Daredevil Season 3

It might be a little dramatic to say that I had given up on the Marvel Netflix shows, but there was a sense of apathy that I was starting to develop pretty much after I finished the Defenders. The shows just weren't grabbing me the same way they used to. I got bored of Jessica Jones Season 2 after the first episode, I started The Punisher but never really finished it, the second season of Luke Cage came and went with no fan fare whatever, and I don't even need to really say anything about Iron Fist as I lost interest in that show probably after the second episode. But even at its lowest points, Daredevil was always consistently entertaining. While my new found apathy set my expectations low, watching the third season of Daredevil never seemed like it wasn't an option, and from the first episode I jumped right back on this train that had been started back in 2015.

Season 3 starts not long after the events of The Defenders. If you didn't watch The Defenders, essentially, Matt Murdock/Daredevil (played by Charlie Cox) finds himself broken and in a weakened state where it has become incredibly hard for him to continue as Daredevil. This is increasingly difficult for Matt who decides from this event that he's going to reject his normal life as Matt Murdock, be the Daredevil exclusively.

He heals and is headquartered out of the bottom of the church where he grew up and his new side kick of sorts is a nun by the name of Maggie (played by Joanne Whalley). She plays an incredibly important role as she is a nun with an attitude who gives Matt all the shit he deserves for how mopey he becomes, but I'll talk about that later.

Meanwhile, Foggy Nelson (played by Elden Henson) and Karen Page (played by Deborah Ann Woll) are finding success and happiness in their lives. Karen is a crack reporter at the Daily Bulletin and Foggy is a successful lawyer. However, the absence of their friend has made them feel as though they're missing something in their lives.

First and foremost, I do have to complain a little bit on how much this beginning is dependent on you having seen The Defenders and yet how much it doesn't rely on that at all. Electra, who was a big part of season 2 and The Defenders is never mentioned outside of the first episode and to be honest, I totally forgot the circumstances that put Matt in that situation in the first place. Not all of that is the show runners fault and I mean I knew that he survived in order to start this season up, but it is a little bit of a jarring beginning for those who really liked the other seasons of Daredevil but didn't watch The Defenders.

But the more important aspect of the introduction back into this world is how they reintroduce and start up the story of Wilson Fisk (played by Vincent D'nofrio). Fisk has been in prison but he realizes that the best way to help his fiance Vanessa (played by Ayelet Zurer) is to cooperate with the federal government and he starts to provide information that leads to the arrest of huge crime syndicates.

The agent in charge of this information exchange is Agent Ray Nadeem (played by Jay Ali). I'll talk more about him in depth, but he is a complicated agent in the FBI who wants to make a name for himself. He starts the information exchange and in return for his cooperation, Nadeem provides Fisk a house arrest incarceration situation. This sets off the conflict for the season as the people of Hell's Kitchen are not only angry but also scared of what Fisk potentially has planned. Most of all, Karen, Foggy, and Matt are all wary of this and start fearing for their lives.

The main conflict is Matt rebuilding himself and trying to take Fisk down once again. Foggy and Karen have similar motivations, but as he always has been, Fisk is very resourceful and always seems as though he is 5 steps ahead of the good guys. Once again, Matt is plagued with the question of if the legal system can't stop Fisk, maybe he just needs to be eliminated.

 So the thing that used to be really interesting about these Marvel Netflix shows were their underlying themes. They're written very intelligently and Daredevil is no different. However, while Jessica Jones and Luke Cage delved into societal themes of gender and race, Daredevil was always the quintessential comic book series with some minor themes on the legal system.

The things I liked about the season as a whole was how personal it was for Matt and how it developed his personal struggle as he has now been a vigilante figure for quite a long time. I liked how at times the show got a lot more abstract that it has in the past. Matt has conversations with figments of his imagination or Fisk imagines the troubled childhood of one of the FBI agents guarding him named Ben Poindexter (played by Wilson Bethel).

I'm not sure if this is a sign of premium TV or if its just gratuitous (it might depend on the viewer), but Daredevil continues a trend that has been seen in a lot of TV shows where every conversation seems to have a long lecture or story about someone's childhood or something. There are moments where the conversations don't totally feel real, but I think the feeling of premium monologe television kind of blinds us to the unrealistic exchanges some of these characters have.

