Disclaimer – There are little to no story spoilers here for Daredevil Season 3, but we will spoil the heck out of previous seasons and The Defenders, so be warned! I will also briefly (not in detail) discuss Wilson Bethel’s character, so if you already know what I mean by that you are fine, if not, best come back later — though his role in the story has already been revealed and spoiled.
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If there’s one thing I could say when looking at Netflix’s Marvel output, it’s that the rule of diminishing returns has held true for these shows up till now. When Daredevil first hit the streaming service it was hailed as one of the best shows to appear on the platform and so it was predicted that the MCU success story would carry on into this sub-universe with more adult themes. Daredevil was the perfect character to explore the murkier world of grey that the character inhabits, and to deal with the kind of villain embodied in antagonist Wilson Fisk aka the Kingpin. At the time, there were even calls that Fisk was at that point the best villain to appear thus far in the MCU. Ok, so the villains have gotten a little better in the movies since then, with the likes of Killmonger, Thanos, Ego, and Zemo. Still, none of those characters showed the level of complexity that Wilson Fisk did in Season 1.
Daredevil began the Netflix addition to the MCU in April 2015, now more than three years later the Netflix universe is in a bit of disarray. Both Iron Fist and Luke Cage have been canceled, Jessica Jones Season 2 was considered poor by many fans and Punisher if anything, was considered a little tame and slow. In fact, it could be argued that Jessica Jones Season 1 was a success solely due to the magical performance of David Tennant as Kilgrave (criminally killed off too soon, it now seems). The Defenders wasn’t all that popular with fans either and the writing, unfortunately, for all these shows, just needs to be on the level of Daredevil and much better than we were given elsewhere.
Is Daredevil Season 3 any good?
Let me start by saying I thought Daredevil Season 3 was a solid return to form for the show. In fact, at one point I was ready to call this season not only the best yet for Daredevil, but my favorite show of 2018 so far. However, the last few episodes made me slightly revaluate this statement and I’ll revise it again at the close of this review. I have found, like many others, the need to call for Netflix to reduce the episode count of many of their shows in order to provide a tighter and less bloated story. Too often these series seem to drag as they head towards the third act and require some force of will at times to keep pushing through to the end. Daredevil instead had me watching in huge binges and sneaking little moments on my phone when I couldn’t be at a TV, it is highly addictive.
The story here (I’ll stay away from details), revolves around an ever-escalating confrontation between Fisk and Daredevil, and things really do escalate when you see the lengths Fisk has gone to in order to rectify the events of Season 1. Matt Murdock after the finale of The Defenders is not in a good place as Season 3 begins, everyone thinks him dead and the loss of his lover Elektra has made him question everything, even his faith. But eventually, the threat Fisk poses will force Matt to turn to his friends for help, because Daredevil cannot win this fight alone, not this time. As said, I won’t get into specifics but I can tell you that the usual slow down prior to the third act, just does not happen here, in fact I think I was most glued to my TV around episode 9-11, because there are some events and reveals which just kick the drama of this season up a notch.
The Cast
The biggest story decision that takes Daredevil Season 3 back towards the original series, is the focus being back on antagonist Wilson Fisk played by Vincent D’Onofrio. D’Onofrio is mesmerizing as Fisk, and this season gives him a huge role. One could even argue that this season is actually designed around being told from the point of view of Fisk, though if I am honest, it feels like that was never fully committed to by the writers, and perhaps it should have. Fisk is the crown jewel of the Netflix branch of the MCU and he regains his title as the MCU’s best villain in my opinion.
Sure, I know, Thanos would destroy him, but Fisk has so much going on for the viewer to witness that as a character, he trumps any other MCU villain….so far anyway. I could watch D’Onofrio’s Fisk go out for dinner with his wife and it would still be glorious TV as D’Onofrio is able to display so much emotion without using any words. His physical acting displayed in his body language and his facial expressions both expose and hide his anguish as he desires. Yet, despite his innate strength, Fisk does shows a vulnerability, especially when it comes to his lover Vanessa, someone who he would genuinely give up his own life for, and perhaps his only weakness?
It’s also not all about Fisk, Charlie Cox is fantastic again as Murdock/Daredevil, though arguably his character arc was perhaps the weakest of all the main players this season. The bigger surprise for me was that Karen Page was a huge improvement over previous seasons, here I thought she was fantastic. Deborah Ann Woll is a very good actress that perhaps hasn’t had the material yet to work with so far. Luckily in Season 3, we really get to explore her character going through some serious emotional trauma. Woll delivers this season, perhaps now that her character hasn’t been given all the bad choices to make for once.
As for Special Agent Ben Poindexter played by Wilson Blethel (formerly in the running for Captain America prior to Evans casting), well, I don’t want to say too much here for fear of spoilers. However, again I thought he was fantastic and perfectly cast in his role. I am sure everyone knows by now (I did warn you above) that Poindexter is the man who will one day become Bullseye, Daredevil’s other arch nemesis. As to how this happens and whether he ever becomes Bullseye in this Season, well, watch it for yourself and see. All I will say is that Blethel was excellent in the role and always engaging as a troubled mind, that treads the line between light and dark. I certainly hope to see more of him in the future, if Daredevil even has a future at Netflix?
The Action
I also want to talk about the action and fight scenes in Season 3, it’s an aspect which I feel has been poorly managed in Netflix’s other Marvel shows. Any fight in Jessica Jones is boring, Luke Cage‘s fights were boring other than when he fought Bushmaster in Season 2 and Iron Fist feels like people pretending to do martial arts rather than being serious Kung Fu masters. Daredevil in retrospect always feels visceral and realistic. Even though in this season there are one or two fights which push the combat firmly into superhero territory it always feels gritty and I always feel Daredevil is in real jeopardy when he fights.
One fight sequence I can talk about is the new ‘corridor fight’. You may remember there was a famous corridor fight in Season 1 which looked like it was all done in one shot, with some great camera work, Season 2 then tried to replicate this with a stairway fight which, whilst still good, wasn’t quite as impressive. Now in Season 3, they give us the prison fight, which sees Matt Murdock attempting to escape from a prison full of people who want to kill him. For me, this fight scene was even more impressive than the previous two seasons, brilliantly shot and choreographed. It’s a pity this team cannot do the fights for all the Netflix Marvel shows.
Conclusion
If I had one criticism of Daredevil Season 3 then it falls on the finale, or more accurately the set up to the finale. By the close of episode 10, I was ready to hail this as the best Netflix show yet and possibly my favorite show so far of 2018. However, I think the last few episodes struggled to put all the puzzle pieces back in the correct order and possibly exposed a few plot holes which could have been smoothed over a little better. It’s a good finale, it doesn’t build you up and then fall flat, it just loses a little of the pace which had been building up over the previous few episodes. Overall I still think Season 3 might be the most impressive Season of Daredevil to date, hence my high grading below. I just think other shows I have seen this year, like Better Call Saul Season 4 and The Man in the High Castle Season 3, edge out Daredevil for best TV show of the year. However, let’s be clear that this is still heady praise indeed and I still believe Season 3 was a slight improvement on Season 1, which would still make it the best Marvel/Netflix show yet for this writer.
What comes next for Matt Murdock and friends, who knows? There is a ton of room for a Season 4 here if Netflix really wants to do it, and if they don’t, it’ll be waste of some great talent both in front of and behind the camera on this show.
Final Grade: A +
Have you managed to get through Season 3 of Daredevil yet? Share any thoughts you have in the comments below, and for those who read those comments, I can make no promises regarding spoilers.
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