Daredevil: Born Again was the fittingly titled revival of Netflix's Daredevil series, and in particular the return of two actors widely appreciated in two comic book roles: Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock and Vincent D'Onofrio as Wilson Fisk. Over a 9-episode season, Born Again tracked the fallout when Fisk was elected mayor of New York, and began cracking down on vilgilante activity... at just the moment when Matt chose voluntarily to hang up his Daredevil suit and pursue justice under the law.
I found Daredevil: Born Again to be a very uneven season of television. A lot of that begins with the high bar set by the original 3 seasons of the Netflix show. That series skillfully blended thoughtful storytelling, great acting, top-notch action, and stylish cinematography in an appealing cocktail only surpassed by Jessica Jones in that stable of Marvel shows.
Born Again does try to put the same principles front and center. The story is very much inspired by the real-world moment we find ourselves in, following what happens when an utterly corrupt criminal is able to seize the levers of political power. The consequences seem only slightly exaggerated for the comic book genre... and arguably seems less so with every passing day as we all live with a real-world political figure behaving in increasingly cartoon-villain-ish ways.
The great acting is still intact -- largely because most of the hard work on casting was done for the original Netflix show. Daredevil: Born Again reportedly underwent a lot of creative turmoil behind the scenes, some of that having to do with actually recasting a few key characters before ultimately throwing out the footage to bring back the original actors. However rocky the road was, it ended in the right place with the return of Cox, D'Onofrio, Ayelet Zurer as Vanessa, Wilson Bethel as Poindexter, Deborah Ann Woll as Karen, Elden Henson as Foggy, and more. Plus, a number of new additions to the cast also fit in exactly as they should.
The action remains top-notch, as is the way its filmed. The very first episode starts out with an elaborate "single take" action sequence designed to one-up the original series' well-known "hallway fight," and that ambition extends throughout the season, to an all-out brawl involving a dozen fighters in a sequence of the season finale.
But the whole is less than the sum of the parts here. One problem is the extent to which Daredevil: Born Again wants to be all about the second act of the classic "hero's journey," namely, the "call to action." The hero in that classic story format often refuses the call to action, and that is the story of season one of Daredevil: Born Again -- Matt Murdock trying to hang up the cowl and do things "the right way." That may be honest and honorable, but it's not what you've come to see when watching a show like this. It's not called "Matt Murdock: Born Again," and there are countless excellent legal dramas I could go watch if that's what I was in the mood for. Simply: there's not nearly enough Daredevil in this Daredevil show. And "Daredevil" isn't the only character that gets sidelined for the sake of this story. Some characters that were central (at least in mind) to why the original Daredevil series worked are massively sidelined here.
Put even more directly -- this new season starts with a terrible story development, and essentially ends on one too. In the beginning, the show treats characters badly by writing them out of the action. At the conclusion of the 8th episode, the show treats Matt Murdock badly by having him make a truly bizarre choice (that even he can't explain in the last episode), purely just to keep the plot going for longer.
But there are some inspired moments along the way. The specter of a serial killer hangs over part of the season, and adds a creepiness to the tale. A bank heist episode in the middle of the season -- a near total one-off, disconnected from the ongoing plot -- is far and away the most fun episode of the batch.
I'd give the season overall a B-. In total I was slightly positive on it, though really it just made me miss the original Daredevil series. I would probably have been facing a tough choice whether or not to continue with season two when it arrives... except that they upped the ante by promising the return of Jessica Jones (who, as I noted, led the best of the defunct Netflix Marvel series). So alright... you got me. Just... be better next time?
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