Netflix’s newest original series, “Daredevil” debuted April 10, with all 13 episodes of the Marvel Comic adaptation’s first season available on the streaming service. Ed Carroll will review each episode here on Monkeys Fighting Robots without fear and let you know if the latest entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe meets the lofty standards of its predecessors.
WOW.
The third episode of Netflix’s Daredevil, “Rabbit in a Snowstorm,” was entertaining enough throughout most of its runtime, but the events of the last 15 minutes or so were absolutely jaw-dropping.
Matt and Foggy got a new client in John Healy (played by Alex Morf), via the mysterious Wesley (Toby Leonard Moore) and a whole lotta zeros on a check. We as viewers are well aware by now that Wesley is actually employed by Wilson Fisk, a.k.a. the Kingpin, but Murdock (as Daredevil) didn’t learn of Fisk until a pretty epic showdown with Healy in part of the last 15 minutes. Seriously, that fight was awesome, with one of the more shocking (and grotesque) scenes we’ve seen Netflix do.
And wow, in that same time span we were treated to an excellent fight scene, Murdock learning both of Fisk’s involvement and what he does to the unfortunate who give up his name, and we got our first look at Fisk himself (Vincent D’Onofrio). Yes, Headly’s suicide was pretty graphic and quite shocking, but also really hammered home just how ruthless Fisk is. Let’s hope we get to see Kingpin himself dole out some of that ruthlessness. But so far, I’m satisfied and already giddy about seeing Daredevil and Kingpin go toe-to-toe.
I found the courtroom scenes odd but not awful; I don’t understand why Daredevil decides to linger on weird sound effects for so long and then have Murdock instantly know what’s going to happen. How the show does the actual sonar effect is fine, but it seemed odd he was able to tell the jury was going to be hung when they came back for a verdict. It would just be nice to get some more insight (or at least parameters) on how Matt’s abilities actually work. But, the show has been pretty excellent otherwise, so this isn’t really any sort of a deal-breaker.
Meanwhile, we saw Karen Page try to dig up some more dirt on United Allied, and an introduction to journalist Ben Ulrich (Vondie Curtis-Hall). I hope the show doesn’t give us more cliched newsroom scenes (for the record, I used to work at a newspaper, which was very affected by the rise of the Internet), but Ulrich could end up being an interesting addition to the show. I was more encouraged by Page’s scene with the widow of the man who died because of what Page had told him. The widow had signed the NDA offered by United Allied (with a generous bonus), but Karen hadn’t as of the end of the episode. She also hasn’t told Foggy or Matt about the offer, but it just seems like a matter of time until one or both of them find out.
I really hope we get an extended look at Fisk’s operations, as we’ve only really been told about his vast wealth and power as of right now. If Netflix is truly approaching Daredevil as a 13-hour movie (which the streaming service did not appear to be doing with the third season of House of Cards), then the delay is understandable, as it builds tension. I just hope the tension has some payoff with the 10 episodes remaining.
But, as a whole, Daredevil has been fantastic in these three episodes. If anything, “Rabbit in a Snowstorm” might have upped the ante on how intense the rest of the season could be, and if that’s the case, it’s been a brilliant slow play. This show is entertaining and rarely feels dumb. I’m hooked.
If you’re watching, feel free to leave a comment and let us know what you think about Daredevil, and keep checking back at Monkeys Fighting Robots this weekend for more reviews. You can also tweet me your thoughts at @EdTheRevelator on Twitter.
Watching Daredevil on Netflix, too? Leave a comment and let us know what you think.
You can find his review of episode one here.
Click here for his review of episode two.
