“We’re Murdocks. We get hit a lot. But we get up…we always get up.”
The Devil of Hell’s Kitchen is finally back, which means it’s time for a TV review.
Daredevil, Season 3
Creator: Drew Goddard
Executive Producer: Erik Oleson
Starring: Charlie Cox, Vincent D’Onofrio, Deborah Ann Woll, Elden Henson, Wilson Bethel, Jay Ali, etc.
Music By: John Paesano
Rated TV-MA for lots and lots of violence, some swearing and drug use, and general bleakness
Warning: The following review contains spoilers for the first two seasons of Daredevil and The Defenders miniseries.
Season 3 of Netflix’s first and best Marvel show starts off with Daredevil at possibly his lowest point ever. Which, for a guy like Matt Murdock, is saying a lot. His brush with death-by-exploding-building at the end of The Defenders has robbed him of his superpowers and his sense of purpose. He’s recuperating in the Catholic orphanage where he grew up, but he’s so angry at God and the world that not even the ever-persistent Father Lantom or his colleague, Sister Maggie, can lift his depression. Karen Page and Foggy Nelson are still coming to terms with their friend’s “death,” but they soon have even bigger problems when Wilson Fisk, the crime lord they helped Daredevil put away in Season 1, strikes a deal with the FBI to get out of prison. Things get much, much worse for everyone after that.
Daredevil is my favourite TV show, but even I will admit that its quality went slightly downhill in Season 2. While still excellent, that season suffered from the lack of a compelling antagonist and the introduction of an annoying love triangle between Matt, Karen, and Elektra. Then The Defenders, which tried to wrap up the Hand storyline from both Daredevil and Iron Fist, turned out to be even more disappointing, and I ended up feeling pretty nervous about the future of the show.
But it turns out I was worrying over nothing, because this is easily the best season of superhero television I’ve ever seen.
First of all, the show’s already-great production has improved. This season has more creative cinematography, better lighting, and a more memorable soundtrack. Many scenes are filmed in a way that reminded me of the show’s source material, down to shot-for-shot recreations of certain comic book panels, while others use lighting, colour, and camera angles to represent characters’ mental states in refreshingly original ways. The show’s soundtrack, apart from the lovely theme song, has never been anything to write home about, but this season it’s dramatic and orchestral enough to take a more active part in the storytelling.
And oh boy, the fight scenes. I didn’t think it was possible to get better fight choreography on this show than we had in the first two seasons, but this season did it. The once-a-season one-take hallway fight is an incredible feat of filmmaking this time around, lasting an epic 11 minutes, with no cuts and no mask to hide lead actor Charlie Cox’s stunt double. And I’m not even sure it’s my favourite fight of the season. Later on, Daredevil is pitted against a psychopathic sniper who isn’t a match for him in hand-to-hand combat, but can turn just about anything into a deadly projectile at range. Watching their very different skills clash in combat is a sight to behold. Every fight is intense, high-stakes, and unpredictable, and they generally leave those of previous seasons in the dust.
The season also avoids the pacing problems that have plagued most of the Marvel/Netflix shows. It starts out a little on the slow side, as new characters are introduced and Matt gradually gets himself back into fighting shape, but as Fisk sets trap after trap for our heroes, and as they uncover more and more layers of his villainy, the tension steadily builds up to a fever pitch. As always, the show takes its time with character development, and sometimes it allows a rather long stretch of screentime to pass with no action, but even the quieter moments serve to move the plot forward. There’s very little of anything that could be considered “filler,” especially in the back half of the season. I don’t think it’s possible not to binge-watch the last four episodes.
All production values aside, though, Daredevil‘s major appeal, to me, has always been its main character’s vulnerability. Sure, he’s got some mild superpowers, but nothing like Thor’s lightning bolts or Iron Man’s super-tech or Captain America’s strength. He’s capable of being hurt, both physically and spiritually. He struggles with very relatable flaws, like pride and anger and bitterness. He makes really bad choices sometimes, and even when he makes the right ones, the bad guys often find a way to screw them up. But no matter what, he never stops fighting to protect Hell’s Kitchen. No matter how hard he hits the mat, he’ll always, always get up again to go another round.
