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| Daredevil Season 2 |
Watch Daredevil on Netflix
Created by: Drew Goddard
Starring: Charlie Cox, Deborah Ann Wol, Jon Bernthal, Elodie Young, Vincent D'Onofrio
Plot:
In the second season of this Netflix and Marvel super hero tale, Daredevil takes on newcomers Elektra, The Punisher, and the Yakuza.
Verdict:
The first season impressed me with incredible fight choreography and a solid, albeit dark story. Season two improves on the first, introducing us to a few more characters in the world.
Certainly enjoyable, but it's a standard by the numbers super hero tale. Jessica Jones explored how someone with super powers copes, though it was often more detective noir than super hero. Daredevil shines with intricate fights, but when the story turns to interpersonal relationships it's often overwrought. The story is simply Matt Murdock has a good-guy complex and takes on the world.
Frank Castle is a great character. The Punisher is the highlight this season. Why didn't he get his own show? Frank kills to stop bad guys, Daredevil wants them arrested. They do the same thing, just in different measures. I thought the season might explore that, but it didn't. If you liked season one, you'll like this season. The pacing is good, but the show falters when it tries to develop a dramatic story. Good guys fighting bad guys is the crux of the show. We get plenty of new characters this season and revisit the old ones too, so there is plenty of fodder for next season. I'm sure they'll introduce a couple of new characters in season three to keep it interesting.
Watch it.
Recap
I'm providing a recap and insight into each episode, so if you want to avoid spoilers, STOP READING! =)
Season one explored the parallels of being a lawyer and a vigilante. This season briefly compares a vigilante who kills criminals, The Punisher, to Daredevil who believes in justice. It didn't quite go far enough. The Karen and Matt romance was a ploy just to add drama for when Matt's former girlfriend Elektra shows up. Matt and Foggy have a falling out that seemed forced, a result of Matt's feelings for Elektra. It just never felt believable. I don't think Matt would forsake his friends like that. Frank Castle was easily the best characters this season, and part of that is that it avoided needless drama. It was completely character focused.
Frank's story propels the plot line for most of the season, and Elektra's connection to the Yakuza lead to the mysterious Hand ninja clan.
I can't help but laugh at Stick and the Hand in Daredevil, and the Ninja Turtles Splinter and the Foot. response
Episode 1 - Bang
Episode one has a great start with a group of robbers getting beaten up by an unseen assailant. Obviously it's Daredevil (Charlie Cox).
Will the Nelson-Murdock law firm ever make money? I guess not as long as they accept bananas as payment. Wouldn't they make some money with as many clients as they see?
A bunch of Irish mobsters get wasted by an unseen assailant firing through the glass. Is this the introduction to The Punisher (Jon Bernthal)? Much like Daredevil's introduction, he's an unseen assailant. I'm guessing they are going for the hero versus anti-hero drama. Karen (Deborah Ann Wol) likes Matt. He knows this since he can hear her heart beating. Is a romance necessary?
The lone survivor from the Irish bar, Grotto, comes to Nelson-Murdock. Somebody is killing off the gangs and the streets are scared. Well, the law breaking side of the streets. Civilians should feel safer. The Daredevil suit is mean looking. The blacked out eyes especially. In searching for Punisher, Daredevil stumbles across empty gun boxes and a meat locker full of dead bodies, except some of the bodies aren't dead. Everyone says it must be a new gang or a new army mowing people down due to the catastrophic destruction, but. meat locker guy reveals it's just one man doing all that. It's The Punisher!! We cut to The Punisher in a hospital en route to finishing off the last Irish gangster, Grotto. Punisher is brutally efficient. I don't know how Punisher got to the roof so quickly to line up a shot as Grotto speeds away via vehicle.
Punisher and Daredevil meet... and fight. What did you expect? The Punisher leaves Daredevil once he's down. I guess he just kills criminals?
Great ending. On his back, Punisher pulls a gun aims at Daredevil and says bang before firing. Daredevil goes over the parapet. It's a solid episode and The Punisher is definitely a highlight.
