Daredevil S02 E09: Seven Minutes in Heaven

In the last episode of "Daredevil," we witnessed several revelations, not the least of which was the Punisher's cliffhanger meeting with the Kingpin.  One of the others was just more disturbing than dramatic.  After fighting to release Elektra from under Stick's wing, Matt finally sees her true nature - she's a sociopathic killer.  Love can't change that kind of stuff usually, at least not in the rough and tumble soap opera world of superheroics. 

As we open, it appears this opening sequence at least will go in a different direction, picking up from the end of last season with the incarceration of Vincent D'onofrio's Wilson Fisk.  He is advised by his lawyer to keep quiet, keep his head down, and remembering his performance last season, that's D'onofrio's golden range, silent and menacing. 

When challenged and warned by the 'kingpin' of the prison, an inmate named Dutton played by perennial bad guy William Forsythe, Fisk's instincts kick in and he attempts a coup.  He moves all of his last resources to gain an inside posse, bribe guards, and eventually bring the Punisher to him - bringing us up to date with the criminal mastermind.

Whether it's true or not, Fisk intimates to Frank Castle that Dutton orchestrated the murder of his family, and offers him a chance at closure.  Of course such a thing would benefit Fisk.  Kingpin plays the Punisher like a harp, and although Frank does get in one shot, calling him a 'has-been mob boss,' Fisk is clearly in control here. 

Meanwhile, Matt is busy breaking up.  First there was Karen, who over the last two episodes he subtly and indirectly kicked to the curb in unloving and uncaring fashion.  Now, after fighting for her freedom from Stick, he changes his mind as an afterthought and can't handle her being a sociopath who enjoys killing.  Seriously, this is the first time he's noticed that quirk??

So it's no surprise when Matt breaks up with Foggy too, not caring about either the friendship or the law firm.  Sure, we're watching from the omnipotent outside, but hasn't it occurred to anyone what Matt is really doing?  He's cutting people he cares about out of life, like someone preparing to commit suicide.  Does he really consider going after The Hand a suicide mission? 

Karen, with the law firm in limbo, is becoming more and more involved with the New York Bulletin, Ben Urich's old stomping grounds since Netflix can't use the Daily Bugle.  Her investigative skills have won her the attention of Ben's old editor, Michael Ellison, and he's looking to groom her for a job.  She's that good, but I miss Ben.  Great actor, great character, unnecessary death. 

After a trip to see the medical examiner whose testimony was trashed by Elektra, some pieces start to come together.  Ellison offers up Ben's old office for Karen to work in.  Seriously, it's been untouched for how long?  And how old is that bottle of Pepto-Bismol??  On the desk there's a file on Karen. Last season there was some hint of a dark secret in her past.  In the comics, her father was the super-villain Death's-Head, but here it appears she may have accidentally killed her brother. 

In prison, the Punisher gets his seven free minutes, referencing the episode title with demented glee, with Dutton.  Before Castle mortally wounds him, Dutton tells him of another player who was pulling the strings the day his family were killed - someone called the Blacksmith.  Now there is a Marvel villain called Blacksmith, but he's Skrull, and I really doubt that's where this is going. 

After Dutton, Fisk covers his ass and tries to have the Punisher killed by opening all of the cells in Dutton's block.  It's a free-for-all to kill Castle. Much like last season's hallway fight and the stair fight earlier this season, and even the arrow in the chest combat last episode, it seems like the show wants to keep one-upping itself in fight sequences.  The Punisher taking on and beating a dozen or so inmates is a good attempt. 

Of course when Frank is brought before Fisk later, there's another beatdown that the Punisher is not on the easy end of.  I was never fond of the Kingpin/Daredevil matching as I always considered Kingpin a Spider-Man villain, at least originally, but based on the performances in this episode, I could dig Fisk as a Punisher foe, maybe in the spin-off series? 

The Kingpin decides that the Punisher would be of more use to him on the outside than on the inside, and arranges for Castle to walk free.  That can't be good.  We close on Fisk, hospital bedside with Dutton, eating his dinner, waiting for him to drown in his own blood.  Chilling. 

In the background of everything else, Daredevil makes a strike on The Farm, a Hand facility.  There he finds children in cages with their blood being pumped from them.  It's pretty horrific.  There's also a ninja who nearly beats Daredevil to death.  As he escapes with a pod, possibly containing Black Sky, he unmasks.  It's Nobu Yoshioka. 

