By Brady Steele / twitter: @mrbradysteele. Marvel’s Daredevil shows us all in this episode, “In The Blood”, how truly desperate and gruesome desperation looks. Everyone’s willingness to do whatever it takes to get what they want. That can be escape, money, revenge and so much more. This is the episode where we see how scary men can be in Hell`s Kitchen.
Broken ribs from dead comrades used for weapons is but one example of how violence permeates throughout this world.
We get good glimpses of Ben Urich (Vondie Curtis-Hall) and Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll) and what it takes to legitimately bring down someone as connected and dangerous as Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio). Ulrich is a nice touch to the show, that perhaps no one was anticipating. He adds a certain level of real world drama to the idea of living in a city with a crime lord like Fisk.
Every time we see Fisk on screen, there is a weight to his presence. You can feel the rage and inner struggles seething underneath his polished and practiced veneer surface. His soft and civil sides are showcased for a good portion of the episode. All of that comes crashing spectacularly downward when we see Mr. Fisk’s furious rage unloaded. Viewers see The Kingpin is who he really is all the time, no pretending to be a nice, upstanding businessman when he is pushed. D’Onofrio’s performance is utterly entrancing to behold. The special ticks in his demeanor are an extra touch that adds a certain level of empathy for the enigmatic crime lord. With each episode, Kingpin becomes more interesting to watch than Daredevil, which isn’t a complaint but a commendation at the spectacular attention the show’s creative team has paid to their villain.
Claire The Night Nurse (Rosario Dawson) keeps patching up Daredevil (Charlie Cox) and keeps falling for him more and more. It’s amazing to see her in calmer surroundings like a safe apartment and other less…safe environs. Thanks for her help come in the form of the Russian taxi mob kidnapping her to get to Daredevil. Once again, there is no shortage of action and fresh approaches to it. Seeing how realistic they make all this lovely violence, you actually believe the blows and gasps for air.
This show is unrelenting and yet has a spectacular pace to it. All good shows seem to be able to know how to work the throttle of the action, the tension and the dialogue that makes for good television. Daredevil’s showrunners definitely know what they’re doing. It’s an excellently crafted show that grows organically hour by hour. Much like many serialized dramas on cable television, the scope only seems to broaden with each new episode. However, the characters are never difficult to digest or to engage with.
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Mr. Steele enjoys all things comics and imagination-based. Using his lifetime of comic-fu-dom for good, he imparts his knowledge for the universe to enjoy and for you, dear readers, to pass it on.