Amph Marvel's Daredevil (Born Again, Again, Being Filmed Again)

This show really fell down a lot in the last third and the more you think about it the worse it gets. Which is a shame because all the Punisher stuff is great with Bernthal's performance being a standout, the Elektra actress is enormously talented and carries a lot of weak material and there's some amazing action present. But the season just loses steam the longer it goes and things stop making any kind of real sense as characters go wildly out of wack and it gets to the point where the finale is a big old meh. Season 1 may not have as high highs as this season did, but it was overall much more expertly constructed.

 

I felt like it needed more time to breathe. Meaning:

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Having Punisher, Elektra and The Hand in the same season was a mistake. The Hand is a high fantasy concept, very detached from the gritty vigilante world the series has portrayed. You can't consider the "Stick" episode to be an introduction to the concept. Having Elektra be just an assassin this season and avoid physically introducing The Hand until S3, using this season just to start exploring the world of "ninja death cults", would IMO have avoided the cluttering and made The Hand more palatable.

 

I'd even go further, JoinTheSchwarz:

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Go Season 2 as full Punisher arc, leaving the Matt/Karen relationship more time to build and flourish. That way, in S3, his obsession creates a rift that lines up with Elektra's return. By then, Frank's off on his own series (!!!!) and Daredevil can be fully about the Hand, Matt, Elektra, and Karen.

 

Only on episode 5 now, probably going to settle in to a once a week viewing (and may have to bail outta this thread since people seem to have finished the season already, dahhh! My own damn fault for clicking). But as for ep 5

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it was interesting that Matt's introduction to Elektra seemed very much out of "Man Without Fear" and I guess to get the visual of Karen sorting through moldly newspapers they had to say that the Battle of New York wiped all of their digital archives. I guess one of Thor's electrical blasts must have fried their servers. But I thought the flashback with Elektra and Matt where she prompted him to kill the man who killed his father was really compelling but showed his inherent goodness. And decent twist with her carting around his costume for some reason. Not sure if it makes much sense

I was going to watch episode 6 last night but got caught up in watching Mr Robot instead. Probably get to it later this week, maybe.

 

Through episode 9. My main question

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is Nobu trying to create humanoid cylons? Because that reminded me an awful lot of the lab Starbuck discovers when she's escaping the Cylon "Hospital" on Caprica.

 

Finally finished last night. One question I had:

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What was the purpose of the giant hole? Did I miss the reason behind it?

 

It...wasn't explained. Talk about a major plot....hole.

 

Am I the only person who hates D'Onofrio?

 

Pretty much.

 

Anyway, finished the season last night. Enjoyed it greatly overall. Obviously the trial stuff was terrible, and I definitely agree that the double storyline was a mistake. Thought the last two episodes were quite good, though.

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I had no problem with the Punisher showing up in the final fight, made sense to me that he'd help "Red".

Is the two week spoiler window over yet?

 

Finished season 2 and I very much enjoyed it throughout. Here are my thoughts:

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Overall, I was very satisfied with the explanations and back stories of the different characters. The only explanation that I would like them to elaborate on is the huge hole and its purpose. Thats all as far as negatives go. Hopefully next season can be as great as this one and I'm looking forward to seeing the punisher and daredevil work together. )

 

Thanks for correction, I totally missed out on that detail.

 

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i guess i meant that whole thing felt shoehorned. of course when frank is listening to the police scanner he is going to show up there. but that foreshadowing is promising some sort of dramatic payoff that never happens. it's sort of a lame afterthought and felt kind of lazy. i felt like there was the potential there for a really satisfying payoff there, but frank sniping a few lame ninjas was just kind of meh.

 

The Blacksmith wrap up was definitely a weak point, came from out of nowhere, and was easily missed.

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I had no idea why he pulled a gun on Karen until Frank had him.alone in the hut /trailer. So was Frank and his film getting shot just a coincidence out was it intentional?

 

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When she was in his office, she saw a photo of him, Frank and another guy. The other guy was the corpse she saw in the dock, and they showed it again, but it was a blink and you miss it sort of thing.

 

Admittedly, it was 1:30 am and the third episode in a row I had watched, so my attention span was not at its peak.

 

Just finished Season 2.

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Overall, excellent.

But, I do agree that the stronger half of the season was the first half of the Season when it focused on The Punisher, Matt, and Foggy. The trouble with bringing in Elektra is that it fell into the "biggerer and betterer" approach. I enjoyed the early episodes of Elektra but as it went on, the cycle tended to repeat itself. Of course, the cycle is intentional to give a demonstration of how Matt is constantly torn between his own principles and the temptation of his darker instincts. Elektra is an excellent character to showcase that aspect of him because she is such a worthy double to juxtapose alongside the titular character. But, having them falling-in-out-in-out merely leaves the pair back in square one.

I felt the development between them was ultimately undone in the final episode where Matt suggests they run away together. I personally think the falling out should have been permanent, Elektra dies, leaving Matt to grieve and regret. Instead, we leave him longing and, I assume, will try to redeem the opportunity to find happiness within Elektra in the future. They took Elektra in the area I wanted them to avoid - a love interest over a self-absorbed love interest. It felt unnecessary, since we already have two that were established in the previous season. Personally, the best match for Matt is Claire because she is someone who will truly keep him in check and not play down to him.

The show made it clear from Elektra's first appearance that Matt and Elektra cannot work because of their different ideologies. All of the writing up to the last three episodes serviced this subplot brilliantly which is why the last couple of episodes which sees them as allies feels something of a disappointment because it take away from the tragedy of her "death". This is why there should have been one final falling out between the pair. In fact, you kept the resurrection ending because it could have opened them up to further encounters where their ideologies form into full fledged battle lines. But, I don't think this will work. I predict that if Elektra returns, they will merely pick up from where they last left off and have them as on-and-off allies rather than mimetic hero and villain. Instead, they should have given Elektra her own season from episode one through thirteen and give her a dedicated season long arc. The character didn't have enough time to be realised. It's a shame because Elodie Yung is both gorgeous and talented but the writing kept her within the same two or three notes with each appearance.

