I’m pretty sure I’ve said this before, but have you ever noticed that its only your most favorite series that give you the most stress? Seriously, I’ve gotten to the point to where I can’t even watch a new Game of Thrones without a glass of wine in my hand. Sign of early stages of alcoholism? Maybe, but I swear, I’m really not like that with most shows. Unfortunately, I found out the hard way that Daredevil may be another one of “those shows” when upon binging the third season, I found myself wishing I made a wine run.
Once again, be warned of spoilers! I’ll try my best not to say too much…
Daredevil Season 3 picks up right where The Defenders left off. Daredevil aka Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) barely survived his self-sacrifice when the Midland Circle building collapsed on him. To most of the world, including his close friends Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson), and Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll), he has been missing for months, presumed dead. Fortunately for him, the same nuns who raised him as an orphan took him in and nursed him back from the brink of death. Unfortunately, he now not only broken in body, but in mind and spirit, having given up on his faith in himself, having close companions, and even his faith in God. Even his iconic suit has been completely destroyed. This is very bad timing, as his old nemeses Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio), aka “Kingpen” has finally begun to make his move to get out of prison and regain his power.
I am actually thrilled to have Fisk be once again the main villain of the season. I did like the set up of “The Hand” in the last season (which of course lead to the main plot of The Defenders.) But somehow an organization of thousands of mystical martial arts soldiers is just not as threatening as that one maniacal genius asshole. No matter how much power The Hand had, they still never seem to be as smart as Fisk. He was even more ready in this season to counteract any plan the good guys throw at him, or as Karen says, he is always “five steps ahead of us.” Once again, Vincent D’Onofrio is one of my favorite parts of the series, (and in my opinion, one of the best actors of our time.) The way he could balance control, brilliance, power, and boiling inner rage all in one brilliant performance is beyond me.
Enough Kingpen love. After all, he is the reason I got so stressed as the season progressed. Piling on even more stress on me, is the introduction of one of the most classic and anticipated Daredevil villains. That’s right, folks, Bullseye is finally here. Fans of the comics will most likely complain that his origin story is quite different than in this incarnation. But then again, anyone who is a fan of the MCU by now is hopefully taking anything how they appeared in the comics with a grain of salt. In this version, instead of being a psycho for hire with little backstory, Bullseye starts out as Benjamin “Dex” Poindexter,(Wilson Bethel) an FBI agent with improbable aiming skills. While Dex is mostly a law abiding, follow-the-rules type of FBI agent, he struggles with a dark hidden history of borderline personality disorder with psychotic tendencies. While he remains stable as long as he keeps his job and his routine, Fisk easily manipulates him into reverting back to his darker tendencies. As far as his performance goes, I think actor Bethel did a good job portraying someone with very little remorse fighting internally to maintain some semblance of humanity. But why does he have to be so damn handsome? Now I have to be distracted by not only Charlie Cox but him now? But I digress… I’m actually surprised, (though I really shouldn’t be) that a non-super with very good aim could pose that much of a threat to Daredevil.
Given the physical and mental state of Matt Murdock this season, its probable that he could be easily beaten by a good number of villains. Like I mentioned earlier, the poor guy is physically and mentally broken, barely a shadow of his normal self. I guess you could call him “Emodevil”? I really shouldn’t joke about it, given he really does deserve his anguish, but by the middle of the season he was starting to make even Jessica Jones seem chipper. Matt really does suffer from broken hero complex until “A New Napkin” Episode 13, the finale. That happens to be my favorite episode, not only because of the epic finale fight, but because he finally seems to be back to his old self, an aspect I found missing all throughout the season.
Poor Karen Page isn’t much better. While she has always seemed to cause a lot of trouble, she really causes more harm than good this time around, a fact she becomes all too aware of. I really do feel bad for the girl as she’s been through a lot and still tries her best. As we see in Episode 10, aptly named “Karen”, she sort of has a long history of rashly causing situations that inevitably cause others to get hurt. I hope in the next season, she learns from her mistakes, or I may really start to not like her. The only protagonist who remains strong throughout the season is good old Foggy, who is tasked with protecting himself, his friends, and his family with his layer wits alone, all while remaining the “heart” of the group.
Like the previous seasons of Daredevil, the direction and camera work are very impressive for a television series. We have seen some jaw-dropping long takes before, but we are treated to arguably the best one in the series so far in Episode 4, “Blindsided.” Here, we get a ten minute long take of Matt fighting his way out of a prison riot. It was beautiful and gut wrenching, to say the least. There were also some, how should I put it, “stage play-esque” directing choices in this season, such as Episode 5, “The Perfect Game” in which Fisk examines flashbacks of Dex’s childhood that are simultaneously reenacted while inside the setting of his penthouse.
Overall, Daredevil has yet to disappoint me as I feel like this was another strong season. If I really had any complaints, it would be the the heroes showing far more vulnerability and less strength rather than balancing the two. Having strong villains is wonderful, but a lot less fun if the heroes score no wins against them for almost a full season. Because when a show starts to do that, I start looking around for my wine again.
You can stream all of Daredevil, Season 3 on Netflix. And then pray it doesn’t meet the same fate as Iron Fist and Luke Cage.
