The retentive wait is over , and we ’ve finally envision all of temerarious season two . And after look on all 13 episodes , we have to say that we love it . As a whole , it ’s operose to beat . But there were still some section that could have been better . Here are eight thing we loved , and four that we had issue with .
Needless to say , this whole thing is riddle with spoiler . move with caution .
We Love That…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDYiDrnQQlk
In his past movie incarnations , Frank Castle has n’t had that much of a short shrift — but Jon Bernthal number along and flub the likes of Dolph Lundgren , Thomas Jane , and Ray Stevenson out of the body of water .
Bernthal ’s Punisher is a blinking military unit of nature — in contrast to the graceful acrobatics of Daredevil and Elektra , his action scenes are the double-dyed opposition : raw and gore - laden and filled with a manic , uncontrollable fury . But it ’s not just with the visceral and at time even uncomfortable butchery that the Punisher delves into that Bernthal astounds . His portrayal of Frank Castle the humanity is as terrific — whether its in his moments of rage on the witnesser standstill , or the sorrowful moments of contemplation he share with Karen at the diner about her family relationship with Matt .
The highlighting of row is the stunning monologue he gives in “ Penny and Dime ” about his daughter , which you’re able to see above , but it ’s this compounding of tenderness and fury that seal Jon Bernthal as the definitive resilient - action portrait of the Punisher . Marvel have denied the hearsay that he ’s bewilder his own Netflix show , but after seeing this functioning ? We need one .
You ’d be forgive for cerebrate that , going into this 2nd time of year , Daredevil would ruffle one of its two big Modern character introductions : too much time spent on polishing one , to the detriment of the other . You ’d be wrong , though — because just as the show aced its take on the Punisher , in Elodie Yung we have a bright complex take on the Greek bravo , who shines just as brightly .
As we pointed out in ourspoiler - gratis review of the show , Elektra is adequate to of inspiring just as much fearfulness as the Punisher ’s brutality is . Torn between fate and a longing for freedom , between being a sea wolf or a hero , being bonk or being protected from the pain of adherence , Elektra find the fight for her soul at the gist of the 2nd time of year . Her ontogenesis from the impish devil on Matt ’s shoulder keep in line his darkest trait , to a woman who ’s psychologically shatter by her own use in the war between the Chaste and the Hand , is handled brilliantly .
And even if she does n’t think she ’s capable of being a hero in the close , her sacrifice to protect Matt in the finale seals the quite a little that regardless of who she was in the past times — or who she will become , now that the Hand have their , err , hand on her consistence — Elektra was a hero .
Everything Foggy and Karen did in season one was directly related to the single plot of land , ride everything along . That did give it focalize , but also forced Karen and Foggy into place where everything they did was in support of Matt ’s narrative . That ’s not to say they did n’t have character growing , but it was incidental to everything else .
Season two gives them both a lot more to do . Like in time of year one , Karen does a sight of investigate . But it ’s a quite a little more interesting because , before , Karen was digging up information about what got her framed for murder . While Karen count into Frank Castle ’s yesteryear because of a Nelson & Murdock customer , her continued interest is n’t nearly as related to her own life . It reveals a need for answer that is just a part of her , and she ’s a part of the Punisher arc to the very last , even when Daredevil ’s already bowed out .
Even more than Karen , Foggy played a support role last season . No matter what else he did , his fully grown second of drama was finding out Matt was Daredevil . He call off Matt out for a sight of shit , but finally forgive him . Season two Foggy , as we havesaid before , is a genuine sub . He takes on jobs even he does n’t desire , because they have to be done . He ’s great in court . He take on Matt to task for his failures . He runs out into danger , because he has to . Foggy does so much in this time of year , and is still upset that Nelson & Murdock give way . After everything he ’s been through , it should be a easing .
