Daredevil (Season 1) - Review: Marvel's Dark Side
Original air date (US): April 10th, 2015
Starring: Charlie Cox, Vincent D'Onofrio, Deborah Ann Woll, Elden Henson, Rosario Dawson, Alyssa Zurer, Scott Glenn, Curtis Hall
**DISCLAIMER**: This is a subjective, opinionated article that does not have, nor should have any affect on your opinion. As such, my opinion is entitled to change over time and whatever is written here at this point in time may not and should not be held to me in the future. You are not meant to agree with me 100 percent of the time, because the nature of subjectivity is we see everything differently. If there is something you happen to disagree with, I absolutely respect your point of view if you will respect mine. Please keep this in mind.
The Review
Welcome to Hell's Kitchen. A place of crime and villainy. A place where evil runs rampant, where you should always lock your doors, where you should always watch your back. A place that, frankly, until 2015 Marvel didn't want you to see. And in the years following, Marvel Studios has done their very best to isolate themselves from the TV universe. Now, with the cancellation of Daredevil, I thought it appropriate to dive into the seasons and have a look inside the world of Wilson Fisk and Matt Murdock.
Largely, the story takes place in Hell's Kitchen, a rough part of New York, mostly isolated from the likes of Stark Tower of Avengers Facility. And that's for the better; the first couple episodes do have mention of "The Incident" and you do have some short mentions of the Battle of New York, but other than that, Daredevil does its best to remain closed off from the rest of the larger MCU. And I think it largely benefits from it. I think that because it is allowed to explore its own, real, gritty and grounded corner of the MCU, it is allowed to grow and thrive.
And because of the longer format, with 13 episodes each about fifty minutes long, you are able to dive into each character. Matt Murdock gets more development in this 13 episodes than some characters in the MCU have gotten their entire runs so far in the movie world. And that's thanks largely in part to the way the directors of each episode decided to format each one. Each episode is slightly different; it's a little jarring actually because sometimes you'll be watching an episode that ends on a cliffhanger, jump to the next episode only to find it shot differently. But each episode somehow maintains tonal consistency. Each shot and setting, each location is given their due.
Our hero, Matt Murdock is a lawyer by day. He was taught by his father, Jack Murdock (a prominent boxer) to never use his fists to solve an altercation. Right away, this sets up conflict. Because you know that Daredevil is a more violent character, at least in this iteration. So it's fascinating to see the conflict that Matt finds himself at because of what his father saws and what his heart believes. Because there is so much time to explore each character, there is time to show how Murdock slowly becomes Daredevil.
Mentors like Stick find him, and are able to give him heightened abilities that let him wage war on the crime world. And wage war he does. Immediately, other than the dreary, dark color palette, what distinguishes Daredevil from other Marvel properties is the violence and grit. Remember the first five minutes of Logan? Where we really found out what would happen if Wolverine sunk his claws into you? That's exactly what happens here. It's not Captain America, who punches you in the face and you can get up and fight. It's Daredevil, who will punch you in the face viscerally and will then kick you until you can't move anymore. The kind of violence is brutal, but it matches the level of intensity the series aims for from the very beginning.
Daredevil isn't short on side characters either. Thankfully, though there is the temptation to throw in as many characters as possible into a series like this, the show runners decide to keep the narrative focus on a few key characters. Granted, there are some that pop in here and there, but they aren't so much consequential to the audience as the are to the story. For example, the show spends a large amount of time on a Russian subplot which was really quite fascinating.
The last thing I had expected from a series from Marvel was politics. But this story is actually all about backhanded politics, political sabatoge, and intrigue, which I really gravitated towards. I think the longer format allowed the show runners to be a little smarter, to think outside the typical "good guy is good, bad guy is bad". But in the end, everything leads towards Wilson Fisk.
