In the first year (13 episodes) of Marvel’s new TV show Daredevil, Malcolm Murdock, played by Charlie Cox, is trying to save his city by the law in the day and against the law in the night. He acts as though he is hampered by everyday life because he is blind but in reality the blindness boosts his other senses. He and his best friend, Foggy Nelson, played by Elden Henson, start a law firm that take cases the big firms won’t--representing the poor and powerless. However, at night, Murdock has a secret life. Similar to Oliver Queen as Arrow, he is a masked vigilante that wants to stop crime using extraordinary methods. Due to his heightened senses and martial arts training he is able to defeat overwhelming odds and force, dodging bullets and enemies left flat-footed.
When he is fighting what he thinks are individual crimes, he slowly finds out that his attorney work and his secret life are dealing with intertwined issues. In one of the first cases, he takes on a murder which framed Karen Page--Foggy and Murdock’s secretary to be. It turns out that Karen had stumbled upon information that was a danger to powerful people who would do do anything to keep a secret.
One of those people is William Fisk, played by Vincent D’Onofrio, who is the main villain in the series. Unlike most superhero shows, Daredevil is very dark in its themes and violence, including Fisk. Just like Murdock, he sincerely believes that what he is doing is going to save Hell’s Kitchen, which is where the series takes place.
Throughout the show we slowly indulge in the past of Fisk. We learn that his father also wanted to save the city but he got in deep with some people and had no money to campaign.
D’Onofrio does a great job at portraying Fisk as calm and tender most of the time but when he snaps, he loses control of his anger. As far as villains go, his character is very complex and well explained. In fact, the viewers sometimes even feel sympathy for him.
Overall the creators of the show do a good job explaining the lives of all the characters, giving meaning and depth to a greater extent than most TV shows I’ve seen.
Great acting, writing, and directing make Daredevil one of the best of the shows in the Marvel Universe. Two big thumbs up. I am looking forward to Season Two.