Netflix’s newest original series, “Daredevil” debuted April 10, with all 13 episodes of the Marvel Comic adaptation’s first season available on the streaming service. Ed Carroll will review each episode here on Monkeys Fighting Robots without fear and let you know if the latest entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe meets the lofty standards of its predecessors. There are more Daredevil review links at the bottom of the post.
I’m going to do a full season review later this week, so this review will focus on Daredevil‘s season finale, “Daredevil,” which felt a tad anti-climactic up until the final 20 minutes or so. We saw Ben’s funeral, which was a major bummer, and then we did get a pretty eventful finale. But after what we’ve seen in previous episodes, it didn’t feel like enough. Until Fisk actually got arrested, which I’ll get to later.
I’m honestly surprising Leland had lasted this long, as was in nearly every episode this season, and had become openly antagonistic in recent episodes. I guess he thought he covered his bases by swooping up Hoffman and keeping Fisk in the dark, but Leland, you’ve SEEN Fisk beat people to near-death, probably not a smart idea to confess your attempted assassination to a guy like this. I’m fairly certain he was supposed to be dead after Fisk threw him down the elevator shaft.
Foggy and Matt (finally) buried the hatchet, and Marci had come through with a ton of evidence from her firm, which set off an all-night search session. Thankfully, Murdock was able to back up some of the research and get a lead on Hoffman’s whereabouts, saving him right before Fisk’s crooked cops got to him. I honestly wasn’t expecting Hoffman to come back in such an impactful way, but Hoffman’s testimony really set off the arrests of people on Fisk’s payroll – Turk, some of the dirty police officers we had seen before, a senator, and finally Fisk himself. The only real intrigue of this scene was the woman the FBI took away instead of editor Ellison, who had all but confessed to being in on the cut, too. Was he not really, or did he find a way to shift the blame. Fisk also got engaged to the delightfully creepy Vanessa before he was arrested too. They’re such a power couple.
But this episode really picked up once Fisk began his pretty elaborate escape, and he just looked invincible at that point. Murdock went to see Melvin Potter, who had finished a prototype of his red suit. We got less than 15 minutes of the red suit Daredevil in season one, but boy was it an awesome moment to see him in action. I’m sure some hardcore comics fans will hate the red suit, but it’s way better than the crappy one Ben Affleck wore in the 2003 film. I thought the eyes looked a little goofy, but other than that, I had no issues with it.
Fisk and Daredevil finally went toe-to-toe at full strength, and it did not disappoint. Fisk uses a lot of sheer brutality, but he’s certainly a worthy opponent for Murdock. While Daredevil prevailed in the end, it was certainly satisfying to finally get the confrontation we all knew was coming. We also finally got the first use of the actual “Daredevil” name, and I’m certainly happy to finally just call him Daredevil.
I don’t get why Foggy would go back to Marci, but I guess anything between he and Karen is dead. Given Karen and Matt’s hand-holding at the end of the show, I wouldn’t be surprised to see those two moved together, like they were often in the comics.
I feel much more comfortable for the chances of a second season after watching the finale, as Fisk is still in jail (and I’d love to see Vanessa be the one to break him out), Daredevil is still on rooftops fighting crime, and Nelson & Murdock: Attorneys at Law got back together. We probably wouldn’t get a new season until after the Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist shows (and the Defenders mini-series), but hey, better late than never.
I have to admit I was slightly disappointed by this finale, but “Daredevil” absolutely nailed the parts it needed to nail: the red suit reveal and the showdown between Wilson Fisk and Daredevil. I’ll write up a full season Daredevil review later on Monkeys Fighting Robots, but I have to admit I just found this episode closer to the “good” side rather than the “great” side. We still got big payoffs on two storylines, and the show is pretty well-positioned to soar higher next season. But it’s a bit of a shame when your season finale is among your worst episodes, but thankfully Daredevil has already set the bar really high.
Watching Daredevil on Netflix, too? Leave a comment and let us know what you think and feel free to tweet Ed -@EdTheRevelator
You can find his review of episode one here.
Click here for his review of episode two.
Read his thoughts on the jaw-dropping episode three here.
Ed’s review of the fourth episode is here.
Click here for Ed’s review of the explosive fifth episode.
Episode six was dripping with suspense, Ed’s review is here.
A familiar face from the comics debuted in episode seven, read Ed’s thoughts here.
Ed’s thoughts on episode eight are right here.
Ed thought episode nine was another standout, his thoughts are here.
Ed leaned how to turn on subtitles just in time for his review of episode 10 here.
Episode 11 helped prepare characters for the finale, Ed’s review is here.
Here is the link to Ed’s review of episode 12.
