You Should Be Watching: Daredevil (Season 3)
At You Should be Watching, we like to help point you in the right direction of what shows are worth your time. Between subscription based entertainment apps, cable networks, cable networks exclusive apps and premium cable networks there are far too many shows to even keep track of. It can be easy to miss a show you should be watching. In this edition we will be wrapping up our impressions of the third season of Daredevil. You may remember we reviewed the season 3 premiere (if not you can read it here) and we really felt it refreshed the series and laid the groundwork for an excellent season. So let’s explore if our impressions were correct.
Daredevil season 3 feels like what season 2 should have been. Not bogged down or responsible for so much heavy lifting it feels like a natural extension of season 1. When we left our episode 1 review Wilson Fisk was now focused on talking to the FBI in order to get released from prison and Matt Murdock was slowly trying to bring himself back into fighting shape. Fisk wastes no time working to restore his power and influence but there is one problem. Turns out people don’t easily forget the stuff he has done and the squeaky clean white night philanthropist image he displayed prior to his bust is now gone. This gives Fisk an excellent story to navigate throughout season 3 however. The best Kingpin stories involve him being the man who sees the space between spaces. He knows how people tick but also knows how to manipulate them and he knows what Hell’s Kitchen needs, a new villain. The public mindset are people of the moment, look no further than whatever celebrity or athlete pariah that we have since moved on from for the next person to fall from greatness. Fisk knows if he can shift the focus onto someone else, preferably someone the public has been supportive of. He does this with his most powerful tool, his ability to pluck the strings of others, and this is done with the FBI agent Benjamin “Dex” Poindexter that for all intensive purposes is Bullseye. An expert marksman who Fisk uses to tarnish the reputation of the Demon of Hell’s Kitchen while slowly plunging him deeper into villainhood.
The season takes 3 or 4 episodes to get going, but not in a bad way. The tension and suspense built over those episodes gives the impression there will be a big payoff. Once Fisk gets out of prison the season kicks into gear and each episode out does the previous one. This is the biggest improvement from season 2 that dragged in the middle and felt like it was being stretched a bit to hit the episode limit. This season feels much more calculated and deliberate in everything it does to build its fantastic self contained arc. All the characters both main and side are weaved in and out keeping them engaged in the main story but also not letting them stray too far away in their own individual stories.
One thing that Daredevil has always had going for it since the infamous hallway scene has been the fight choreography. Beating up on nameless thugs in brutal ways is very cool and there is a 11 minute seamless shot in the early point of this season that is outstanding but the fights between Matt and Bullseye are terrific. They use of everything in sight as a weapon makes every fight and environment entertaining and a visual treat. The combination of Matt excelling in close quarters combat and Bullseye’s ranged ability adds a great element. Daredevil is full of interesting Easter Eggs to comics fans but the most intriguing involves Bullseyes character at the end of the season breaking his spine. He is on the surgery table with a special surgeon by the name of Oyama. In the comics Professor Oyama repairs Bullseye’s spine with adamantium! That’s right the same metal laced on the skeleton of wolverine. So that date of January 1st for the closure of Disney’s purchase of Fox could have some ramifications on the future.
We are not sure what the future of Marvel Netflix contains, with Luke Cage and Iron Fist being cancelled and Disney launching it’s streaming service there is no confirmation on a season 4. They left enough things open to move forward but the overall arc did wrap up in a somewhat closed way. If they do not move forward it was great to see the show get to deliver on all the promise of season 1 but with the show re-discovering it’s voice it would be a shame to see it not continue. So if you haven’t made it a priority to watch Daredevil season 3 or it just came and went and maybe you forgot. Make and effort to queue up the old Netflix machine and binge away.
