Daredevil Season 2: The Sh*t Hits the Fan

Let’s not lie to ourselves here: Season 1 tanked. What we all hoped for in terms of serial storytelling, moral musings, and catholic self guilt were only remotely satisfied. Not to a degree that could turn off a viewer to the show entirely but to leave us wanting more. The running story took too long to develop. The ancillary characters seemed to add next to nothing to the story. It seemed to suffer from the idea of it being an origin story for both Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk. Season 2 takes all of this and chucks it aside.

            Season 2 honors the episodic format in what I would argue is the most episodic a Netflix serial has been ever. Nearly every episode ends with a big revelation, in the middle of a fight, or right before all hell breaks loose. This season fully embraces it’s temporality and honors it’s weekly comics format in a way that’s not tiring.

            Part of the show’s momentum is it’s new players, and boy are they good. I’m a huge fan of Jon Bernthal. To me the guy could do no wrong. His performance as Frank Castle aka The Punisher drags the show (and Daredevil, at times) kicking and screaming into both moral grey areas (the use of a vigilante) and some of the best fight scenes we’ve seen in a long time. The show’s best move is to make Frank Castle’s story integral to the whole plot. Daredevil fights The Punisher at night while Matt Murdock (and lawyer friend Foggy Nelson) defend him in court by day. It’s a fantastic setup that neatly develops all the characters involved (in this season Foggy goes from annoying best friend to genuine character with hope and dreams of his own by way of this trial.)

            Player number 2: Elodie Young as Elektra couldn’t have helped lighten the show any more. For being a ‘darker’ Marvel property Daredevil/Matt spent wayyyyyy too much time brooding in season 1. Elektra (who comes into play after The Punisher gets taken off the streets) shows us a new side of Murdock. She’s the bad girl to Matt’s stiffness. The two of them together lighten all of the scenes with her devil-may-care attitude about breaking the law. She’s the perfect foil for Karen Page (both romantically and story wise.) Both of these new characters bring new levels to our neglected Foggy and Karen that we’re genuinely interested in their development.

            The only thing the show genuinely suffers from is an unclear ending. I won’t spoil the show for you (too much) but the evil Ninja Cult, The Hand takes a literal faceless value. It’s mission (to ‘activate’ Black Sky?) so obscure and vague there’s no real sense of stakes there. Also, for highly trained Ninjas they go down as quickly as minions in a Power Rangers episode. To the end, a big battle is nice but it doesn’t particularly feel satisfying since we’re unsure to what extent the good guys won or if this is all part of an even bigger setup we’re gonna see pay off in Season 3. It’s fair to say that our attention was so invested in The Punisher and Elektra we are forced to return to a more Matt-centric finale, where everything services his growth as a character, and it feels artificial.

            The show is all around much more welcoming of it’s source material. Plenty of frames looked like near identical replicas of comic book panels. Where there was darkness or color before there is texture and sensation now (as opposed to just mood.) We see Daredevil interact with his powers more. We see every secondary character develop individual arcs. The best arc has to be Frank Castle (with a great 3 episode cameo from Wilson Fisk). While the first season wanted to talk about justice and corrupt systems in a literary manner this season seems to delve more into vigilantism in a pure pulpy way (lots of times debates happen, and then fights as if the fights are just extensions of the debate.) I’d say Daredevil Season 2 has embraced more it’s source material’s aesthetic and benefits over all from it.

Side note: Is anyone else just like brimming with excitement to get more crossover from these shows as they develop? I was hoping for a Murdock/Jessica Jones conversation in the last episode just as a throw away. I guess I’ll have to be happy with Rosario Dawson and Carrie-Anne Moss cameos

Here's a photo of Elektra and Punisher enjoying a milkshake.

Pride & Prejudice (and sometimes-but-not-really Zombies)

Look at all the girls with guns! Such feminism. Much empowerment.

