Well we were supposed to have this final review for Daredevil up a little bit ago, but things happen, schedules get busy and here we are. This is it, the final episode of Daredevil titled “Daredevil” so that things could be real confusing. Unlike our first episode review we only have a few reviewers that have had the time to blaze through the series so check out what they thought about the season one finale.
NINA: 5/5
The Daredevil finale involved a lot of yelling on my end. And the faux-wrapping things up with twenty minutes left on the episode- solid way to stress out your viewers. There was so much I loved about this episode, and I had a really hard time coming up with things I didn’t like. When Leland died I knew we were in for a great finale, but this exceed my expectations.
The firefight on the bridge was the main source of my yelling uselessly at the screen. When Fisk started telling the Samaritan story I knew there’d be a rescue, but I didn’t expect it to be so bold or so blatant. Fisk managed to surprise me there.
I particularly loved that moment when Matt catches up to Fisk and it’s just Fisk darting away into the alley. Fisk was very much the cornered, wounded animal, and there was nothing intimidating about the way he ran. This big, hulking man looked a bit like a bug scurrying away. Fisk’s final, desperate attempts at beating Matt and getting out of there were reminiscent of Wesley’s “do you really think I’d put a loaded gun on the table.” They both got too cocky, they both underestimated the opponent, and they both put that loaded gun on the table within reach.
I don’t really have any negative comments about the episode. I got easily caught up in the action and drama of it, and I felt they wrapped up everything they needed to.
NICK: 4/5
Marvel’s Daredevil certainly does go out with the bang that it’s been promising for the first twelve episodes. Villains are defeated, but at what cost to the heroes?
There’s a lot that happens in the finale, plot-wise, but thematically, there are only a few big sequences. Foggy, Matt and Karen finally mend fences (which feels a little too “Oh, look how easy that was, we’re all friends again” after a couple episodes of Foggy and Matt being super petty); Fisk finally finds out the traitor in his organization all along was actually the asshole with a snarky retort at every turn; and the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen gets a costume to become a symbol for the city.
I don’t think I need to say anything about how amazing Fisk and Vanessa’s storyline was in the show. They decided to come at Fisk from a whole different direction than he’s usually treated to in the comics, and they made him not only surprisingly evil and brutal, but surprisingly innocent and damaged. There were so many opportunities for him to die from his injuries or commit suicide by cop (or, for a real shakeup, the devil in Matt Murdock could have won him over and he could have killed Fisk), but putting him in front of a white wall to think about how alone he is... amazing.
The suit was the most polarizing aspect of the series, it seems. I personally dig it, even if it is couched in a sort of lazy Dark Knight-ish back half of the finale. From the moment Fisk starts biblically monologuing, he becomes more Kingpin and less Fisk, while Matt finally becomes a superhero. It’s the moment where the “realistic” world of the show touches the membrane where it meets the comics, and it definitely worked for me. I’m not huge on biblical monologues from villains, but D’Onofrio kills it.
I don’t think anyone’s surprised that I am 1000% psyched for next season. Now if I can just wait a whole year for it.
DUSTIN: 3/5
I wanted to like this episode more. There’s a lot going on in the episode and I think there’s a decent amount of payoff for the overall season, but some of it comes too easily. The way they finally snag Fisk is extremely convenient and it all leads to a ridiculous mafia movie style montage with classic music playing over the imagery.
There is one really, really, bright spot in the entire episode and it’s not the final fight between Fisk and Daredevil. In fact that fight was the least satisfying battle of the entire season. No it was the bridge scene and Fisk’s monologue about himself. It was a bit long winded and I wish that they hadn’t cut to the goofy fuckers riding in the truck with him, but otherwise it was fantastic and completed his character development and journey. Everything about that bridge scene was baller as fuck.
My favorite thing had to be when Foggy completely moved on from Karen after saying one dickish thing and not attending a funeral because he was winning the fucking case against Fisk! It was kind of ridiculous that they even bothered building his interest in her just to throw it out the window the minute they could. Seriously they built it for ten episodes and killed it in two.
I did enjoy the last scene with Matt and Karen as it continued to give Karen’s character a lot of realism as she lived with her own actions. That was definitely one of the best things to come from the season. Oh and I hate the costume. It looked stupid and frankly the Ben Affleck suit looked way fucking better. In fact I’ve seen cosplay that looked better, but hey… I’m sure it’ll change by the next season.
Daredevil 1.13 “Daredevil” Director/Writer: Steven S. DeKnight Distributor: Netflix, ABC Films, Marvel Studios Runtime: 60 Minutes Exclusively on Netflix