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Marvel / Netflix : Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist (The Defenders)


Jay

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  • 2 weeks later...

I started Daredevil yesterday. Two episodes in and I kinda like it so far. It seems much more focused and in tune than Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which is tonally all over the place, making it actually harder to get in to rather than more accessible.

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Daredevil 1x01 Into The Ring

Well, I liked it a lot! I enjoyed that we don't have to see a prolonged origin story for Matt; We see him get blinded as a boy, then cut to when he's already a masked vigilante. I'm sure we'll learn about his training and decision to do this later. We also just see him using his lie detector powers, which was explained fine by just showing him do it a few times.

I liked all the plot threads we were introduced to in the episode - the episode actually juggles quite a lot of different stories, and does it quite well I thought! We have: Matt and Foggy starting a law practice; Karen Page being setup for murder, then attempted to be murdered, or the files she has; a little bit of Matt's background; and the various criminal organizations interacting - and having their schemes interrupted by Matt.

It's nice to see Jessica from True Blood in another role. It was getting more and more ridiculous as the seasons went on to see her continually play a 16 year old vampire, when the actress was already 23 when she started the role :P I really liked Cox as Matt, plus the guy playing Foggy, and the various criminals were good too. In fact, there was a scene where a bunch of them meet on a rooftop that was very well done! Basically, its an exposition / character and story setup scene, but it was done in a compelling way throughout. Hopefully they have enough pizazz to carry through the whole season.

Another thing I really liked was that it was part of the MCU, but not forced in. Essential, the connection is tenous as best - as a result of the alien attack from the first Avengers movie, there's a lot of rebuilding in NYC to do, and various criminals want their piece of the pie. But it's kind of brilliant to examine that side of things! A tv show like this is the perfect place to do it; It's be pretty silly to cover that side of things in a billion dollar summer blockbuster. Like Agent Carter, I love how it enhances the MCU while not being directly connected to everything all the time. Pretty cool.

I also like the tone - it was violent, but it was fine that it was. I wouldn't want all the MCU movies to be like this, but part of what makes the MCU work so well is that their difference mini-franchises are always allowed to have their own style; It's the plot that connects them all together.

I'll probably watch this whole season before Friday, and start on Jessica Jones then!

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Daredevil 1x02 Cut Man

Wow! I wasn't expecting that. Normally a new show would do a few "formulaic' episodes to start a new season to get people hooked easily; I guess the beauty of the Netflix system is that you don't have to worry as much about that stuff. So we're already at an "unusual" episode. We don't have effectively our two main characters (Matt and Foggy) share a single scene this week, and the major plot of the pilot (the files Karen Page shouldn't have gotten) not really advancing at all. Instead we're introduced to Rosario Dawson's nurse character Claire, who seemed fairly willing to go along with a lot of Matt's ideas despite barely knowing him. I wonder if there's more to her than we've been told.

No Fisk this week at all, but there were two major scenes worth mentioning. First, the scene where Matt has the lackey tied up on the roof, needs information from him, and then... actually stabs him in the eye! I was like... wtf am I watching. Our hero is just stabbing dudes! That was weird, and then he chucked him off the roof! I know the guy was involved in a child sex ring and all, but can you imagine any MCU film character doing this?

Then, the hallway fight. I think this was supposed to be more amazing than I thought it was. I thought it wasn't a success for a few reasons. One, there were too many times when it was clear the people were doing rehearsed choreographed moves, just swining arms and ducking out of the way, etc - it didn't look off the cuff at all. And also, it made no sense; You got Matt at possibly his lowest physical condition we'll see him in, covered in cuts, collapsed lung, concussion, etc - basically taking down 6 dudes by himself. Then, those dudes actually had weapons on them and around the place, yet they kept going after him to punch him instead of just shooting him. And finally, with so many dudes he'd never have enough time to grab the kid and leave without one of them picking themselves off the floor and shooting him or locking the door or something. Anyways, I admire their ambition, and the directing for everything else in the episode was great!

Also: Does Karen really not realize the dude who saved her was Matt? How dumb / unobservant is she? Her scenes with Foggy this week were cue, but I wasn't sure if one of them had the hots for each other or not. Well, maybe they don't even know yet.

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Daredevil 1x03 Rabbit in a Snowstorm

Another good one. I was impressed that maybe 35 minutes in they hadn't had any real fights other than the opening bowling alley scene, thinking that they would actually go a whole episode of just the legal site of the storyline. But then there was some appearances by Matt the Vigalante and those fights were pretty good.

