Daredevil Season 2, Episode 5: "Kinbaku" Review

Things are never easy for poor Matt Murdock. Anyone who's followed the character throughout the years are well-aware of Marvel's refusal to just let the poor guy be happy for a bit, or even get a chance to rest. True to form, Kinbaku continues this trend as Matt, just hours after bringing down Frank Castle, is approached by troublesome ex-girlfriend Elektra, who wishes to hire him to for a case. Naturally, Matt wants nothing to do with her, and she storms off, though it's clear that won't last or hold. 

Throughout the episode, we flash back to Matt and Elektra's whirlwind of a relationship during their respective college years. The scenes play up Elektra as a mischievous force in Matt's life, which clearly draws inspiration from how Frank Miller portrayed the character in the Man Without Fear series, and how she and Matt are clearly two broken people who try to complete each other. The difference being that Matt's issues (his need to do good, his conflicting views on how to do it) and Elektra's (her general sociopathic behavior) are far too different for them to ever really work as a couple, an idea represented well in two scenes, one where Matt refuses to kill his father's murderer at Elektra's urging, which ultimately brings an end to the relationship between the two, and the sex scene at Matt's old gym, which does a good job of showcasing the inevitable toxicity of the relationship. 

Of course, the flashbacks wouldn't work as well without a look into Matt's current situation with Karen, and while I'm still a little bit against the pairing, the dates between the two are somewhat sweet and a nice offset to the grimness of the rest of the season thus far. Karen isn't just Matt's date for this episode though, and she begins working with Ellison (Ulrich's boss from the first season) to uncover why the DA wants Punisher's past buried. I, personally, think it's odd that Castle's short and simple origin is given a conspiracy angle, but it's still too early to really complain about it. Even Foggy gets a little to do, as he discovers an anti-vigilante suit in the works for not only the Punisher, but Daredevil and Jessica Jones(!) as well. I'm glad to see Foggy doing some real investigating and lawyer work, as it helps make him more than just the comic relief/conflicted best buddy of the show.

The main plotline of this episode is still all about Matt and Elektra, and Matt finds Elektra (and her company) embroiled in a plot apparently involving the Yakuza. When he attempts to confront her about it at her penthouse, she simply reveals that there's something larger at play, and tells Matt to suit up as Yakuza prepare to storm her penthouse, ending the episode on yet another (and arguably unnecessary) cliffhanger. Even without the Punisher, Daredevil hasn't skipped a beat, and it'll be interesting to see if the show can expand so large in scale without falling to pieces. 

Score: 8/10 

Notes:
*I say arguably because I really believe that episode could've ended in Matt and Elektra fighting the Yakuza thugs and still ended organically. Of course, it will make for an interesting opening in the next episode. 

*How is Jessica Jones a vigilante? Her vendetta against Kilgrave is likely the most superheroing she'll really be doing unless she crosses over into the Marvel cinematic universe at large. I thought the cameo was a little bit forced, but it felt nice to have a crossover between the two shows, given how little effort Jessica Jones put into universe mingling. 

*Also, it's a real dick move of Elektra to steal Matt's suit. What if he had decided to go superheroing before going to see her? 

*Turns out I was right about Finn Cooley. Rad. 

*"Why is it gray?" "One of life's mysteries." 

*I kind of wish they had gone full Miller with Elektra and given her that nonsensical 80's hair. 

Daredevil Season 2, Episode 4 Review: "Penny and Dime"

This is a very bittersweet episode of Daredevil. On one hand, this is easily the best we've seen of the Punisher thus far, but on the other, it's kind of the last we see of him as an antagonist to Daredevil's storyline. (That I know about.) It certainly ends on a hell of a high note, with Finn, a new head of the Kitchen Irish mafia, stepping in to head a major assault and finish the Punisher off as once and for all. 

In the brief time we have with the character, Finn comes off as somewhat over-the-top and we never really get the chance to understand his motives enough to see him as anything other than cannon fodder for the Punisher. Even the brief scene where he appears to be mourning the loss of someone he cares about is undercut by him flying into a rage and tipping over the coffin of one of his men, ruining the attempts to find him sympathetic. (Him kidnapping Frank's dog and threatening to kill it doesn't help his case either.) 

But, I guess the point of Finn was really not to be a compelling foe, just someone we want to see hurt. And to that effect, it works, as it's fairly satisfying when a captured Frank breaks out of his chair and empties a shotgun into his face. Anyway, the rest of the episode was fairly great. What was I talking about before I went on that weird rant about Finn? 

Right, the rest of this episode. Finn rounds up men to capture Frank as he gazes upon the carousel where his family used to go when they were alive, and he naturally doesn't go down without a fight, leaving a trail of bodies for Daredevil to follow. Until then, we get a bit of interaction between Finn and Frank, where Jon Bernthal gets yet another chance to shine as he nonchalantly shrugs off Finn's torture and threats. You really get the sense that Frank doesn't care if he lives or dies, so long as he gets to take as much scum as he can with him. It's a chilling, somewhat cathartic scene when he gives up the location to the Kitchen Irish's money, only for it to be revealed to be a bomb. 