This season takes that aspect of the character to its logical extreme. Matt starts at rock bottom and still finds a way to dig deeper, as he faces a foe who seems capable of twisting all the good he’s ever done against him. Appropriately enough for an October release, one of the story’s major themes is fear. Wilson Fisk’s menace this season comes mainly from his ability to exploit the fears of the people around him: Ray Nadeem, an FBI agent trying to provide for his family in the face of financial difficulties; fellow agent Ben Pointdexter, who’s hiding a veritable hornet’s nest of mental issues under the facade of a competent lawman; Karen Page, whose troubled past, often hinted at before, finally comes back to haunt her this season; Foggy Nelson, who has achieved the successful life he always dreamed of, but without his best friend; and, of course, Matt himself, whose fears about hurting the people he loves have always clashed with his pursuit of vigilante justice. The Kingpin uses fear to try and manipulate all of them, and as Daredevil and his allies quickly learn, the only way to avoid being manipulated is to conquer one’s fear.
One of the best ways to conquer fear has to be through faith in something stronger than the thing feared, so it’s no surprise that Matt’s Catholicism takes center stage this season. And I’d be lying if I said it’s not gratifying to see a TV show attempt to portray at least one flavour of my own faith in a mostly positive, mostly accurate way. Doesn’t happen very often, especially in superhero media, so it makes me happy whenever I see it. But I don’t think you have to be Catholic, or even Christian, to relate to Matt’s struggles with self-doubt or his ongoing boxing match with the ol’ problem of evil. No matter who you are, it can be hard to believe that “all things work together for good” when your life is falling apart. And I find it incredibly satisfying to watch someone hang onto their convictions even in the face of those doubts.
Another good way to conquer fear is by surrounding oneself with good friends, which is why it’s fortunate that everyone in Daredevil’s supporting cast is at the top of their game this season. I’m not sure whether to give the acting or the writing more credit, but Foggy and Karen have never been more likable, or felt more like heroes in their own right. The new characters are just as good, if not better: Sister Maggie gives Father Lantom a run for his money in the no-nonsense wisdom category, and Nadeem’s personal struggle to do right in the face of overpowering evil beautifully parallels that of Daredevil himself. And Wilson Bethel as Agent Pointdexter, or “Dex”….well, let’s just say he’s good at being creepy. Really, really creepy.
One of the many great things about Daredevil, especially this season, is that it manages to be a true ensemble show without diminishing its main character. Each member of the supporting cast has a story arc all their own, but Matt Murdock is always at the centre, tying everything together. Charlie Cox has always brought a ton of nuance and passion to the role, but this season he shines more than ever before. Whether he’s doing his own stunts in a fight scene, mastering the art of playing a sort-of blind guy pretending to be a normal seeing guy, or just expressing the emotional turmoil of a man going through a crisis of faith, he consistently makes some of the toughest acting challenges on TV look effortless. The fact that he’ll never get an Emmy nod for this role just shows how irrelevant the Emmys are, in my opinion.
There are nitpicks that could be made, but I honestly don’t have anything bad to say about this season. It is worth mentioning that it feels far less connected to the rest of the Marvel universe, or even the rest of the Netflix-verse, than previous seasons. Neither Turk Barrett nor Claire Temple, the two staple characters of the Defenders shows, makes an appearance. Apart from the “Battle of New York” newspaper clippings on the walls of the Daily Bulletin and a passing reference to Jessica Jones, this season might as well be taking place in its own separate universe. Those poor souls still holding out hope that the movies might acknowledge Marvel TV won’t be pleased by this, and I have to admit, I miss Claire and Turk. But on the other hand, this season feels like it should be playing in a league of its own. In terms of production value and sheer storytelling power, it’s so much better than every other Marvel show, and arguably most of the movies, that it doesn’t even seem fair to compare them. The movie universe can ignore it all it wants—Daredevil can stand on its own.
After the sudden cancellation of two other Marvel Netflix shows, and with the spectre of Disney’s own streaming service starting to rear its ugly head, it’s hard to say at the moment whether we’ll ever get a Daredevil Season 4. But I’m not too worried. If this was the show’s last season, it was a spectacular grand finale. If not, then I’m excited to see where it goes next. Maybe next season will have an episode that’s just one long hallway fight. Who knows? Anything’s possible!
For now, I’ll just applaud Season 3 for being a tense, well-executed, and ultimately downright inspiring tale of redemption, with just enough comic-book flavor to keep it fun. It’s everything I want in a superhero story and more. Bravo to everyone who helped to put it on the screen.
Grade: A+
Wizard at the Clicks 