About that opening bowling alley scene, I liked it a lot, really nicely done... though I dunno why they are going with super violent bone-breaking type stuff on this show. It doesn't need it. Likewise the ending scene with the same character was kind of odd. I get that they wanted to show how scary Fisk was, with the guy preferring to kill himself instead of get away, but it seemed like a bit of a stretch.

The scenes with the various bad guys working for their various organizations are starting to get a little repetitive, but I suppose it doesnt really because I don't think following all the little details of who works for who and who's double crossing what will really make much of a difference.

This episode did something that just about every TV show does which I hate, is that they ridiculously speed up the trial process. In this universe, you can be at a trial the day you are arrested. I thought the show had actually jumped forward a bit when it started because Matt was mostly healed and not a dying wreck, but then it turned out not because when Foggy and Jessica showed up they referring to their drinking as being the night before. So I guess Matt can heal super quickly, but still needs a nurse if his lungs collapse :P Speaking of the nurse, where was she this week?

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Thanks!

I forgot to mention the odd ending of episode 3.... Seemed like an odd place to introduce the villain, in a scene too short to reveal much. Well, we'll see where it goes next week :)

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Daredevil 1x04 In the Blood

I guess I missed something because I don't understand how the bad guys knew that Claire was helping Matt, or how they located her? And then how did Matt find where they took her?

The subplot with Karen working with the reporter guy is alright. Reminds me of House of Cards a bit.

Fisk dating the art dealer lady was so odd. Do we need to see the love live of the bad guy?

Didn't really care for any part of the Russian brothers guys subplot at all, but it was nice to see Fisk actually get involved in a hand to hand fight with someone. Though again, like the bowling alley scene from last week, I don't know why the end of the fight had to be so excessively violent. It doesn't feel natural, it feels like they're doing it just because they can. I'm almost surprised Disney let Marvel take this angel with a major series that's directly tied to their MCU.

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Daredevil 1x05 World on Fire

I still don't understand how the bad guys found Claire or the apartment she's cat sitting at. Not sure that a romance between her and Matt will end well!

The Foggy/Karen romance is actually kind of nice. They seem like a good fit for each other.

The Wilson/Vanesse romance on the other hand, I just don't get it, or why it gets so much screen time, or why she would want to be with him at all

Good fights this week, I liked the one that started with the 360 view from inside the car!

Nice advancement of all the other plots this week, especially the police station scene. Great cliffhanger ending with Matt being caught by the cops!

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If I remember right, the guy Daredevil threw off the building already knew Clair was hiding something from him when she opened the door for him

when the Russians visited him in the hospital, he managed to relay that info

then they came by her old apartment and threatened that kid to tell him where she had gone off to. Doesnt really say how they knew the kid knew Clair, but I assume that stuff can be found out

The romance is still developing, but it is important to Fisks story

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Ah, right, I forgot that Matt let the guy on the roof life when he dropped him off the roof. They said he fell into a coma after landing in the dumpster. Makes sense he talked.

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Though I haven't finished Daredevil season 1, I decided I'd rather watch Jessica Jones instead. Maybe I'll start alternating back and forth between them or something, but for now:

Jessica Jones 1x01 AKA Ladies Night

I was expecting this to be dark and gritty since Daredevil was, but I wasn't expecting it to be so low-key. There wasn't even a fight, chase, or major use of super-powers (just a car lift, a door break, and Kilgrave's mind control) in the whole episode! But it turns out it didn't need any of that stuff, because it told a compelling story that leaves you wanting to immediately watch the next episode.

The episode actually felt more like a season 3 or 4 premiere of a show than season 1. There's several reasons for that: There's no origin story here (We have no idea exactly what Jessica's powers are or when and how she got them). All the characters are ones Jessica already knows apart from Luke Cage. And Jessica casually refers to past events, people, and situations with others, even though we don't know the details of them. This may sound like it could be annoying but its not; It totally works. It's actually a nice way of avoiding clumsy expositional dialogue, and keeps the audience invested in what's going on to make sure you haven't missed anything.

I like the fact that Jessica is a PI, its a good excuse to have interesting cases as the episodes and seasons go on, just like having Daredevil be a lawyer. I also liked the fact that she narrates the goings-on, that's always a plus (unless when its poorly written like the later seasons of Dexter). The supporting cast is very good too: I liked Luke Cage, Carrie Ann Moss's lawyer character, Jessica's blonde friend, and Jessica's neighbor. Will be curious to see her interaction with all of them this season.

