Tuesday, March 22, 2016

“The Blind Guy, The Hot Assassin, and The Punisher: What You Might Be Missing on NETFLIX”


“The Blind Guy, The Hot Assassin, and The Punisher: What You Might Be Missing on NETFLIX”

DAREDEVIL (2015--, TV-MA, about 13 hrs per season, NETFLIX ORIGINALS/MARVEL TELEVISION)



There comes a certain point in Season II of “Daredevil” when you get excited to see a certain bad guy. It isn’t because you got bored with the sometimes meandering plot, or the fact that there is sometimes a little too much going on.

It is because it’s Vincent freaking D’Ononfrio.

Oh, crap—SPOILER ALERT… (sorry)

Some reviewers have complained about the start of the sophomore season of Marvel’s grittiest superhero (so far), saying that it starts off slowly, eventually gaining momentum and getting better—but not coming anywhere close to the magic of the first season. I like to think of it as slowly easing your feet into a pair of well-worn work boots. After all, a little time has passed since Mathew Murdock’s last escapade. But it isn’t like the writers hold out on giving us (multiple) showdowns between our hero and Hell’s Kitchen’s latest form of vigilante justice, The Punisher.


There are several moments and ideas that truly define this season, and some that occasionally make the season stutter. Without giving away any more spoilers, and trying to be as vague as possible, I’ll at least give you this—a cryptic list of things that make this season suck. Bear with me.

6) Gore. Bloody, bloody gore.

5) Ooo, look, the firm might be breaking up again… (we went through this last season, seriously, FIND A DIFFERENT DRAMATIC PLOT POINT)

4) Wait…who’s the bad guy now?

3) Idiot bad guys. Honestly, some of these ass-buckets define the term “dipstick”.

2) Unanswered questions and plot lines that just kinda drift away in the breeze. (ADVANCE PUN ALERT) Hello, BIG FREAKING (plot) HOLE!!!

1) I’m sorry…the bad guy is…?...

Now, a list of things that made the second season shine.

6) The stairway at the end of Episode III.

5) More Karen Paige (Deborah Ann Woll—sexy, smart, and a damn fine actress).

4) Shadow fighting.

3) Vincent freaking D’Ononfrio.

2) Elodie Yung’s “Electra”—sexy, smart, and a damn fine kicker of butts.

1) Jon Bernthal’s “Frank Castle”, aka: The Punisher.

Sure, Charlie Cox is a great Daredevil, but this season stands out the most when it is all about the other characters. We know about Murdock’s back-story, and we know enough about his partner/friend Foggy Nelson’s conflict with his buddy’s nocturnal activities. But Bernthal’s portrayal of the fractured and scarily determined Punisher is wonderful to watch. It isn’t just his physical presence, either. Bastard almost had me in tears during the graveyard scene.


You see, that is one of the things I love about this show: the main characters can do more than grimace and spout one-liners. They are all darn good actors, and they take the material seriously. Say what you will about Netflix’s occasionally questionable catalogue, their attention to detail when it comes to their original programming is on point. And, with a tiny little teaser for the upcoming “Luke Cage” at the end of the last episode, their plan still looks promising. Now, if we could just get them to commit to a second season of “Jessica Jones”…


-- T.S. Kummelman

Remember, kiddies, if there is a genre you want a nice, shiny example from, let us know. Otherwise, I’ll just keep watching whatever the heck I want to. Which means I win. You don’t really want me winning all of the time, do you?...

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