Marvel's Daredevil is essentially an excellent 13-hour crime drama that happens to be set in a world of superheroes and mind control. It's similar to The Dark Knight in that way; remove the Marvel logo and the references to The Avengers and it could function on its own as a compelling series about a crime boss expanding his control over a city. At least, that was the case for 12 out of the first season's 13 episodes. The show unfortunately stumbled in its final hour last year, verging into campy comic-book territory in a disappointing denouement. Ahead of season 2, which premieres on Netflix on March 18, it's worth looking back on this episode as a way of determining how the series can improve.
For one, everything in this 13th installment, simply entitled "Daredevil," is far too easy. It feels suspiciously as if the season was meant to end on a cliffhanger, but at the last minute, a decision was made to wrap everything up in a nice bow, resulting in this rushed mess. In a show that traditionally avoids convenient solutions, how does Matt ultimately take down Wilson Fisk? He happens to overhear a cop who just happens to, at that exact moment, be talking about Fisk's plan to track down Detective Hoffman. Of course! What great timing!
Then, Matt is able to save Hoffman, who, thankfully, has every single piece of information there is about Fisk’s operation, leading to the arrest of Fisk and everyone in business with him. Why exactly does one random cop know all of this? Is everyone who has any association with Fisk handed a copy of his evil playbook, complete with the contact information of all his minions? This was supposed to be a grounded crime saga, but the last episode has all the complexity and realism of Adam West’s Batman. After a profoundly dark 12th episode, here, Matt declares he will defeat Fisk, and then Fisk is arrested 10 minutes later.
Prior to the finale, Wilson Fisk was easily the best Marvel villain thus far, in part because he was truly complex and did not think of himself as a bad guy. He appeared to genuinely believe he was making Hell’s Kitchen a better place, and that self-delusion makes an antagonist decidedly more memorable than some mustache-twirling scoundrel attempting to take over the world. Meanwhile, Matt Murdock, the ostensible hero, questions if his vigilantism, which requires him to resort to the same level of violence as Fisk, makes him just as corrupt.
That moral ambiguity is completely abandoned in the final minutes in favor of a generic hero vs. villain ending. While in custody, Fisk tells the biblical story of the Good Samaritan, which he presents as some obscure tale rather than one of the most popular biblical passages there is. He always thought he was the Samaritan in that story, he explains, but he now realizes he is the man of ill intent. Fisk becoming fully aware of his status as a nefarious figure makes him considerably less interesting, but if this character change has to happen, it must at least be handled deftly. Instead, a major turning point is accomplished with a heavy-handed metaphor; the show actually cuts to Matt when Fisk is talking about the Samaritan, and then to Karen when he mentions the traveler, just in case you didn't get the analogy.
Following Fisk’s journey from a man who thinks he’s doing the right thing to a man who knows he’s doing the wrong thing would, you’d imagine, require at least two or three episodes to properly set up. Instead, it occurs entirely in this two-minute, cringe-worthy monologue.
So now the sinister Wilson Fisk breaks out of custody, walking over a series of dead bodies while the score blares. But, uh oh, Daredevil is coming for him! Matt finally dons his costume, abandoning the terrifying black outfit in favor of a cheesy red suit that has become a requirement in comic book stories. It's less of a natural consequence of the plot and felt more like a box being checked because it was the season finale of a superhero show.
Gone is Matt's aforementioned turmoil about if beating up Fisk would be resorting to the man's level. He never once thinks about this moral dilemma again and goes forward with the plan to beat the crap out of the evil dude because he's evil. Matt causes the truck Fisk was traveling in to flip over, and as Fisk stumbles out, Matt dramatically jumps onto the roof of the vehicle and the camera swings upwards. Oh dang, time for a final fight! Matt pursues Fisk down an alleyway, and Fisk yells about how angry he is. We know he's angry because he tells us he is. “You took everything! I’m gonna kill you!” Wow, what a hateful dude, huh?
They proceed to have a brawl that’s mainly shot in confusingly edited closeups, i.e. Batman Begins, a significant departure from the masterful hallway sequence earlier in the series. Weirdly, Fisk actually stands a fair chance against Matt in this brawl. Hang on, what? Why is this older, somewhat overweight man, who prior to this mainly stood in the corner pulling the strings and only ever went toe-to-toe with people who posed no credible threat, suddenly an equal of the young man trained in martial arts who has been fighting constantly all season? We needed some sort of Fisk vs. Matt confrontation, but having Fisk throwing Matt against the wall, tossing him on the ground and very nearly winning is at odds with everything we've learned about him in previous episodes.
And, of course, we get the moment when all seems lost for our hero, but he randomly gets a second wind and lets out an epic one-liner: “This is my city!” The score swells as Matt recovers and defeats the sinister Fisk. The end. How very generic.
Daredevil is still a fantastic show, and by no means does a stumble towards the end of a season negate all that came before. But ahead of the second season premiere, the question is, was this a momentary stumble? Or was it a sign that the series is moving away from its down-to-Earth beginnings into cheesier territory? Let's pray it's the former, and the fact that showrunner Steven S. DeKnight, who wrote this last episode, is not back on board for season 2 is a good sign. For the most part, Daredevil's first season was a step in the right direction for Marvel, but its 13th episode perfectly outlines exactly the path it must avoid going down in season 2.
Daredevil's second season will be available on Netflix March 18.