Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 Episode 1 Review

Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 Episode 1 Review

Daredevil: Born Again is back! Season two’s premiere episode premiered last night and I wanted to talk about it. What do I think about this episode? Is it any good? Let’s talk about it!

The Good

Right out of the gate, it’s great to be back in this world with these characters once again. The reason why the original Netflix show was so successful was because they crafted a great set of characters that you like. Some of the best moments in that show were scenes of the characters talking, not the incredible stunt work. When you get to the later seasons you’re able to just enjoy these characters and the dynamics with each other. What’s fun about this episode is you get Matt Murdock and Karen Page together which is something we haven’t seen since season 3 of the Netflix season. Given the plot of Daredevil: Born Again season 1 and what happened it meant that Matt and Karen were separated for the season. From the very beginning of this episode we get Matt and Karen together and it’s refreshing. It’s a dynamic that we missed in the previous season that I’m glad is back in this season, or at least in the first episode. Charlie Cox and Deborah Ann Woll have great chemistry with one another. We also get more of the great Vincent D’Onforio as Kingpin. He’s always great as this character and seeing him as the mayor and knowing that he has evil business hiding up his sleeves is always fun to watch and wondering what he’s going to be doing for the rest of the season. You also get Matthew Lillard as a new character in here, Mr. Charles. Lillard is great at playing these creepy characters that have this certain charm about them. I’m very intrigued to see where they go with his character later on in the season. 

Another thing this episode does really well is make you curious as to what’s going to happen next in the season. Like I just mentioned they set up a lot with Matthew Lillard’s character that makes me want to see where they’re going with it. But there’s a number of other things that make me curious. There’s one character in the episode who’s closely tied to Kingpin who drops a name that MCU fans will be familiar with. It’s very subtle, the episode doesn’t acknowledge it. But it makes the audience go “where’s this going?”. I of course don’t know where this season is going and how it’s going to tie into other MCU projects but it makes me curious and it makes me want to see the next episode. Even the final cliffhanger and where the episode ends is another moment that makes audiences and fans excited for the next episode. This whole bit about making me curious for the future of the season is probably the biggest positive I can give the episode. Because, a season’s job, in particular the premiere’s job is to get the audience excited for what’s next. This episode 100% did that with so many things that I noticed that made me very curious as to where it’s going. 

The Daredevil tv show has always been very grounded in its tone and vibe. The threats have been very grounded and not super fantastical. With this season they seem to find a way to ground it even more in reality. Some of the early reactions to the season were saying that the season feels very relevant in today’s world and politics. Pretty early on in the episode you get that feeling and connection as to how this movie connects to what’s going on in the real world. I’m very curious as to where they’re going with this. With it tackling subject matter so closely connected to ICE, there’s a thin line that they need to balance in order to make it work. I trust these writers and with what they’ve given us thus far, I don’t have reason to be concerned about them getting too preachy with it. I think there’s something very interesting that this show is doing by touching on subject matter that’s very real to today’s audience but tackling it in a fictional show but still in a way that makes sense. 

Finally, I like that with this episode it feels like it was made from a unified voice and vision. If you don’t know, the first season of Daredevil: Born Again had a lot of production troubles and reshoots being done that made for a good season of television that was messy along the way. With this season, it was 100% written by the guys that redid the last two episodes which were the best episodes of the season. We got more of the darker more mature tone that we all loved about the Netflix show to begin with. This episode and season are from those guys and you feel that with the tone. It’s much more inline with the Netflix show which is the version that we all fill in love with. It’s also refreshing to get a MCU project that feels like it’s from one unified vision and not a corporate product that the top people at Disney are mandating the producers to do. 

The Bad

The big issue with the episode is I didn’t care about any of the side characters. When the show wasn’t focused on Daredevil, Kingpin, or Karen the episode didn’t really interest me. I mentioned earlier that the show worked best when it was focused on the character which is true but the character work for the new character hasn’t been as good. I think that’s because they were introduced in a weaker season so they didn’t have the character work that Daredevil, Karen, or Foggy had that made them great characters. The new side characters don’t have the charm or magic that Karen and Foggy had. The more time we spend with these new characters the more I think the Foggy sized hole grows because you miss him, because he had a spark about him that’s not present with these new characters. 

Also, the Daredevil tv shows have been known for their great action that’s choreographed so well. I found this episode to be really light on action. The episode is bookended by action sequences but that’s really nothing in the middle. I get that this is a setup episode and we’re getting more action throughout the season. But when you’re watching a show that’s so known for the action and it doesn’t deliver on that, it’s disappointing and you want more. The two action scenes that we got are very cool and exciting, but I wish they put one more in the middle to make it a bit more exciting. 

Final Thoughts: Daredevil: Born Again season 2 has started off with a solid episode. It’s not a great episode, I don’t see this being one of the best episodes of the season. But for what it is and what it’s trying to do, it’s a solid good time. I just loved getting to spend time with these characters, it’s especially great to get more of Karen in this episode. Overall, the episode made me intrigued and curious for what’s to come and what we can expect from the season as a whole.