Daredevil gasps, as do the viewers, "you're dead!"  To which Nobu simply states, "There's no such thing," and disappears into a downward elevator. Cue closing credits.  Well, Stick did say they'd discovered the secret of immortality.  How can Matt stop The Hand, when he can't even beat one of their ninjas?  With Matt alone, and Elektra, the Punisher, and Nobu all on the loose, these last four episodes should be interesting...

Next: The Man in the Box!

Daredevil S02 E08: Guilty as Sin

In the last episode of "Daredevil," the Punisher went to trial, from which Matt was absent, Elektra tampered with a witness, and Foggy and Matt had it out finally.  Oh yeah, and Daredevil and Elektra discovered the Yakuza guarding a seemingly mysterious bottomless hole about forty stories deep.  As we open, they're beset by ninjas, and this is only the beginning. 

Just before the ninjas nearly take them out, Daredevil and Elektra are rescued by Stick.  Cue opening credits.  As they try to escape by car, wave after wave of ninjas attack.  This is, no doubt, The Hand.  Badly wounded, they go to Matt's apartment where Stick does some wacky holistic voodoo on Elektra to save her.  Then the revelation comes that not only does Stick know her, he trained her. 

Obviously, Matt doesn't show up for the trial the next day as Frank Castle's former commanding officer takes the stand.  Colonel Schoonover is played by perennial heavy Clancy Brown, formerly The Kurgan, the voice of Lex Luthor, and most recently General Wade Eiling on "The Flash."  He tells a gripping tale of Castle's heroism on the battlefield, adding more pieces to the secret origin of the Punisher. 

While The Kurgan weaves war stories, Stick tells a tale of a different war, an ancient one involving The Hand.  These 'pieces of shit,' as Scott Glenn's Stick calls them, learned the secret of immortality in ancient times and used it to run rampant over much of Asia and the rest of the world.  They seek power and weapons, specifically something called Black Sky, which Daredevil ran across last season in the form of a child. 

The Hand has only one enemy, The Chaste, those warriors trained by Stick to oppose them, to fight them without mercy.  And Elektra is one of them.  Hell's Kitchen is to be ground zero for the battle between The Hand and The Chaste.  Matt treats this tale as a fiction, a power fantasy of Stick's to excuse his homicidal sociopathic behavior.  Unfortunately it's all he's got right now. 

Sigh.  This isn't the Daredevil series I want.  Yeah, it's good, very good, but rather than the Punisher, and Elektra, and The Hand, I think I'd rather have Gladiator, the Owl, the Stilt-Man, hell, even the Jester.  I guess I'm too old school for this stuff.  If they wanted to do a Punisher series (which is already on the schedule) or an Elektra series, why didn't they just do it? 

Frank Castle meanwhile is going to take the stand, supposedly in his defense.  Knowing they will need Matt to question him, Foggy sends Karen (perhaps deliberately?) to tell Matt.  She does, and gets a full view of not only crazy old blind man Stick, but also the dying/recovering Elektra in Matt's bed.  Kiss that relationship goodbye. 

In court, Matt makes a good case for both a mentally ill Frank Castle and the Punisher as the kind of hero we need, and then Frank starts talking, seemingly prodded by a guard.  Screaming that he's guilty, that everyone he killed deserved to die, and that he'd do it again - Frank effectively buries anything his defense was trying to accomplish. 

Back home, Matt throws Stick out after convincing Elektra to stay with him, and stop killing.  As soon as Stick makes his exit, a ninja of The Hand attacks and puts an arrow in Matt's chest.  Despite this obstacle, Matt and wounded Elektra finally subdue him.  The arrow made this fight for me, another wonderfully choreographed combat. 

And then Elektra kills him.  Just because she can, or wants to.  Elektra has a problem, a bad habit.  It would almost be funny if it wasn't so serious.  She's a killer, a sociopath, a psychopath.  All Stick did was channel her sick energy toward his goals.  I doubt Matt can do the same.

The mic drop of the episode is at the end where the suspicious guard takes Frank Castle through the prison to a gym area occupied by one man.  He turns around and we see him - Vincent D'onofrio as Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin, mentioned several times but unseen since the season one finale.  Cue end credits.  Now this should make things interesting. 

