Some of Daredevil: Born Again season two isn’t that great. It’s repetitive, a little slow, and the action scenes are few and far between. At almost every moment, you get the sense that, much like the first season, this one is going to end well before you want it to, and disappointment will linger above all else.
We are very, very happy to report, though, that ends up not being the case at all. io9 has seen all eight episodes of Daredevil: Born Again season two, and while it’s slow to start, the season’s final three episodes (and the finale in particular) save the rest of the season to such an extent that all of those complaints are ultimately forgotten. In the end, all you want is more Daredevil and, thankfully, that’s coming too.
Daredevil: Born Again season two obviously continues the story of the first season. The Kingpin, Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio), is still the mayor of New York City and has empowered his own police agency, the Anti-Vigilante Task Force, to hunt down and detain all “vigilantes.” At the top of their list is Daredevil, a persona that lawyer Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) gave up last season but is now fully back into. And so Daredevil, alongside partner and girlfriend Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll), does his best to take down Fisk and his AVTF.
Because Fisk and his goons are so powerful, though, the majority of the season sees Karen and Matt battling from the shadows. Missions or leads are followed up here and there, but there is an overwhelming sense that they are attempting an impossible task. That actually works for the show because even when Karen and Matt have some success, it never quite feels that way. Like them, the show beats you into submission a bit. On the other hand, the lack of progress the pair makes adds to the season’s early repetition. Get a lead, follow up, action sequence—nothing changes. Rinse, wash, and repeat.
This isn’t boring, exactly, but it’s not exciting either. The fight scenes are brutal and interesting when they happen, which is maybe once or twice per episode. The narrative leaves you with a lot to chew on thematically as well. There are issues of loyalty, friendship, what’s right, what’s wrong, what you would sacrifice, etc. And, eventually, all the small moves Matt, Karen, and their friends make finally start to add up, leading to those standout last episodes.
While Cox, D’Onofrio, Woll, and other regulars are their always-excellent selves, Born Again season two is really bolstered by the supporting cast. Matthew Lillard, for example, plays a devilishly confident FBI man named Mr. Charles, who shakes things up with glee every time he’s on screen. Lili Taylor joins as the governor of New York state, the one person who can challenge Fisk’s power. Michael Gandolfini is perfection as Fisk’s underling Daniel Blake, whose story largely becomes the heart of the season. And Margarita Levieva, who plays Matt’s ex and current Fisk employee Heather Glenn, is given one of the more fascinating arcs of the year.
We also couldn’t get enough of Wilson Bethel as Bullseye, who has a much bigger role this season and gives big-time Hugh Jackman as Wolverine vibes throughout. Arty Froushan as Fisk’s enforcer Buck is as chilling as ever, and we’d watch a whole show about the despicable leader of the AVTV, Officer Powell, played by Hamish Allan-Headley. That dude is a star, if we’ve ever seen one.
Those characters and, frankly, others help make the slow, repetitive nature of the narrative much more tolerable. Like a Law & Order marathon, it’s just plain watchable. One unfortunate exception, however, is Krysten Ritter’s return as Jessica Jones. She’s great, of course, but the character feels completely superfluous to the overall story, shoehorned in just to set up future storylines. We were hoping for a bit more cohesion there, though we assume that’ll happen in the future.
Thankfully, those blips don’t matter once Daredevil: Born Again really kicks in. The finale is, in our mind, maybe the best episode of TV Marvel Studios has done to date (Yes, including WandaVision, Loki, and others.) It’s a tour de force of narrative payoffs, exciting reveals, and gut-wrenching action. Then, best of all, it perfectly closes one chapter in a satisfying way while also starting a new one that feels completely new and unexpected compared to the previous two seasons.
It takes a while, but Daredevil: Born Again definitely delivers. We can’t wait to dive more into the details as the season progresses. The first few episodes are now on Disney+.
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