As Daredevil season two marches through the middle third of its episodes, the show starts to hit on several different thematic beats: ranging from a caper to a courtroom drama. I actually think given the diverse nature of characters within the Daredevil universe, the series could be well-served more deeply exploring motifs outside of its traditional "crime show" feel. If you've gotten this far into Daredevil, though, one thing has become abundantly clear- this show is dark. Like, really dark. And, not in a ‘too dark to watch before bed’ way, but in a ‘too dark to literally see what’s going on’ way. Obviously, given the show's shadowy nature, there’s some intentionality to this, but the lack of lighting does make it difficult to follow a lot of the show’s fight scenes, most of which take place at night.
Daredevil made its mark last year with its gritty and realistic fight scenes, including the now famous one-take hallway fight. Well-versed choreographer, Philip Silvera, served as the stunt coordinator for both Daredevil seasons, as well as the Deadpool film, and by combining his strong sense of the source material with a decade's worth of stunt work experience, is able to construct fight scenes that are both visually thrilling and well-grounded within each characters’ personality and background. In season two, Silvera comes close to outdoing himself with episode three’s staircase fight that Charlie Cox described as, “almost like [the season one] scene on crack,” and in general, this season is filled with beautifully orchestrated choreography that makes Daredevil stand apart from even its MCU film counterparts and their more effects driven action.
In particular, Elektra’s introduction at the end of episode four ushers in the show’s martial arts-themed villains in The Hand, a welcome break from the garden-variety gang members Daredevil and co. have been encountering so far. Unfortunately, there’s also a noticeable slowing in pace as most of episodes five and six are spent establishing the Elektra plot, shifting The Punisher into the background. The show does a good job at making this shift seem natural within the flow of the narrative; however, it’s painfully obvious that this middle third of episodes suffers from a painful lack of Jon Bernthal and The Punisher.
As excited as I was to see how Marvel would adapt The Punisher to the small screen, I was just as excited to see how they would handle Elektra. Elektra is the quintessential Daredevil character, and a popular property in her own right. Made famous by her role in Frank Miller’s iconic Daredevil run, Elektra was featured in 2003’s Daredevil, and even earned her own solo film, 2005’s spin-off, Elektra (admittedly, both of which were shamefully terrible). I was slightly underwhelmed with the way Elektra is handled through her first four episodes. Her origin and personal history with Matt differs considerably from the comics, and while this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, the background the writers do provide, specifically her ties to Roxon and interest in the Yakuza, feels a tad bit contrived.
The show tries its best to make us feel invested in the Elektra-Matt Murdock dynamic, and in the most basic sense, they do succeed in driving our curiosity of where these characters are eventually heading. But, the show does a poor job of establishing why Matt cares so much for someone who believes that all life’s problems can be solved by tying them to a chair and beating them to death. Yes, we do get several flashback scenes demonstrating Matt and Elektra’s humble beginnings, but the two lack chemistry, and their bond forged by a mutual love for fighting and danger isn’t convincing enough for us to believe that this alone could sustain Matt’s lingering feelings towards Elektra after all these years. At the end of episode eight, we actually do get a genuinely nice, chemistry-building moment between the two, but it gets bizarrely undone just minutes later, making it difficult to predict where these characters end up by season’s end.
The majority of The Punisher arc, and by extension Foggy and Karen’s screen time, takes place during the trial scenes. For a show whose main character is a lawyer, it’s nice to finally get some courtroom action, and The People v. Frank Castle plays out like a delightfully twisted episode of Law and Order. As Karen dives deeper into the Frank Castle case, it's clear that her motivation goes beyond clearing the name of a killer with a complicated justification for his actions. Karen's character development subtly hinges on her season one murder of James Wesley, and by proving that The Punisher is not a truly evil person, perhaps Karen can prove to herself that she too still has some good in her. Additionally, it’s made clear through an argument with Matt that Karen actually sympathizes with Frank, and believes that his extreme methods have a place in a world where the law consistently fails at delivering justice. This is one of many wedges driven to divide Kare-Devil, and the love triangle starts to lean Elektra's way, as it's made abundantly clear that Matt can relate to her in a way that he can't with Karen. Whether that's good or bad for Matt is something we'll have to wait for and see.
After spending half the season as a narrative device responsible for disagreeing with Matt and Karen, Foggy is rewarded for his rational thought with several shining moments during the Frank Castle trial. It’s genuinely fun rooting for Foggy as he goes toe to toe with Reyes, and he remains a likeable character that provides the show with some much needed levity. Conversely, it’s at this point in the season where the audience starts to slightly turn against Matt, due to his unreliability during the trial and the effect this has on Foggy and Karen. Matt is ultimately responsible for throwing Nelson & Murdock into a trial they can’t possibly win, but then fails to follow through when he’s needed during its most important moments. The conflict this brings up between Matt and Foggy and Karen is compelling because of how much we care about them as characters; however, the fallout feels purposeless because so much of Matt’s screen time is tied up with an Elektra storyline that has little to do with the Castle case or Nelson & Murdock.
Overall, there is an uneven feeling to the middle of season two thanks primarily to the juxtaposition of the season’s more engaging Punisher arc being minimized in favor of the less interesting Elektra arc. On an episode to episode basis, the Elektra-Matt-Hand conflict is enough to capture our interest, but it feels so separate from the rest of Hell’s Kitchen and the other characters we care about, that it’s hard to feel all that invested. Episode eight does end with a very intriguing set-up for the remainder of the season, with just enough of a cliffhanger to whet the palate for the last five episodes.
Garrett Yoshitomi is a contributor for A Play on Nerds. He covers Marvel films and television, and enjoys fantasy baseball, Big Brother live feeds, and Anna Kendrick. You can find his tweets @garrettweets