All of season two does a great job of commit Foggy and Karen account that naturally build to both of them leaving the house . It take a shit sense and gives them , as characters , independency .
time of year one of Daredevil was so successful that it might have been very tempting to ingeminate it . Or to panic and desperately endeavor to do everything all otherwise . This show pick the exact veracious balance .
There ’s definitely radioactive dust from season one . There ’s a big businessman vacuum leave by Wilson Fisk . Nelson & Murdock have many clients , even though most of them ca n’t in reality pay . And the Devil of Hell ’s Kitchen has been thoroughly found . It ’s a raw filename extension of what was set up in season one , without perpetually hitting you in the face .
Because it was n’t all focused on Fisk and on Daredevil , the world get to blow up and replete out . Elektra and Punisher ’s stories were n’t confined to Hell ’s Kitchen the manner Matt and Fisk ’s were last season . go with those two characters as the focal points — alternatively of , say , a Fisk - link plot — really let this season tolerate on its own .
That say , Netflix ’s focus on pushing the Punisher and Elektra as the main threads of the second time of year made a lot of sense , but it also allow them keep the big surprisal of the season a secret : Vincent D’Onofrio ’s payoff as Wilson Fisk at the orgasm of “ Guilty as wickedness ” .
It ’s the consummate “ I have to watch the next episode flop now , regardless of what metre it is ! ” instant that specify the greatest Netflix splurge , and it ’s large to see D’Onofrio in action again as he truly make his rise to the ‘ Kingpin ’ title . In hindsight , it ’s obvious that Wilson Fisk is still a strong menace , despite being station to jail — but getting to see that rising slope , one more acute , furious meeting between Fisk and Murdock , and the affirmation that he ’s even more dangerous than ever , was a full delight , and was layered into the show ’s other arc excellently .
His sudden return was thoroughgoing , partially because the show made you suppose his arc was over . D’Onofrio ’s performance was a reminder just how terrifying he was last season and the use of Fisk was distilled into a perfect small-scale spark . We ca n’t wait to see more of him in a potential ( but almost certainly assure ) Daredevil season three .
Instead of order the story of a single villain ’s rise , alongside the origin of our hero , time of year two of Daredevil was break up into much easier - to - define arcs . That was a great option , and one that every single streaming - base show should adopt .
On the one hand , the show could well be divide into “ Punisher ” and “ Elektra . ” In something that is really a whirl these Day , their two storylines did n’t turn out to be part of the same jumbo program all along . The Punisher ’s plot line about the catastrophe that killed his family , the ensue coverup , and his violent disorder remains self-governing of Elektra ’s effort . The only thing actually tying them together is Daredevil .
But even the Punisher ’s arc is easily separate into subparts . The first few episodes are about his attacks . Then we have his trial . And the third part is about his escape . Each moment has a clearly delimitate beginning , halfway , and end . Which somehow still fits into the larger arc of the show . Given that the middle chunk of the first seasons of both Daredevil and Jessica Jones drag out a spot , this was a definite improvement .
Netflix ’s Marvel display have the report of being where the “ darker and gamy ” and “ more realistic ” parts of the alive - legal action universe live . And Daredevil was the show that had to set that timber . However , season two is more than willing to adopt some key comic book thing .
Daredevil drop the whole time of year with his classical mask and red outfit , rather than the black pajamas of last season . He gets the billy club that is his trademark . Elektra wears so much red , a comical record book conceit that is genuine fun in this show . And we see the Punisher take a sprayer can to his uniform at the terminal — suggest that he ’s live on to be sporting a skull on his chest when we see him next .
It ’s almost like a reinforcement of success is get to feature the well of the comics .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0CvkiPS5Ks
It ’s a testament to Daredevil that the define visual trait of the series somehow take even well this time around . Although the fight scenes were less focused on severalize theevolutionary story of Matt Murdock from fledgling vigilante to iconic herothan in the first time of year , Daredevil season two still delivered excellently choreographed , slick activity in jigaboo .
