Warning: Post contains "Daredevil" season three spoilers
On Friday, October 21st, Netflix aired the third season of its Marvel Comics hit, "Daredevil." Its first comic issue being published in 1964, Netflix's modern adaptation of the story centers around the life of Matt Murdock, a Hell's Kitchen New York City lawyer whose heightened sense of morals and ethics carry not only into his civilian life, but later lead him to take matters of the law into his own hands as the "Daredevil."
Though blinded in an accident at the age of 9, Murdock or rather his alter ego, develops into a superhero with severely enhanced senses who like a bat, utilizes a form of echolocation to sense objects and people around him. Likewise, Murdock's advanced hearing enables him to not only hear objects at a far distance but also gain an understanding of objects beyond walls and other objects through vibration.
While the brief synopsis of the show provided by Netflix presented an interesting concept which piqued my interest prior to watching, I struggled to get over the fact that any form of Marvel entertainment other than their movies could be either interesting or mature. I felt that superheroes, and rather comics in general, could never be adapted to an adult television show, with different facets of both fantasy and reality. The first two seasons of "Daredevil" broke this stigma I had formed and led me to realize that while superheroes might be a thing of the past, the ability of producers and editors to form their stories into intelligent and well-informed entertainment is possible.
For non-viewers of the show (who, considering it covers season three probably won't gain much from this review) season one and two covered the storyline of the conflict between Daredevil and Wilson Fisk, a business mogul and crime lord within Hell's Kitchen who is intent on gaining control of the city, but held back by love. The conflict is followed into the third season, as Fisk has turned state witness for the FBI in order to protect his beloved Vanessa, who is being withheld from entering the country due to charges against her.
While season three masterfully continues to build the characters and their various facets, the season does provide some early letdowns. For example, (be warned, early spoilers will follow) the reaction of Foggy finally discovering that his best friend Matt, once presumed dead, but now found alive is a major negative. Foggy, though drunk in the scene, is barely surprised or taken aback. For three months, he had mourned the loss of his friend and partner, and just a week prior had finally accepted his death. Drinking alone in a bar to numb the pain of both his grief and Fisk's freedom, his friend's abrupt appearance features little to no reaction. There is no cliché faint, no loud exclamation, no moment of intense shock, just a deep stare and exclamation of "Matt, you're alive." Though this is perhaps a more realistic and less dramatic reaction, it presents a letdown to a major issue brought up at the beginning of the season.
Small acting moments like this do somewhat inhibit the show, but overall season three is another beautiful continuation of the comic series. Filled with powerful scripted scenes of violence and built around two extremely internally conflicted men, season three makes viewers question the morals and beliefs of the show's protagonist, Matt Murdock, and once again continues to develop an adult show around a hero in a mask.
