Post by thereccher on Sept 10, 2023 2:25:37 GMT
When I watched it the first time (release day), I was probably the only person disappointed with it. I felt like Daredevil/Kingpin's dynamic didn't evolve past S1, I didn't like the black suit retread, and I felt cheated out of seeing Daredevil's identity exposed. I watched it again to see what it is the internet saw in it, and I still walked away with a shrug.
I watched it again recently, washing all expectations out of my mind, not trying to love it, and my enjoyment of it increased twenty fold. The plot construction was innovative and clever, the meshing of the grittier elements and comic motifs was skillful and inspired, and Matt's character development was extremely satisfying. Seeing him crawling out of his own hell and becoming a complete person was touching.
That being said, I'm still not truly blown away by it. Some of the issues I have it with it are still there. The biggest one being the poor continuity. Excising the Hand is something we all agree with, but I don't appreciate Oleson having to placate the fan's anti-ninja paranoia by basically making S2/Defenders completely irrelevant. Feels like I got cheated out of years of emotional investment. Matt's mother figure was right there and he doesn't bring up Elektra's death once? It feels out-of-character. If you wanted to move, don't focus so much of his arc based on the ghosts of his past if you're not going to talk about them. There's no explanation for Matt's psychosis other than the building crash.
The second is that Kingpin's dynamic with Matt and to a lesser extent Karen and Melvin feels like a retread of S1's formula without anything about it evolving or pushing forward. Matt's weak again and back in the black suit, having the same moral discussion, and we're hearing the same speeches about Fisk-Fisk-Fisk being tough to beat legally. All of this felt finalized well enough in S1, but S3 not only brings the same themes/beats back but it beats you over the head with it constantly. Karen's fight against Fisk is the same, and Melvin reverts back to the same character in S1 for reasons that were never explained. To make matters worse, the entire ending was Fisk going back to prison and everyone's happy ever after, which feels way too safe and boring this deep into the show. Matt having faith in the system out of nowhere and "beating" Kingpin isn't earned.
I still love the show and I'm happy to see Matt back. But I'm in a weird state in the fanbase where I love the first two seasons (acknowledging some of its flaws), whilst I'm in more of a appreciate-more-than-love state with 3. It feels like it's best watched as its own entity as appose to blending it into a marathon.
I watched it again recently, washing all expectations out of my mind, not trying to love it, and my enjoyment of it increased twenty fold. The plot construction was innovative and clever, the meshing of the grittier elements and comic motifs was skillful and inspired, and Matt's character development was extremely satisfying. Seeing him crawling out of his own hell and becoming a complete person was touching.
That being said, I'm still not truly blown away by it. Some of the issues I have it with it are still there. The biggest one being the poor continuity. Excising the Hand is something we all agree with, but I don't appreciate Oleson having to placate the fan's anti-ninja paranoia by basically making S2/Defenders completely irrelevant. Feels like I got cheated out of years of emotional investment. Matt's mother figure was right there and he doesn't bring up Elektra's death once? It feels out-of-character. If you wanted to move, don't focus so much of his arc based on the ghosts of his past if you're not going to talk about them. There's no explanation for Matt's psychosis other than the building crash.
The second is that Kingpin's dynamic with Matt and to a lesser extent Karen and Melvin feels like a retread of S1's formula without anything about it evolving or pushing forward. Matt's weak again and back in the black suit, having the same moral discussion, and we're hearing the same speeches about Fisk-Fisk-Fisk being tough to beat legally. All of this felt finalized well enough in S1, but S3 not only brings the same themes/beats back but it beats you over the head with it constantly. Karen's fight against Fisk is the same, and Melvin reverts back to the same character in S1 for reasons that were never explained. To make matters worse, the entire ending was Fisk going back to prison and everyone's happy ever after, which feels way too safe and boring this deep into the show. Matt having faith in the system out of nowhere and "beating" Kingpin isn't earned.
I still love the show and I'm happy to see Matt back. But I'm in a weird state in the fanbase where I love the first two seasons (acknowledging some of its flaws), whilst I'm in more of a appreciate-more-than-love state with 3. It feels like it's best watched as its own entity as appose to blending it into a marathon.