Episode 2 - Dogs to a Gunfight
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| It's that new vigilante that punishes criminals. What should we call him? How about The Punisher. |
The cops dub the new vigilante 'The Punisher.'
Karen blames New York for The Punisher, stating we applauded Daredevil and vigilantism. This is the next step, a man with a gun.
Matt goes to the crime scene at the Irish bar and is tracking blood, but how? I know he has enhanced senses, but some of this stuff is strictly visual. Maybe he smells the blood? Matt finds the apartment of The Punisher, because otherwise how would the plot continue. What's Punisher planning? He and Daredevil fight again. This was a quick episode.
Episode 3 - New York's Finest
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| Nice costume Red, but it looks like you're all tied up. |
District Attorney Reyes threatens Nelson-Murdock. Karen goes to the assistant DA to protect the firm with evidence of Reyes being corrupt. She's rebuffed.
Punisher brings Grotto to the roof top where he is going to take Daredevil to school with a test. Daredevil can either shoot Frank or shoot Grotto. He argues people can't be redeemed. How far removed is Daredevil with beating Punisher up? I guess it's not murder. The Daredevil Punisher fight is pretty wild, Daredevil wielding a chain with bikers on the way. The stairwell fight is crazy. It's almost a one shot. The quality of action is better than many movies. We get an x-ray of Punisher's head at the end. Apparently he was shot in the head. Why show this image? Is it just teasing the Punisher symbol?
Every shot is incredibly muted and dark.The majority of scenes tend to happen at night.
Episode 4 - Penny and Dime
An Irish gangster comes to town looking for revenge. The Irish want the culprit responsible, but don't realize it's Punisher. Will this angle be Daredevil teaming with Punisher to fight the mob? Will we get a proper villain?
The Irish hunt for Punisher as Karen discovers more. He was shot in the head, pulled off life support, but lived anyway. He's a fighter, man! The Irish find him and torture him, but he's a beast. Karen breaks into Punisher's house. He had a family. This episode really makes you root for Punisher.
Punisher keeps a razor blade inside his arm. You never know when you might need one. The torture is rough. The Irish use a cordless drill on him. Daredevil saves Punisher and has to stop him numerous times from killing Irish. Daredevil calls the cops to arrest Punisher. Is the Punisher out after only four episodes? What happens the rest of the season? I like that the arc is short and not dragged out, but I don't know how you match or replace Punisher. The Karen and Matt love story is brought to a head as well when he asks her out. I'm glad they didn't drag it out through the entire season. Episode four almost feels like a finale episode, though we didn't get into how Elektra (Elodie Yung) knows Matt.
Episode 5 - Kinbaku
We start with flashback of how Matt and Elektra meet. They were young and in love.
She now wants his lawyer expertise, so she claims. Funny how Karen and Matt start and the show brings in Elektra. It seems like a setup to me.
Karen thinks there is a cover up on Frank Castle. There are holes in the DA's story. She heard a story that government agents were around him during his coma and then had a DNR in place.
Foggy is a bit of an empty suit, but he has his moments, telling the ADA to get a subpoena and he will be happy to cooperate.
Elektra and Matt fight to maintain the fight quota. This is a very slow episode. especially with the quick pace of the fourth. In another flashback, Elektra finds the man that killed Matt's father. Is this what cements Matt's no kill policy? Is Elektra an adrenaline junkie or something more sinister? She gets excited to see Matt beat up a guy, but she wants to see Matt kill him. She is crazy, and this is a long episode just to introduce Elektra.
Episode 6 - Regrets Only
Elektra recruits Matt to take on the Yakuza. Matt and Karen want to defend Frank Castle, in part due to the coverup occurring. Foggy is against it, but he's a side character so his opinions don't matter. Punisher will only speak to Karen.
Elektra and Matt break into a Yakuza place as part of her vendetta against a company that stole money from her. I don't know, it's a pretty flimsy story to progress the plot.
Foggy gets Frank a good plea deal. Frank accepts but then pleads not guilty when the judge comes. He wants the truth to come out.