That's not to say the season was undone in any way. I prefer Season 2 over Season 1 because of its pace, action, lighting, and overall cinematography. I also grossly underestimated Jon Bernthal's Punisher. Excellent portrayal of The Punisher, though I still do like Thomas Jane albeit a hit-and-miss film. Stick's presence was welcomed and i'm glad they gave him a bigger role this time around with potential for followup appearances in Season 3. Tonally, it was interesting to see the show move more toward a legal drama and subdue the noir aspects of the show somewhat. I personally wish they had gone for more noir, but I the courtroom sequence where Frank Castle sabotages his own trial is one of the highlights of the show.

The surprise appearances by Fisk and Hogarth were also welcomed along with a much welcomed return from Claire. But, I walk away from this season wishing there was more for Rosario Dawson to do in the season. I personally would have liked to see Claire's relationship with Matt expand rather than having distraction of Elektra. As for the other principle cast, Elden Henson has grown on me A LOT in this season because his charm feel more organic which only makes his friendship with Matt more fruitful.

The writing was mostly excellent but, again, it was at its strongest in the first half of the season because it explored less plots and subplots which enabled the show to go into greater detail with the character tension. Additionally, there was some plot convenience where certain elements needed to be rushed to meet the thirteen episode deadline. It's a season where I feel less would have been a little better while cutting back on the shades of grey and simply keeping some of the characters as just straight good or bad.

Overall, an excellent Season and mostly an improvement over Season 2. Hankering for Season 3. I'm pretty sure that will be happening.

 

Admittedly the courtroom stuff was quite possibly some of the most engaging material in the season. But adding in the Elektra bit serves to show that Daredevil is more important to Matt than his life as Matt Murdock. When both lives needed his attention, he chose to pay more heed to the vigilante than the lawyer.

 

Really enjoyed DD Season 2 on Netflix - superb! Truly amazing, superb, and incredible series. This show is bar-none the best on-screen interpretation of a Marvel super-hero comic book character/series I've ever seen. Of course, I'm biased because Frank Miller's '80's run on DD is my favorite run on any comic book, ever.

My review of Season 2:

-The casting of DD is amazing. Matt & Foggy are especially perfect, and pretty much look very close to the way I imagined they would re: the Frank Miller version of DD. Sure, the TV series Foggy is a little thinner than his counter-part in the comics, but that's not a big deal. Matt Murdock is EXTREMELY well-cast, and could almost be lifted right out of the comic - I don't even mind that the actor's hair is brown-ish, instead of red (like in the comic) since he looks so much like the character otherwise. Obviously, Vincent D'onofrio as Wison Fisk/Kingpin was superb casting - he really looked like the character as well.

-The Punisher in S2 is also the best on-screen interpretation I've ever seen of the character; the origin was especially very true to the original comic origin. The scene when he beat down all of the prisoners who attacked him in the jail (after the Kingpin betrayed him) was off the hook.

-One of the best action sequences was when DD jumped out of the window to save the nurse (R. Dawson), caught her, and then jumped through another window - amazing.

-The fight scenes between DD/Elektra & The Hand were gripping - very impressive choreography.

-Also liked how they kept the "ladies man" aspect of Matt Murdock/DD intact from the comic. In two seasons he's already hooked up with that nurse (even though it was just once, IIRC), Karen Page, and Elektra - all hotties. Not bad.

-Liked how S2 connected somewhat to the Jessica Jones Netflix series - very nice.

-Also enjoyed the "Josie's" bar setting. This is lifted right out of the Miller comics as well.

-In several scenes, DD goes to Melvin Potter for help with his costume; Melvin runs a costume shop. This is just like the comics; Melvin had been a villain (the Gladiator) in the past, before encountering DD.

-At the beginning of EP03, DD/Matt has a dream about being a child & that his mother, a nun, is waking him up. His mother having become a nun is taken directly from the iconic "Born Again" DD comic storyline (1987).

-DD temporarily lost control of his "radar" sense, i.e. the scene in Foggy's apartment when he drops the glass. In the FM comics, this also happened, and Stick helped DD to gain back control of this "radar" - though, in the TV series this was only temporary & he didn't need Stick's help with this.

The conversation on the rooftop between a bound DD & The Punisher was excellent; great dialogue here. This is the first time the Punisher is being depicted as an unhinged psychopath in the live action medium; the three previous live-action films didn't depict him quite like this.

If there is a S3 (I hope), then I suspect at least these two plot points from the Frank Miller comics may make their way into this season - POTENTIAL SPOILERS BELOW - I don't know how to post spoiler tags on this site; it's not a choice in the above menu.

1) Elektra will come back to life, just like in the comics. This was strongly implied at the end of S2.

2) Wilson Fisk/The Kingpin will find out DD's secret identity (like in the classic Born Again comic storyline). This was implied in the scene when he attacked Matt at the jail, and ended up being suspicious that Matt was able to defend himself somewhat (even though he was blind). Later, Foggy told Matt that Fisk was doing a lot of research on him.

 

Spoiler

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The Hand was digging that huge hole to recover that regeneration chamber/pod thing that we see the Hand put Elektra at the end of the season. Since Stick eliminated the previous Black Sky (the Asian child) in season one and the Hand knowing they are very rare, they needed a method to bring back the next Black Sky if she died.

 

Blur, the rooftop DD/Punisher confrontation is from the Ennis/Dillon run on the Punisher from 2001.