2x06 Regrets Only

Well, if the last episode felt like a bad noir film, this one felt like a bad James Bond ripoff. Elektra continues to be a cornball presence on the show, and having her and Daredevil attempt to pull off a heist at the Die Hard building didn't do much to buoy Elektra or her titular counterpart. I get that the show is trying to depict the two of them coming closer together through the thrill of the operation despite the fact that, at least officially, clean cut good guy Matt Murdock wants nothing to do with "Please Look at How Bad I Am" Elektra, but the setup feels so obvious that there's no punch behind it.

Punisher, however, continues to be a highlight. With all the great performances on television and the genre trappings of Daredevil it's unlikely that Jon Berenthal will get any strong critical notice, but he deserves serious Emmy consideration for what he's brought to his performance of Frank Castle. Again, I've already written a lot gushing about him, but in his exchange with Karen where he's asking her about the home he hasn't visited since tragedy struck, the way Castle's trying to trace the contours of his memory, whispering and mumbling, and trying to grasp the little details captures the humanity of the character perfectly.

Karen and Foggy hold up their end of the bargain as well, with the former keeping up in the scene with Punisher, and the latter playing up the exasperation that Foggy has in having to keep this law firm afloat while Matt is off gallivanting with Elektra and the DA is trying to crush them. (How the equally cliche Reyes is actually accomplishing this remains a mystery.)

There's hints of greater intrigue here -- how deep does that rabbit hole go in terms of what's being covered up about Frank's past, who is Reyes in with,and who are the "suits" that want Castle dead. (And, to get a little grandiose since we had a Jessica Jones namedrop recently, is there any connection between him and Nuke?)

The problem is they get lost in a perfunctory, would-be spy mission between a generic femme fatale and Daredevil at his most generic action lead best. There's a few cute moments in their heist, mostly Matt playing off the blind angle to spill wine on their mark and the pretending to fool around when getting caught by security, but for the most part it feels like a something borrowed from Alias or any generic spy film.

So we're left with, more or less, what we got in the last episode. The Punisher continues to be the most interesting thing about this season, with Karen and Foggy's related efforts and the mystery surrounding him a close second. Then, there's a pedestrian action/romance set up that tastes like the reheated leftovers of Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Hopefully Elektra at least becomes more a part of the ensemble than the focus as these two halves of the season arc will inevitably collide.

(Oh, and Punisher's trial being the next week is ludicrous, but the show has the good sense to at least handwave it as the DA pulling strings, so I'll allow it.)