When Matt arrives, we get another excellent fight scene as Daredevil and the Punisher take out the mobsters, including several bits of dark comedy as Matt repeatedly thwarts Frank's attempts to kill people, much to his annoyance. "No killing." "Boyscout." After the brawl, Matt takes Castle to the gravesite where his family is buried, and in what might be my favorite scene of the series, Frank breaks down as he admits why "One batch, Two batch." is a personal anthem of his. It's a heartbreaking scene, acted to perfection by Bernthal, who manages to perfectly mix both woeful and angry. Even Matt cries, and when the speech is done, Frank just kind of...slumps, defeated, just in time for Officer Mahoney to arrive and attempt to arrest the duo, with Matt, hoping to end the cycle of vigilantism he seems himself as responsible for, urging him to take credit for arresting Frank. 

The episode ends on a hope spot, as a happy Matt celebrates with Foggy and Karen, and actually, finally, strikes up a relationship with Karen, only for an old flame (Elektra!) to show up, ending the episode on yet another strong cliffhanger. 

Overall Score: 9/10

Notes: 

*I swear, next episode I'm going to actually talk about Karen and Foggy in the main review. 

*Finn was likely a reference to Finn Cooley, one of the primary villains of Punisher MAX's Kitchen Irish arc. If so, it's a very different change, given that Finn a) had horrific facial wounds and b) was a die-hard member of the IRA. Making him a mobster was a smart move, if you ask me. 

*I really hope Punisher doesn't spend the rest of the season behind bars. It'd be a real waste, if you ask me. 

Daredevil Season 2, Episode 3 Review: "New York's Finest"

The fun of a Marvel team-up has always come from watching two characters with very different ideals and skills coming together against a common enemy. The best part of Punisher team-ups is watching characters who refuse to kill try to a) rein him in and b) ultimately fail because the Punisher never learns anything. While this episode was far from a team-up, it's still an interesting clash of Daredevil and Punisher's worldviews, as they're both men defined by tragedy, determined to get back at the criminal element that scarred them  through drastic measures. 

That's pretty much the major focus of "New York's Finest", and it's fantastic. Bernthal and Cox are both giving terrific performances here, and they're actually boosting off each other and making each other better. Some credit should obviously go to the writers as well, as the show does a great job of making both Matt and Frank's arguments credible, without making Matt come off as preachy or Frank come off as psychotic. 

This dialogue ultimately comes to a head when Frank reveals that he's captured Grotto, and in a recreation of a scene from Garth Ennis's "Welcome Back, Frank", tapes a gun to Matt's hand and forces him to either shoot Frank before he kills Grotto, or let Grotto die and allow that blood to be on his hands. In an interesting play on the comic, Matt manages to free himself, but can't stop Frank from shooting Grotto in the chest. Grotto's interesting because we've actually been given time to know this deeply flawed (he did kill that old woman) character, and it makes his death sting. Of course, that's nothing compared to what comes next, as it's revealed that Frank set up shop right next to a base for the Dogs of Hell motorcycle gang (I meant to mention Foggy's run-in with them in the first episode, but forgot because it didn't seem important at the time.) As Matt holds a dying Grotto, Frank blows up the gang's bikes before he can be subdued, forcing Matt to fight his way through an army of pissed-off bikers. 

The fight scene in question is a clear attempt at one-upping the hallway scene from Season 1, as Matt, armed with a chain and one duct tape wrapped hand, clears out three floors of bikers. Like the hallway fight, he doesn't come out unscathed, but he comes out on top. The scene is well-shot, though the usage of quick cuts near the end of it somewhat weakens it, as there were no cuts in the original hallway fight. Victorious, the adrenaline wears off as Matt realizes that Frank took the opportunity to escape. 

"New York's Finest" more than makes up for the wheel-spinning of last week, and leaves me greatly excited to see where the show goes next. 

Overall Score: 10/10

Notes: 

*I completely forgot to to mention Foggy and Karen's plotlines, in which Karen is mad at Foggy for not standing up to the DA, then uncovers evidence of a further conspiracy surrounding the Punisher, while Foggy visits Claire (the always great Rosario Dawson) to see if she's heard from Matt, then breaks up a fight between two injured thugs. Henson's really stepped up this season, and the speech he gives to the thugs is intense. 

*"I like to keep it thuggish." 

*We get another "Awww Frank's a good guy" scene this week, as Frank has a polite conversation with the Vietnam veteran who owns the building he's keeping Matt on. It's a brief scene, but really does a good job of further helping us understand Frank's worldview. "Hey, marine. Semper Fi."

*Having Matt break out of the chains was a nice twist on the original story, in which he simply goes with the Punisher's choice and tries to shoot him, only to discover that the firing pin has been taken out. Either way, he still couldn't save Grotto. 

