TV Review: Daredevil S01E01 through S01E04

My plan was to watch and review the first three episodes of Netflix’ new original show, and the first fruits of their partnership with Marvel,  Daredevil.  When I finished the third episode though I immediately started watching the fourth and that should tell you how much I’m enjoying the series. The show is very good but it isn’t perfect. However, Netflix and Marvel are doing so much right here that most of my criticisms feel like nitpicks.

Daredevil isn’t nearly as well known to the general public as many other superheroes and what they do know about him is “that terrible movie with Ben Affleck” so Marvel and Netflix faced a challenge in making something that was not only interesting for people to watch, but also rehabilitated the character a bit. In this I think they have succeeded. Beyond that for the first time we are getting a very different view of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This connects both to Avengers and Agents of SHIELD but in tone it is light years away from what you’ve seen before.

So What’s It All About?

From what I’ve seen so far (and what I’ve read) Daredevil is pulling its story very heavily from the Frank Miller graphic novel The Man Without Fear which tells Daredevil’s origin and early years. This is a good thing because Miller’s take on Daredevil remains the definitive one and since the audience is much less familiar with Daredevil’s origin than say I am it will help them understand the character better.

So we start with the accident that blinded Matt Murdock, we get flashbacks to his relationship with his father Jack Murdock and we see Matt and Foggy setting up their law firm. But this series is very much grounded in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, so we find out that Hell’s Kitchen was essentially destroyed during the events of The Avengers and that less that scrupulous companies are making a killing on the reconstruction.

Matt Murdock and Foggy represent Karen Page who has been framed for murder after finding out about some of the shady business dealings, meanwhile Matt as Daredevil (as yet unnamed) goes around beating up on russian gangsters. And over the course of the four episodes we find out about the shadowy figure of Wilson Fisk (AKA the Kingpin)  and his allies who seem to have organized a criminal takeover of Hells Kitchen.

Where Did the Jokes Go?

If you are used to the previous light hearted Marvel fare, this series may come as a bit of a shock to you. Daredevil is much darker and much more violent than what you are used to from Marvel Superheroes. That entirely fits the character. Daredevil has super powers, but those powers don’t make him super strong or super fast or invulnerable. Fundamentally he’s a man, and he’s a man without much backup.

So this is ground level superheroics dealing with gang violence and nasty crimes like slavery and abduction. As the show correctly identifies early on Matt Murdock’s real super power is being able to take a beating and get back up. He has skills certainly and some advantages but he wins by just outlasting the opposition. Just like his father did.

Daredevil is Marvel Noir. Where even the heroes are dressed in black. It’s not just that Matt is a vigilante, it’s that he brutalizes people and while he follows the law in the courtroom he flagrantly ignores it in his secondary identity.  And the show revels in its freedom to be much more violent than say Agents of SHIELD or even The Arrow (probably it’s most obvious comparison given the types of characters).

There was blood in the first episode but in the second and third we started seeing bones and as for the fourth, well you don’t want to make Wilson Fisk angry, that’s all I’m saying.

A Leisurely Pace

That’s not the only way in which this show is enjoying its freedom. The pacing is almost slow by modern tv standards. Free from any worries about advert breaks, or whether it will have a whole season, or even how far apart people will watch the episodes, this show tells its story methodically rather than frantically.

Episode One is very much set up. We are introduced to the characters and their back stories as well as the environment they function in. Episode Two then takes a very different approach and is very character heavy taking the time to show us how Foggy, Karen and Matt think (plus introducing the Night Nurse). The episode has a plot, but it takes a back seat to the characters.

But in the third and fourth episodes it becomes increasingly clear that this is a serial not a series. Plot elements are bleeding over from episode to episode, things are introduced (Ben Ulrich and his sick wife) with no attempt at all to resolve or even fully explain them. Daredevil doesn’t have to worry whether you’ll remember this stuff for next week, if you’re hooked you’ll just watch the next one right away or the next night.

A Third of the Way Through

I could point out that the show is using some very familiar tropes or that it’s taking absurd liberties with the amount of punishment a human body could sustain. Or that the fights while beautiful are more ballet than battle.

All of this is true but from my perspective irrelevant because the show is captivating. Its characters are complex. The situation dark but tinged with just enough hope that you want to see things turn out okay.

And, perhaps most impressively of all, they have managed to show Daredevil and his power set effectively in a visual medium. Considering his primary “power” is super hearing, that’s no small feat. But they do it. The show plays with sound, alternatively muffling some things and enhancing others while the imagery changes focus to match. It’s extremely well done and gives the show a unique visual look.

A third of the way into the show, there’s no doubt I’ll be finishing the season and I’m already wondering what this means for the next Marvel TV series.