I'm ambivalent about the return of D'onofrio and Fisk.  While admittedly one of the most interesting characters and intense performances of the Marvel Netflix Universe, I would like to think his arc is done.  This is television, not comics where villains return every two months.  Still, I'm game to see what happens. 

Next: Seven Minutes in Heaven!

Daredevil S01 E13: Daredevil

We open this final episode of the first season of "Marvel's Daredevil" with the funeral of Ben Urich. His death last episode makes the bloody credits sequence all the more poignant. This was a shocking death as Ben is still alive and well in the comics. And if you don't cry when Karen meets Ben's wife, I just can't help you.

Later in this finale written and directed by Steven S. DeKnight, Fisk confronts Owlsley over recent events. He knows he was behind the poisoning. The Owl thinks he has leverage but Kingpin doesn't care, and throws him down an elevator shaft. I guess I was right about Owlsley's son quite possibly being the real Owl. And Fisk, wow, between Urich, Owlsley, and Vanessa, he's got quite a mommy complex.

On the positive side, it's good to see Charlie Cox and Elden Henson bringing that great chemistry they have back to Nelson and Murdock, and Deborah Ann Woll's Karen just completes that triangle. This works, I wish it didn't have to break before it works again. With most of the cops on the take, the FBI is brought into the equation, and in that way, the good guys win the way Matt wanted it - through the law. Even Senator Cherryh is brought in. Only Fisk remains, and thirty minutes in, they have him too.

It's nice that the good guys win, but where is the superhero action, and especially the kind of action that has highlighted this series from the beginning? DeKnight knows this kind of action even when he doesn't show it. One of the more intense fight scenes is shown only in the subtle reactions on the blood-spattered face of actor Daryl Edwards as crooked cop Hoffman. We see nothing, but we feel everything.

After Wilson Fisk, in custody, on his way to confinement, tells his two guards the story of The Good Samaritan, all hell breaks loose. Vincent D'Onofrio, channeling Samuel L. Jackson from Pulp Fiction, speculates on which character from the tale he is. He used to think he was The Good Samaritan, but now he feels he is the ill intent that befell the man. That's when the NYPD ambushes the FBI... and we find that the Kingpin owns people everywhere.

With a showdown approaching and armed men in the streets, Matt goes to retrieve his body armor finally from Melvin Potter. In payment, he promised to keep Melvin's Betsy safe from Fisk. I've a feeling this might not be a promise Matt can keep and we'll be seeing Gladiator in the future especially after getting a glimpse circular saw blueprints. Either way, finally, it's our hero as he's most recognizable.

I don't like the costume. After seeing the lycra outfit that is so flexible and easily movable in, this plated body armor looks bulky, fake, and distracting. I had trouble believing he could move well in it. I don't believe leather and metal can bend like that. And I would have liked some explanation of the billy club, what it does… and how he got so good with it. I know I'm the guy who always wants the superhero trappings, but here, after a dozen episodes in simpler more believable garb, I just don't buy it. I should like it, but I don't.

Fisk has an escape plan, and a countdown to a meetup with Vanessa where they'll leave the city together. I don't think Daredevil will let him get away that easily. The combat is intense, but I have to say I was distracted by the costume for much of it. Besides Fisk, there are happy endings all around yet no explanations of how the police force was cleaned up, if it was, or any of that mess. I guess we'll have to wait for season two, and perhaps Fisk's trial.

At this point all we really know about season two is that there is one, sometime in 2016, and that Elodie Yung will be playing Elektra, and Jon Bernthal, formerly of "The Walking Dead," will be playing the Punisher. As someone likes the Punisher even less than Daredevil, I don't care much about that last one. There have been rumors of Bullseye too, but I already saw that in the Ben Affleck film. Personally, if I get Gladiator and the Stilt-Man, as teased in this series, I'll be happy.

If the rest of these Netflix series are as good as "Daredevil," I will be very happy. I really really dug this. Highly recommended.

True Detective Reborn

Let's face it, we all loved the first season of "True Detective." We loved the murky quirky mystery, the bizarre danger, the insane villains, and the wild chemistry of the two unconventional leads. Nic Pizzolatto created some of the greatest television ever made in just eight hours. It was genius.

