Know Your Show: Daredevil #AtoZChallenge

This post is part of my #A2ZChallenge for April 2016 where my theme is TV Sitcoms.
For the letter D, I choose Daredevil.

Premise:

After becoming blind following a freak accident, Matt Murdock's other senses get heightened. When he tries to help fix his ailing city, he realizes that being a lawyer by day is not enough. Sometimes even blind men need to wear a mask.

10 reasons you will love it:

1) Daredevil is one of Marvel's most popular superheroes, often teaming alongside the likes of Spiderman and co. in the comics and even being an Avenger at one point. But his most famous storylines are often dark and hold a sense of personal tragedy. 

2) The general criticism was that Marvel cinematic products were more light & frothy as compared to the darker and sombre movies of DC. In a single show, Marvel's Daredevil showed that they were perfectly capable of being serious and still delivering a wonderful product, if needed.

3) For comic book fans disappointed by the 2003 Ben Affleck based 'Daredevil' movie, this was redemption. The story took the best bits of what is a dark comic book series and gave everyone what they wanted. 

4) The first season deals with his first case as a lawyer defending a young woman wrongly accused of murder which pitches him against opponents who work above the law, necessitating his own brand of vigilante justice and bringing him into the crosshairs of a very unstable villain. 

5) Everyone talks about the hallway fight sequence in the second episode. Taken as a single shot, it shows a beaten and extremely weary blind man taking on a bunch of goons to save a small boy. As Indians, we are used to our heroes beating up dozens without breaking a sweat. This on the other hand is how it would be in real life.



Magnificently shot, the cinematography and colour palettes throughout the series is better than most movies you see on the big screen.

6) Charlie Cox starring as a blind lawyer is absolutely brilliant. Not restricted by a single movie format, you get plenty of time to see him evolve from just a deeply conflicted religious man who wants to do good to finally embracing his identity as a 'necessary devil' of the place appropriately titled Hell's Kitchen.

7) In Vincent D’Onofrio's take of the iconic Wilson Fisk, Marvel gave us one of the best portrayals of a villain from the entire TV and movie franchise ever. A guy who has a different version of how the city can be rebuilt after the aftermath of the alien invasion (the first Avengers movie - see how they linked movies and television there!), he is insecure around people and especially the woman he loves, hates being manipulated by others and eventually grows into the Kingpin everyone fears.   

8) Both sides of the board come with characters who offer a lot more than just being animated background. You really care for the good guys and feel uneasy around the bad as the season carries on:

• Foggy as Matt's best friend lends levity & Claire Temple (the lovely Rosario Dawson) is the nurse aware of his night activities and trying to stop him from going down a dark path. I loved Deborah Ann Woll as the client Karen Page but fans of the comic book know her presence can only mean sorrow in Matt's life. 
• The people flanking the Kingpin during his rise include Gao - an elderly Asian woman who knows how to make the Kingpin bow to her every demand - and Nobu, a businessman who definitely is not what he seems.

9) Plenty of twists. Not everyone makes it out alive, which I did not expect though I should have.

10) Personal Opinion: A show that is meant for binge watching as the entire first season is just 13 episodes of short, concise, story telling with excellent cinematography and a wonderful origin tale - both of Daredevil and the Kingpin - keeping viewers hooked.  Season 2 is out and once more, has received high critical acclaim as Daredevil finds himself up against two other characters who have appeared in their own individual movies in the past, the Punisher and Elektra.

If aliens were to judge us based solely upon this show:

They would be confused about our true anatomical and physiological capabilities.
They would also probably avoid masked men in New York City's Hell's Kitchen.

Trivia:

• A web television series, the whole first (and now second) season was released simultaneously by Netflix. So you get the entire storyline instantly instead of having to wait over a period of six months for a season.
• Marvel plans four such short series - Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage & Iron Fist - all eventually leading up to an 8 episode team up of them all, called the 'Defenders'.

To see all the shows  I have talked about till date, please CLICK HERE.