Marvel's Daredevil Review by Henry Tran

Marvel's Daredevil 2.03: New York’s Finest

Marvel's Daredevil 2.03: New York’s Finest

Written By:
Mark Verheiden
Directed By:
Marc Jobst

We've had the opportunity to explore why Matt Murdock puts on the mask and becomes the Devil of Hell's Kitchen through the course of the first season. We fully understand what his motivations are, and how he has taken the mantle to defend his city against the crooks who are trying to burn Hell's Kitchen down. It's a crusade built on the Catholic notion of guilt. So his no-kill philosophy is rooted in that. He firmly believes that killing other human beings -- even those whose deaths might otherwise be justified in the eyes of others -- is a mortal sin, and that they would certainly condemn his eternal soul. This philosophy feeds his complicated savior complex.

 


 

So because we understand this, there is going to be the tendency to side with whatever Matt says in defense of the way he does things in Hell's Kitchen. The heart of this episode lays in the (extended) argument that Matt and the Punisher have on some random New York City rooftop. Again, since so much of Matt's personal philosophy has already been shown, there's an air of familiarity with all of their points. Matt sincerely believes that his way is the right way, and that the Punisher is only killing to follow some insane set of orders. There should be the hint that the Punisher's philosophy forms the backbone of what this season is about, but that doesn't really come to pass here. From what is shown, it looks like the Punisher sees his way of doing things as having a finality to it, or providing absolute clarity where Matt's sparing of lives mucks everything up.

 

To the Punisher, everything is black and white. People are either good, innocent, and entirely virtuous, or they're wholly evil, and deserved to be wiped from the face of the Earth. He thinks that the Daredevil is a half measure, someone who runs around intimidating people with his fists as a warning not to do crime again in his territory. It's effective, but not quite as final as the Punisher's ruthless tactics. For the Punisher, morality and notions of possible redemption just get in the way of what his objective is at that moment. Their argument is really something that doesn't go anywhere because they are both wrong, and they are both right. Matt's no-kill policy is tested when it's revealed that Grotto didn't exactly keep his hands clean in working with the Irish mob. The Punisher is goading Matt into giving up the guiding principle of his brand of vigilante justice.

 


 

Essentially, the show wants it to be where it would be best if the both of them operated without getting in each other's way. At this point, there just isn't enough depth to what exactly the Punisher's motivations are so the argument is rather unbalanced. Case in point, the Punisher's final act before getting knocked unconscious: Destroying a few of the Dogs of Hell's bikes, and pinning the act on Daredevil so that it makes it difficult for him to exit the building unscathed. What follows is a stupendous action sequence that aims to top the famous fight in the hallway from season one.

 

Armed with a chain and an empty gun taped to his right hand (I loved the little smile he flashes after finding out that the gun is empty and he has to fight hand-to-hand) as weapons, Daredevil makes his way methodically down the stairs, taking out each surviving member of the Dogs of Hell. All the while, he takes an amazing amount of physical punishment. It's a long enough sequence that I stared slack-jawed in wonderment at how everyone was able to accomplish it. While technically brilliant, there's less tension here than the season one hallway fight due to a lack of a tangible goal for Daredevil beyond escape. The Dogs of Hell don't really have a beef with Daredevil because he was framed by the Punisher. It can be chalked up to a big misunderstanding, though that doesn't preclude the possibility that the biker gang will go after him later on.

 


 

The show, meanwhile, gives a tiny subplot each to Foggy and Karen to further the overall story. That's more for Karen, who acquires a hospital x-ray picture of the Punisher from the DA's Office that looks exactly like the famous symbol of the Punisher from the comics. One mysterious circular pattern dots the picture, suggesting that a gunshot might be responsible for his unyielding behavior.

 

Foggy spends most of the episode pairing with Claire -- always a welcome presence -- to engage in a futile search for where the Punisher might have taken Matt. He gets a signature moment where he gets to use his lawyer skills in order to talk down a couple of rival gangsters who want to kill each other in the middle of the ER. Like the initial encounter with the Dogs of Hell, this whole sequence would seem to be designed to make Foggy look like an ordinary hero, as opposed to the heightened superhero antics that his best friend engages in. Could Foggy somehow steal the show right out from under Daredevil? It's not the worst thing in the world, especially if the show continues to double down on the dark question of whether the titular hero will break his no-kill policy or not.


Our Grade:
A-
The Good:
  • Another amazing extended melee combat scene
  • Foggy is outshining Daredevil as the hero of the series right now
The Bad:
  • The Punisher’s philosophy could use more definition at this point

Henry Tran is a regular contributor of review for Critical Myth; The Critical Myth Show is heard here on VOG Network's radio feed Monday, Wednesday & Friday. You can follow him on twitter at @HenYay

Marvel's Daredevil by - 4/5/2016 6:17 AM196 views

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