And then when we heard "True Detective" was to be an 'anthology' series, that a second season would not feature Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson (an actor that TD finally made me respect), but a new cast, story, and setting - we were suddenly tentative and lukewarm. When we saw previews, we were even more shaken. This second season didn't feel like the "True Detective" we knew and loved at all. Hardcore fans were worried.

Then we watched the season premiere last week. I'll be the first to admit this, it was not holding my attention. Political corruption, in my opinion, is boring fodder for a police drama, let alone the amazing story that preceded this one. Vince Vaughn badly channeling Vincent D'Onofrio's baby-man Kingpin from Netflix's "Daredevil" did not help one bit. He is almost a joke at some points.

The rest of the cast appears to be not only too many but not quirky enough for my "True Detective" tastes. Colin Farrell's Ray Velcoro comes closest to what we expect from the show, but he does far too much reacting than acting for my tastes. Rachel McAdams barely registered on my radar, and Taylor Kitsch, who was brilliant as both John Carter and Gambit, yet criminally rousted by Hollywood, barely has anything to do either. Along with Vaughn, it felt like far too many, and far too uninteresting, characters.

Many of us fans may have decided to give up on the show after that first episode. If you did, don't. The show definitely got its vibe back last night with the second episode. And I have a feeling it's going to get even better.

Vince Vaughn got a bit more desperate and dangerous. Both McAdams and Kitsch became far more twisted and interesting. Nic Pizzolatto revealed his more familiar dark side, and they took care of that too many characters thing. If you checked out, check back in. This is going to be a wild ride.

And if you'd like a different view on the second season of "True Detective," check out my buddy Jim Knipp's recaps and reviews at Biff Bam Pop! right here.

Daredevil S01 E08: Shadows in the Glass

After a brief interlude with Stick and the seeming world of powers last time, episode eight welcomes us back to reality with the Kingpin. In a beautifully crafted sequence written by executive producer Steven S. DeKnight and directed by Stephen Surjik, the latter known for his work on "Burn Notice" and "Person of Interest," we watch Vincent D'Onofrio's Wilson Fisk in his morning routine. He awakens to the painting purchased in "Rabbit in a Snowstorm," makes breakfast, gets dressed, but still sees himself as an abused child in the mirror. No dialogue, but wonderfully shot, and so telling of his character, without a word spoken. I'll say it again. Beautiful.

We are introduced to young Wilson Fisk's New York via a wonderful sound-sculpture by the Rolling Stones' "Brown Sugar." I felt the time and the place. We meet the boy's family and see how he lived. Fisk's father, a failed politician, is played by "The Wire" veteran Domenick Lombardozzi, and there is another mention of Don Rigoletto, the Mafia boss who was replaced as a power broker by the Kingpin. In the comics, young Fisk was his bodyguard and eventually killed him. At some point in this series, someone, I forget who, remarks that Rigoletto retired, in pieces. The flashbacks to Fisk's past are a rich tapestry of old New York, and a tribute to DeKnight's filmmaking skills.

In the present as Matt is brought into Foggy and Karen fight against Union, Fisk is having difficulty controlling Nobu and The Hand. If we're all being honest here, since he started romancing Vanessa, Fisk has been having trouble keeping all of his legion of doom under control. This is a weak alliance at best, only held together by a strong leader. James Wesley wonders why Fisk even needs the Japanese after last episode. The casualness between Fisk and Wesley here is warm, unexpected, and disconcerting. What is their real relationship? Is it more than business?

The villains are on the move in this secret origin of the Kingpin episode. Madame Gao comes to Fisk with a warning about keeping control. The villains are restless, but who is she? Just a guess, but could she be some Iron Fist adversary that will carry to his series later next year? As long as we're speculating about the villains, I'm going to throw this out there. Perhaps Bob Gunton's Leland Owlsley is not the Owl as I have suggested. He keeps talking about his son, also named Leland. If he keeps acting the way he's acting, perhaps old Leland won't make it out of this alive, and young Leland returns for revenge, as The Owl.

