Netflix's Daredevil is one of my all time favourite comic book live-action adaptations. I consider it to be one of the best projects to have come from Marvel, and one of the best pieces of mainstream television in general. It's a gritty story about found family, the willingness to do good, and flawed people fighting their personal demons while accepting and supporting each other, that also happens to involve masked vigilantes and undead ninjas. Ten years later, going back and rewatching all 3 seasons in a row before diving into 'Daredevil: Born Again', further solidified this opinion. Having now watched every single episode of 'Born Again' as well, I can say that although it's not perfect, it has, all in all, fulfilled most of my expectations and left me wanting to watch what comes next.
It has been a decade since the premiere of the OG Daredevil, which makes how easily both Charlie Cox and Vincent D'Onofrio stepped back into their respective characters even more impressive. The same goes for Deborah Ann Woll as Karen, Elden Henson as Foggy, and Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle, for the brief moments that we get to see them. Continuing from the finale of Daredevil's Season 3 directly into 'Born Again' really felt like going back to that universe. Not everything is the same, characters' lives have taken different turns, and there's also a difference in tone, cinematography, and pacing, so the show might not live up to everyone's nostalgia, but it's still a solid continuation from where Daredevil Season 3 Ep13 'A New Napkin' left off.
To have a plot for a new show, it's unavoidable that the somewhat hopeful and uplifting ending of 'A New Napkin' has to be undone, and the band-aid is ripped off very fast, with the assassination of Foggy Nelson and Karen and Matt being driven apart by grief. The show was off to a strong and shocking start, but to claim that it survived its rewrites and creative overhaul completely unscathed would be a lie. There are certain decisions some characters make that don't really make sense, some things happening too serendipitously or too abruptly, and there's a general unevenness that can be attributed to the changes in the creative team for each episode, but in the end it still manges to land on its feet, especially after the season finale.
There's a Foggy and Karen shaped void that remains both palpable and unfilled throughout the biggest part of the season. One of the most prevalent, ongoing themes of the Netflix show was Matt's relationship with other people. How he was taught early on that having others to care about is a risk and a liability, his inner struggle between needing human connection and fearing the consequences that would bring, and how he avoided letting people in because of the abandonment that he felt from a young age and the loss and isolation he had experienced due to his circumstances. Eventually revealing, both to the audience and the characters, the complex reasons why Matt tended to push people away, how his vulnerability intertwined with his fear of abandonment, and having him realise the importance of his bond with Foggy, Karen, and the other people in his life as part of his growth.
'Born Again' doesn't necessarily undo any of that, but 10 years later we find Matt Murdock following a different life path, estranged from Karen, in a fancier office that lacks the charm and heart of "Nelson and Murdock", having left Daredevil behind him. Although it is still abundantly clear that his primary goal is to use whatever means he has to help the underdog. What feels really disappointing though, is how almost every single connection in Matt Murdock's life seems to be just surface-level and lacking substance.
Margarita Levieva is amazing in her performance, but the way her character as his girlfriend Heather Glenn is written makes it clear that the relationship isn't meant to last. Matt and Heather seem to be in a "dating for the sake of dating" situation, as there's no initial spark on their first date, and no apparent affection or companionship shown between them later on. She doesn't appear to know about his history with Fisk, nor do they appear to be on the same page on a significant number of issues. And it shouldn't really take a therapist to know that someone who has difficulty with opening up and letting people in, who at the same time is also grieving the loss of one of the closest people in his life, needs to be supported and not antagonised.
All of this makes it really hard to be invested in their connection, or to care when it inevitably falls apart. During the latter parts of the season, the way the character of Heather is presented feels like it's almost spoon-feeding to the audience the fact that she is intended to be disliked. Speaking of deliberately unlikeable characters, Michael Gandolfini shines as Daniel Blake, Fisk's sleazy, power-hungry lackey. The writing in this instance works far better, with Gandolfini giving a standout performance as a very intentionally insufferable and unscrupulous character, who rises in the ranks not because of his capabilities but due to his obsessive loyalty and adoration of Fisk.
It was certainly also really good to see the return of the Punisher. Even if his appearance in this season was brief, the chemistry between Charlie Cox and Jon Bernthal was phenomenal and left me looking forward to the upcoming Punisher special. The series doesn't shy away from the violence and the gore, and it was good seeing Muse, one of the most chilling villains from the comics, also making an appearance. Sadly, the whole storyline felt a bit rushed, and didn't reach the level of creepiness and horror of the "Dark Art" comic book run. That's not to say the character was adapted badly, but the whole arc felt like it didn't reach its full potential and was too quickly wrapped up. It mostly felt that Muse was basically there as a device to finally push Matt to go back to being Daredevil again, and to further move forward Heather's plot, rather than to tell the story of that specific villain.
Bringing back any beloved show after a decade isn't an easy task, doing so while going through a series of rewrites and other creative shortcomings doesn't help either, but despite its imperfections 'Born Again' has done right by the original show. The action scenes deliver, the social and political commentary is on-point, the old familiar characters make a strong return, and even though the finale did not conclude the story it managed to finish on a high note and set up the scene for a very promising Season 2.