But bottom line, I think the real strengths of the show come with the characters and I think the best way to explain the show is to go through the main characters and give my pros and cons in them because they drive the show. A lot happens and I can't go into every single detail so the character progression is easier honestly more pertinent.

So I really, REALLY enjoy Charlie Cox in this season. He continues to own the character and make him someone we really care about. Especially with how personal and broken Matt Murdoch is in this season, it's satisfying seeing his progression.

One tertiary critique of this season is that they kind of arbitrarily weaken Matt depending on the circumstances. He perpetually looks like he's injured, or not at his peak but then other times he's "releasing the devil" and goes harder than he's gone before. For the most part his arc is comprehensive but I think one thing I would change is maybe bring the episode count down to 8 or 10 episodes for a more concise arc. His progression at times can seem sloppy and there were episodes where I wasn't sure where he was at mentally or physically. Sometimes the physical impediment from the events of The Defenders affected him and at other times it didn't.

Something I do have to note is the way they handled the perpetual question that has to be asked with these connected universes, where is the other Defenders or why can't Matt let other people like him deal with Fisk? That is a legitimate question in this season. Like I've said, I've been a little bit out of the loop Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, and Iron Fist since The Defenders, but why doesn't Matt call them for help? But I've come to the conclusion that it makes sense why he wouldn't. Based on dialogue from The Defenders that I remembered, Matt was the kind of person that didn't want to be on a team and he wouldn't call for help. He wouldn't rely on other to fix a problem that he believed is his problem alone. It is kind of fun to think about the outcome if Fisk came up against Luke Cage or Jessica Jones, but I do like the individual narrative this season was trying to accomplish. While it was kind of backed into a corner of directly following a team up, Matt Murdock's narrative feels all his own.

One slight draw back coincides with the fact that Daredevil was always the quintessential comic book show opposed to Jessica Jones and Luke Cage. However, the downside of that is that the show uses a lot tropes we've seen before, especially in Matt's progression as a character.

The hero at his lowest, the demonizing of the hero through the media, the hero deciding between those he cares about and keeping them safe, these are all tropes that are in this season. And the slightly worse thing is, a lot of these tropes have been done in previous seasons of Daredevil, especially season 1.

Now to be fair, these tropes worked really well in season 1. There is something to be said about if it isn't broke don't fix it. And it's not all the same, especially in the character of  Ben Poindexter, there are a lot of new things. You know how I mentioned that things get really abstract, some of the best scenes of drama for Matt come when he's debating with his inner demons in the form of Wilson Fisk.

  However, the question of whether or not Matt should resort to killing Fisk to eliminate the problems he runs across is not a new concept. That was an essential part of the first season.

The second season had it's problems and it felt fractured but at least it tried to do something different with these characters. I definitely want to see more seasons of Daredevil, but I want to see something more like Season 2 without it being a prequel for The Punisher series or being a trailer for The Defenders.

Again, this season is able to do a lot of what the first season did and made it feel new, while also adding really good extra characters and new circumstances, but I do think there could have been some more done to make this season stand out from season 1.

The supporting characters once again are Karen Page and Foggy Nelson.

Both these characters have their ups and downs and they're similar ups and downs that they've had in previous seasons.

On one hand, Karen Page continues to be a developed character with a troubled past who just wants to be a good person. And yet there are moments where they delve into her past (a past we are already aware of) alluding to a larger purpose for her, and it doesn't totally pay off. I do think her character is written well and Deborah Ann Woll is a good actor that it makes it okay, but after some reflection, I lost track of what exactly her arc was in the season. She takes a back seat to Matt (like everyone besides the villains kind of do) and she's probably the weakest written. This is compared to a pretty high bar, but I feel like they could have connected more or pulled back the strings that didn't end up paying out.

And then there's Foggy.

Foggy is a really well written character who on paper probably shouldn't work. He's traditionally been the side kick or the comic relief. They actually develop him and his relationship with his former rival Marci (played by Amy Rutberg), a relationship that originally felt like a gag, into sometime I actually cared a lot about.

