DAREDEVIL: BORN AGAIN season two is, unsurprisingly, the follow up to Daredevil: Born Again season one. It is also the distant sequel to the original Netflix Daredevil series that was three seasons of incredible television marred by too many spin-offs. Season One had a lot of ups and downs but I actually really liked the stand alones as I wanted Daredevil to do more things like foil bank robberies or fight serial killers.
The premise is that Kingpin of Crime, Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio), has become Mayor of New York City. But unlike most mayors, he’s not concerned with city ordinances but opening a secret smuggling port as well as enforcing martial law on the city in order to fight vigilantism. Matt Murdoch (Charlie Cox) and Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll) have been forced underground as a result. Meanwhile, Bullseye (Wilson Bethel) is free and carrying out a revenge scheme against Fisk and his wife, Vanessa (Ayelet Zurer).
Honestly, I have to say this season is about the same level as the previous one in terms of enjoyment. It’s better in some ways and worse in others. Part of this is the fact that the story drags in places due to the fact that Matt doesn’t have a plan for stopping Fisk other than hoping to turn the public against him. Karen would prefer to just kill Wilson and we’ve reached the point where Matt’s “if we do that, we’ll be just like him” rings hollow.
The best part of the season is the flashback episode to Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson) and Matt debating ethics, reminding us how essential the former was to the previous incarnation of the show. I also enjoyed when the heroes make an assault on a secret prison where dozens of Americans are wrongly imprisoned. You can guess my politics. There’s some great moments with Bullseye, Jessica Jones (Kristen Ritter), and Fisk.
However, so much of the story seems to lack tension. The Anti-Vigilante Task Force seem about as effective as Stormtroopers and every encounter with superheroes ends up being completely one-sided. Kingpin really needed his own version of Bullseye or for the cops to not be such complete losers. I don’t want them to be portrayed as badasses but our heroes just smash through them like bowling pins. I also feel like the ending lacks justice and seems to just continue a plotline that has already had multiple seasons to deal with.
In conclusion, Daredevil: Born Again season two has its ups and downs. It’s still a solidly acted and enjoyable superhero show that is among the best things Disney has produced for the Marvel Cinematic Universe since Endgame. If they revive the Defenders and go more street level for future projects then I certainly am not going to complain.
