Marvel TV has had a rough time as of late. As the DC television universe is still chugging away on the CW, Marvel seemed to have peaked early. While reviews for the first seasons of Daredevil and Jessica Jones were stellar, with some good reviews for the first season of Luke Cage (well, the first half at least), the hype for their crossover series The Defenders was strong. However, Iron Fist premiered to a critical panning, and from there, we have seen an underwhelming response to The Defenders and the cancellations of Luke Cage and Iron Fist after their second seasons. Season 3 of Daredevil seemed to pop up on my Netflix account without any hype or real prelude, but after watching the first few episodes of it, I think it is safe to say that Marvel/Netflix TV is not dead in the water yet.
Season 3 of Daredevil follows directly on from The Defenders, with Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) recovering in a convent after an entire building fell atop him. The first episode deals mostly with his slow, tortuous recovery, with some flashes towards big-bad Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) and his exploits in prison. Fisk is, by far, one of the most engaging and compelling villains in modern superhero media, and D’Onofrio once again provides us with a layered, nuanced performance. It is difficult to maintain interest in a recurring villain, as most TV shows relegate their long-stay villains to reluctant anti-hero territory, but I find myself happy to spend as much time watching Fisk as possible. (Also, Bullseye is awesome. In an attempt to keep this review down to a reasonable word limit, I will leave my analysis of his character there.)
Foggy (Eldon Henson) and Karen (Deborah Ann Woll) are also back in action, and for the first few episodes, are once again relegated to the ‘worried friend’ territory. However, Karen in particular has proven to be an engaging character (her exploits with The Punisher made season 2 bearable), and the show-runners set up a more complex role for her than the damsel in distress. We do get to see more of Foggy’s life and family, but unfortunately, it’s hard not to see him as a third wheel among the other leads. Season 3 also brings in a new character, Ray Nadeem (Jay Ali), a well-natured FBI agent with a lot of debt and even more ambition. It is obvious his character is going to become important, but in the first few episodes, his scenes are the slowest.
The action, though, is really where this show shines. Slick, inventive, and exceptionally executed—every fight sequence is pulled off so well, they are almost mesmerising. Daredevil has proven time and time again that action is an art-form in itself, but in this season, each fight seems to have a layered purpose for the characters involved—Daredevil may be fighting random criminals for the umpteenth time, but the build-up of his road to recovery make his sequences even more tense and engaging.
Daredevil’s third season is both thought-provoking and entertaining, something Marvel/Netflix shows have struggled with for the last few years. If you have stuck with the first two seasons of Daredevil, but dropped off the others, I would still recommend giving this entry a watch—if not just for the villains alone. After the failure of Luke Cage and Iron Fist, it is nice to see that Daredevil can stand on his own, and to be reminded of why we cared about this televisual universe in the first place.
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