2x01 Bang

7.4/10. I definitely liked the opening scene, and it was a nicely cinematic way to reintroduce the character of Daredevil and shown how he's grown a bit in his badass prowess since the last season. There's an interesting motif of crosses, from the church where the beatdown takes place, to Daredevil crossing himself, though I'm not really sure what to make of it beyond the fact that the show likely to play in religious imagery, devils and such.

I do like two other themes that ran through this episode. The first of them is that Foggy and Karen are strong and just as vital to the operation as Matt is. Seeing Karen be quick on her feet in knowing not only how to help "Steve," but how to come up with a quick cover story when he needed to get to the hospital and how to shuffle him out of there when it was clear danger was coming helped to demonstrate that she knows what she's doing and isn't afraid of danger.

The same is true for Foggy, who was appropriately panicked throughout his interactions with the Dogs of Hell (who showed up in AoS if I'm not mistaken), and yet showed a dogged determination to get the info he needed even when he had the chance to run away with his tail between his legs. His speech to the biker that he thought maybe they were on the same side was a highlight of the episode, and both his and Karen's efforts in this episode were signs that they too are willing to go the distance to help people even if they lack preternatural abilities.

The show's also playing with a certain dark side with Daredevil here. He seems fairly brutal with the robbers we see in the opening scene of the episode, and his description of breaking a batterer's arms is both encouraging and a little terrifying. Bringing in the Punisher, whose "shoot first, shoot second, shoot third, ask questions if there's time" mentality as a contrast to him in terms of vigilante justice suggests the two would make nice foils for one another here.

Punisher also got a great introduction. The scene spent with the Irish mob, seemingly setting them up as players for the season, onyl to watch as the lot of them are gunned down from beyond the walls was a nice swerve. Some of the oopmh was taken away from the episode from knowing that Punisher was going to be in this season, and that this was very much his M.O. so there's no way it was actually "an army of guys" doing the damage. Still, even if that made the mystery/reveal fall flat, it was a nice individual scene.

And he got a nice introduction when we could actually see him as well. I loved the way they shot his hunting down the last of the irish mobsters in the hospital. It framed him as Michael Myers in Halloween -- as this horror movie monster whom we can never quite catch in the frame, and whose steady advancement on his prey leads to a growing sense of dread with every step. One of the nice things about the Netflix Marvel shows is that they have a certain visual flair that really adds to the tension and artistry of a given episode.

Similarly, the fight choreography for the battle between Punisher and Daredevil was very solid as well. It's nice to see a contrast of different styles -- Daredevil employing a certain bone-cracking kung fu and Punisher coming off as more of a brawler. The obvious fakeout with the gun is a little cheesy, but the fight building up to it was good, and I suppose you have to throw in something for the people who are still making up their minds on the show to get them to see what happens in the next episode.

Otherwise, the little details on the margins generally worked. I'm still not a fan of the whole love triangle thing with Karen, Matt, and Foggy, and the former two doing the old "let me teach you how to shoot pool" routine made me roll my eyes. Otherwise, it's nice to step back into the colorful (well, Fincher-esque color schemed) world of Matt Murdock and his pals.

An action-packed introduction into season two. Seeing Daredevil look over the city, brutally taking out criminals who were rising after Fisk's departure was so fun to watch. And man, is Daredevil brutal with how he handles his enemies. Also, I really hope Foggy x Nelson are able to get out of their financial crisis, and start getting some paying clients so their business doesn't fall apart. And regarding Foggy x Nelson, looks like they're now hot on the case of this new guy in town, the Punisher, a brutal killer off seemingly criminals with access to military grade weapons, and someone whose almost inhuman with how he takes out people. The build up to the Punisher was fantastic, a larger than life mercenary whose viewed as a militia taking out all of the criminal syndicates arising after Fisk was sent to prison. Also, regarding Foggy and Karen, i was really impressed with them this episode, they clearly showed how its not only Matt/Daredevil pulling the weight around here, with Foggy visiting the Dogs of Hell gang on his own to get information about Smitty, since it's tied directly to their current case, and with Karen pulling out this bullshit story out of her ass to protect their client Grotto, a sole survivor of Punisher's massacre on the Irish mafia who was trying to take the spot of Fisk. I also really enjoyed watching the fight between Daredevil and the Punisher, the choreography was impeccable and I loved the contrasting fighting styles, with Matt using these very stylish martial arts while Punisher was just a straightforward brawler with tons of power. Also man, I was really hoping Foggy and Karen would end up together after all the intimate moments we saw between them last season, but now its seeming like Matt has a shot with her. Also, its starting to feel inevitable that Karen will learn that Matt is Daredevil.