“Into the Ring” Written by Drew Goddard Directed by Phil Abraham The Story Matt Murdock, who was blinded in an accident in a child, and his best friend Foggy Nelson have just opened a law firm in their hometown of Hell’s Kitchen. Their goal is to help innocent people who have nowhere else to turn, but that’s tricky because it makes it hard to pay the bills. Meanwhile, Karen Page has been framed for murder. Matt and Foggy take her on as a client. Matt, who spends his nights beating up criminals as a masked vigilante (yeah, he might be blind, but the rest of his senses got an upgrade), knows Karen is innocent. Various criminal factions are strangling Hell’s Kitchen with their operations, and they are somehow connected to the framejob against Karen, which includes two attempts on her life by the end of the episode, because she has a file that could get a lot of wealthy people into serious trouble. In the end, though Karen is safe for the moment, Matt stands on rooftops, listening for other people to help. Such as a boy who just got ripped away from his father and thrown in a van. This episode does a fantastic job of setting up the show. Hell’s Kitchen is full of locals who all know each other, but it’s infested with powerful crime organizations that can reach out of the shadows and force just about anyone to do what they want. The poetic brilliance of this gritty setup is that only a blind man can see through those shadows and find the ones responsible. There’s that side of it, and there’s “Murdocks always get back up.” These fights are brutal and don’t have that choreographed look to them. Much more like boxing than martial arts, which is perfect both for the setting and for Matt as a character. Everything just fits together so well. This show is amazing. Things I Liked
Things I Didn’t
The Characters
Matt is, I think, Chaotic Good. I’m not sure it’s possible to be a vigilante without being Chaotic, which comes across super ironic in a lawyer. It’s great. I love that he got his abilities because he saved an old man from getting hit by a car. He’s always been a hero! I’d say Karen is Neutral Good. She was an idealist, and then she saw the corruption and tried to expose it, only for her life to go to hell as a result. She might’ve been Lawful Good before that, but the Lawful part got crushed by what she’s been through. You can tell by how afraid she is to trust anyone. But she’s definitely still Good, because she’s still determined to keep that file, and she wants it exposed. And holy crap is she brave. And willing to go to great lengths in her own defense. Clawing a dude’s eyes? Dang. Points. Foggy is Lawful Good. The three of them really make an excellent trio with these moral alignments. Foggy is also the comic relief (although Matt can be a deadpan snarker). Matt and Karen are both too close to the serious crap going on to be particularly light-hearted about it. Overall Rating 5/5
1 Comment
A good authority
10/15/2016 07:49:29 pm
Oh hell yeah WE ARE DOING THIS. Daredevil S1 ftw!
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
The Watcher's Diary
In this blog, I'll be reviewing, analyzing, and generally fangirling over excellent television. Exhibit A: the Whedonverse. Archives
March 2018
Categories
All
|