His character is really fleshed out and I like him a lot... but Elden Hanson is really not a good actor at all.

This isn't new. His performance has always been kind of hammy and not very well delivered, but for me, it's always been okay throughout and this season continues that streak. While I have moments where I sigh and recognize that he's not that great of an actor, I still really appreciate his character and I like him a lot. I don't want bad things to happen to him and I relate to his struggles. I think that's mainly contributory to the way he's written, so again, it's kind of a mixed bag. I think Foggy is probably the opposite of Karen. Karen is well acted but not well written, while Foggy is badly acted but really well written. Together they create a really good support system for Matt, whether he accepts it or not.

The last good character worth mentioning is Sister Maggie. I don't really want to get into spoilers but she does have a pretty important role throughout the season. I loved the dynamic she had with Matt as she nurses him back to health.

My issues aren't really with her, its more with the structure of the season and story arcs that include her. There are certain aspects of the show that don't feel like they would matter as these characters are being hunted down by Fisk. There is a point in the show where she is talking to Karen and she brings up this narrative about her past. It's important because this is a character we've come to know, but I don't know if it was intentional but Karen kind of gives her a look of, "That's cool and all but I could be killed by Fisk at any point here, can we figure this out later?"

I like the use of her character throughout, but I prefer her early on.

Another really great addition to the cast was the character of Agent Ray Nadeem. Now I am a little conflicted with his character. I like him, but there a couple moments throughout the series where the conventional wisdom of what a real life person would do doesn't exactly match up with what this character does. This is kind of a theme with the FBI as a whole in this series and there does need to be a pretty generous suspension of disbelief to get through some of the events that occur.

Now I think they manage to make this character work at times by really delving into his background, his family and financial situation, and overall his personal ambition. He is a complex character some of the times, the risks and choices he makes do make sense. But there were a couple of moments where I was yelling at the screen for him or the FBI to take certain action that would only make sense in that situation.

Something I liked about him was that he was set up like the whole show could have been portrayed from his perspective and it would have been really interesting. The show brings you into the full picture because the show is centered on Daredevil, but I would be all for a cut of this season just from the perspective of this complex character and I think it would be really interesting. The audience knowing the real answers for the most part kind of diminishes this character and his personal drama can be kind of gratuitous and annoying at times. But I think at the end of it all, I liked his character quite a bit.

And then there's Wilson Fisk.

Once again, Vincent D'Nofrio brings a powerhouse performance as the complicated but ruthless Kingpin and ultimate rival to Daredevil. I understand why Season 2 of Daredevil is often considered not as good because it didn't have nearly enough of Wilson Fisk.

I talked at length about the fact that a lot of the same tropes are hit in this season as they were in season 1 and that does include Wilson Fisk once again. It doesn't go into total depth into his family the way the first season did, but he's still manipulating people, blackmailing others, and those he can't blackmail, he ruthlessly murders. There is a sense of terror and total control when he's on screen and I swear, D'Nofrio deserves an Emmy for this performance because he is so good.

He's still very complicated in this season, but he promotes himself more as just a force of nature. Now, the downside of this is that there are some points where you need a pretty big helping of suspension of disbelief because the reach of Wilson Fisk is pretty insane. There were some moments that took me out of it a little bit because there are some far fetched moments, but overall, it kind of worked towards Fisks force of nature atmosphere and it worked to create a sense of hopelessness throughout.

And this season continues that run of creating villains leaps and bounds better than any of the movie villains (save Thanos). That run continues with Ben Poindexter.

So Dex is a brutal character. It does not take long for him to develop his absurd level of creepiness and he as well is a force of nature not to be trifled with. Now if you're a fan of Daredevil or have any basic knowledge of the comic book, you'll recognize who this character is, IMMEDIATELY.

But I've been keeping spoilers out of this so I guess I'll hold off on that and let you figure out who it is on your own because the reality is, Dex is not that flat out that character... yet...

It is figured out very quickly that Dex is a sociopath and he becomes very creepy, very fast. I thought that the progression of his character from unstable but law abiding FBI agent to a weapon of Fisk is very well done.

 There's an origin story of him from a very young age and it's very reminiscent of the origin story of Wilson Fisk in season 1. I think they're able to utilize his specific skill of heightened accuracy very well throughout the season and you wouldn't think that that accuracy is creepy, but it really is.