Episode 7 - Semper Fidelis
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| It's the trial of the century. The people versus Frank Castle. |
Elektra isn't helping Matt any by asking him to join her.
Karen thinks the Punisher's methods work. Matt takes it as an affront. In the trial, the medical examiner wants to admit something. He admits he altered autopsy reports on Frank Castle's family. He was threatened to tell the truth on the stand, and it sounds like Elektra threatened him. They lose the testimony and their best shot at winning the case. The doctor's admission is stricken from the record. Foggy is mad at Matt for not preparing for the case. The Yakuza are digging a giant hole for some reason.
Episode 8 - Guilty as Sin
We start with deus ex Stick when Stick saves Daredevil and Elektra. Daredevil stops Elektra from killing and gets her mortally wounded before Stick saves her. Matt misses the trial again as he takes care of the poisoned Elektra.. A character witness for Castle describes him as a hero.
It turns out Elektra works for Stick. Stick is involved in an underground war, and he wants Matt back. Foggy needs Matt's help for when Frank takes the stand. Matt has to make a choice. The girl or Foggy. Obviously he picks the girl
Is Frank's story over? That was quick. I wanted more, though I am glad they kept the pace quick. I still want Frank in the Skull costume.
A cop whispers something to Frank when they put him on the stand. I don't see Frank as one to lie down. What could they have on him? The cop forced Frank to go on a crazy rant, ensuring a guilty verdict. So what's the deal? Karen is done with Matt. She is tired of excuses and lies, and she tells him he's not a hero, which cuts Matt deeper than she realizes.
Elektra tells Stick to leave. She wants to be with Matt, but Stick responds by asking her what happens when she tells Matt what she really is. Secrets abound in this episode, with numerous allusions to bigger stories. Elektra kills a ninja which stuns Matt. Elektra admits shes a killer. The cop that set up Frank in court introduces him to Wilson Fisk (Vincent D'Onofrio), who is also in jail.
Episode 9 - Seven Minutes in Heaven
Fisk's backstory after going to jail is revealed. Fisk is making moves to acquire power. Fisk is using Castle to remove his opposition, Dutton. This season has a lot of origin type stories. We get Fisk in jail, Punisher, and Elektra.
Matt can't reconcile Elektra's murder and cuts her loose. He'll fight the Hand ninjas alone. Matt and Foggy try to reconcile Matt the lawyer and Matt the vigilante. Foggy wants to compartmentalize, but Matt wants to distance himself from everyone. He tells Foggy if he has a problem with who Matt is, close the office and start over. It's needlessly over dramatic.
Frank confronts Dutton to find answers on the carousel massacre that included his family. Conveniently Dutton was involved. Isn't everybody? Fisk sets Castle up. It's Frank versus ten guys in a brutal fight. Frank decimates the cell block.
Karen determines an undercover cop was involved at the carousel. Where does that go?
Frank and Fisk fight. Fisk wants Castle as a soldier now that he runs the jail. D'onofrio is so good as Fisk. He's terrifying.
Fisk gets Castle released. He wants Frank to finish off all the gangs for him. Daredevil finds zombie people being siphoned of blood in a basement and fights the ninja Nobu, whom he thought was dead from season one. Nobu says there is no such thing as death. Apparently not.
Episode 10 - The Man in the Box
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| Wilson Fisk enjoys a leisurely dinner in his jail cell. |
Foggy gets shot but is okay. Matt visits Fisk to find Castle. It ends in an altercation with Fisk admitting he runs the jail and stating he will dismantle Nelson-Murdock when he gets out.
Karen started working with a newspaper last episode, and her only focus is uncovering the mysteries of Frank Castle. Frank contacts Karen, telling her it wasn't him that shot the DA. They share a special bond ever since she broke into his house.
Karen's apartment is then shot up, and Frank saves her. Stick sends someone to kill Elektra.
The zombie people from the Yakuza basement are some kind of zombie children of the corn kids. The Hand infiltrate the hospital, and that's where it leaves us. Whats up with the kids? Why do the Hand want them back? Daredevil rescues Claire (Rosario Dawson), the helpful nurse from season one by jumping out the window.
