Daredevil Season 2 Review

The best way to describe my feelings after watching Daredevil season 2 is by comparing it to Late Registration by Kanye West; about the same as the first time around with clear improvements in the quality of production but with a lot of the same mistakes. Beginning with what I enjoyed I’d like to highlight the supporting cast for carrying the show and selling every line and scenario no matter how ridiculous. Elden Henson and Deborah Ann Woll in particular had the unenviable job of carrying most of the Punisher backstory subplot which only served to convolute an already tightly packed season. Woll was given ample time to develop and add dimensions to her character while Henson managed to make the most of his screentime despite being regulated to Matt’s biggest detractor.

Charlie Cox continues to shine as Daredevil, but failed to sell the Matt Murdock portion of his role, which considering the show is called “Daredevil” shouldn’t be an issue until you consider the fact that Murdock is a lawyer coming off of a high profile win. Not showing Murdock as a hero in the courtroom made the show feel disjointed at times especially when Woll’s Karen Page began to carry a bulk of the subplot which only served to raise more questions than answers. The writers missed a true opportunity by not allowing Cox to flourish in the courtroom as he did in the first season.

The writers regulated Cox to be the straight man to the more violent antics of Elodie Yung’s Elektra and Jon Bernthal’s Punisher, a role which allowed for some well choreographed fight scenes but at the cost of long exposition (especially as the show eased its way to the finale). While many other shows may falter when their main character begins to take a backseat role, Daredevil managed to flourish with its new costars.

Elodie Yung’s Elektra nearly outright stole the show as the femme fatale to Charlie Cox’s hero. Yung was a tour de force as the assassin, segueing from an aristocrat to a badass with nothing more than a slight rip of a dress and the removal of her heels. Her fight scenes rank highly among the best of the season and her chemistry with Charlie Cox’s daredevil is off the charts.

One of the few faults this season was the writing. While there were plot points that came close to desecrating a wondrous performer in her zone, Yung kept it together long enough for us viewers to want a spinoff sooner than later. Yung took on the herculean task of establishing the anti heroine and succeeded monumentally; had it not been for Jon Bernthal’s turn as the Punisher, I’d say Yung would best performer to ever grace the show.

In fact, Bernthal’s turn as Castle was so good I’m surprised this Daredevil’s second season wasn’t marketed as a Punisher origin story. Not unlike Vincent D’onofrio’s Kingpin from first season, Bernthal brought pathos to the no nonsense ultraviolent antihero that is Frank Castle. Even when we are asked to suspend disbelief (which happens a surprising amount of times in a show about a blind lawyer masquerading as a superhero) we still feel completely invested in the story because we believe in Frank Castle; we just don’t believe in what he does. The Punisher is a different type of antihero when put up against Daredevil and Elektra; he doesn’t walk the moral line like Daredevil and he isn’t won over with empathy like Elektra, The Punisher has no qualms about murdering and stands to remain that way forever.

Ironically enough it is because of this large focus on Castle, and by extension Yung’s Elektra, that this season failed to “wow” us as the first season did. And sadly, while I did enjoy the season overall by the end I did feel as though things were being rushed in order to resolve the many plot threads and set up the inevitable spinoffs and eventual team-up “The Defenders”. If you haven’t yet binged the show, I recommend you do so you aren’t too invested in the Netflix aspect of “Netflix and Chill” (yes it’s still a thing and it will always be a thing because some of us will never let go).

Pros: The actor and actress playing Punisher, and Elektra respectively, all but stole the show . The action sequences (specifically the stairwell sequence) were ridiculously good topping the first season.

Cons: This felt more like an origin story for Punisher and Elektra than a continuation of the story started in season 1. The ending was anticlimactic and only served as a setup for the various spinoffs.

Overall: Whether or not you are a comicbook fan, Daredevil is worth the binge. Minor grievances aside the show was mostly enjoyable.