Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Daredevil Season 2, Episode 3: New York's Finest

After two episodes where Matt and Frank throw down, this episode gives us a different sort of confrontation.  With Matt chained to a chimney, he and Frank face off in a battle of ideologies.  You'd think that Matt would try to appeal to Frank's moral center and point out that he understands the desire but still knows where the line is.  Or, I don't know, point out that by killing Frank isn't much better than the people he targets.  Instead, Matt is oddly dismissive and openly mocks Frank's psyche when he does glean little details about his new foe's history.

Frank's contempt makes a bit more sense.  After all, he views Daredevil as a half measure who isn't willing to finish the job.  It's the sort of exchange that you would expect, but it works well nonetheless.  Interestingly, just as Matt ignores certain points, Frank never brings up recidivism.  It would act as a somewhat decent counter argument to Matt's point.  At the very least, it's better than his "I just know that they're garbage" line.

The episode gives Bernthal a lot more to do and it is to the episode's benefit.  He pulls off the angry, ruthless persona well enough, but oddly, my favorite scene was when he put on a chummy facade to ward off the building superintendent who was investigating the noise.  Given the fact that Frank goes right back to bloodthirsty, you could see it as acting on Frank's part, or a glimpse into how he was before his tragedy.  Either way, the scene worked really well.

The moral contrast comes to a head as Frank forces Matt to choose between shooting him or a known criminal, who just happens to be the one that his firm had been representing, lest Frank put the guy down himself.  You could argue that it's a little too convenient, but Frank had been pursuing the guy and it does give the viewer someone to whom we're pretty well connected.

It's a tense scene, but it was good to see Matt find a third option...not that it mattered in the end.  At the very least, Matt was able to free himself from the chains.  It was a good thing too, not only because he can get away, but because his prior attempts to escape looked incredibly silly.

While Matt and Frank scuffle a bit, it is but an appetizer to the main course, where Daredevil takes on an entire gang of angry bikers.  I should note it was nice to see Matt be the one to walk away this time after just barely losing the last two fights.  The biker fight is clearly an attempt to recapture the glory of the famous hallway fight from season 1.  In lesser hands, it would have come off as a poor rehash, but it was still impressive in its own right, even if there were edits involved this time around.

The fight goes on longer, Matt goes up against more people, and he actually fares a lot better.  It shows how far Matt has come in terms of fighting prowess since he first started his crusade.  As if that weren't enough, it goes across multiple floors, adding another level (heh) to how the fight plays out.

The showdown between vigilantes is the main draw, but both Foggy and Karen are given things to do as well.  Not only does it give them chances to shine but it actually does drive the plot as Karen uncovers more information about the Punisher.

For his part, Foggy manages to talk down some angry gang members who wanted to settle their respective scores in a crowded hospital.  I wonder why Foggy didn't vouch for the one crook who swore innocence when his rival accused him of putting out a hit.  Even though he doesn't know the identity, just saying "hey there's a crazy new vigilante out there, odds are he's the one who did it" could have helped smooth things over.  His approach worked, though, so it's probably moot.

Even better, though, is the fact that we get the chance to meet up with Claire again.  It has always been fun to see her pop up.  Rosario Dawson continues to do a good job, even if life continues to crap on the character as recompense for her involvement with the various metahumans running around.  She also gives us the first direct reference to the events of "Jessica Jones", more specifically, she alludes to what happened to her after she helped Luke Cage.    

All in all, this was a strong episode.  Bernthal has been praised for his portrayal and this episode is a great showcase as to why.  The three leads are always strong assets, but I think that the fleshing out of Frank was what really made this episode work the way it did.



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