Whether it ’s the loving court to the Hallway scrap of time of year 1 with both Matt ’s glorious conflict with the Dogs of Hell in a stairway — or how it ’s contrasted with Punisher ’s own gory , brutal “ hallway ” scrap in prison — or the multitude of fantastic fights featuring Elektra and the Hand , all graceful twirls and nimbleness , this time of year deliver , time and time again . Now that Daredevil ultimately has his iconic billy society from the comics too , thanks to Melvin Potter , it ’s pass away to be amazing to see where the show go next with these moments … although they could probably open to stop trying to top the “ hallway moment ” again and again .
We Didn’t Love That…
Black Sky . Black Sky ? Black Sky . Black Sky Black Sky Black Sky ! There we go , I just summed up the climax to whatever the Hand ’s mysterious plans for Hell ’s Kitchen was about . Still lost ? So are we .
After an unbelievably challenging set up ( the mysterious hole , the exsanguinated , indoctrinated children ) , the push force behind the Hand ’s actions kind of fall apart in the end . We ’re recount , to our purportedly great cushion , that Elektra is the ‘ Black Sky ’ , which makes her the ultimate warrior , revered by the Hand , who also mayhap destroys the world … somehow . It ’s not explain at all what this is meant to be , how it come to be , or even what that means for the stakes Daredevil was playing with . It robs the climactic second of the season of any kind of tension or resolution , and Elektra ’s sudden heel turn , from being perfectly okay with being this thing she ’s train to kill all her life sentence to being not okay with it , was just as weirdly address . The story of the Black Sky is clearly not done with yet , but it kind of suction we have to wait until season three or beyond to actually understand why this affair matter .
alike , the resolution of the Punisher ’s own confederacy similarly came out of nowhere — the reveal that Clancy Brown ’s Colonel Schoonover ( who might has well have just been call in ‘ Colonel Clancy Brown ’ , because in shocking news show , Clancy Brown was playing a shady character ! ) was the human behind the heroin deal that lead to the death of the Castle family .
see Schoonover all vanished from the narrative after his appearance in the trial during “ Guilty as sinfulness , ” until he return for the twist reveal , there was just no set up to it or any sorting of clew up until Karen pegs one of the Marines in Schoonver ’s pictures as one of the body she saw at the boat burst , and it ’s never really explained why Schoonover turned to diacetylmorphine trafficking after returning from warfare , or how he orchestrated the shootout that kill Frank ’s fellowship . And it ’s resolve before you even embark on to really get to think about it , after Frank puts a smoke in Schoonever ’s fountainhead . It ’s just so randomly give out there and dealt with in a unmarried successiveness , and it never has an impingement . mayhap we ’ll get to make out more in next Punisher appearances , but what we bugger off here was n’t particularly square .
If one of the themes of this season was Matt embracing the vigilante life story as his true identity , then seeing him give up both Nelson & Murdock and a relationship with Karen should have feel like more . It should have matte up like he really was losing something . Or it should have at least felt like a relief . Like he a burden was lifted .
rather , it was just nettle . Matt ’s unearthly piffling spoken language ruin the Punisher tryout , which was actually a great part of the show . Treating his own client , the suspect , as hostile was downright ridiculous . Foggy was correct to be pissed that Matt was n’t pulling his weighting , but he should have been more disturbed that he really showed up just to ruin things .
Which leads into another weird part of this season . Matt Murdock and Daredevil were not the best parts of their own show . This is n’t a critique of Charlie Cox , by the way , who continues to be great . But Daredevil talking about “ my city ” and implore Elektra and Punisher not to kill , as if that was somehow the real line that separated good vigilantes from bad , apace grow tedious . particularly when we ’ve check him torture people for information .
possibly it ’s the Catholicism in Matt , but he never once seemed to hesitate in his notion that he was good in all things . Which made him an interesting theatrical role to play Elektra , Punisher , Karen , and Foggy off of , but did n’t actually make him fun on his own .
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