly, just like the last episode. Beautifully acted- Jon Bernthal's monologue as Punisher in the graveyard is extraordinary- and artily directed throughout, it's a triuph of script, theme and characterisation.

It's surprrising in where it takes the arc, though. The Punisher meets his match as a psychopathic Irish godfather from over the ocean (a menacing Tony Curran) shows Frank that he is, after all, mortal, and vulnerable. And so Frank shows his vulnerability in more ways than one, nearly suffering an agonising death in the name of yet another revolution of that stupid cycle of revenge. Unexpectedly, it's Daredevil who saves him and the two of them find a mutual respect, if not agreement. Neatly enough, Daredevil lets Frank's arrest be attributable to the sergeant who blamed him for all this last episode, saying that "Vigilante days are done in this time. "Hah". It is, perhaps, a little too neat for Brett to respond by reassuring him that "You ain't him", but it works.

So, I wonder, is this- complete with Frank's touching backstory- the end of his part of the season, overshadowed by the shock cliffhanger just after we've come to know him a little? I somehow suspect not.

The episode is also, of course, about the touching little budding romance between Karen and Matt, again superbly acted and shot, and a very real and touching thing between characters we like, with Foggy amusingly making it quite clear that he knows exactly what's going on.

But that ending... her?

Daredevil: Bang

 "If I take a night off, people get hurt."

I know, it's been a while. I've always intended to carry on with the now long ended Netflix Marvel series, but there's so much good telly to watch and so it's somehow been several years. But now, although unspoiled, I'm led to understand that the Netflix stuff is about to possibly become a little more relevant to future stuff, so here goes. I'll endeavour to make a project of doing all of them, alternated with other stuff, until they're done, with the occasional short break if I happen to do any other Marvel or DC-themed telly, so the blog isn't too comics-heavy.

Essentially, this is s splendid episode. The direction and visuals are superb, with an excellent pre-titles action sequence and particularly excellent and effective lighting throughout. The chemistry between Matt, Karen and Foggy is wonderful, even as it's being gently established that the law firm is in deep financial trouble through being essentially run as a charity by people who are extremely nice, but perhaps not sustainably so. And, of course, our three leads remind us how wonderful they are.

And then there's the arc plot- of what at first seems like a paramilitary organisation massacring all those gangs who are trying to take over from the vacuum left over by the fall of Wilson Fisk. The long bit of clever misdirection with the gathering of the Irish mob, the speech, and the eventual massacre, feels like The Godfather or The Sopranos, with a very pleasing whiff of Scorsese.

And the conclusion, as DD realises these paramilitaries are in fact one man, the man enters the hospital in pursuit of brave Karen and her charge, and DD is shot in the face... ooh, I've missed Daredevil. More please.

Daredevil: World on Fire

"Could be the machines plotting, but I don't speak computer overlord..."

At last. Five episodes in and Daredevil clicks for me. I get the programme, I get the characters and I'm enjoying the ride. And yes, the fact that this is a superb hour of television certainly helps. I knew I was right to have faith and stick with it.

The episode is structured around three budding relationships, all very different in terms of wealth and terms of the morals of the three men. Our first couple- and, indeed, the least dwelt on- is Matt and Claire. Here we have no date, but an admission both that she's falling in love with him and that she has grave concerns both about the ethics of what he dies and, of course, his safety. They kiss. She's living with him. But there's some discomfort there. That's to continue in future episodes, though: the rest of this episode consists of Karen slowly falling in love with Foggy because he is, simply, a good man with integrity beneath the self-deprecating quips. Vanessa, in direct contrast, consents to a relationship with Fisk (there is no talk of love here) in full knowledge that what he does is morally murky, to say the least, that he had hurt and killed before, and he will hurt and kill again. 

Fisk, incidentally, is not himself right at the top of the food chain by himself: he is, it seems, one of a consortium of four, all of which we will no doubt come to know further. He is powerful nonetheless, though: in the episodes most disturbing scene a criminal gives his name to the cops and is simply killed by them, making it look like self defence. That's how far Fisk's tentacles can cover.

Foggy, though, gets a contrasting scene where he gets the better of his opponent's lawyer, from a fancy law firm, utterly devoid of ethics and, if all that wasn't enough, his ex. I'm sure Karen thought he was awesome. I know I did.

The two respective dates are a blatant contrast- Karen and Foggy in the tiny, ruined apartment of a poor but grateful client; Fisk and Vanessa in the most opulent surroundings imaginable. But one is about real attraction and the blossoming of real love, whereas the other is all about the lure of the "bad boy" and the seductiveness of power. Still, the scenes with Vanessa and Fisk are truly electrifying.

This is a masterful exercise of structure, theme, characterisation and dialogue. Superb. Quite the cliffhanger too...