The actual plot of the week was a good one too: A missing girl, and Jessica realizing that the big bad she thought was dead had kidnapped her and sent her parents to her agency. The ending was unpredictable and very compelling. Really good stuff!

One thing I like about these two shows, is that we get to dig in much deeper into the world than the main movies ever could. What I mean is, little things like when Jessica goes to the chinese food restaurant and the host discusses when Kilgrave was there with Hope. In the movies, a superhero and supervillain using there powers in a place would just be a thing that happens, and we'd never seen the business again. It's nice to hear him talk about a weird situation and how he hopes a supervillain doesn't return.

I also liked Sean Callery's score, from what I noticed, which surprised me because I've never like his scores to anything else I've seen by him (24, Homeland).

The scene with Jessica's blond friend was kind of odd. Were they just former friends, or former lovers? Time to watch more!

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Jessica Jones 1x02 AKA Crush Syndrome

I really like the opening titles of this show. The music and visuals put you in the right mood for the story to come. Speaking of which I like that this show doesn't do cold openings before the main titles like Daredevil, I think its better to set the mood then tell the whole story of the week in one chunk.

This show is great, I'm already liking it way more than Daredevil, even though I'm 5 episodes into that one. They're setting up a nice, compelling season-long arc here, and giving you little insights into a nice cast of supporting characters that surely will all play a role in it.

It obviously comes as no surprise that the bar-owner has super powers, but you have to wonder how Jessica came to even know about him in the first place. When she told him that she was hired by a husband who thought his wife was sheeting so she followed the wife to the bar, I thought she was telling the truth; By the end of the episode when you know she wasn't, then that begs the question why was she photographing him and her together to begin with? Is this something to be revealed in a future episode, or something I missed?

I liked how Jessica's investigative work led to her figuring out a potential way to block Kilgrave's mind control powers. Though I think it will be something he planted and won't actually work.

Jessica's upstairs neighbors were pretty funny! I wonder if they are just comic relief, or will play a bigger role.

So I guess the blonde is just a former best friend and not an ex-lover. I am intrigued by their story, and look forward to seeing it revealed as I am the Jessica/Kilgrave backstory.

The lawyer subplot is moving at a very slow pace. I'm not sure yet why we're supposed to care about her, or even if she can get Hope off the murder charge. Or if we're supposed to care about her cheating on her wife. Maybe the subplot just needs more time.

I like that we get to see Jessica in action here in the second episode. The bar fight with her and Luke was pretty good! And nicely followed by the chase sequence where she learns about the potential weakness.

Really good show!

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Daredevil 1x06 Condemned

An OK bottle episode. One thing this episode made clear to me is that I much prefer Jessica Jones to this for several reasons, but one major reason is the violence level. On Jessica Jones, the murder at the end of the pilot is the only death so far. Other than that, we have had a bar fight and not much else. On Daredevil, every single week there is lots of killings, lots of fights, lots of cuts and stabbings, and all always bloody and violent. It's too much. There's no balance. It's like they wanted to make their mark, show that they could be different from the MCU movies. But they went too far, in my opinion - the violence is too excessive. it's funny too because on JJ, the villain and what he can do is actually MORE sick and twisted than Daredevil's villain, which is just a guy who thinks New York should be run his way. But one show has almost no violence (so far) and one delights in reveling in it every week. Oh well.

So the last Russian is dead. The world is aware there's a masked vigilant in Hell's Kitchen, and they think he blew up the Russians' buildings and murders cops. He'll basically be pursued by (real) cops the rest of his life, I doubt he'll ever really clear his name.

Claire is relegated to a cameo, Karen and Foggy don't have a whole lot to do. The news reporter guy is starting to figure out some of the story.

Ah, I see Scott Glenn is in the next one. That will hopefully be better.

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Daredevil 1x07 Stick

Quite enjoyed the cold open with Scott Glenn kicking ass.

Loved all the flashbacks showing Stick training 10 year old Matt. Too bad Glenn is only in this episode, it would be great to see this kind of stuff throughout the season. Each beat of the flashback storyline was well done. When Stick crushes the ice cream wrapper bracelet: :crymore:

In the current timeline, it did not come as a surprise to me whatsoever that the Black Sky was a person. Maybe this comes from experience watching these kinds of stories :P Odd they had Stick kill off the kid before we learned what he could do

Enjoyed the progression of Karen Page's storylines. No Fisk at all this week (they even took D'Onofrio's name out of the opening credits and replaced it with Scott Glenn's)

The final scene with Stick reporting to some dude... Was I supposed to know what that was all about? Did comic readers know?

