Spoiler-Free Review: Daredevil's Back, and Somehow Even Better Than Before
This is a show (and a cast) that are fully comfortable in the world theyve created. Refreshingly, Daredevil deals with the consequences of season one without constantly talking about what happened. You could actually watch this season without seeing the first one, and be fine. Some nuance would be lost, but it totally works. Many movie sequels cant pull that off.
The returning cast is as strong as ever, and while Charlie Cox is as stubborn and arrogant as ever and Deborah Ann Woll gives Karen both strength and empathy, the absolute stand-out is Elden Henson as Foggy. While the only sane man trope is usually played for comedy, Foggy keeps showing how exhausting and frustrating that role is in real life. Foggy tries desperately to find the most practical solution to every problem, and its hard to root for the superhero option, over his pragmatism.
The big newcomers are Jon Bernthal as the Punisher and Élodie Yung as Elektra. As he should, the Punisher serves as a contrast to Daredevil, vicious and excessive in his vengeance. The violence dealt by and to the Punisher recall the best brawls of season one, messy but definitely effective. And yet somehow, Elektra is scarier.
Yungs Elektra is terrifying, because while Punisher feels like a man unchained, Elektra feels like a woman who isnt even aware there are chains. Both characters act as devils on Matts shoulders, but Elektras manipulative enough that she might actually succeed in corrupting him. Once Elektra shows up, things get complicated, fast.
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