I am most likely late to the party, but recently (just as season 2 was released) I started watching Daredevil on netflix.  I was curious to watch this made-for-streaming show, but the informal reviews I'd heard from friends made it sound marginal (at best).  In any case, having finished season 1 (spoilers to follow) I can say that I am actually liking this show much more than I thought I would.  I knew the basic premise of the character: Murdock is a blind lawyer who by night is a superhero, using his other senses to kick crime's ass.



The first season might seem a little slow to most people. For example, even though I am not a fountain of knowledge on Marvel  heroes(or DC heroes for that matter), I knew that the daredevil has an iconic red look. I probably picked this up from the Spiderman cartoon series that was on in  the 90s when I was in high school (yes, I enjoyed cartoons in high school). In the first season of the daredevil, however, Murdock wore just a black shirt with some sort of black hat pulled all the way down over his eyes. It wasn't until the end of the season (the final episode in fact) where he gets his suit and starts going by the name Daredevil.  Even in the first couple of episodes of season 2 (that I just started), he still seems to find his identity.

Fisk from the 90s Spiderman cartoon

Personally I kind of like this.  I think exploring the background of the character, instead of just jumping into the action, makes a ton of sense. It gives more depth to the character, and it can help to avoid the villain-of-the-week syndrome that some of these series can have.  Speaking of villains, the villain that was the main focus during the first season was Wilson Fisk - also known as the kingpin.  I was quite surprised to see Fisk (if I read the comic books maybe I wouldn't have been) in the series.  I've generally associated Fisk with Spiderman. He seemed to be a general, all around, villain in that cartoon, and he did seem to be one of Spiderman's main enemies (at least from what I remember of the cartoon).  In the cartoon he was one-dimensional as a character, however in the netflix series he was quite developed. We see him (well at least I did) as a deeply flawed human being shaped by the events in his own personal history.  Being the victim of abuse, he himself became a violent person. I don't know if this is me reading into it, or if the directors intended this, but it seemed that Fisk was trying to keep his anger at bay, and when things didn't work out it was like a whole other person exploded on screen. I do wonder what Fisk would look like in another alternate timeline or dimension. Coming from the same messed up childhood, but not taking the criminal path (still being successful though).

I am looking forward to season 2 and seeing how the punisher fits in!