In a way, the story really centers around Wilson Fisk and Matt Murdock, and even though there are numerous amounts of subplots going on, what I really appreciated was that they all connected to the main storyline. Now, I will say that, as with most TV shows, there are a few filler episodes, or at the very least, a couple. There are some episodes that dive into the backstories of characters for a little too long, I felt. But it makes them so much more relatable. There's an entire episode dedicated to revealing the backstory of Wilson Fisk, which goes a long, long way to humanize him.
The other supporting cast, including Foggy Nelson (Henson) and Karen Page (Woll) are great as well. This is real, gritty New York City, and because of that, the way that these characters are portrayed is very real as well. Nelson and Murdock feels like a real law firm at times. There are other times where I question how they're able to make money, but those thoughts are quickly brushed aside. Rosario Dawson also makes a couple quick appearances as Claire Temple, but I felt that she was one of the weaker points of the series, NOT because of her performance, but because she was underutilized. She came in for a couple episodes as a deus ex machina, and then promptly left for about five episodes, before returning for one quick message to Matt and then leaving again.
But overall, the performances in the show were excellent. There is one character, James Wesley, that I have some problems with, simply because I think that he was not altogether necessary. And there are certain moments in the series that Vincent D'Onofrio is trying a little too hard. You can see that its part of his character to be socially awkward, but at the same time, it comes off as a little stiff instead of awkward, which was a little distracting.
And again, just like any show, it wanders for a little bit. But unlike a lot of shows, it grounds itself in its A-plot, drives itself forward to a conclusion, where all loose ends are tied up, but it also leaves room for a sequel.
That's one of the things I love the most about the series. Wilson Fisk is never addressed as the Kingpin, not directly anyways. And Daredevil is only referenced by name at the very, vey end. For that matter, Daredevil doesn't even get his costume until the very last episode of the series. Which is absolutely fine. I think that part of the appeal of this series is that it prides itself in being serious, and it is. Unlike films like Batman v. Superman, which takes itself seriously in the wrong context, I think Daredevil is able to find the perfect balance of grit and realism. When each punch hits, you can feel it. When each drop of blood falls, it's tangible. That's what's so exciting about the series and why it works on so many levels.
In Conclusion: Daredevil opens up a completely new side of the Marvel universe. But it doesn't just take a peek inside; it completely tears it open and introduces us to a world where men don't fly in the sky and shields aren't made of a magical metal. Instead, we are taken on a journey with attorney Matt Murdock through the crime-ridden streets of New York. And through this, we learn to love the Man with No Fear as he takes on his foe, Wilson Fisk. There are flaws, the series does slow down, and there are extensive flashbacks, but the series knows exactly what it wants to be and what it wants to do. That's why it works.
Largely, the story takes place in Hell's Kitchen, a rough part of New York, mostly isolated from the likes of Stark Tower of Avengers Facility. And that's for the better; the first couple episodes do have mention of "The Incident" and you do have some short mentions of the Battle of New York, but other than that, Daredevil does its best to remain closed off from the rest of the larger MCU. And I think it largely benefits from it. I think that because it is allowed to explore its own, real, gritty and grounded corner of the MCU, it is allowed to grow and thrive.
And because of the longer format, with 13 episodes each about fifty minutes long, you are able to dive into each character. Matt Murdock gets more development in this 13 episodes than some characters in the MCU have gotten their entire runs so far in the movie world. And that's thanks largely in part to the way the directors of each episode decided to format each one. Each episode is slightly different; it's a little jarring actually because sometimes you'll be watching an episode that ends on a cliffhanger, jump to the next episode only to find it shot differently. But each episode somehow maintains tonal consistency. Each shot and setting, each location is given their due.
Our hero, Matt Murdock is a lawyer by day. He was taught by his father, Jack Murdock (a prominent boxer) to never use his fists to solve an altercation. Right away, this sets up conflict. Because you know that Daredevil is a more violent character, at least in this iteration. So it's fascinating to see the conflict that Matt finds himself at because of what his father saws and what his heart believes. Because there is so much time to explore each character, there is time to show how Murdock slowly becomes Daredevil.
