Daredevil 3-4
Sunday, April 12, 2015 at 12:01AM 
Daredevil bum never splits Murdock suits... even while leaping wildly up fireescapesThe secret reason that it's healthy to write about Netflix shows: it slows down the binge-watching. The side-effects of binge-watching are unpleasant if too little discussed. Side effects include but are not limited too: Lack of productivity, lethargy, weight gain, glazed eyeballs, reduced moviegoing (VERY BAD), and a dichotomous relationship to impatience -- refusal to wait a week to see what happens each hour paired with the willingness to tolerate a lot of padding in your drama wherein you sit for 12 hours for anything to actually happen.
Not that things don't happen on Daredevil. I speak more of Bloodline which is good but kind of a slog, really. Like True Blood (curiously not a Netflix show) one gets the sense that the season's story is much much shorter than the time it's taking to tell it. Curiously the best episodes of Daredevil (#2 & #6) thus far seem to be the ones that get stuck and confined in one place wherein the things that happen, however few of them there may be, actually do feel as if they matter.
1.3 "Rabbit in a Snowstorm"
The third episode begins with a innocuously familiar image, a bowling ball, that quickly turns into a murder weapon in the show's grisliest episode thus far. Thankfully most of the actual carnage is offscreen so those with Game of Thrones aversions (I know we are few and far between) can rest assured if not easy that they'll probably be able to stomach this series. Nelson & Murdock are hired by Fisk (unbeknownst to them...sort of) to defend the murderer. In the B plot Karen is asked to sign a gag order by her former company which makes her even more curious about their wicked ways. More...
Best Shot AND Major Characters Introduced: Wilson Fisk (Vincent D'Onofrio) aka the Kingpin though no one has yet called him that -- Hell, they won't even say his name -- meets gallery owner Vanessa (Ayelet Zurer, one of Israel's top actresses) who he purchases the titular painting from.
Also: Turk Barrett (Rob Morgan) a local thug and gun dealer; Ben Urich a crusading local reporter (Vondie Curtis-Hall) who is warned by a criminal to "take a pass on this one" when it comes to rumors of troubles & the "new players" in town (aka the entire plot and everyone in the series). Like us Urich ignores the warning and begins to binge-watch.
Crimes: Murder, Suicide, Jury tampering, lying, and not waiting your turn at pinball -- so rude!
Body Count: 2
Foxiest Moment: None. boo.
Funniest Moment: a knock at the door of Nelson & Murdock. No one knows what to do for a split second as they have no clients.
Episode MVP: Unexpectedly, I gotta give this one to the guest star Alex Morf as hired gun John Healy. He's only got this one episode but damn he's good: No histrionics, no evil affectations, but straight up chilling all the same.
Best Moment:
There's a wonderful sick-humored cut between the Kingpin's sharp-dressed and ever composed right hand man Wesley (Toby Leonard Moore) as he says "hi" sweetly to little kids crossing his path before casually pocketing his gun in a bowling alley (with whistling in the musical underscore no less) to Nelson & Murdock entering their shabby new office with hand-written sign visible. It's a fine double-sided reminder of this David vs Goliath style battle that's brewing.
Best Action Moment: Very light on action though Murdock does beat the bejeezus out of his own client John Healy once the jury is hung.
Grade: B
1.4 "In the Blood"
This layered episode investigates and strengthens all the ties that bind, whether that's romantic (Vanessa/Wilson and Matt/Claire), familial (Vlad & Anatoly), crusading spirit (Karen/Ben and Matt/Claire and Matt/Foggy). Vanessa & Wilson go on a date that starts strong and turns sour and though the finale of the episode is highly predictable, we know that we'll soon see Fisk's violent animalistic side all through that civilized soft-spoken date by way of contrast. Claire is kidnapped and then rescued and Ben & Karen attend an auction to seek clues to the corporate coverup crimes. Fisk declares war on the Russians by symbolically (and literally) cutting off the head that rules them.
stop what you're doing. this is how you get caught.
Best Shot / Episode MVP: The actors are really working for this win. D'Onofrio & Zurer excel in their scenes together but in the end I'll hand this one to Vondie Curtis Hall who has a great line-reading about himself "he got old" and handles exposition well -- never an easy task for actors though most of them are required to do it ad infinitum in procedurals of any sort
Major Characters Introduced: Vladimir (Nikolai Nikolaeff), one of the leaders of the Russian mob.
Crimes: Escaping Prison (offscreen), Desecrating Corpses (GROSS), Kidnapping, Torture.
Body Count: 2. Miraculously Murdock never seems to kill anyone despite the pipes, baseball bats, pummelings, wires, chains, and rooftop drops throughout these four episodes. In fact the Russians seem unkillable. Except for decapitation - that works.
Foxiest Moment: The stitch-up sequence as Matt & Claire banter over first aid is beautifully played. His mild incredulity that she doesn't like cats, and laying the charm on to thick while trying to allay her worries 'I'm a big boy'. Her odd rhythms in response are even better - Dawson makes skepticism flirtatious and sexy.
Episode MVP: The actors are really working for this win. D'Onofrio & Zurer excel in their scenes together but in the end I'll hand this one to Vondie Curtis Hall who has a great line-reading about himself "he got old" and he handles exposition well -- never an easy task for actors though most of them are required to do it ad infinitum in procedurals of any sort
Best Action Moment:
Matt springing into action when he hears Claire's distressed phone call. This show is great at conveying a sense of urgency -- the action scenes rarely feel like perfunctory "setpiece" (except the one that purposefully did in Episode 2) but instead play like emergency rumbles. This is the first time we've seen Murdock be Daredevil while still in Matt drag. Miraculously his very tight suit never rips as he leaps up walls and fire escapes.
Best Moment: Claire laughing in the darkness vengefully when she realizes Matt's arrived to clobber her captors.
Grade: B+
Reader Comments (4)
That laugh Rosario Dawson lets out was indeed totally awesome. And D'Onofrio and Zurer are pretty amazing together.
Transferring up my wishlist to keep it in circulation:
1. Another Stick episode. Scott Glenn did a really good job, frankly, and if he's still around by the time they start filming Season 2, they should make another one.
2. Some done in one villains to cut down on fatty excess in the main plot. Certainly not many (let's say 3/13 episodes), but how about Stilt-Man, Death's Head and Nuke?
3. Leland Owlsley Jr. (Leland mentions a son in episode 12) as the spine villain.
4. Elektra OR Typhoid Mary. (Real talk: It's almost guaranteed that both of them won't show up in the same season and Elektra is more probable due to getting a nod in episode 10, but don't discount Mary Walker entirely.)
5. If Wilson Fisk escapes next season, have it be in Episode 26. It would really prove the viability of this show going forward if they let him be caged for an entire season instead of lazily having him escape in the first episode of next season.
One thing the show got so well is the chemistry. Nelson and Murdock, Nelson and Karen & Claire and Murdock (so hot together) all play off eachorher very well. It is really the best thing the show has going for it and helps you stay invested even as the later episodes see a dip in quality/momentum. Very well cast as a group.
Alex Morf was so good -- I'm glad you called him out as MVP.
The death by car door scene was unwatchable. I like parts of this show a lot --- Cox and Dawson together have great chemistry -- but I hate how gory and violent it's turning out to be.