Speaking of villains, we run across one (or one and a half) classic Daredevil foes from the hero's rogues gallery. Henching for Fisk, Melvin Potter has also created body armor for his boss, but as he fights Daredevil we get to see his wonderful workshop that includes not only the Gladiator armor, but the Stilt-Man suit as well. Comics fans know that Potter is the villain called Gladiator, a particularly nasty baddie with circular saw blades on his wrists, but in his civilian identity, a mild and special soul. I am psyched, hoping to see both of these villains before the series is out.

Like Skylar Gaertner as young Matt in the last episode, Cole Jenson as young Wilson Fisk is an amazing actor. He is the embodiment and verbalization of everything Vincent D'Onofrio demonstrates with gesture, facial expression, and silence. Truly a case of an inner child, and that is what the actor's portrayal has been all about. And now we know what the painting is all about. The wall of punishment, and we see what happened to Daddy Fisk. It's not pretty, it's not happy, but maybe, it's just. Now we'll have to see the rest of the story, how momma's boy became violent man-child.

There is an interesting parallel struck between the childhoods of Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk. Both men have violent fathers who have lasting effects on them as adults, but it's the way the violence is channeled and the lessons taught and learned that separate them. Still, in many ways, at least on the surface and in the big picture, they are the same. They both think they want to save the city, they both think they have to do it to redeem something their fathers failed at, and they are both very violent men.

Back in the present, Vanessa comes and is his support, his inspiration and his motivation. She becomes the mother to D'Onofrio's childlike Kingpin, and guides him to do what he needs to do - reveal himself, and go public... before Daredevil does. Our hero goes to Ben Urich too late. Yes, he's made an ally, but he's far too late. Daredevil has hit his own wall.

So many folks, following along with me as I review these episodes one at a time as I watch them, have pointed out "Stick" as their favorite of the bunch. I am going to have to buck the majority. "Shadows in the Glass," more the Kingpin's secret origin, is my favorite so far.

Daredevil S01 E05: World on Fire

We open on Matt moving Claire into his apartment. Moving is a tricky word as she has nothing. With the close of the last episode, Matt finally broke down the wall of blindness and confided in her, and now things between Daredevil and Night Nurse are a bit different. Downtime equals romance, and to paraphrase what someone wise once said about Captain Kirk and the ladies, ain't Matt something?

Claire asks Matt how he sees, and he complies, or tries. She asks him what he sees, and after some thought, answers with the title of this episode, "a world on fire." However true, appropriate, or literal and prophetic that may be, it signals a new beginning for the hero. Attached, no matter how casually, he no longer has nothing to lose. Matt has to be careful, or the world soon will be on fire.

Vincent D'Onofrio is emerging slowly but prominently in his role as Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin. We got a taste of his brutality last episode, as well as his management skills. His manipulation of the Russians and eventual destruction of what was left is demonstrative, and when confronted by the rest of his underlings finally, it's a lesson learned.

My first encounter with the Kingpin was not just as a Spider-Man foe, but as one wildly animated by Ralph Bakshi in the 1967 cartoon series. This intimidating well dressed fat man crime boss was frighteningly brought to life with the same psychedelic acid-induced animation with which Bakshi brought us Infinata and Dimension 5, borrowed from "Rocket Robin Hood." It was positively terrifying.

When I next encountered the Kingpin, it was in the telemovie "Trial of the Incredible Hulk," an odd pilot/spin-off for Daredevil as played by Rex Smith. Folks who've complained about the Ben Affleck Daredevil, and the first Netflix costume need to see this relic. Played by John Rhys-Davies of Raiders of the Lost Ark and "Sliders," this was a less than satisfactory Kingpin.

After that I began to see the character in comics, cartoons, and role-playing games more. Up until that time, other than Avengers, or an occasional Defenders, I didn't read many Marvel Comics so he escaped my notice. I was always puzzled however why he became a Daredevil enemy rather than Spider-Man who he had originally opposed. I mean didn't Daredevil already have a manipulative crime boss type villain in his rogues gallery? Yeah, I'm talking about The Owl.

Perhaps that is why I was thrilled to see Leland Owlsley among Kingpin's underbosses in this series. Maybe, just maybe, and I don't know yet as I'm reviewing these episodes as I watch as opposed to doing it after I've seen the whole series, but maybe he will emerge as a villain like his comics counterpart. Already, I have enjoyed Bob Gunton's performance with his owl-like gestures and facial expressions. Gunton is a great character actor, memorable from Shawshank Redemption and Evita on Broadway among others.

