I remember watching Daredevil season one, mind absolutely blown in pure glee and absolute admiration of the perfection and execution of a comic character to TV… I personally don’t remember any live action series that had done as good a job in showing what these heroes are all about and how bloody awesome they are. Now 3 years down the line having watched every series as it’s come out, having just finished Jessica Jones season 2 I’m wondering whether or not I’m going to watch Luke Cage season 2. WHAT HAPPENED!
Prepare for major spoilers for all series ahead so really don’t read if you’re not up to date. Also be warned this is essentially a massive rant, not a review.
The first 3 seasons released (DD 1, Jess Jones 1 & DD 2) were all fantastic. The sort of TV you couldn’t stop watching and ended up finishing within a week. For me Daredevil season 2 is one of my top TV series of all time, despite Elektra being pretty grating. All of these had heroes and villains you wanted to see progress, multiple story lines and badass action.
The series since I can’t help but say have had something missing. Luke Cage season 1 killed it’s best enemy half way through and was just kind of cheap; Iron Fist wasn’t that well received (I didn’t hate it), Defenders was just awful and I really didn’t enjoy Jessica Jones season 2. The only series I’ve loved since the first 3 was Punisher and that was the one I was most dubious about (Could have been 2 episodes shorter)!
I think they’re suffering from trying to introduce crap side characters (Who will all become heroes) into the fold whilst trying to maintain their niche feel? Trish in JJ has become unbearable and I am so unhappy that she now has powers. She over-acted for the whole of season 2 and has become way too ‘important’ of a character in the series, she’s annoying as an actress and as a character and I don’t understand why she’s had 30/40% of the story.
Colleen in Iron Fist was also pretty aggravating and forced in as Danny’s love interest (Although you couldn’t tell as Danny was as wooden as his training dummies)… And Misty Knight wasn’t awful but instead of doing the brave thing, killing her off they’re giving her a metal arm and essentially making her a hero… I know this follows the comics but I did not like.
They made the right decision in giving Frank Castle his own series instead of squeezing him elsewhere, and it works as they had time to work on the character and allow him to be his own beautiful, brutal self. THIS WORKS.
Going back to JJ season 2, I was so utterly bored throughout out. The only parts I really enjoyed were Hogarth’s and Malcolm’s. Hogarth had an exciting story of perhaps dying (Which isn’t resolved) being fooled by her heart and being a bit of a badass lesbian. Malcolm has a clear change in this series where he becomes more of a sensible man who will be making his own decisions and i’m sure will become more of an integral part overall. That’s about all i enjoyed. They managed to make the storyline of Jessica’s mum returning boring and she gets killed anyway (By fucking Trish), which essentially makes the whole season defunct except for a couple of story beats. I felt like JJ didn’t progress as character or hero at all and I really wanted more after the amazing first season. It also didn’t have a proper bad guy which made it feel a little flat.
Believe me I do not want this, I’ve loved or liked half of the seasons they’ve done but there’s a definite and obvious fatigue taking place. The Daredevil ‘mini’ universe is really great but apart from this it’s all a bit boring and samey. I HOPE to god that Luke Cage season 2 and him having a super powered enemy really turns things around but if this isn’t great I may just be sticking with the DD character’s for now….