By Bryson Beach, Key Crabicurious Contributor, TV and Movie beat
(ThaBeach88 on Snapchat, PSN, Xbox Live, IG, and Twitter. Gotta put myself over, because no one else will!)
What’s good, people? This is my first entry for the awesome blog, and I wouldn’t be a gentleman if I didn’t first congratulate Baltimore Bob, Draper The Dog, and Lovely Leslie (even if you still owe me an icee </3 ) on the successful move to my birth state. Let’s just hope none of the events of The Wire become reality in your new backyard! Joking, of course.
When Baltimore Bob asked me to hop on the Crabicurious train and contribute as a Louisville correspondent, I pounced on the opportunity. When he asked me to review things (TV shows, video games, events, etc) I was super ecstatic. Then came the time to actually write something and I was slightly panicked. I love to write, but most of my writing these days is done within 140 characters or through crude texts. I was not a journalism nor an English major, so I ask of you, my new and {hopefully) faithful audience, that you practice the virtue of patience with me. Oh, and any misspelled words, comma splices, or run on sentences are Baltimore Bob’s fault for being a mediocre editor and enabler. [Editor's Note: My nickname in high school was Comma Splice...]
So as fate would have it, I just so happened to be off work on March 18th, the day that Daredevil season 2 was released on Netflix. What a coincidence! After sending my obligatory annoying Snapsterpiece (seen below) to pester and boast to my friends, I dove into episode one.
SPOILER ALERT. Proceed with caution. A minefield of information and flaming hot take is just ahead
So before it even started, the audience is re-introduced to the events of season one with a quick video package recapping everything. If you haven’t watched the first season... what you’re doing with your life? For real, what are you doing?
I’m not here to do a synopsis because I took in the season as a whole, but the first episode did exactly what it needed to do and set the tone for the new season. Matthew and Foggy, fresh off helping put away Fisk, are booming with business. Unfortunately, their clients aren’t exactly helping pay the bills. Elsewhere, we witness a violent attack on the Irish Mob that would have been a fitting end to Frank Costello in the Departed. If there was a doubt the series would fall short of its TV-MA rating, this dispelled any concerns. In short time, we find out the man responsible for such a violent display is none other than Frank Castle aka The Punisher!
If I don’t get fired after this subpar entry you’ll come to learn that I don’t watch too many television shows. [Editor's Note: Once again, welcome to our new and extremely qualified TV critic!] I’m a bit of a loser. I missed the whole Breaking Bad phenomenon when it was on. I would have missed it completely had the University of Louisville not choked in the 2014 Sweet Sixteen to some school in Lexington in what was the most devastating loss of my life. I hid like the sore loser I am, turned off all connection to the world and binged the hell out of the series until it was done! Back on topic now. I don’t watch hits like Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, Scandal, Big Bang Theory, etc. I only catch CSI episodes because they’re on before Monday Night Raw (New Day Rocks). What I am getting at is that according to a friend, actor Jon Bernthal was ‘his boy’ as Shane on TWD. I didn’t have any prior experience with him as this character so I felt like I could observe his portrayal as Frank Miller’s antihero fairly.
I thought Mr. Bernthal did an apt job in his role. He filled in the toughness, grit, and lack of remorse perfect for this role in my opinion. The writing did not let him down as viewers not familiar with the character’s history (do NOT watch the 1980’s film adaptation with Ivan Drago!!!), were introduced to a man hell bent on revenge following the untimely deaths of his wife, son, and daughter. With the help of dialogue and interaction with characters like the bae Karen, Matt (As ‘The Devil of Hell’s Kitchen'), and Fisk we find that the tormented Frank Castle is more than just a one dimensional character seeking vengeance. He is as vulnerable as he is violent.
A big theme throughout the series is Matt’s struggle with the morality of being a superhero. The attorney by day is constantly met with defining who he wants to be as a hero with powerful foils in The Punisher and the gorgeous (yet murderous) Elektra. The ongoing dialogue and contradictory actions evokes thought in the viewer; What is justice? Is it helping law enforcement and bringing criminals to the court of law, or is it something more extreme and personal? At one point, the titular character even concedes to doing things the Punisher’s way. Luckily, for Mr. Murdock, the Punisher points out that you cannot simply lift your own self-imposed (I hate self-imposed things. Thanks, President Ramsey) code because you cannot go back once you cross that threshold.
We also find Matt struggling to balance his professional life with his vigilantism. It pained me to see his friendship with Foggy, aka Bash Brother Fulton Reed, deteriorate. While almost all the characters have well defined flaws and a grey area, I feel like Foggy is one of the good guys. Unfortunately, he is abandoned, friendzoned, and is force to realize his self-worth. I wish there was a bit more focus on him, but we did see some major development and with his new job, maybe he’ll meet one Jessica Jones sooner rather than later.
On the other end of the spectrum, not all televised superhero media shows the strain of the person outside the tights and cape. We watch Matt struggle to keep a budding relationship with Karen while balancing responsibilities to the city. Elektra didn’t help either and it’s my regret I’m not as familiar with her character to comment on her fairly. I did find the actress, the French Elodie Yung, to be charming, perplexing, and enthralling at the same time.
The acting, sometimes chained down by cliché heroisms, was very solid all around, with Vincent D’Onofrio’s portrayal of the Kingpin once again standing out. I damned near had to change my pants when Fisk came back on screen. He’s sinister but eloquent, evil but noble, and there aren’t enough positive adjectives in my personal thesaurus to describe how immaculate the character is played.
The series has its whole gang of characters on both sides. Our hero and his law firm crew, The Punisher, Elektra, Fisk, The Hand, Nobu, mangy ol’ Stick, Night Nurse Claire Temple, were amongst the seemingly infinite list. With so many characters in prominent roles, there was constantly several story arcs and character developments happening at once. This was good to an extent, but there became a bit of a log jam where I wasn’t sure if the series should just be called Daredevil. I know Matt was overwhelmed balancing being an attorney, breaking down Elektra’s walls, slowing down the Punisher, keeping Karen safe, catching up with Rosario Dawson, using his enhanced senses to find a heartbeat, hiding his cuts, pretending to be completely blind during the day, and… yes I could go on. I’m not harboring for linear storylines, but maybe two or three themes at a time?
I finished the last episode last evening (March 20th, 2016), and after having time to collect my thoughts I really enjoyed the series. The fight scenes delivered as always. It’s not just the lead characters dominating henchmen without taking a punch before facing a jump in competition with the "boss"-like character. Daredevil season 2 was dark, it was gritty, and really has me curious to where characters like Karen and Foggy will go on their new paths. Not to beat a dead horse, but there was a little too much going on at once sometimes. If only they had 20 episodes. It was awesome, but slightly behind season one (seriously, the whole Kingpin characterization was off the charts). I’d go watch immediately.
Crabicurious Rating: 3 ½ out of 4 crabs. (hopefully Bob has a cool graphic?) [Editor's Note: Your wish is my command:]
