Suffice to say, the show is awesome. Enough references to make it feel like part of the MCU, but distant enough to feel like it's own thing.
Best Characters:
Wilson Fisk - Vincent D'onofrio is awesome. One of the true highlights of the show. For some reason i was reminded of Breaking Bad. I watched all of Breaking Bad, and I wanted to get hooked. But I wasn't. There were good episodes, good moments, I totally get why people loved the show. Why it won so many awards. But I kept coming back to the fact that I didn't like anybody on the show. Not a lot of reasons to feel sympathetic for any of them. D'onofrio's Fisk is a sympathetic figure. One moment desperately trying to connect with Vanessa, the next, removing a Russian gangster's head from his body for embarrassing him in front of her. D'onofrio should get an emmy. He is, after all, the ill intent...
Wesley - He's not just some sniveling sidekick. He sincerely cares for his friend, Wilson, and will do anything for him. While his peers see Vanessa as a something that makes Wilson weak, and thus a threat to their enterprise, Wesley sees her as someone who makes his friend happy, and that's all that matters. But he's also really evil, too.
Stick - Scott Glenn! Hell yeah!
Father Lantom - Great foil for Matt Murdock, as he considers the morality of his actions. Can a man do good at the cost of his own morality, if not in fact his soul? Plays up the character's Catholicism without being heavy handed.
Characters with Room for Improvement:
I hesitate to call anyone the "worst", because the show's great. Not really anything worst about it. Having said that...
Foggy - Not quite sure, but I think it's the delivery/affectation he brings to his dialogue. Something about it doesn't quite click for me. Not quite sure what the word or phrase is I'm looking for. Kinda' cheesy?
That's really about it.
WHY did they have to kill:
Wesley - Yeah, I get it. One more thing to push Fisk over the edge into full Kingpin mode. But he was in the car when Fisk removed the aforementioned Russian's head with the car door. If he needed still needed to be pushed, I'm really not sure where the hell there was room for him to go.
Ben Urich - Urich's one of the great supporting characters in the Marvel Universe. A regular in Spider-Man and Daredevil, and popping up in other titles. And with Spidey about to join the MCU... Urich gets a new job with the Bugle, or start his own news site, The Pulse. Starts covering the greater MCU, appears in the new Spidey movies, so on, so forth. Again, I get it. His death illustrated how scary evil Fisk could be, but still, there was a lot more to do with the character.
Owlsley - Did they, or didn't they? Quite possible he's not dead. But if he is, again, unfortunate. Bob Gunton is a great casting choice. And The Owlsley character in the comics is, wait for it, The Owl. And in the Bendis/Maleev run, he was really elevated from a C-list villain to something a bit more sinister, from gimmicky to scary. An advisory vying with Kingpin for control of the New York underworld. Guess we'll wait and see.
Visuals
Yes, it's darkly lit. And it can be distracting. If Daredevil auditioned for the Hill Valley Battle of the Bands, Huey Lewis would cut off the show 30 seconds in and say, "Hold it fellas. I'm afraid you're just too darn dark. Next please." But as each comic book has it's own visual style depending on the creator/artist, why not the same approach to each film & show in the MCU? Just see the Bendis/Maleev run on the Daredevil comic.
This is not the bright corner of the MCU. This is Hell's Kitchen. It sits in the shadow of Avengers tower. You're either Paid by Fisk, or Preyed on by Fisk. That's how it should look and feel.
Ain't Got Time to Bleed
Well, actually, Daredevil has nothing but time to do that. This is a super-hero who actually gets hurt. Yeah, Captain America ends up in the hospital after getting shot a few times, stabbed, and falling out of a helicarrier. Spider-man has bruises and shiners. Christian Bale stitches up his own arm in the Nolan Batman movies. Heck, all of the Avengers are pretty nicked up at the end of their movie. But then they get shawarma and are all cleaned up and pretty when the credits roll.
Daredevil practically bleeds to death not once, but twice. Not only can he stitch himself up, but he's got Claire Temple, the "Night Nurse", to put him back together when things get really bad. And like his boxer father, wraps his hands so he doesn't break 'em. Yes, they conveniently gave him a device for healing faster by "meditating" (hey, it's a 13 episode season, he can't be out of action for half of that). And for somebody who gets as hurt as much as he does, he probably should have head to toe scarring and a mashed up nose. But still, there really hasn't been a hero on screen who suffers like he does.
Flashbacks
We got Matt Murdock's origins, training with Stick, Wilson Fisk's origin, Foggy & Matt in college, their time at the first law firm, it was a well used device, and there's more to see and learn about the past in this series.
What we'll probably see next season:
I'd say Season 2 is a safe bet. And we'll probably see...
The Hand!
A whole lot of ninjas!
Matt's mom.
And if you got the hand, ninjas, then we've got to meet that Greek girl from college... Elektra!
And somehow, someway, Wilson Fisk will get out of jail.
Will we see:
Bullseye?
Typhoid Mary?
The fall of Karen Page?
The outing of Daredevil's identity?
What I hope we'll see on this show or with this character:
The Punisher!
Coulson. And just Coulson. We don't need all of SHIELD showing up. Phil will do. I think a verbal showdown between Fisk and Coulson would be pretty sweet.
Matt Murdock, not just Daredevil, interacting with the greater MCU. He is, after all, the super-hero attorney.
And Daredevil's true arch-nemesis...
Stilt Man!
Street Fighting Man
Good stuff.
