“Isle of Joy” is a fantastic episode. I am consistently enjoying the constant use of parallels between Fisk and Daredevil, and this time, it’s about love lives. It’s about interpersonal drama. How much of their “real” selves do they let through? How do others deal with them when they do?
“Art for Art’s Sake” is so settled into what I want from a gritty superhero show that it paradoxically doesn’t give me as much to talk about. The plotlines are converging, interacting, cracking open one another in ways I mostly expected.
Yes, finally! “Excessive Force” explodes with all the pent-up energy that this series has been waiting to use. It sets up the stakes and the dominoes so aggressively that there was never any question that Matt would become Daredevil, once again.
“With Interest” finally gives us a superhero episode. I said last review that I wanted the pot to boil over, and it basically did. Daredevil locks in, even if the mask hasn’t come on. I hadn’t expected the episode to break the seal being a very trope-heavy, classic superhero scenario, but, hey, it was a ton of fun.
“Sic Semper Systema” is a pure setup episode—and it’s the only reason it suffers. The last two episodes were a very clean arc, the White Tiger arc, and it ended brutally. But it also ended, and the fallout isn’t lingered on as much as I expected. It’s just bringing up the boil.
“The Hollow of His Hand” chronicles one of the most electric courtroom dramas I’ve seen in a long time. This may be because I only tend to watch certain genres and not typically legal thrillers, but the twists and turns, the emotional highs and lows, all contained within one episode, simply floored me.
Perhaps incorrectly, I went into the first two episodes of Daredevil: Born Again almost without any prior knowledge. I haven’t seen the original Daredevil show past the first episode or two—and that was years and years ago. I wanted to see if this new series would be understandable. That way, if you, dear reader, are also in the same camp, I can help inform, one way or the other.
“Maiden Mother Crone” finally, fully, completely confirms the name of this show. While I’d argue Billy did a lot of it, it was Agatha’s actions that kicked off everything. The song she and her son sang, the schemes she managed to pull off: everything comes back to her, her relationships, and her mistakes. It lends cohesion to the series. It makes this twisty story more than the sum of its parts.
“Follow Me My Friend/To Glory at the End” is an episode almost defined by its last few minutes. But the rest of the episode is also really good. It’s a chance for several very good actors to flex their dramatic muscles, delivering impassioned, desperate, and emotionally resonant performances.
“Death’s Hand in Mine” confirmed what I had suspected: that this story was going to progress by standard story rules. And, also, seemingly my main plot theories were correct. Despite the wholly unnecessary death fake-outs that ruin some of Agatha All Along’s rewatch value, each witch will get their trial, and through each trial, they are given “back” their powers.
“Familiar by Thy Side” is an episode from a totally different show. It has a much more standard plot structure and progresses at a different pace. In any other context, “Familiar by Thy Side” plays out as a standard superhero opening journey, albeit with a more macabre tone to the whole thing.
Werewolf by Night is a fun, campy Marvel show that disappointed me because of its marketing and presentation. If you wanted to see a horror movie done in the Marvel universe with a Deadpool level of R-rated gore, then you’re in for an unpleasant surprise.
