While the films of the MCU have been reaping the benefits of a well fleshed out mythos and the interconnectivity of several self sustaining mythologies to regularly solid quality standards and financial success, the television shows never really came into their own until Netflix got involved with the franchise in 2015.
The ABC Network productions have been fairly rocky and time will tell if “Cloak and Dagger” can carve out a new niche in the Marvel Audience on the teen-centric Freeform Network but this weekend, the groundwork begun by the first season of “Daredevil” comes to fruition.
Since I’ve had the misfortune of being unable to cover the previous entries in a timely fashion, now would probably be as good a time as any to run down where I stand on them up to this point, if for no other purposes than to make the leg work of reviewing an entire season of a show culminating the events of 4 distinctly separate shows a tad bit clearer by providing context for my own entry.
These aren’t exactly detailed or deep, just a recap for the records of how I’ve felt about Marvel’s more successful foray into live action television.
Daredevil (Season 1)
The best and worst thing about the season is that it essentially comes together like an R rated telling of Christopher Nolan’s interpretation of “Batman.” The downside to this is that the story it tells is kind of superhero 101, adhering to the tropes of tradition to a t. The focus on highlighting the more realistic grit and ugliness of the criminal underground that he fights also shafts a bit of the more fantastical sides to the character and his world that are central to his narrative.
On a more positive note however, that sensibility applied to the story makes for a compelling and intimate narrative that packs far deeper longer lasting impact than the 2 hour films.
The benefits of the television format have set the stage for livelier setting and richer character development than Hollywood has generally managed to tackle these stories with and if you ever needed a true argument regarding the merits of the television format regarding the adaptation of this material being comparable to film, look no further than the Vincent D’nofrio’s Kingpin, the best villain bar none of a self proclaimed “cinematic” universe.
While the season generally could have leaned a bit more on its courtroom drama aspect to spice up the slower portions of the show, as well as a proper evolution into the final costume rather than an instance of dramatic convenience dictating its implementation, the show’s thoughtful approach as ostensibly an 11 hour movie provide a tight narrative with a strong payoff, putting a unique spin on a tried and true premise.
Daredevil (Season 2)
In many ways, the sophomore outing of “Daredevil” is a polar
opposite of its inaugural season.
Rather than focus on a single grounded story arc, the season
instead follows Matt’s efforts to balance his life in the pursuit of several
different interconnected plot threads of escalating threat to his city.
The results of this shift in focus that I theorize was an
effort to stand more independently from the critically acclaimed first season,
unfortunately leads to a less impactful and more fractured narrative that feels
more like a backdoor pilot to a “Punisher” spin-off series.
While Jon Bernthal’s rendition of Frank Castle is generally
excellent, the feeling of his presence being out of place is far too inescapable
and damaging by the end of the season.
Yet for all of the heavier flaws of the season, I personally
enjoyed more than the first season.
Despite the issues with Punisher feeling like an imposing
show stealer for a show that asked him to pinch hit, the moral dilemmas that he
puts Matt through serve as an excellent highlight to Daredevil as a hero
specifically because as brutal as he gets, he does restrain himself from a
territory that takes things too far beyond his place.
Charlie Cox is granted more to work with and goes a long way
with it, as the subsequent trials that he has to endure test his will as both a
hero and a human being clearly strangling himself in a web of self destruction
but is beginning to struggle with the fact that he may prefer the chaos he’s
attempted to resist embracing rather than reach out to the people that can help
him.
Season 2 is a more unapologetic and unflinching character
study of a man with the drive, perspective and mental instability to serve as a
fully fledged vigilante, reaching the logical extremes of how impossible
reconciling identities in practicing law and breaking it is, along with a
heaping helping of all of the more mystical and conspiratorial elements of the
source material that were left rather sanitized by season 1.
The follow up to “Daredevil’s” premiere season has plenty of
sloppiness and ultimately isn’t for everyone but on the merits of what it
clearly did manage to achieve, it reaches higher highs than the first season
ever managed even if so at the expense of consistency.
Jessica Jones
Objectively speaking, “Jessica Jones” is probably the single
best thing that “Marvel” has ever produced.
The noir infused mystery behind a private investigator’s
attempt to expose a sociopath capable of compelling human being to perform his
will is easily the most explicit and bold piece of media that the “Marvel
Cinematic Universe” has ever produced and when it isn’t using its mystery to
tactfully discuss issues regarding societal perceptions of rape, responsibility
for our actions, the effects of mental illness, and the unspoken fragility of
familial bonds, it’s a tense emotional roller coaster that may damn well leave
you feeling as though you have a stomach ulcer by episode 10.
There’s almost nothing else like it in the genre, television
or otherwise, and I have a hard time believing that there ever will be again.
A bit of that boldness may however come back to bite it in
the ass however when you try to embrace it on a more personal level. Kristen
Ritter’s general callousness serves a strong purpose in driving the series and
its themes forward. It can however be fairly grating when brought up in
contrast to who the titular character was before her run in with the Purple Man,
as there’s an undeniable sense of lost impact in learning that she seemed to
pretty much be always cynical and self destructive on some level, bringing into
question exactly what the impact on her his meddling was, substantial as it had
to have been.
“Jessica Jones’” more problematic issues stem in a
substantial anti-climax to its problem at hand, as the last 30% of the series
basically throws away the progress of the show up to that point in a cruel and
soul shattering twist that kind of leaves you hollowly asking what the point of
the series was, and not in a good way.
None of these are exactly crippling flaws that hurt the
shows overall effect but its ambitions do put in a bit of a weird place that
make it one of the less rewatchable entries of the “MCU.” This isn’t inherently
a bad thing as the show has a bit of a grander statement to make beyond the “fun”
aspects of the genre that it represents but the hefty subject matter and
powerful themes do put “Jessica Jones” in that awkward position of excellent
piece of storytelling that I have little desire to simply rewatch for the sake
of rewatching.
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