LogFAQs > #970790003

Daredevil (Season 1)
Release Date: April 10, 2015
Stand-Out Character: Daredevil aka Matthew Murdock (played by Charlie Cox)
Best Scene: The Hallway Fight (Episode 2)

There's something truly special about Daredevil's season 1. It kicks off the Netflix series in a huge way and was such a departure from the rest of the MCU, and I positively love every bit of it, especially as a huge Daredevil fan before this.

God, where to start? This show is just so perfectly woven together. Everything is so meticulously planned and paced out and every step feels so distinct. It's positively wonderful watching this and seeing how every piece falls together to the conclusion. It's a lot of episodes, so I can't promise to discuss too much at length. But let me just poke at our title character a bit.

Matthew Murdock played by Charlie Cox is perfect in this. I can't gush enough about how endearing Murdock is here. He wants to do what's right. He's tortured by it, but he knows he needs to push forward because everything is awful, but he needs to have balance to stop himself from going too far. And he helps you understand the gravity of it all.

What's so damn good about this is how we get to see each part of Murdock's backstory here too. They give us a focus on his father, which is so integral to his character. And then on Stick. Then a little bit of his time in college with Foggy. And it really explores Murdock so well too and manages to also fit it in with the present story.

And god, Elden Henson's Foggy Nelson is just wonderful too. What a charming son of a bitch you can't help but enjoy at every moment of the story. Absolutely love Foggy in this series, and he provides a ton of much needed comedy and heart.

Karen Page, played by Deborah Ann Woll, also manages to become another interesting part of this story. She investigates this with Ben Urich, played by Vondie Curtis-Hall. And their dynamic is just tremendous. She is vulnerable, but brave, and she wants to see justice be had after she was almost made a victim. And Ben Urich is trying to help her along as a wise mentor who knows the limitations of his job, and how dangerous it is. Ben Urich is such a wonderful part of the story too and really sends you over the edge to want to see Fisk get his.

Which, hey! Let's talk about how Kingpin aka Wilson Fisk, played by Vicent D'Onofrio, is positively amazing as a villain. He's nuanced, he has a very eccentric personality, and you can understand his twisted mind just enough to see the logic in it all. But where he's most strong is in how he is a god damn force. He's smart, but his selfishness is his downfall. He has plans on plans on plans and always seems ahead of the heroes, only to be taken down by his own arrogance in the end. But my god, he's so perfect in this. I almost gave the stand-out scene to Wilson Fisk & The Car Door, or Fisk Confronting Urich.

But what makes Kingpin so wonderful is how he's surrounded by so many wonderful villains. James Wesley, by Toby Leonard Moore, is his right hand and honestly I forgot how great he was. He's such a professional and seems like he truly, honestly cares about Fisk. His every scene is so tense and he's an awesome lackey. I definitely miss his presence in the later seasons.

Leland Owlsley is someone I remember being one of my favorite characters, played by Bob Gunton. Every time he's in a scene he chews that scenary and stands out by being the biggest ornery prick you've ever seen. He's nothing like The Owl in the comics but who honestly cares. Leland is so damn good, and if we're being honest, he's the reason that Kingpin's entire empire falls which I forgot about. If it weren't for him, Kingpin probably gets away with everything. And if Kingpin just cut his losses instead of getting his revenge on Leland's life, he would have been able to get out of this. Leland rules and I greatly enjoyed him throughout the series.

Nobu and Madame Gao are also great. Nobu is a simple character, but he's memorable for being our first introduction to The Hand, and for probably taking Matthew closest to death. Madame Gao is just... such a terrible, awful person who prides herself on seeming measured and calm. But when she sees that it's all over for her, she's a contrast to Owlsley and Fisk. She cuts her losses after failing to kill Vanessa and Daredevil taking out her operation. The Russians are also great. The episode where Matthew is trying to get information from the surviving one is really memorable to me. Just so chilling.

Vanessa, played by Ayelet Zurer, is also so good in her role too. She falls for Wilson Fisk despite him being truly awful and she manages to try balancing his fury and eccentric lifestyle and convincing him to branch out, which ends up being Fisk's downfall. He falls for her, and their love is pure, and that's just something he can't have in his line of work.

Not a villain, but Claire Temple by Rosario Dawson is great as well. Her scenes with Murdock early on are just perfect for the tone and showing us Murdock's kindness and vulnerableness. Without her, it's a lot harder to see Matthew Murdock, the guy behind the mask. It also shows the dangers of getting involved in this very well.

I need to mention Scott Glenn too, who plays Stick. I love this actor in everything he's in, but Stick in this series is so magnetic. Just a really special casting and everything he adds to his few episodes is awesome. A great character all around.

Turk also exists, and I enjoy seeing him. Bless Turk.

The action in the show is also top notch. All of the fights are brutal, gritty, and you feel every impact of them. They don't hold back and they are just intense as all hell. The choreography is off the chain.

I could talk for a while about it all, but I'll stop here. Daredevil Season 1 is easily the best of any of Marvel's TV shows, and I don't know that it will ever be topped. It just gave us something so new and special for the character and I'll always cherish that. I'm hoping they can capture some of that magic for the next series.