So, I had a feeling it was gonna be bad. Trailers, tv spots, marketing posters. I felt waves of "We don't think it's that great, but we want you guys to spend money to see this!" coming from promo stuff. What would you expect from something that was an Urban Outfitters coffee table book until people actually started reading it? Now, I'm sure you're saying "Yeah well they got you! You spent money to see it!" In my defense the movies here cost me roughly $1.25 so pretty much anythings fair game when you have a free evening and you're in between movie seasons.

Part 1 of "Look! Women kick ass so that must mean we did a good thing!"

You'll read other reviews that say "This movie wasn't scary/zombie enough." I'd agree. I'd also add that it was too "Pride & Prejudice" for it's own good. Before you go questioning my motives allow me to assert: I've read the Jane Austen novel of the same name. An entertaining read and certainly a trendsetter for romances

She looks like the female Sky Captain
and the world of Yesteryear

It's like they took Pride & Prejudice and slapped Zombies in between the chapters. No, quite literally at the end of every Pride & Prejudice chapter [fade to black] is a sequence where the zombie story progresses. Since I'd much rather watch Pride & Prejudice or read the book again then deal with an exact remake I was drawn directly towards the zombie plotline. Four horsemen? An antichrist? A badass warrior queen (played by Lena Heady conflating her role from 300 and Game of Thrones - wonder how much she got paid...)? A family of warrior women with hopes and dreams of various degrees from lone warrior to domestic housewife? All of that intrigues me. So much of the zombie conceit needed setting up that after the long, opening scene, we needed a five minute explanation of what happened to this alternative world. *rolls eyes until they go back into head and starts hunting for brains*

But! It's advancing a feminine agenda! Look! The women are killing the zombies!

Except let's think about it: These warrior women who are trained in Wu Temple shaolin martial arts (the RZA should trademark that. He'd make a lot of money) armed with guns and swords are brought low by english boys in traditional 1800's garb. When put like that I guess I can see the attraction....

STILL! The problem is the movie upholds the standards of the book and we have to remember Pride & Prejudice was barely breaking trends at the time. In a modern society... It's honestly insulting. We can't hold up the standards of the original Pride & Prejudice to our current standards. All we really hear in the movie is "Women should get married." Which is the conceit of the book, the forwardness of the book is that Elizabeth doesn't settle for arranged marriages. She follows her tempestuous heart to it's ultimate, unlikely conclusion with a guy she initially hated (sound familiar? I told you, it's a trendsetter.) But the whole idea "Men take care of women when they marry them" is utter nonsense nowadays. It was utter nonsense in the 60's. This isn't Mad Men.

Why is HE holding the sword? She's the one
who saves his freakin' life!

I can imagine a board room full of uninspired studio executives standing in front of a white board with their version of a women's empowerment checklist:

Women's Empowerment (?):

 - Girls kicking zombie ass!!!!!!!!!!

 - Girl saves Darcy in act 3 finale

 - Girl resists marriage

 - Mother wants marriage (her fault)

 - Girls know kung fu

 - Girls... fire... guns...

^ I imagine they all start with 'girl(s)' since I also imagine studio executives were too small-minded to actually know their protagonist's name (or maybe they just called her not-Keira Knightley?)
Elizabeth can fight all the zombies she wants but the entire movie is Pride & Prejudice where the endgame is marriage to garner safety, albeit a marriage of passion/choice rather than arrangement. The whole two-dudes-fight-over-the-girl only gets mildly interesting when they literally fight (except they don't fight over the girl really...)

I'd like to say this was a film about class war with zombies as stand-ins for the economically disadvantaged since there's a moment of sympathy but they utterly destroy that moment when the zombies turn from civilized people into flesh-eating monsters (by Darcy's design I might add.) I'd say this was about a generational turn over of notions of marriage because all of their romantic problems can be traced back to their mother. EXCEPT, they marry the guys their mother proposed in the first place. I wish I could say this is a movie where women kick ass, but even though they are the protagonists they are really only seen through their relationship with other men. Elizabeth is the only one who directly acts in relationship to her sister (coming to their aid so much it's hard to imagine how they survived Wu Temple training.) They are constantly under the ire of men and at no point do they really break free of this convention. Even when they demonstrate their own agency, men just kind of steamroll this to make the drama all about themselves.

