When I heard that Daredevil was coming to Netflix I was skeptical to say the least. The Daredevil movie with Ben Alfeck had left a really bad taste in my mouth. As weeks passed I kept hearing nothing but good things about this show. I then had no choice but to check out this show. For those unfamiliar with Daredevil whose played masterful by actor Charlie Cox, the story revolves entirely in and around Hell's Kitchen, New York City. For those of you unfamiliar with Dare Devil, he's a vigilant who fights crime in Hell's Kitchen at night. He really has no super powers or high tech gadgets. What he does have is superior fight skills, extraordinary agility and endurance. Still that alone wouldn't be enough for a single man to fight crime or so you would think. By day our hero poses as a blind lawyer named Matt Murdock, When Matt was 12 he saved an old man from being hit by a truck. Unfortunately that truck was carrying barrels that were full of toxic chemicals. When the truck swerved a barrel fell off the truck and spilled and some of that spillage got into Matt's eyes permanently blinding him. However the rest of his senses were heightened to extreme levels. For example he can hear someone's heartbeat from across the room. Or smell a dog's fart from down the street. By medical standards he's blind but he has sight in a way that's difficult to explain. He described his sight as the world looking like it's on fire. As blind lawyer Matt Murdock, he is the most unsuspecting of heroes. What could a blind person do? How could he possibly be a threat to anyone? It's the perfect cover and he uses that cover so well. This show was very well cast. The fight scenes for all of their excitement are shockingly real. Dare Devil gets his butt kicked plenty during this series. The show does a excellent job of showing the physical and psychological effects of his nightly endeavors. His entire body is covered in healed and fresh scares. I like how he shows up at work with bruises and cuts on his face and when question by his partner foggy and secretary Karen Page play by Elden Henson and Karen Page respectively. It's amazing how well cast this show is. This show waste very little time finding it's footing as it kept it's singular direction for the entire 13 episodes. It was an origin story that didn't beat you over the head about it being a origin story. I've never been a fan of Daredevil but after binge watching the entire series over the course of a few days I want to go out and buy all of the Daredevil comics I can get my hands on. But let me get back to my review. After meeting in college Matt and Foggy become best friends and after graduation they get jobs at a top notch law firm only to discovered that their souls aren't worth the ridiculous salaries they'd both be pulling in as lawyers. So they decide to open up a law office in their old neighborhood of Hell's Kitchen. They're first case comes to them in the form of a young woman accused of murdering a coworker. Matt uses his super hearing to listen to her heart beat and surmises that she's innocent on account that her heart rate remained steady as she maintained her innocence. The one thing this show did so well and I can't stress this enough is that the show isn't weighed down by the will they are won't they nonsense. Unbeknownst to any of them but this will be the start of a 13 episode war with Wilson Fisk, whom we won't meet until the third episode. Now she's the secretary for a shipping company Allied Freight, one of the many business owned by Fisk, she comes across a email that she wasn't supposed to see. Knowing that something was wrong she showed it to her coworker therefore putting both of their lives in danger. Matt realizes this from the get go and decides that the masked vigilant did some detective work of his own. From the get Karen seemed very attracted to Matt, who either didn't seem to notice or just didn't care. Meanwhile Foggy was instantly attracted to Karen but thank goodness they decided not to go that way. Meanwhile Fish is the leader of a kobal that consist of representatives from several organized crime organizations world wide whose involvement ranged from manufacturing and distribution of heroin to prostitution. Wilson Fisk's ultimate goal is to tear down all of Hell's Kitchen and to rebuild it into his perfect image and he will do it by any means necessary. Vincent D'Onofrio is absolutely terrifying as the Kingpin although he has yet to claim the name. As Daredevil Matt goes through the gauntlet of thugs and bosses as he makes his way up the crime chain. With the help of veteran crime reporter Ben Urich played skillfully by Vondie Curtis-Hall, Matt begin to wage war on both fronts- the legal and not so legal front. Matt finds a quantum of comfort in the form of a nurse who patches him up anytime he's badly wounded. Some of the fight scenes that took place I could barely stand to watch because they seemed almost too real. As the series moves forward you realized just how out matched Matt is in his battle against Fisk. Plus he has the added burden of trying to protect everyone that he cares about because Foggy and Karen along with Ben are investigating Fisk on their own. At this point they all know what happens to anyone that gets to close to the truth about Fisk but they still press forward which makes them heroes as well. What they lacked in physical strength they made up for in smarts and courage. Matt comes to the conclusion that he must kill Wilson Fisk but goes looking for a reason not to. Fisk also has people whom he cares deeply for and would do anything to protect. Although he's a horrible person he's still a person, a human being and despite his stated goal of killing him Matt now doubts if he wants to kill Fisk now. When confronted with the chance to kill Fisk he gets his ass kicked. After being so badly beaten Matt spends the next few days recoperating and contemplating his path in life. Foggy, his best friend has found out his secret and is furious at Matt for keeping such a huge secret from him. Those scenes were some of the most powerful scenes in the entire series. The flash backs throughout the series serve a purpose and don't blog down the story, a mistake that plenty of other shows make. Everything that's happened from the very beginning leads up to his final confrontation with Wilson Fisk. By now Matt is wearing the Daredevil costume and it couldn't have looked better. Matt realizes that he could become a symbol of good to the people of Hell's kitchen. His evolution from a masked vigilant running around at night and beating up thugs to a hero was the best sub-story of all. Karen's sub-story was compelling as well making her more than just a pretty face and a possible love interest for Matt or Foggy. I wouldn't allow my 11 year old nephew watch this series I proudly recommend it to anyone over the age of 18. While it was dark and gritty it wasn't too dark and gritty, It struck the perfect balance between both. If you have about 7 hours to kill on a Saturday watching this show wouldn't be a bad way to pass the time.
