Should you watch/Wiki/skip this? Watch it from the start, although the first few episodes might be difficult to get through.
“Daredevil” is a Netflix live action superhero drama about the eponymous Daredevil, a blind hero with super senses and amazing martial arts skills who’s a lawyer by day. He seeks to free the city from the criminal overlord Wilson Fisk, and help the downtrodden as a lawyer by day. It stars Charlie Cox (Daredevil/Matt Murdock), Deborah Ann Wolf (Karen Page), Elden Hensen (Foggy Nelson), Toby Leonard Moore (James Wesley), Vondie Curtis-Hall (Ben Urich), Bob Gunton (Leland Owlsley), Aylet Zurer (Vanessa Marianna), Rosario Dawson (Claire Temple), and Vincent D’Onofrio (Wilson Fisk).
Season 1 sees Daredevil’s debut, and as with all superhero origin stories, features a slow start to the series. However, it’s out of necessity, and the first few episodes do try to inject a superhero element into it, even as it brings us the backstory of Daredevil. However, once Wilson Fisk appears, the drama ramps up and heads to its epic conclusion.
Personally I’m not that big of a Daredevil fan, although I’m quite amused by how he can get under Kingpin’s skin when even Spider-Man doesn’t irritate him that much. But his powers aren’t all that interesting/flashy – it’s the lawyer aspect which is more intriguing. However, I’m not a fan of procedurals, and I find it absurd that tension can be derived from whether a manmade construct (the legal system) will deliver justice, when that’s the whole point of its existence. I’m more keen to see the arrival of Bullseye and Elektra, who make his mythos so much more interesting.
Highlights
Karen Page is fascinating
So I’m a fan of Deboran Ann Wolf as Jessica in “True Blood,” since she does the coming-of-age arc pretty well. As she’s stated in many interviews, that’s where she draws her inspiration from in her portrayal of Karen Page. She’s got this vulnerable quality to her which is tempered by surprising competency, and she really melds both aspects well in the character of Karen Page. She’s probably the second most fun character to watch in the series.
Wilson Fisk is a three-dimensional villain
The series spends almost as much time on Wilson Fisk as it does on Matt Murdock, showing us his personal life and giving us a humanising look at him. The Vanessa aspect is what seals the deal, because here is a man who truly loves a woman, even if his day job is managing a criminal empire.
I remember Vanessa’s appearance in the 95 “Spider-Man: The Animated Series” where she was divorcing Kingpin because she could no longer stand his criminal activities. For a cartoon that was pretty intense, and Vanessa’s importance to Kingpin has been seared into my mind ever since. Wilson Fisk is just amazing in “Daredevil,” and hopefully he returns in Season 2.
The black “costume”
I wasn’t a fan of it at first since I like my superheroes bright and colourful, but it eventually grew on me, especially the balaclava that’s pulled over his eyes, so much so that I now think his upcoming red costume is a bit too garishly coloured. It’s a functional costume that, well, anyone can wear, and it looks much sleeker and stealthier than his new (and classic) red one.
Stick
The only reason why I know Stick, his mentor, is because I like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and how Splinter is a homage/parody of Stick. In any case, episodes where the teacher returns are always in Season 2 or later, because they require a great deal of character development before you can really get behind the hero in those episodes. It’s testament to “Daredevil’s” character building, that they can have such an episode halfway during Season 1 and still have it work well.
Letdowns
The Mandarin. Oh, the Mandarin.
Gao’s Mandarin is OK, since she presumably speaks similar dialects or even uses Mandarin herself. But it’s Wilson Fisk’s horrible Mandarin that really puts me off. He sounds worse than a Primary 1 kid with orthodontic appendages, and he really struggles to emote when he’s forced to speak in Mandarin. Thankfully they ease up on this later, but when his conversations with Gao take place in Mandarin, you want to cringe and skip past those scenes.
Pretentiously gritty at times
I like blood and violence as much as the next person, but sometimes all that pain and angst can be overbearing. I get it that it’s not easy to be a crimefighter, and that Daredevil is really just as vulnerable to knives as the average Joe. But there’s so much whining, and the focus on Daredevil’s injuries gets tiresome after awhile. A little less grit would make the existing grit so much more impactful.
Owlsey and his handheld taser
It’s amazing how his handheld taser can take down any character in the show, including Daredevil. Why doesn’t every person in New York city have one of these, then? It’s unbelievable that he’s also fast and skilled enough to taser anyone who gets in his way. A superpower or some other fantastical way of taking down his enemies would have been more realistic, ironically.
“Daredevil” Season 1 is a must watch for any Marvel fan. Even if you’re not into superheroics, the dramatic elements surpass some of the popular dramas on television these days.
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