Daredevil Season 2, Episode 2: "Dogs to a Gunfight" Review

After last week's episode, "Dogs" feels a bit like a set-up for bigger and better things. It's not that this episode wasn't good, it's just that it feels like wheel-spinning. Following Matt's defeat at the hands of Frank Castle, he's left reeling as the gunshot wound to his head briefly shuts down his ability to hear. Charlie Cox and the show do a great job of showing Matt's terror at the situation as he suddenly begins hearing tiny things much louder, then hears nothing at all. For most of the episode, he just kind of lounges about in his apartment, trying to lick his wounds, though he does pick up the interesting development from Melvin that Frank apparently shot him in the part of the helmet that wouldn't have broke, suggesting Castle doesn't want to kill him. 

Speaking of Castle, we get to see some scenes from his perspective as he goes out and buys a police scanner to get another shot at Grotto, the sole survivor of his Irish mob massacre. The scene's a surprisingly laid-back one, as he simply buys the scanner from the world's sketchiest pawn shop owner, takes the man's ammo, then either savagely beats or kills him after discovering that the man sells child pornography on the side. Jon Bernthal as the Punisher was one of those casting choices I didn't realize worked until I really thought about it, and he does a great job selling Frank's intensity and casual intimidation. The moment he hears the man say "no older than 12", you know that he isn't coming out of the scene unscathed. 

 Grotto is also the major driving force of Foggy and Karen's plotline, as they're forced by the aggressive DA into taking part in a failed sting on the Punisher with Grotto as bait. Grotto is a surprisingly likable character, in spite of being a criminal, and we begin to feel for him as he's forced into an increasingly dangerous situation that almost ends with his death. The sting ends with both Grotto and Matt, who attempted to stop Frank once again, missing, the Punisher slipping through the police's clutches, and Karen thoroughly angry with both the DA and Foggy for not standing up to her. 

All in all, this was one of the weaker episodes of Daredevil, though not as bad as some of the later episodes of the first season. (I'll take weak crime drama over weak cookie cutter superhero stuff anyday.) 

Overall Score: 7/10

Notes: 

*The "girl ain't older than 12" line was likely a reference to Frank Miller's Man Without Fear series, in which one of Kingpin's men kidnaps a girl to take part in a prostitution ring and says an almost identical line. 

*Having the Punisher keep the Irish gang's dog rather than kill it is one of a few "see, he's not a real villain" scenes that the show has thrown us thus far. It's working, to a degree, though that could change depending on how ruthless Frank gets this season. 

*Foggy struggling to find Matt was another good scene, as his panic rises higher and higher as he searches for him and works as a nice callback to last episode, where Foggy mentions dreading the day he or Karen simply finds Matt in a coma or dead.

*I'm watching an episode ahead of these reviews, so it's hard not to accidentally mix things up from time to time. 

Daredevil Season 2, Episode 1: "Bang" Review

Daredevil season 1 was, to say the least, excellent. So I immediately had high expectations for season 2. To hear they were tackling not only further Daredevil plotlines, but also introducing the Punisher? As a lifelong fan of Frank Castle, my expectations only climbed further. Could they really bring a character infamous for being incapable of proper adaption to the screen? After watching the first episode of Daredevil's second season, I'm gonna say.... 

Maybe. Look, I'm only an episode in, and it's not fair to pass judgement. So let's go into the actual review, shall we? 

It's been a few months since Daredevil brought down Wilson Fisk, and despite the victory, Matt's still dealing with the ensuing power vacuum created by Fisk's downfall, with everything from the Irish gangs to the cartels attempting to fill the role. Meanwhile, a mysterious newcomer is wiping these groups out with military precision. Who this newcomer is and what their motives are is the driving question of the first episode, and it's a little unfortunate that the answer to the question has been spoiled by all of the promotion. The answer, obviously, is Frank Castle, the Punisher, who's introduction to the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a suitably intense and nerve-wracking one. As Matt works his way through a warehouse of slaughtered cartel members, he confronts a dying man mounted on a hook and interrogates him for information. 

"Tell me who they are." He asks as the man bleeds out in his arms. Struggling to speak, the man leans in and says, "Not they. Him." It cuts to the Punisher as he nonchalantly walks into a hospital, shotgun slung over his back, and blasts it up as he gives chase to Karen and one of the sole survivors of one of his massacres. The show takes clear cues from Garth Ennis's Punisher MAX, portraying the Punisher as more of a singleminded killing machine than a person. Even during his fight with Matt, he only says one word as he brawls with military precision, culminating with him nonchalantly shooting Daredevil in the head. 

The show is, as always, well-shot. The fight scenes in particular continue to shine as some of the best fight scenes in any medium, mixing just the right amount of chaos and precision. The cast is solid, and even Elden Henson has improved, coming off as less comic relief and more an actual person. 

All in all, I'm excited to see how the rest of the show plays out, given how much praise I've heard for the later episodes. 

Overall Grade: 8/10

Notes: 

*The sequence where the Punisher wipes out an Irish gang is a particular highlight of the episode, as we're given a brief highlight of a group of gangsters, each with their own personalities, and then watch as they're gunned down by a terrifying unseen force. 

*Matt taking out those weird bank robbers one by one was a little too on-the-nose for a superhero show like this. I'm not saying it wasn't cool, but for a show like this, it's weird and out-of-place for the tone. 

*Matt and Karen is not a ship I support. MattxClaire and FoggyxKaren 4 lyfe.