Daredevil: Season 2

 

Season 2 of Daredevil improved on Season 1 in numerous ways. Instead of having one main antagonist in Wilson Fisk, this season starts with the Punisher as the main antagonist and transitions to the ancient ninja group the Hand as Elektra shows up in Matt's life again. In season 1 there was a general sense of what was going to happen to Fisk - he was going to be imprisoned, killed, etc. In season 2, there was the same sense with the Punisher. He is an ex-military vigilante who goes on a mass killing spree to get revenge for the murder of his family. The audience pretty much knows this is going to end poorly for the Punisher. However, this time there is a bit of a curveball thrown in that the Punisher meets Fisk in prison, who orchestrates his escape. There may be more to come on that relationship in season 3, who knows? All of this occurred in the first 4-5 episodes, then out of nowhere Matt's former girlfriend Elektra shows up. I had no idea her character was going to be in this season, and I am glad she was, because she is a major character in the Marvel universe and I was hoping I wasn't going to have to watch the movie to learn about her.

Daredevil was trained by the blind sensei Stick, which was revealed in season 1. It is revealed in season 2 that Elektra was also trained by Stick, who is creating an army to fight the ancient and mystical ninja group the Hand. The Hand thinks Elektra is a powerful Black Sky and wants her to join their group. This shifts the focus from the Punisher to Elektra and the new antagonist the Hand and Nobu. Both the Punisher and Elektra are strong anti-heroes, and learning about them was the best part of season 2 for me. This is especially true for Elektra, who has a complicated relationship with Daredevil given their mutual relationship with Stick and the fact that she is willing to kill whereas Daredevil is not. The Punisher has the same philosophy as Elektra in terms of killing, and there are scenes where Daredevil questions his methods and seems almost depressed by his lack of ability to stop violence in Hell's Kitchen.

I've already discussed how dark and violent this show is, and season 2 continues that trend. I don't want to spend any more time discussing this, beyond saying this: On the one hand, the martial arts fighting choreography is really cool in this show. On the other hand, there were several fighting scenes where I felt like pressing the fast forward button, and a couple of times I actually did so. I can only watch Daredevil and Elektra fight the Hand ninjas so many times before I get bored.

Foggy and Karen remain great supporting cast members, although I sometimes struggle to understand Karen's motivation to put herself continuously in dangerous situations. Despite this struggle, I find myself caring for their characters which means they are doing a good job. Foggy seems to be the only person on this show who has any common sense. The scenes with Karen and her new boss at the newspaper, though short, are always good and entertaining. As the season ends, Elektra is killed and her body is retrieved by the Hand. I hope she survives to be included in future Marvel content.