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  • 2 weeks later...

Daredevil 1x08 Shadows in the Glass

For about 3/4s of this episode I was mostly bored an uninterested. The extensive flashbacks showing Fisk's childhood and how much of a dick his dad was were sure tired and worn territory done on a bunch of other shows already. But then the end it got interesting, starting with Fisk killing his dad (which was again way too excessively violent), then his present-day breakdown and asking of Vanessa if he's a monster. Then the end where he reveals himself to the public was interesting, changing up the whole Karen and the reporter storyline, at least I think so.

I dunno, I'm losing interest in the show. I'll definitely be watching some Jessica Jones before coming back to this. It started out pretty strong but hasn't been that compelling for a while. Hopefully the season ends strong.

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Jessica Jones 1x03 AKA It's Called Whiskey

Damn, this show is great! A strong component it has right now is storytelling; Just when you think you know where an episode is going, they go in a different, surprising direction - and it doesn't feel like they did it for the sake of surprise, its an organic place for the story to go. Love when that happens (it's what made Breaking Bad so great).

I found the opening sex scene with Jessica and Luke a bit odd, because it was kind of played like a new thing (and it was, because they both knew about each other's powers now), but I think it would have been a more powerful scene if they hadn't already had sex in the pilot.

I enjoyed Jessica's quest to try to get the drugs that she thinks will work on Kilgrave, and it actually made the divorce subplot of her lawyer relevant when Jessica went to see her wife. It was interesting that Jessica saved her druggy neighbor in one scene, then threw him under the boss the next time she saw him.

I was starting to get annoyed with the number of background mysteries we were getting pieces of, but no resolution to yet. Let's see, if I can remember them all, there was

-How Jessica and Trish had their falling out

-How Jessica found out about her powers and what her brief run as a hero was like

-Why Jessica was reacting to the picture of Luke's dead wife like that

-What Jessica's time with Kilgrave was like and how that ended

-The backstory of Jessica and the lawyer

probably some other

But then they actually resolved one - showing that Jessica had killed Luke's ex-wife. Small world syndrome? Or is Jessica meeting Luke all part of Kilgrave's plan? We'll see!

So the ending of this was great - the scene with Trish and the cop through the door was great, then led to a great fight scene, then the really good twists starting happening, with Jessica faking her death and the cop believing it; Jessica planting the phone on him to track him; Him reporting to Kilgrave she was dead and him believing it (I actually figured he knew and was leading Jessica into a trap, glad I was wrong), her seeing Kilgrave and deciding to save the cop rather than try to get Kilgrave, and then the long final chase / fights. This was all great stuff!

I figured the whole season was leading up to Jessica and Kilgrave finally coming face to face at the end (for example, I'm 8 episodes into Daredevil and Matt and Fisk haven't met yet), so it was a nice twist that they actually met here in episode 3.

So in the end we see that someone's been following and photographing Jessica without her realizing it. Onto the next episode!

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

We are one episode away from finishing Jessica Jones and I think it's pretty great.  Still haven't gotten around to Daredevil - easier to convince my spouse to watch JJ than DD.

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Jessica Jones 1x04 AKA 99 Friends

 

So Kilgrave's powers only last 10-12 hours then wear off - that's interesting.  I don't think the show had mentioned anything like that before.  Loved that Jessica's new client wasn't sent by Kilgrave at all, but was an anti-SuperHero nut who lost her parents in the NYC battle from The Avengers.  That was cool.  Not sure how I feel about the cop dude who is now buddying up with Trish - not only is he kind of weird, but I feel like this story is a setup for more tragedy somehow.  The support group for people used by Kilgrave was a really cool idea!  Didn't see the twist coming at the end that Kilgrave was using the druggie neighbor dude to spy on Jessica!

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It's nice that the head honchos at Marvel trusted them to do non-conventional approaches to superheroes in these two shows.  Their big budget movies are much more formulaic than these netflix shows.  

 

Of course, being able to do that is helped by knowing their audience can binge-watch if they want to, and they they aren't spreading out their story over 9 months of a network TV season (like agents of SHIELD)

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