Episode 11 - .380
Somebody is on a murder spree and blaming it on Frank. Obviously everybody is happy to go with that. Frank didn't kill the DA. One of the dead Hand ninjas has had a previous autopsy. Th Hand is a zombie army. Has the hospital been selling cadavers?
Nobody can track the blacksmith, the new drug kingpin. Frank and Karen meet at a diner where Frank dispatches some guys. Daredevil gets a tip on the blacksmith. Claire quits the hospital because they take hush money and cover up the children of the corn and ninja debacle.
Frank and Daredevil end up at the same shipping yard looking for the blacksmith, but don't find him. The boat Frank is on blows up, but while the show wants us to think he's dead, I'm willing to go all in that he's okay.
So a basement zombie kid gets his arm slashed to drain all blood. I guess they will be killed and then brought back to life to form an undead soldier army.
Episode 12 - The Dark and the End of the Tunnel
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| Daredevil: 'Take that Nobu.' |
Foggy points Matt to abandoned train tunnels under the city to find the Hand. Karen, still a reporter, checks with Colonel Ray Schoonver (Clancy Brown) for a story revealing the real Frank. One of Frank's old squad mates is the same one that showed up at the boat that blew up. The Colonel pulls a gun on Karen. The Colonel is the Blacksmith. He orders her to drive, the song on the radio is a call back to a tape she had that she doesn't like and Frank does. As it dawns on the viewer it's probably a clue, they are t-boned by Punisher.
Daredevil saves Stick from Elektra. She is Black Sky, the villain the Hand have been seeking to unite them and take over the world! Or something like that. Matt convince Elektra to save Stick and forsake the Hand. I'm sure they were both thinking that love will find a way.
The Hand are such awesome ninjas that they are completely silent. Daredevil can only hear their weapons. Even their heartbeats don't make a sound. Stick, in captivity, whispers to Daredevil to dig deeper, listen for their breathing. Daredevil can hear your heartbeat before your breathing? That just doesn't make sense to me. Go to a gym and tell me whether you hear breathing or heartbeats.
The Colonel references something Frank did, something the government can't let go. Karen urges him to confess, but Frank doesn't let that happen. That's one of those bits to keep us guessing that isn't answered. With the Colonel dispatched, Frank finds a veritable arsenal, but wouldn't the Colonel have a lock or some amount of protection? He has it hidden behind a false wall in a shed. I can only hope we see the Punisher costume this season. The show has teased us all season. I want the reveal. I'm betting it will look like the recent movies instead of the skin tight comic depiction.
Episode 13 - A Cold Day in Hell's Kitchen
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| It's the Punisher finally in costume. I only waited for twelve and a half episodes. |
The Hand has captured everyone Daredevil has ever saved. Of course he takes the bait and saves the hostages.
On the brink of the biggest battle this show has yet seen, Matt pledges to follow Elektra. This is where the show falls hard. It just doesn't do drama. It does crazy, pulverizing, torture fights,and occasionally the back and forth dialog before people fight. The attempt at drama always feels overwrought. The biggest fight the show has yet seen was underwhelming to say the least. I guess they spent the fight budget in the first few episodes.
Where does Punisher come in? We saw body armor, and we saw him spray painting. We all know what's coming.
Nobu and Daredevil fight. Just as Daredevil is about to bite the dust, Elektra sacrifices herself. We finally see Frank with the skull logo as he says, "See ya round, Red." I hope there is more Punisher. Matt kills Nobu, going against his 'code.' Except he doesn't. Nobu is immortal, and he gets up from a multi-story fall. Stick makes sure Nobu is dead with a katana.
Matt has split with Foggy, is kind of girlfriend died, and he intended to kill Nobu. Is this a sign of change in the show or will the show reboot to normal with Matt and Foggy regrouping in season three?
Frank blows up his house and Matt admits to Karen he is Daredevil. The hand unearth Elektra and put her in the crazy vault that's been teased since episode nine. I guess she really is Black Sky.
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