Daredevil - Season 2

I ended my review of season 1 with the remark that Daredevil was a real asset to the range of superhero series. When I got the email from Netflix informing me that the second season was available, I pictured myself lounging behind my iPad watching non-stop for the rest of the weekend.

And so it happened.

Daredevil, more so than other superheroes, is a vulnerable hero.

In the second season of Daredevil, we meet several new characters, like Frank Castle (Punisher) and Elektra. Furthermore, Wilson Fisk (Kingpin) and Claire have also joined in again. Matt (Charlie Cox) and Foggy still have their own law firm with Karen as their assistant. In the second season, tension does not only rise because of fights with the bad guys, but also because of pressure on the relationships between the main characters. Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal – The Walking Dead) plays an important part, and he eventually turns into the Punisher. The story of his character is the most important one in this season. Frank is a veteran whose wife and children have been murdered. Consumed by the need for revenge, Castle rages through Hell's Kitchen on a murderous rampage. So of course he comes into conflict with Daredevil. Eventually Castle gets captured and winds up in prison with Wilson Fisk. In the mean time, we become acquainted with Elektra: daughter of a rich businessman and Matt's former lover. Together with master Stick, Elektra and Matt are waging a war against a mysterious enemy. During the second season, Matt is being more and more forced to choose between his life as a superhero and his life as a lawyer and consequently between Foggy and Karen.

Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal – The Walking Dead) plays an important part, and he eventually turns into the Punisher. The story of his character is the most important one in this season.

Daredevil, more so than other superheroes, is a vulnerable hero. This fact is also apparent in this second season. Some fights he barely survives and also the ethical dilemmas of a superhero remains an important theme. In the first season, the introducing and building of the main characters was a big element of the show, but this changes in the second season. The focus is on the character building of Frank Castle and not so much on that of Elektra. This upsets the balance; the connection with the main characters is affected. After watching the second season, I feel I haven't learned more about who Matt and his friends are and what drives them. An American film journalist tweeted that he had really enjoyed the first season of the Punisher, and he wondered why that blind lawyer was on screen all the time. Of course he was joking, but it was still very true.

Of course this doesn't mean I didn't enjoy the second season of Daredevil and in my opinion there are enough threads to make the third season a successful one. Still, the series has lost some of its magic which arose in the first season. That is why I give the second season of Daredevil a 7+.