TV: Daredevil: A Series Without Fear
The battle for the soul of Hell’s Kitchen between Daredevil and the Kingpin has taken an entire season to explode into full-scale comic book proportions – but the slow build-up of the new Netflix series was well worth the wait. Thankfully it did not begin, as most comic book adaptations do, with the full telling of the hero’s origin story and then fall into comic book clichés of good guys fighting it out with the baddies so that they can work out their early childhood issues.
Instead, we dive right into Matt Murdock’s dark and blood-soaked nights from episode one, as the vigilante emerges and the blind lawyer begins his practice by day. Slowly, the important moments from his childhood are woven into the narrative over time. This keeps the show interesting, as we watch the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen move forward to become the man without fear and learn the secrets of his past.
And this is a show where every character has secrets brooding beneath the surface of things. Perhaps no one more so than the Kingpin, a crime lord unlike any other, who was always a favorite of mine in the Marvel Universe. You should watch this series if only to see Vincent D’Onofrio brilliantly transform his character from one dimensional mobster into one of the most emotionally complex and frightening villains to ever inhabit the Marvel universe. Or any universe for that matter.
D’Onofrio gives the Kingpin character, Wilson Fisk, a level of depth that, when combined with the troubling story of his tortured childhood, make him the most magnetic and empathetic character on the series. Careful while watching Daredevil, as you might be confused as to whom to root for. The lines of black and white, good and evil, slowly are muted into shades of gray.
You might even find yourself, as I did, liking the bad guy. Fisk is clearly becoming the real devil of Hell’s Kitchen, with more blood on his hands as the season progresses, and yet he is an on-going object of moral ambiguity. You hate that you understand him, but you also cheer when Daredevil sets his henchmen on fire.
Netflix has recently given the series the green-light for a full second season of 13 more episodes. And while I am excited about that prospect, I do have one pet-peeve: I seriously could do without the characters saying some variant of the ‘I’m trying to save this city’ mantra ad nauseum. Simply let the battle between Daredevil and Fisk play out. We all know what they are fighting for, but it’s the battle we find ourselves drawn to.