*Spoilers found within recap*
With Punisher (Jon Bernthal) off to the side, Elektra (Elodie Yung) takes over the character void in Daredevil. While I’m sure many fans of the crafty assassin were chomping at the bit to see her finally be portrayed correctly (sorry Jennifer Garner), she immediately comes off as annoying and shalllow. Plus, she creates “work” for Matt (Charlie Cox) beyond his normal calling as a vigilante-she indirectly forces him to go on missions, only because she gave Nelson and Murdock’s bank account a hefty payday. Good for them, but seriously, Elektra needs to have better qualities form before the season ends.
The guy who I wish would come back full force is now strapped to a hospital bed. Frank has also asked for counsel from Nelson (Elden Henson) and Murdock, and they agree to represent him in trial. However, Karen (Deborah Ann Woll) is the only one he wishes to speak to, so she begins learning more about him, trying to piece together information for his appearance in court.
Before trial, since they are looking to get a plea deal for Frank, Foggy states that Frank must plead “Guilty” for all charges. He agrees, but when the judge comes in, Frank (in a predictable manner) declares “Not Guilty.” You had one job, Frank! In any case, this is gonna get interesting.
With the trial set to begin quickly, Matt tells both Karen and Foggy he’ll take opening statements. However, he oversleeps on the first day of courtroom proceedings due to a long night out with Elektra Freaking out, Foggy realizes he has to take over. He does a fantastic job, but pauses when Matt is brought into the courtroom. You can clearly tell Foggy is extremely over his friend and his night time heroism.
Despite all the aggravation, the two lawyers and Karen find a possible key to helping Frank in the trial- a doctor to who supposedly faked information on the autopsy reports concerning Frank’s family. Karen and Matt meet to talk about the doctor over dinner, and all seems to be going fine. However, when Karen says “you can’t deny that the Punisher’s methods work,” Matt freezes up, and suddenly dinner is over. Ouch. That’s going to cause some relationship trouble.
The next day, the doctor takes the stand, and he confesses all, saying how he faked the reports. However, it seems that he had a violent prompt to speak the truth, and the person he describes wears the same exact clothing as Elektra. Uh oh. Still, the trial will continue on, as it is Frank who needs to be brought to justice, and not his family members.
Matt and Foggy have a discussion in a locked bathroom, and Matt spills the beans-Elektra is in town, how Elektra must’ve gotten to the doctor. However, Foggy is done with Matt’s garbage. He lashes out at his (former?) friend, and rightfully so, telling him he can’t count on him for anything, and he storms off. Karen, out in the hallway, overheard the yelling and questions what is going on, but Foggy says to talk to Matt. Matt waves her off, rushing out of the building, telling Karen they’ll talk later. However, she says angrily under her breath (and Matt clearly hears it), “Yeah, maybe.”
At the end of the episode Daredevil and Elektra have a scuffle over the doctor, but they patch things up and find a big hole in the ground somewhere in the city. This was probably the most interesting part of their whole team up, to be quite honest.
It may be sad to say, but is it weird that the courtroom stuff is more interesting than the superhero portion of this show right now? I guess I’m just glued to anything having to do with Frank. Plus, the slow build of tension between Nelson, Murdock, and Karen is like a volcano about to erupt. I’m very curious to see how that goes down.
All in all, the first four episodes of this season were near perfect, but the show took a dive when Elektra began her part. I just don’t find the character all that endearing, but thankfully when she’s not being focused on, things still seem to thrive.
Overall Rating: 7/10
Daredevil Season 2 is currently streaming on Netflix
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Logan J. Fowler is a senior writer and video game editor on Pop-Break.com. He contributes his thoughts every week for Trailer Tuesday and ABC’s The Goldbergs.” Logan’s “kid at heart” nature has led to his discussion about pop culture that many geeks love to talk about, including superheroes, Super Mario Bros., Pixar, and Muppets, among other things. In addition, one of his first pieces for the site, “Top Ten Comic Book Movies,” was picked as a “Freshly Pressed” piece by WordPress and remains one of the site’s most well-read articles. Many of Logan’s friends have said that he moonlights as Spider-Man but this is so not true. Wait, are those police sirens I’m hearing?! Gotta go! -thwipp-
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