You Know He’s Blind, Right?

It’s been a long time since I watched the NetflixOriginally started as a disc-by-mail service, Netflix has grown to be one of the largest media companies in the world (and one of the most valued internet companies as well). With a constant slate of new internet streaming-based programming that updates all the time, Netflix has redefined what it means to watch TV and films (as well as how to do it). Daredevil. I actually hadn’t revisited the original series since it first debuted on the streamer all the way back in 2015. At the time it was pitched as the first step in an eventual television cinematic universe, a little pocket of the greater Marvel Cinematic UniverseWhen it first began in 2008 with a little film called Iron Man no one suspected the empire that would follow. Superhero movies in the past, especially those not featuring either Batman or Superman, were usually terrible. And yet, Iron Man would lead to a long series of successful films, launching the most successful cinema brand in history: the Marvel Cinematic Universe. that was devoted to street-level heroes waging their own battles against threats that weren’t big enough to rate the attention of the AvengersMarvel's answer to DC's Justice League, this team features many of Marvel's biggest superheroes working together to protect the world and avenge its evils.. The proposal from the streamer was clear: Daredevil would come first and, assuming it was successful, it would be followed by three other shows: Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and then Iron Fist, all so they could crossover in their own event, The Defenders.

Of course, while that all eventually did happen, the end result wasn’t anywhere near as successful as The Avengers was back in 2012. Marvel Television’s ambitions were there, but a combination of executive meddling, poor decisions, and bad writing sank one of the shows, Iron Fist, as well as The Defenders crossover, and the whole affair eventually petered out when Netflix and Marvel Television couldn’t agree on terms for further seasons.

But that doesn’t mean that everything that came out of this universe was bad. Daredevil was a standout series and even after it was canceled fans were still clamoring for more, to the point that lead actor Charlie Cox was brought back as the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen in a few MCU projects, all culminating in a full revival, Daredevil: Born Again, that just saw its second season earlier this year. And that season reintroduced Krysten Ritter’s Jones and Mike Colter’s Cage, showing that the whole Netflix-verse was getting revived and brought into the MCU proper. As such, let’s go back to the beginning and see how it all began.

It starts with Matt Murdock (Cox), a blind lawyer working in Hell Kitchen, NYC, with his best friend and fellow lawyer, Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson). Having just left a big-time law firm so they can make it on their own, fighting the good fight for the little guy, the two just rented a bit of office space. Just in time to as they get put on the case of a woman accused of murder despite the fact that she swears, up and down, she didn’t commit the crime. The woman, Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll), woke up in her apartment with a bloody knife in her hand and her dead co-worker next to her.

Thankfully Matt believes her, and he gets Foggy on board to represent her. But her case is just the tip of the iceberg as there’s more going on behind the scenes, with dirty cops and dirty lawyers, all fed by a crime syndicate pulling all the strings. And behind all of that, one man, a shadowy figure who says they have New York’s best interests at heart, but who seems to want power all for themselves. Against a man like that, a Kingpin (Vincent D'Onofrio), you need someone that can work from the shadows and fight against the evil and corruption. You need a hero: the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen.

First debuting on April 10, 2015 (as a full season release, which was and is Netflix’s way), Daredevil was both an essential new part of the MCU but also a very specific answer to and strike against it. Unlike the bright and shiny superheroes of the movie universe, Netflix’s Daredevil was dark, bloody, and violent. It saw what the main MCU was doing and said, “but we’re on Netflix, and we don’t have Kevin Feige in charge, so we can do what we want.” And it did, for better and worse (although mostly better in this first season).

The best part of the series, no doubt, are its actors. The central trio of Cox, Henson, and Woll are great, bringing heart and vitality to the series. All three sell you on this little found family working to save the city from a corrupting influence holding all the cards. Matt’s need for justice, Foggy’s humor, and Karen’s heart make you care about the trio, getting you invested in their adventures as they try to fight against Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin trying to take over the city. Without these three, the series wouldn’t work at all.

Of course, the standout of the trio is Cox. The actor, who can see, plays the blind actor so very well. It’s honestly impressive just how he commits to playing blind, which is no easy feat. He has the heart and charisma needed to power the double role of Matt and the Devil, all while rising to the challenge of playing a blind person as convincingly as possible. It was a performance so good that he won a Helen Keller Achievement Award for his role by the American Foundation for the Blind. And when you compare it to a performance such as Ben Affleck’s in the inferior 2003 Daredevil film, the difference is practically night and day.

The series, meanwhile, also brings it when it comes to the action. This is an action-packed series filled with a ton of solid fights and even more impressive stunts. There’s a really stunning brawl early in the series, a one-shot fight between Matt (in his Devil guise) fighting against a whole pack of Russians, and it’s the scene you show anyone to illustrate just how hard hitting, bloody, and impressive the series was. And every episode had at least one good brawl like this, if not more. Daredevil delivered on its action promises.

If anything worked against the series, though, it was its length. Going back and watching the series again I did realize that the show got just a little slow around its middle section. It was never truly bad, but they could have easily cut out two or three episodes from its thirteen episode run and that would have perked the show up a fair bit. Less padding, like an episode all about Stick, the man that trained Matt when he was a boy, wasn’t really needed, especially when it didn’t add much to the overall story of the season. Bits like this feel tacked on and drag the show down a bit.

Despite this, though, the first season really worked. When it was firing it went on all cylinders, propelling itself hard through its stories as it worked to get to the conclusion all the fans wanted: Matt, dressed up in his superhero suit, facing off against Fisk, the Kingpin, in a brawl for the city. And when it comes it’s all the viewers wanted and more. Two titans battling it out in a bone-crunching brawl for the ages. This was what Daredevil promised, and it absolutely delivered.

If only some of the shows that came after could have managed to deliver on their promises as well as this first season of Daredevil. Thankfully we get more of the good before we get sucked into the bad, so let’s enjoy this Netflix run while we can…