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– WARNING! Light Spoilers Ahead –

(but then again if you haven’t seen the whole series by now, then you’re slacking.)

Episode 4 – In the Blood

Episode 4 provides a bit of back story for Russian crime bosses Anatoly and Vladimir. Two men who seemingly through sheer force of will and an extreme comfort for violence escape from a Russian gulag and etch out a place for themselves as brutal crime bosses in Hell’s Kitchen. For the pair Anatoly serves as the calmer more reasonable second in command to his brother Vladimir more hot headed ready for war leadership. This places them at odds with Wilson “He Who Shall Not Be Named” Fisk and his more careful and controlled from the shadows style of crime.

This episode also provides another peek behind the curtain of the kingpin by way of his courtship with Vanessa, the woman who sells Wilson the painting that transfixed him and in an unthinkable turn of events we also see my gorgeous ex-wife, Rosario Dawson get caught up and mistreated ways that upset me dearly, all to find the elusive devil of Hell’s Kitchen.

This episode like the ones before it does an admirable job a feeling more like an episode of Law and Order then an episode of Agent Carter in all best most real ways, through dark and moody settings of gritty streets and shadowy violence which I’m delighted to say is Netflix version of Daredevil’s calling card.

Episode 5 – World on Fire

It’s in this episode do we get the money shot of how Daredevil sees the world and I gotta say, I’m kind of disappointed! He can definitely almost kinda make out people’s faces. Call me a nitpicker if you want but this wavy ketchup-vision feels over powered and not at all like the heightened 360 degree sonar sense he has in the comic books which itself was a super powered version of what many blind people in real life learn how to do tongue clicks (and voodoo magic as far as I can tell). The power exist the way it does in the comics for a reason. Just because this production is running screaming from the Ben Afleck film version and everything associated with it, doesn’t mean they should throw out the only thing 2003’s Daredevil got right; Baby and the bathwater, man. I mean don’t get me wrong! It was a good episode. There were explosions and Machiavellian maneuvering and blind Asian people for some reason.

It’s just, I mean I just had to watch I had to watch Ol’ Black Do-Rags McUnder Armor push up on my ex-wife, Rosario Dawson at like 5 ‘o clock in the morning.

It’s cool though. You got that, homie.

Episode 6 – Condemned

Without getting too spoiler happy, this is the episode when Daredevil gets to have a serious conversation about half measures. Daredevil is one of the MCU’s more brutal fighters and especially in the earliest parts of the series. He walks a really fine line between appropriate  justice and punitive vengeance with the latter being expressed in the kinds of defenses dropped savage beatings, you’d have to be on a television show to live through…but he won’t kill people. He won’t even allow and enemy to die in his presence when that enemies death would make his life much easier AND under different circumstances he would have happily beat that same man into a coma. This is especially noteworthy if you remember that in the standing MCU, Daredevil might be the ONLY character in the that doesn’t kill. Iron Man, Thor, Black Widow and Hawkeye all have “red in their ledger”. Captain America was a soldier in World War 2 along side Agent Carter so you know they both absolutely have a body count and probably high ones too. Most of the Agents of SHIELD do as well including Skye/Daisy.

Doctor Strange has killed protecting this dimension, Black Panther kills white people almost as a family tradition and even two of the Guardians of the Galaxy were Assassins by trade. The MCU heroes are generally not afraid to catch a body or twelve. In fact the only people who reasonably haven’t killed anyone are Agent Fitz, Agent Simmons, The Hulk and now Daredevil with ol’ Hornhead having pretty much the stupidest reasons not to do so.

Even the half dead bad guy whose life Daredevil saves thinks that’s stupid. In what world is a giving savage beating more honorable than allowing a faultless death? That is my sole gripe with this episode. I know Daredevil doesn’t kill. I’m not expecting him to and I’d be upset if they made him a killer but the reasoning behind his no kill policy could have been handled better. Great episode otherwise.

Review for Daredevil Episodes 1-3

– Cameron Crump
@PerfectCruelty