All that said, I can see why showrunners might shy away from the Owl as he is in the comics. A mutant with birdlike powers, motifs, and mannerisms might be too cartoonish, although Robin Lord Taylor seems to be doing quite well as the Penguin on "Gotham" doing much the same schtick. As for the comics, I suppose matching Daredevil, whose title at the time had flagging sales, with Spider-Man villain the Kingpin probably made better financial sense, even the Owl would agree with that.

The cinematography and direction continue to amaze. The brief scene in the cab as Gao's man sings in Mandarin and the camera moves slowly 360 degrees is pure brilliance. Fisk continues to romance Vanessa, and Foggy and Karen help the downtrodden and get to know each other better, while the Russians, working on fuzzy planted information from our friend Turk, declare war on the Kingpin and Daredevil.

They all play into the Kingpin's hands, right into the cliffhanger with the police surrounding Daredevil standing over the remaining Russian brother, as the city burns...

Daredevil S01 E04: In the Blood

Daredevil has not been making friends with the Russians. This episode we get a bit of background on the Ranskahov brothers, Anatoly and Vladimir, who run the human trafficking (and apparently gypsy cabs as well) in Hell's Kitchen. Daredevil has been hitting them hard, but I think now, they hit back hard. For their sakes, let's hope they pick their targets carefully.

Previous threads from the personal war against the Russians haven't been forgotten. Claire Temple is still playing Night Nurse from hiding on her cat-sitting job, and doing impromptu therapy, both physical and emotional, with our hero. Again, character chemistry is the name of the game here at "Daredevil."

The brothers Ranskahov, even though gaining Prohaska's holdings from "Rabbit in a Snowstorm," are still coming up short for their employer. Wesley mocks them openly, expressing disappointment from Madame Gao in drugs and Mr. Nobu, who some on the interwebs has suggested is affiliated with The Hand. Wesley requires they solve their masked vigilante problem, after all, it's not like he's got an iron suit or a magic hammer. Nice. The brothers are less than accommodating, pushing their luck. This could be bad for them, and is.

In the background, Karen Page fills time continuing to beat that United Allied dead horse, and is trying to convince Ben Urich to take the case. And I know Foggy Nelson exists solely as comic relief, but here, in this excellent show, his brief appearance in this episode seems a real waste of Elden Henson, especially when we've seen how good he can be in this series. Actually in this case and this episode, it's also a waste of the actors playing Karen and Ben as well.

Vincent D'Onofrio is quite intriguing as the Kingpin. One watches him as one might a new baby in a non-baby-safe house, or a feral cat rescued from the rain to one's dry home. He is subtle and fidgety, like a shy schoolboy asking the art dealer Vanessa (in the comics, his wife) out to dinner, yet the whole time he carries an air of menace, as if ready to explode at any second.

At dinner, D'Onofrio reveals slowly more of his motive, his backstory, if you will. He is charming, but his facial reactions betray the opposite. If Vanessa had any sense, she would run, run and not look back. All this, Vincent D'Onofrio does almost wordlessly. His is a performance to watch, amongst many. Let me say right here, right now, if the Emmys ignore "Daredevil," we will know who the real criminals are.

As for the Russians? Do not mess with the Kingpin. Ever. We know the face of true evil when Wilson Fisk beats Anatoly to death in the episode's brutal last moments. One could assume the Russians will fall in line now.

And mainstream action? We already know this show has some of the best action scenes ever filmed for TV. The dark sequence where Daredevil saves Night Nurse, neither going under those names yet, is beautiful, the master stroke of geniuses who know what fight scenes and action should be about. Love it, and can't wait for more.

Daredevil S01 E03: Rabbit in a Snowstorm

Turk Barrett, or just plain Turk, is not just a fixture in the Daredevil mythos, but also in Marvel Comics New York. He is the underworld everyman, every bad guy default henchman, the street tough with connections - but who ultimately posed no threat. He's worked for the Kingpin, the original Fixer, and Mister Fear among others, stolen and worn super-villain armors, and fought the likes of Iron Man, the Punisher, the Black Panther, Night Thrasher, and Daredevil.

