2x13 A Cold Day in Hell's Kitchen

What is it, to be a cheesy voiceover montage at the end of a season finale? Do you have to try to sum up an entire season's worth of themes using vague doublespeak and an army of cliches? Will you narrate over clips of our heroes looking vaguely sad or frustrated in the vain hope of wringing some pathos out of this big hunk of corn pone? Must you include strange or cryptic teases for future seasons or shows? Or can you just speak in platitudes about heroism and strength and hope that somewhere in that stew of hokum you stumble onto some mild profundity?

That closing sequence fit well with an episode that felt very much like the close of a second-rate action movie instead of the heady-if-pulpy superhero drama the show is when it's at its best. There was a big final puzzle to solve, a big final fight, and big crazy death to try to retroactively give stakes to a fairly perfunctory battle with an undifferentiated pack of ninjas.

To that end, the second that Daredevil told Elektra that when they got through this big fight, he would leave New York and they would run off together, I knew that Elektra was done for. Elektra may as well have said that she was one day from retirement, but just had to take care of one last fight before she was out of the game for good. I'm not saying that she shouldn't have kicked the bucket in the fight with The Hand necessarily, though that has its own issues. The problem is that this type of conversation between Matt and Elektra is so generic, and so telegraphs that they'll never get to follow through on these plans that when The Big Event happens to prevent it, there's no surprise or tension to it. It's an eye roll-worthy foregone conclusion.

Nevermind the way that The Punisher is awkwardly shoehorned into the finale. Why was he only able to take out those last four ninjas? Did he have trouble getting a cab? Or is it just narrative convenience rearing its ugly head in a very blatant way. His cheesy nod to "Red," is the stuff facepalms are made of, and sent the most interesting new character of this season out on a sour note.

And of course, we get some kind of closure on the whole "no kill code" theme that Daredevil has been putting forward throughout this season. He, like Frank Castle, is suddenly willing to use lethal force on the man who killed the woman he loved after seeing her lie dead in his arms. Even he has his limits. It's a pretty unsatisfying finish to what was the most meaty thematic throughline for Season 2. In defter hands, it could have been an exploration of the idea that even the noblest hero has a third rail that can set them off, but here, the execution felt like the standard "girlfriend dies, hero rages with grief" tableau.

It might have helped if Elektra were a more interesting character, or her connection to Matt had been developed or conveyed better, or if Nobu and his ninja henchman seemed like anything but a crop of faceless mooks fresh from the Halloween store. Instead, Daredevil crossing that line doesn't feel like the culmination of his meditations on lethal force as reflected in foils like Punisher, Elektra, and Stick. It just feels like a thin excuse for him to go tough guy hero on a collection of undifferentiated mooks and their stock-bad guy leader. There's some symmetry to the idea that Daredevil thought he was pure and ends up killing someone, and Elektra thought she was bad but ends up being willing to sacrifice her, but it's weak broth in the face of the other problems in the end game.

The episode isn't all bad though. Seeing Foggy sit across the table from Jeri Hogarth is a minor thrill, and while their exchange veers a little too far into cheesy wink-wink territory, it's still nice to see two good character bouncing off one another. At the same time, Foggy's interaction with Matt at the end of the episode puts the right button on Nelson & Murdock with a recognition that their friendship is compelling, but also destructive. What's more, Stick and his wry directness are always pleasant to have around, and his no-nonsense slaying of Nobu after the hero's had his day puts him into some nice Giles from Buffy territory. And as always, even when the material doesn't give her much to work with, Deborah Ann Woll puts in a good performance that manages to sell both Karen's strength and her distress in a given moment.

There's the hint of quality thematic storytelling to the relationship element of the episode, with Matt telling Elektra that he wants to be with her because she knows his whole story and all of who he is, with the tag of Matt hoping to forge a more real connection with Karen by showing her the other half of his life. But really, this entire Betty and Veronica routine with Karen and Elektra has been a crock from the start. Never mind the fact that his divided affections have undermined the moments where he's professed to caring about either of them, but neither pairing works as well as it needs to, and in the end, feels like a minor, inconsistent subplot rather than the vital part of the overall season arc it's meant as.

Overall, this episode is something of a cliche-ridden mess, and it cements the downward trajectory of Season 2 of the show. The first season wasn't perfect, but there was a relative realism to it and a directness to the Fisk storyline that helped the show stay grounded and focused even as it encompassed more characters and intersecting plots. Here, the Punisher story and the Hand story mostly felt as though they were on parallel tracks and on the few occasions when they would cross paths, they made for strange bedfellows. Punisher is a clear highlight, even if his ending too was underwhelming, but the vague mysticism of The Hand and the undercooked Bad Seed routine with Elektra fell flat. The finale, which did its best to smash all these concepts and stories together, comes off appropriately lumpy and convoluted.

So what is it, to be a bad finale? Does it give even the better elements of your season a disappointing aftertaste? Does the failure to nail the landing on your thematic elements make your prior exploration of them seem shallow? Does it require a corny op-ed delivered in voiceover to try to sum up your show's jumbled conclusion? Look in the mirror. You're a bad finale. You're another superhero show that's bitten off more than it could chew. This is your corner of the MCU. Welcome home.

A lot of great episodes throughout, but like some have been pointing out, many storylines and not as much development. I mean, we kinda get a lot of knowledge 'bout what's going on, but it didn't have a very smart build up.

The plot became predictable and, as much as some people say it, I don't think Elektra was that great, here.
Actually, it was a real nuisance for me the "I'm totally in/I'm hella out" behaviour by Matt with Elektra.

Best thing: Jon Bernthal's Frank Castle/Punisher. He is perfect for the job.
The best episodes, in my opinion, are the first ones, before Castle goes to prison... the show kinda lost its way beginning there.

I'm excited for the next season or Defenders, anyway. It seems that, just like Jessica Jones did, Luke Cage is going to be a refreshment for the formulae.

One thing I enjoy, though, is to see the small crossovers between this and Jessica Jones. Really small thing, I know, but it makes everything so much more real. A name drop there, a character that appeared there being really used here and vice-versa.

I still like it. It just didn't pack the same punch as before.