Daredevil, the man without fear, returned to Netflix on March 18th, and his adventures are darker than ever. New friends, enemies, and everything in-between come to Marvel’s version of Hell’s Kitchen to make our hero’s life more complicated than ever before.
This season begins where season one left off, with Matt, Foggy, and Karen running Nelson and Murdock law office. They have a large clientele, but a poor profit margin. Early in the story, a new player comes to town that makes the city question if masked vigilantes are something they want patrolling their streets. It’s up to Matt to find this new, more violent “hero” and bring the city back to a level of stability.
Season two continues last season’s trend of amazing cinematography despite the departure of showrunner Steven DeKnight. The attention to detail is marvelous with small nods to the wider world Daredevil inhabits, though it’s not all perfect. Returning from last season is the show’s extremely dark color palette. A nearly perpetual night seems to loom over New York, making action scenes difficult to see at times. I found myself adjusting the setting on my television, the lights in my room and covering up windows just to see what was happening on screen. Your situation might fare better, but for me the show was just hard to see.
Also a downer in this series is a problem that appears to stick with most Netflix shows: the drag that seems to occur midseason when a series doesn’t have to worry about hooking viewers after the traditional hiatus that occurs halfway through a series. It was a problem in season one and in Marvel’s Jessica Jones. Honestly, the series could be cut down by a few episodes. Currently it sits at thirteen, but with tighter editing it could be narrowed to ten.
On a more positive note, the characters are as interesting as ever. Newcomers to the show, Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal) and Elektra Natchios (Elodie Yung), help speed the plot along and provide newer perspective on the story. There are also a few surprises that I won’t spoil here that are amazing as ever.
My only major complaint is that there is a major focus on Nelson and Murdock’s secretary, Karen Page. Though initially welcome, her dealings start to grate on the viewer as she eventually becomes the character with the second-most screen time, next to Murdock himself. Her story drags heavily and brings the overall plot down. All-in-all the characters are great, but a few do overstay their welcome.
Though a few flubs are in and expected, the second season of Daredevil is a great addition to the Marvel family of programing and to Netflix as a whole. Though I feel that it’s better than the first, the novelty of a darker superhero show has faded a bit, so I don’t recommend binging it like the first one – but you absolutely should watch it over the course of a week or so.
Score: 4/5