“Daredevil” opens with the funeral of Ben Urich, whose death serves to be the driving force that brings the band of Matt, Foggy and Karen back together to take down Wilson Fisk once and for all. With Marci’s help, the three get their hands on Landman and Zack’s files relating to Fisk. But the real clincher turns out to be information provided by one time dirty cop, Detective Hoffman (Daryl Edwards). It turns out Leland has kept Hoffman holed up in the city to protect his life, something his going to need once he cockily reveals to Fisk that he and Gao were in fact the ones who attempted to take Vanessa’s life. Unfortunately for Leland, Fisk is very much shoots first ask questions later kind of guy, as he kills the financial whiz before announcing a citywide manhunt for Hoffman.
Fortunately for Hoffman, Matt gets to him first. He offers him protection until he can get to the 15th precinct and make a full confession to one of the few clean cops on the force, Matt and Foggy’s friend Sgt. Brett Mahoney (Royce Johnson). What follows is a montage that would feel right at home in a mob film, as Fisk’s various corrupt associates are rallied up and arrested by the FBI. Before Fisk himself is arrested, he makes a hasty proposal to Vanessa and tasks her with a job the audience is not privy to.
Elsewhere in the offices of Nelson and Murdock a celebration ensues, but with a considerable amount of running time in the episode it is obvious that the choice to bring out the champagne is a tad premature. A team of heavily armed men, who aim to reunite Fisk and Vanessa at her command, quickly ambushes the FBI members transporting Fisk and take them out. When Matt hears a news broadcast of the ambush, he makes his excuses and rushes out of the office. Looks like he has to get his fists out one last time.
After a brief detour to Melvin Potter’s workshop, we finally get the final showdown that Marvel’s Daredevil has been building up to. And though it may only be a short fight, it doesn’t disappoint. Matt’s new costume is both a fitting tribute to the original comic costume and realistic looking enough that it fits in well with the rest of the MCU. The costume designers have done an awesome job with this one, and it sure is a treat to see the iconic red suit finally getting some action. I have noticed some complaints on the Internet that it looks ‘silly’ in comparison to the black get-up Matt wears throughout the rest of the season, but the people making these comments are clearly those who have forgotten the show is set in the same universe where there is a both a talking tree and raccoon on the other side of the galaxy.
By the end of the episode, Fisk is beaten by Matt and apprehended once again by Mahoney. I thought the following scene was a great foreshadowing of what is to come, with Vanessa seen wearing her engagement ring and escaping in a helicopter into the night. With Fisk in jail, I’m assuming his fiancé will be taking the reins of the criminal enterprise, and I wouldn’t mind seeing subsequent appearances where she is a full on villain. Vanessa’s turn to the dark side has been one of the better story arcs of the season, and with Fisk now in jail (and in a cell which has that now infamous white patterned wall paint), it would be awesome if comic conventions were overturned and she is in fact the MCU’s Kingpin.
As a whole, Marvel’s Daredevil has been a brilliantly executed series, and I hope it becomes the example to which future MCU properties are molded on. Though the pacing was off in some episodes (especially in the final act), and there were some mistakes made with both the characterisation and deaths of supporting players, Drew Goddard and Stephen DeKnight deserve high praise for what they have accomplished here. With a number of possible minor setups laid out, and Daredevil now roaming the streets in his iconic costume, I can’t wait to see what the other Netflix series have in store. Bring on AKA Jessica Jones!
Episode Highlights:
— With Fisk in prison, we finally get to see him in a variation of his traditional white outfit. It’s just a pity for him that it had to be a prison jumpsuit
— It looks like Foggy is getting back together with Marci, and at this point Matt and Karen remain good friends. I enjoyed the fact that Goddard and DeKnight eschewed the cliché love triangle in the show, and instead made Karen Page a strong character in her own right
— Leland Owsley may be dead, but enough references were made to his son Lee that I feel a revenge plot is coming down the line. Owsley doesn’t have a son in the comics, so it is anyone’s guess as to what such a character would be like (and whether or not he will bear a closer resemblance to his father’s comic counterpart)
EPISODE REVIEW: FOUR STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
SEASON REVIEW: FOUR AND A HALF STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Read the rest of Simon’s Marvel’s Daredevil reviews here.
Marvel’s Daredevil is available to stream all 13 episodes of Season One via Netflix Australia.
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