My first exposure to the character was in the first Marvel Super Heroes role-playing game from TSR back in the eighties. The game did not have metal figures to place on combat maps like many RPGs of the time, instead there were cardboard fold-ups. There were well over one hundred of them, depicting the major super heroes and super-villains of the Marvel Universe, and Turk was one of them. Yeah, apparently he was that important.

The first time we see Daredevil in action in episode one, "Into the Ring," Turk is there, as a matter of fact, he's the guy taking the biggest beating. Here, as in the comics, 'crime does not pay' is a saying that Turk never remembers. At the end of that episode, we see him getting a second chance selling guns, and that's where we find him here, selling his guns. One of them falls into the hands of an assassin set to throw the Russians into chaos.

There are lots of connections in this episode, and Turk is really the least of them. Matt takes a moment to talk to the priest from the first episode outside the St. Agnes church. His name is Father Lantom, who has appeared in the Runaways comic, and the church is the same one where Skye was found as a child in "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." It is all connected.

Also more important than Turk, or Lantom or St. Agnes, is the first appearance of reporter Ben Urich. The character has switched races, much like Heimdall in Thor, and also switched allegiances of his profession. Because of the whole Marvel/Sony/Spider-Man thing, Urich can't actually work for the Daily Bugle here on "Daredevil," but has to write for the New York Bulletin instead. That's okay though, that's easier to deal with than Ant-Man and the Wasp not being in the Avengers at least…

Vondie Curtis-Hall is no Joe Pantliano (from the Dardevil movie) in the role of Urich, but he is a pro, a great character actor that folks most likely know from "Chicago Hope." His wife is the brilliant Kasi Lemmons, the director of The Caveman's Valentine, Talk to Me, and one of my absolute favorite films, Eve's Bayou. His portrayal lends a very cool and very real vibe to the show that reminded me in a good way to "The Wire." Yes, I said it, "The Wire."

In the comics, Ben Urich works frequently with Daredevil, Spider-Man, and the Punisher, and his investigations have exposed the identities of several heroes and villains, Daredevil and The Kingpin among them. Vondie Curtis-Hall kicks up the quality of this character, and I'm looking forward to more of him in this series. I feel for him, and his ailing wife. My heart breaks as a writer knowing that his wife's hospital care are definitely aiding his decision between his passion for journalism and keeping his job. Writers need to follow their bliss, to quote Joseph Campbell, but Urich is chained by his hard reality.

Much of the episode revolves around Wesley hiring Nelson and Murdock after an assassin murders Prohaska in a bowling alley with one of Turk's guns. It's a test. Let's see what they're made of, what they can do, if they are dangerous - it's what the big bad is thinking. Maybe we'll need a lawyer sooner or later. Karen is shuffled off to a subplot where she's asked to sign off on not talking about what Union Allied tried to do but can't. There's more to this, and her, than meets the eye.

There is a very nice juicy scene between Wesley and Leland Owsley. I can see the beginnings of The Owl here, his mannerisms, etc. This could be very very good if they go in that direction. With a second season just announced, would they use The Owl as a baddie, or go right to Elektra? I suppose it's sadly unlikely. The Owl became a forgotten character, as opposed to daredevil arch-foe when Frank Miller, Kingpin, Elektra, and Bullseye all took center stage. We Silver Age Marvel Comics readers can dream though, can't we?

There is great use of Matt's powers while trailing Wesley and in the courtroom later. There's precious little fighting or even Daredevil in this episode, but everything else is so good one doesn't notice. That said, I hope that what we have seen the past two episodes - the "Kung Fu" move of only having action in the last five minutes - will not become the pattern.

Speaking of endings, we not only finally get a name for our big bad, Wilson Fisk, but we see Vincent D'Onofrio's Kingpin as well. We see him admiring a stark white painting, where we get the title of this episode, and beginning his romance with a woman, who in the comics will become his wife. D'Onofrio's Fisk is childlike, with a sense of menace, frightening indeed. I think I am going to dig him very much...

Daredevil S01 E01: Into the Ring

I'm not a big Daredevil guy. I know, a lot of you are thinking that's blasphemous. The truth is I'm also not a big Frank Miller fan. And while I acknowledge he did good work on the character, I can never really get past the idea of why a comics creator who so clearly hates superheroes would ever want to work in superhero comics.