One thing I will mention is that I think I would have liked more interaction between Dex and Matt/Daredevil. There are a couple of moments where they speak directly to one another, but there isn't as much of a set up rivalry between those two as much as there could be. I think this is due to the fact that Fisk is supposed to be the intellectual rival and they didn't want to take away from that battle of the minds. I think I would have preferred to see more interaction between these two. Maybe in the future, but for how much of a physical rivalry these two had, I would have wanted to see more.

So I recognize that there are a lot of characters and a lot of plot threads to come together. I think that's probably why this show continues the 13 episode format that we've seen in all the other seasons of Daredevil and the other superhero shows on Netflix. I think if there was one thing I'd change, it would be reducing that number of episodes to 10. I think 8 might not be enough (as evident from The Defenders), but 13 sometimes feels a little long. I remember this was a complaint I had of Luke Cage and I think it would fix a lot of issues.

The last thing I'll mention is that the fight sequences of this season continues to be absolutely incredible. They might have jumped the shark a little bit early on because the scene where Matt goes to the prison and the subsequent fight that occurs there is just off the wall amazing.

These shows have become infamous for their hallway fights and this season is no different. When the fight started I couldn't help but laugh because I said to myself, Time for the Hallway fight. What followed a fight that I'm pretty sure was one continuous shot and the choreography was incredibly raw. Seriously, that might be a fight scene that I will go back and watch just for fun.

The thing I like about this show is the balance it keeps between really compelling story telling and acting and raw nail biting action. It doesn't feel gratuitous nor does it overshadow the plot. I think it's used very masterfully to progress the story.

 Overall, after a little bit of reflection, I do think there are some flaws with the 3rd Season of Daredevil. I do feel as though it treads a little bit on ground that we've already covered and some of the arcs are a little sloppy or don't culminate as well as they should.

However, there are a lot of things that really work for this show and there are a lot of really great additions or new things they bring to the franchise. The action, acting, and story is phenomenal and it epitomizes the feeling one gets when they feel the need to binge watch a show. I continuously felt a feeling of excitement while watching this show and I honestly haven't felt that way about a Marvel Netflix show for a while.

There's a lot of change happening with Disney and Marvel. Disney is pulling Marvel movies from Netflix because they will be starting their own streaming service next year. Furthermore, they have started cancelling some of these Defenders characters like Iron Fist and Luke Cage. Now I don't think anybody was surprised by Iron Fist, but you'd think I'd be more surprised and shook by Luke Cage being cancelled. However, that surprise wasn't there. Like I mentioned at the front, I have developed a sense of apathy towards these shows until now. Honestly, since The Defenders, I haven't really cared about this group of characters that much.

The future looks a little bleak. Nobody really knows how well The Defenders did but I will say that I think the quality of The Defenders and Daredevil is night and day. I loved the first season of Jessica Jones but the second season didn't catch my interest at all. I loved the first half of Luke Cage but the second season came and went and I was just apathetic towards any suggestion of watching it. And like I said, nobody was surprised when Iron Fist got cancelled.

But I think this season was just a boost of energy that I think I needed for my interest in these shows. This has made me want to go back and finish The Punisher, it has made me want to go and watch the second season of Luke Cage and maybe give Jessica Jones a second chance. But like I said, the future looks bleak.

Even if Disney doesn't want to move these characters over to their streaming service because it would be too dark, I don't think they're going to put any energy in properties on a competing streaming service, especially if those characters aren't popular anymore.

I REALLY hope they do a fourth season of Daredevil. The ending does suggest a fourth season is coming, but I'm skeptical. Both Jessica Jones and The Punisher have been renewed for a second season but I am worried that this could all be for nothing. Again, a month ago I was pretty apathetic to that, and now I'm actually kind of worried for that sad outcome because this was such a good season of television. I definitely recommend it.

But have you seen Daredevil Season 3? Where's your enthusiasm level for these Marvel properties at? Do you want to see more characters show up on Netflix in this darker format? Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @MovieSymposium as well as send me your thoughts for films and TV shows I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog.

Thanks for reading!