This is how the movie ends. Not with a bang, but with a whimper.

The movie ultimately suffers because it's a direct remake of Pride & Prejudice. It limits itself by sticking too close to the original story. So much so that what makes the film interesting is neglected as a sideshow when we get too tired of cross-cutting faux action they-confess-their-feelings-while-fighting scenes. I hate that stuff. You can't say it's a spoof or an outright comedy because that would imply a inversion of at least some of the stereotypes/conventions (like a minimum 50% is that too high?) The film only gets up to about 10% at best... And nothing particularly new. The movie ends with the happy couples getting married and kissing gratuitously for no reason in front of a camera. The director even tacked on a scene at the end with a lingering question of a sequel. Don't get your hopes up.

I hope the Four Horsemen and the Antichrist murder all of the characters in this world. I hope one of the warrior Queen steps up to the plate and commands a counter force. I hope the women enslaved to marriage realize their mistake, divorce their husbands, and slay the Four Horsemen (but only at the cost of someone really important to them.) I kind of hope their mother just dies and nobody cares.

I paid $1.25 to see something so bad Urban Outfitters kept it as a coffee table book after it gained bestseller status. Keep this movie in the bargain bin at Wal-Mart. Where it belongs.

It's literally a coffee table book.

P.S. They never delivered on real kung-fu action. There was all this talk of Chinese martial arts vs Japanese martial arts and they never once delivered.... They even teased a girl vs girl kung fu fight. Such a shame.

The DareDEVIL: Christian-American Justice

Just let this sink in for a second. Look at Collin Farrel. Look at him!

Daredevil is Catholic! Who knew? Not only Catholic, but Irish-American Catholic. The kind of Catholic who use guilt as a means of gauging spiritual devotion. Frank Miller knew. In his run on the Daredevil series (his entry into those bigger franchise titles) Frank Miller revitalized the image of Daredevil through the lens of an Irish Catholic struggling to decide on if he beats people up in the name of justice or if he just likes kicking badguy ass. As we move closer and closer to the second season of Netflix and Marvel's "dark side" reincarnation let's take a closer look at our guilt-ridden Catholic horn-wearing super-powered blind lawyer. The current television series iteration of Marvel's Daredevil explores American concepts of justice through the lens Frank Miller once created: Catholic guilt (aka the obligatory moral compass.)

Murdock's on the Left and sidekick is on the right.

Meet Matt Murdock. Criminal defense attorney by day, super-senses vigilante by night. I mean, he also has super senses during the day. He just uses them to fight bad guys at night. He does also beat up bad guys during the day on the rare occcasion. But he mostly just eavesdrops and acts like a human surveillance drone (only way more accurate) during the day. Now, I know what you're thinking: CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY. It's all there in the name. He defends criminals. Instead of focusing on the likely day-in day-out DWI court appeals Netflix's Marvel's Daredevil (yes, that's the official name) shows law office Nelson & Murdock (did I mention Daredevil has a goofy sidekick who knows Punjabi?) protect the innocent from corporate greed or corrupt cops.

No seriously though think about it: a member of a former immigrant community defends another immigrant community (uniquely hispanic in a weird way...) from the evil corporation. In this case it just so happens the evil corporation is a front for a master plan the new crime boss has cooked up with five other crime bosses (Japanese Yakuza, Chinese Triads, Russian Mafia Twins, and a Wall Street Banker). Enter Wilson Fisk.

The sheer amount of times people refer to Fisk in the latter half of this season completely destroys the whole "don't say his name out loud" thing. At first it was cool, but the whole He-who-shall-not-be-named thing only works if people are afraid to do it in their own houses, alone. But I digress...