My Daredevil is the first one I encountered - the swashbuckling superhero who partnered with the Black Widow and protected swinging San Francisco. Yeah, I know, that was a loooong time ago. I also liked the Ben Affleck Daredevil film, so there you go. At least I didn't say I liked the Rex Smith version.

All that said, when I first heard about the Netflix "Daredevil" series, I was immediately enthralled as it had Steven S. DeKnight as one of the showrunners. DeKnight is the man. Over on Starz, for several seasons, and throughout a tragedy and a recasting, he produced "Spartacus," perhaps one of the most brutal, dynamic, and spellbinding shows I've ever seen. If anyone could do Daredevil justice, it would be him. After watching the first episode, it's all true.

Unlike other entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this series takes place in Hell's Kitchen, just several blocks of one of the poorer sections of New York City. Daredevil exists in the same universe as the Avengers, but he's not going globetrotting, fighting gods, or headed to space, but he is solidly here. Hell's Kitchen has cheap rents and is being rebuilt after the Battle of New York, courtesy of the Avengers. Simple cause and effect. This is a world where super powers exist, but they do not really touch this corner of the Universe.

Charlie Cox, who was one of the best parts of HBO's "Boardwalk Empire," is cast in the dual role of Matt Murdock and Daredevil, far exceeds expectations. It is one thing to look at him, look at his body of work, and then actually watch him on the screen as the blind fury. He plays both roles splendidly. And his chemistry with Elden Henson's Foggy Nelson is one of the best things about the show, as well it should be. Henson's acting resume is impressive, and I'm delighted to see him here.

The episode opens with what else, the essential origin of Daredevil, a young Matt Murdock in an accident where radioactive materials get in his eyes. He goes blind, but develops a 'radar sense' that allows him a type of seeing similar to a hyper-advanced bat, through sound bouncing off objects. Yes, it's very hokey, but we're also talking Stan Lee in the Silver Age of comics. This is how they rolled back then. And thus he becomes Matt Murdock, Good Samaritan lawyer by day, masked vigilante Daredevil by night.

Our second scene is pure Miller, who introduced the religious aspect to the character. Matt is in a confessional, giving viewers a quick rundown on his dad, boxer Battlin' Jack Murdock. Did everyone else catch the Easter egg with Crusher Creel, AKA the Absorbing Man? But the big point of the confession was that Matt is there to ask forgiveness for not what he has done, but for what he's about to do.

What follows next is what I was so excited about when I heard McKnight was doing Daredevil - the potential of the fight scenes. As our hero takes down the baddies to stop a slave trade, there are no swords or animation as in "Spartacus," but the action sequence is amazing. This, along with the chemistry of the actors, will be the highlight of the series. And major props to Philip Silvera, the fight coordinator, this is all his prize.

A word or two about the costume. While we know that eventually we will get the traditional red outfit, it's even heavily hinted at in the bloody animation credits sequence, this black thing is what we start with. I didn't mind it, this cross between Rex Smith's outfit and the one from The Man Without Fear. The black with the red highlights works, even in the rain, I just miss the horns.

Action series, superhero series, check, check, but what we really have is a crime drama. That where Karen Page enters the equation. Karen goes back to the old days of Daredevil, and was unfortunately destroyed during the Miller era (I've been told it was Kevin Smith who did the damage, but by that time, because of Miller, I was no longer reading). Her casting, in the firm of actress Deborah Ann Woll, from "True Blood," was one of the few things about this series I was worried about. I needn't have worried, she's perfect.

The thrust of the episode involves a conspiracy Karen stumbled over to rebuild Hell's Kitchen after the Chitauri invasion and how everyone wants a piece of the pie, but it goes deeper. Though unseen, except through his harbinger Wesley, deliciously played by Tobey Leonard Moore, the real villain here is the Kingpin. Wilson Fisk will be played by Vincent D'onofrio, who has promised his will be the definitive version of the character.

A rooftop meeting of Kingpin's pseudo-Legion of Doom introduces us to the lesser villains who will be challenging Daredevil this season. Madam Gao and Leland Owlsley (The Owl!) stand out. There is definitive sense of evil to the unseen Kingpin, especially in the montage scenes toward the end of the episode. He does not play, and you do not mess with him. Of course Daredevil has made himself a serious enemy.