Mentors like Stick find him, and are able to give him heightened abilities that let him wage war on the crime world. And wage war he does. Immediately, other than the dreary, dark color palette, what distinguishes Daredevil from other Marvel properties is the violence and grit. Remember the first five minutes of Logan? Where we really found out what would happen if Wolverine sunk his claws into you? That's exactly what happens here. It's not Captain America, who punches you in the face and you can get up and fight. It's Daredevil, who will punch you in the face viscerally and will then kick you until you can't move anymore. The kind of violence is brutal, but it matches the level of intensity the series aims for from the very beginning.
Daredevil isn't short on side characters either. Thankfully, though there is the temptation to throw in as many characters as possible into a series like this, the show runners decide to keep the narrative focus on a few key characters. Granted, there are some that pop in here and there, but they aren't so much consequential to the audience as the are to the story. For example, the show spends a large amount of time on a Russian subplot which was really quite fascinating.
The last thing I had expected from a series from Marvel was politics. But this story is actually all about backhanded politics, political sabatoge, and intrigue, which I really gravitated towards. I think the longer format allowed the show runners to be a little smarter, to think outside the typical "good guy is good, bad guy is bad". But in the end, everything leads towards Wilson Fisk.
In a way, the story really centers around Wilson Fisk and Matt Murdock, and even though there are numerous amounts of subplots going on, what I really appreciated was that they all connected to the main storyline. Now, I will say that, as with most TV shows, there are a few filler episodes, or at the very least, a couple. There are some episodes that dive into the backstories of characters for a little too long, I felt. But it makes them so much more relatable. There's an entire episode dedicated to revealing the backstory of Wilson Fisk, which goes a long, long way to humanize him.
The other supporting cast, including Foggy Nelson (Henson) and Karen Page (Woll) are great as well. This is real, gritty New York City, and because of that, the way that these characters are portrayed is very real as well. Nelson and Murdock feels like a real law firm at times. There are other times where I question how they're able to make money, but those thoughts are quickly brushed aside. Rosario Dawson also makes a couple quick appearances as Claire Temple, but I felt that she was one of the weaker points of the series, NOT because of her performance, but because she was underutilized. She came in for a couple episodes as a deus ex machina, and then promptly left for about five episodes, before returning for one quick message to Matt and then leaving again.
But overall, the performances in the show were excellent. There is one character, James Wesley, that I have some problems with, simply because I think that he was not altogether necessary. And there are certain moments in the series that Vincent D'Onofrio is trying a little too hard. You can see that its part of his character to be socially awkward, but at the same time, it comes off as a little stiff instead of awkward, which was a little distracting.
And again, just like any show, it wanders for a little bit. But unlike a lot of shows, it grounds itself in its A-plot, drives itself forward to a conclusion, where all loose ends are tied up, but it also leaves room for a sequel.
That's one of the things I love the most about the series. Wilson Fisk is never addressed as the Kingpin, not directly anyways. And Daredevil is only referenced by name at the very, vey end. For that matter, Daredevil doesn't even get his costume until the very last episode of the series. Which is absolutely fine. I think that part of the appeal of this series is that it prides itself in being serious, and it is. Unlike films like Batman v. Superman, which takes itself seriously in the wrong context, I think Daredevil is able to find the perfect balance of grit and realism. When each punch hits, you can feel it. When each drop of blood falls, it's tangible. That's what's so exciting about the series and why it works on so many levels.
In Conclusion: Daredevil opens up a completely new side of the Marvel universe. But it doesn't just take a peek inside; it completely tears it open and introduces us to a world where men don't fly in the sky and shields aren't made of a magical metal. Instead, we are taken on a journey with attorney Matt Murdock through the crime-ridden streets of New York. And through this, we learn to love the Man with No Fear as he takes on his foe, Wilson Fisk. There are flaws, the series does slow down, and there are extensive flashbacks, but the series knows exactly what it wants to be and what it wants to do. That's why it works.
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