Monday 2 November 2015

Daredevil Season 1 Review



Time to dig in, and review this little gem, but before I do, here is the link to the source of this gem for a gif. Animus Vox.

I will not compare it to the movie, and I will try not to reference the comics reviewing this, as long as I can avoid it, because it will be a distraction. BUT.. I will reference the rest of the Marvel Cinematic line, because this canonically belongs there, and there is a number of nods to the movies, or things that might remind some of certain movies.

In the world of superheroes, in New York, with their eccentric talents and abilities, a group of gang leaders somehow manage to find an opportunity for control and profit in this, a chance they wouldn't find otherwise (I'm not kidding, that is how it is mentioned), and in their way stands a lone man in a mask, without super powers, or super gadgets, or super anything, except his sharpened senses, and his decade of thorough training, no extra strength.

Concept does sound silly, thinking about it this way, especially for where it belongs, but the execution is quite stellar (maybe that's too generous a word, think very good), and downgrading the levels of super for it work for the drama and the sake of story they want to tell. (I intentionally used present tense here in want, cause there are more seasons to go)

Matt Murdock was blinded as a 9 years old, he saved an old man from getting hit by a truck, the truck was carrying radioactive waste, and some of it spilled on Matt's eyes, blinding him, as his father tried to comfort him. Matt's dad wasn't the best role model, but he did what he needed to do, be a great father, able to help ease the pain and sorrow Matt felt from being blinded, up until the time he -Jack- was shot. During the life of his father,

Matt was able to manage his gifts, able to sort them out, things got out of hand after the death of Jack Murdock, and the nun in the orphanage called for Stick, the blind guy who could teach Matt how to handle his abilities, he also taught Matt how to be a fighter.

In episode 7, you see hints of mysticism in the series, these hints betray the ground of the show, the grit, grounding the abilities of Matt, first there is the Black Sky, the bearer of doom that comes to the city, then near the end of the episode, Stick sits with another, hinting about a war coming, Being familiar with the comic story of Stick helps with detecting what I speak of.

We do not see the recognizable costume of Daredevil before the last 20 minutes of the last episode, the majority of the season has the masked vigilante in a black outfit he bought on the internet, and I wonder if a blind person can recognize colors from radiation emitted from the monitor, or maybe if his radioactive blindness helps him do that.

The long review will take too long to write, and it will make this piece a long chore to sit through, so all I will say before moving on to the things I find are flaws of this 13 episodes season is that if you did not check the series, it is worth the time.

Things I do not like about the season are as follow:
  • The suit designer (Kingpin's tailor) mentions someone kidnapped by the Kingpin, they do not show that person, or a rescue attempt.
  • Ben Urich, one of the most important supporting characters in the history of the character, is killed in this season, in his house.
  • They spend too much time speaking in low pitched voice, every character, and too often, it's almost like they whisper every word. Speak up, seriously, speak normally.

And I will leave the review at that.