Enter He-Who-Shall-Often-Be-Called-Fisk-When-Alone-At-Home. A man who, in the confines of the show exists on the complete opposite side of the spectrum. A wealthy man, poor public appearance. Aside from the whole wanna-be-crime-king opposite he's physically the opposite of Charlie Cox. Now, Kudos to Vincent D'Onofrio for really showing the origin story at play here. Of all the characters who change the most it's Fisk. Really the show should be called Marvel's Wilson Fisk. I'm anxiously awaiting season 3's (or season 2, I haven't ruled anything out yet) return of Fisk to take up the mantle of Kingpin! A title he never gets in this season.

Despite the socio-economic differences Fisk and Murdock share a lot in common. Humble origins from Hell's Kitchen. They're both white, heterosexual males. They're both prone to violence. They both want to "save the city." They continuously tout this dream of "saving the city". Fisk's idea of "saving the city" is to cut off all the bad parts you know: drug dens, tenement squatters, nasty sewage. He wants to replace them with brand new shiny buildings (aka GENTRIFICATION.) Ironically they never use the 'G word' not once in this show. Murdock takes the opposite approach: fight crime, stop drug dealing, empower local residents to take action, maybe get some elected official to fund a YMCA... You could say that Fisk wants the fast and easy way while Murdock wants the long and hard way, EXCEPT it would probably take like what? Year and a half to build those apartments? Meanwhile Daredevil's out there fighting crime... Stopping drug dealers. Tackling gangs....

Poor Mrs. Cardenas. A victim of political crimes.

Actually that's the next thing I want to address. Daredevil doesn't kill or is afraid to kill or promised not to kill or is rebelling against his Daddy 'Stick' (actual name) so he can't kill. Ideally he wants these people to have their day in court or cease all criminal activities all together. Except when it comes to cleaning up the city Fisk is the one doing all the work. He's the one who takes out the Russians, he orchestrates the death of the Yakuza leader, Mao leaves not long after talking to Fisk. Hell, he kills the Wall Street Banker with his bare hands (a fantasy I'm sure many American's have.) So why is Daredevil so revered?

His name is Stick for goodness sake. Why not just call him
Cane and be less obvious?

On a technical level he isn't. The whole idea is a Dark Knight concept. His public figure can take all the back talk and gossip and finger pointing because he's busy doing the right thing. But the whole idea flips after Fisk is exposed and Daredevil does the job he's actually supposed to do. (With a neat little easter egg mention to Frank Miller.) The seasonal arc for Daredevil is ascending into 'city defender' instead of 'masked terrorist.' For Fisk it's realizing that instead of "saving the city" he just made it worse.

Throughout all of this salvation talk the two figures wrestle with their own motives. The show rewards the character who demonstrates guilt (conveniently after the fact more often than not) and punishes the character who embraces his dark side. What's that old saying? The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Well, Wilson Fisk's golden road is paved with the best intentions. Hence he gets to meet the Devil. The Daredevil that is.

Frank Miller's rather chunky Kingpin.

Daredevil's origin story culminates in the new costume, the title (not self-appointed like all great superheroes), the clubs, and badass kung fu skills. Fisk gets the best ascension after his whole "I robbed the Samaritan's friend" monologue. He busts out of a SWAT car with a black jacket billowing out behind him almost like a cloak (ie his own variation of a superhero costume.) After illuminating another christian fable he picks the one team everyone agrees to hate and identifies with it. "I am the ill intent."

The first season of the show lacks much, largely because it is working up to the Daredevil comic fans know. The Frank Miller Daredevil is there, the seed is planted. We get to watch it grow a bit in season one, but we don't get to see it blossom. Hopefully we'll see that in season 2 with heavyweight Jon Bernthaal and Elodie Young stepping in. Until then Matt Murdock (who's secret identity as Daredevil seems to be know by literally everyone that matters to him) is going to self-antagonize because he beats people up. He's gonna keep asking does the end justfy the means? Likely he'll be rewarded for asking himself those questions. After all, being a superhero and having a conscious can't be easy (unless you're in the superhero A league and you kill aliens or cyborg clones for a living). Pope Francis probably hates this show. It's violent, full of kung fu action, and reminds us the Catholic Church we love to show in movies is all about guilt, confession, and penance. I'm definitely watching season 2.

March 18th. Prepare yourself.