Daredevil season 1 is probably my favorite piece of live-action comic book content. It introduced the world to Daredevil in a way that was accessible as well as authentic in its brutal nature and grounded world. It also introduced us to the MCU's greatest villain, Wilson Fisk. Someone who is not only horribly dangerous and threatening but also smart and cunning in a way no marvel villain at the time was.
Although The Marvel Netflix Universe shares the same world with the greater MCU, Netflix made a point very early on that this is a more mature and violent reality and Daredevil was without a doubt the poster boy for this initiative. The violence was brutal, bloody and the story dealt with mature themes and treated the audience like adults.
Season 2 released and started off spectacularly with the introduction to the Punisher but ultimately lost steam once Frank's story took a back seat to the issues involving The Hand but now with them gone Daredevil season 3 has the potential to be as great as the first season but does it deliver?
Yes... Yes, it most certainly does.
Season Three picks up directly after the events of The Defenders. Matt survives the destruction of Midland Circle but within an inch of his life. With the help of his pastor and the Church Matt is nursed back to life but only a mere sliver of his former self. He is weaker, slower, and his senses are dull, but still embraces the devil and leaves "Matt Murdock" behind. At the same time, Wilson Fisk is slowly regaining his power in ways that make him more dangerous than ever before.
This season is dramatically different than the previous ones, the others had this feeling of hope and a real sense that justice will always prevail but its not the case here. Season 3 did an amazing job taking the Daredevil world and really skewing it unpredictably. Seeing how, throughout the entire season, Matt slowly loses himself, distancing himself from his religion and his friends, and Fisk becoming the Kingpin really creates an overarching feel of dread that lingers through the whole season.
Charlie Cox and Vincent D'onofrio are at the top of there games truly becoming their respected character. D'onofrio's is really a tower of a man and as Fisk, he really dominates every scene he is in. Whenever he slowly walks onto the screen or starts to speak he captures you with his intensity. The same can definitely be said about Charlie Cox. This is a very different Matt Murdock, he is lost and broken but also a nearly unstoppable force and Charlie plays it perfectly.
Karen Page and Foggy Nelson are back and are more integral than ever. Because they know Matt's big secret they get to be more integral to the story. Now it's not about hiding Daredevil from them but how they live there life knowing who Matt is and how they decide to deal with it and the challenges they face because of it. We get more back story on them as well, showing us glimpses of their past life fleshing them out more.
This season also introduces one of the most iconic Daredevil villains, Bullseye. Now, I don't know the comic book origin of the character but here he is FBI Special Agent Ben Poindexter. What's absolutely amazing about this character is how well the show makes us sympathize with him. He is not introduced as a psychopathic mercenary or anything like that but instead a humble hero who suffers from crippling mental illness who eventually succumbs to Fisk's manipulation. It's never exactly revealed how he is such a deadly marksman, or how he can use any object as a deadly ninja star but it's presented in a way that's not silly or overly comic booky.
The show draws parallels between Bullseye and Matt. I won't get into the details but the show sets these two up to be each other's true nemesis. Both are extremely skilled fighters but their specialty lies in different avenues, with Matt being deadly up close while Bullseye is more dangerous at a distance and seeing them try to exploit one another leads to truly spectacular skirmishes.
The overall fight scenes in this season are second to none topping anything the Netflix MCU has ever produced. Although not as abundant as the previous season, they are far more superior in almost every way. This season takes what it has learned from the show's most iconic fight scenes and creates one of the most amazing and complicated action set pieces in recent memory. The action is way more meticulous and is given to us sparingly. It focuses way more on the quality than quantity so when shit goes down it goes down.
Unlike Iron Fist season two's 10 episode run before this, Daredevil season 3 is a full 13 episodes and believe it or not I felt absolutely no drag at all. Every episode was jam-packed with important and relevant content and was paced nearly perfectly. By the end, I think the season would have benefited from another 2 episodes just because I think the conclusion was slightly rushed. It was not bad at all, even great, with an awesome final battle, but I felt like I could have used just a little more time in that world.
This is an absolutely stellar addition to the Daredevil universe that improves everything that was not so great from season two. The narrative is way more grounded, visceral, and paced almost perfectly. Charlie Cox absolutely kills it by showing us a way darker and brutal side of Matt Murdock. This very well be the last time we see this version of Daredevil and I'm ok with that.