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Welcome to the TV Soup podcast, home of drinkfive.com’s television review series. In this episode we continue our discussion of Netflix's Daredevil with episodes 11 & 12, "The Path of the Righteous" and "The Ones We Leave Behind". From the very beginning of the series, we've known that there was something special here; these last few episodes that lead up to the season finale only serve to prove more of the same. Actions of Karen's show us that there is more to her than we may know, some major characters make quick departures from the show and everything leads up to the big confrontation between Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk. Can't wait to wrap up this excellent series next week!

TV Soup Podcast: Daredevil, "The Path of the Righteous" & "The Ones We Leave Behind" Review 

Just as a reminder, we're going through this series 2 episodes at a time so there are only a few weeks left before we move on to something else. We would highly recommend that you watch Daredevil in a similar fashion, since the whole thing plays out more like a movie than a TV series. Although there are a few gaffs that always come with a show based on a comic book, Daredevil has been put together pretty flawlessly in our professional opinions and we're looking forward to breaking down the rest of the episodes in the series leading up to the finale.

Better Call Saul is back for another week of the misadventures of James McGill. Last week, it was a “Jimmy lite” episode, focusing on Mike’s backstory, but this week we’re back with Jimmy firmly in focus. Of course, we do wind up starting off with a little unfinished business from last week, the return of the notebook.

On their way to talk to the detectives, Jimmy claims that he and Mike “found” the notebook in the parking lot. Sure, guys. The real meat of this scene is the discussion that Mike has with the older cop. It’s made as clear as it can be (with some cryptic words) that Hoffman and Fenske deserved what they got. It’s also made clear to Mike that if his daughter-in-law doesn’t rat on him, the case is going to end right there.

Mike decides that he’s no longer going to require Jimmy’s services, as he’s fairly certain that his daughter-in-law will not tell on him, and his business with Philadelphia is finally behind him. Mike tells him to send him a bill, and of course, knowing the relationship these guys have in Breaking Bad, we know it won’t be a typical invoice for billable hours.

Tune into the TV Soup Podcast (Better Call Saul, "Bingo" Review)

Jimmy heads over for his daily delivery of ice and bacon to Chuck, and even though they were out of bacon that day, how awesome is Jimmy as a brother to bring him bacon on a daily basis. Jimmy wants to get Chuck back into the swing of just doing something and has his own plan, but seems pleasantly surprised that Chuck is taking his own initiative, spending a solid 120 seconds outside of his house (only 200 meters away from a 60 kilovolt transformer). Jimmy leaves a big stack of paperwork to “store” at Chuck’s house, purposely dropping the wrong form name in order to get Chuck’s legal juices flowing.

Kim and Jimmy go checking out a new office for the James M McGill law firm, and it's a pretty swank place. I have trouble believing that Jimmy can afford this after such a short time in elder law, though to his credit, he has been hitting the bingo circuit pretty hard. He offers a partnership to Kim (in hindsight, he may only be able to afford this place if she works with him and steals a few HHM clients), who turns it down in favor of continuing at HHM, where she's put in a lot of time. Jimmy is clearly disappointed, but stays supportive. Could Kim be one of the ex-wives he mentions in Breaking Bad?

Over at HHM, Kim is explaining the deal that she worked out for Craig Kettleman. Of course, his wife Betsy is having none of it, insisting on not using the word "deal" ("a deal is what they got O.J."), insisting that there is no money, and finally insisting on being found not guilty after a trial. Betsy is almost full on nuts at this point, completely detaching herself from reality with the thoughts of what she wants to do with the $1.6 million. It seems to me at this point, she would send Craig to jail for the full 30 years if it meant that she could keep the money.

The Kettlemans go crawling back to Jimmy, which would have made him thrilled a week or two prior to this, but now he's got his elder law gig rolling and doesn't really want to take the case. In fact, they interrupt Jimmy while being a bingo caller - proving nobody can pander quite like Jimmy. At Jimmy's conference room - aka the cafe - the bribe from the Kettlemans once again becomes a 'retainer' and Jimmy is roped into representing them for the time being.

There were two funny moments in the cafe - first, Craig can't get any coffee and doesn't say anything about it. He's definitely the weaker one in the relationship (probably pressured into robbing the money!), and they show it with their clothes. In this scene, Betsy is wearing a very bright red/pink, and Craig has a muted pink shirt. In the previous meeting, the same thing happened, but with Blue. The other moment is at the end of the meeting when Jimmy insists on talking like they all know the money exists, which nearly pops a blood vessel in Betsy's head.

This show continues to have a lot of fun with shadows. Jimmy and Kim are standing in the shadows while Kim waxes on about just how fucked the Kettlemans are. Earlier in the episode, faces had their now familiar half shadows, with the right half generally being "good" and the left being whatever was opposing that.

Jimmy, stressing out in his office over just what to do, comes up with a plan, but by the looks on his face, he's not thrilled with it. This cues an awesome and rather long montage. We see the whole plan play out, executed by Mike (Jimmy sent him his bill). Spanning what feels like forever, they are able to tell a whole story with no dialogue, while keeping everyone intrigued and revealing just one piece of the plan at a time. This montage is some of the finest work we've seen thus far in Better Call Saul. The ratings have remained relatively steady, which is a good sign that we can go beyond the second season, already under contract.

The shadow play continues after the money is stolen. Jimmy's left side is brightly illuminated, (the bad side), but now the right side of his face has just a little light cast on it (usually it's a clear 50/50). Jimmy is doing "the right thing" - insert finger quotes here. Mike is going to return the money, and Jimmy is going to be able to force the Kettlemans to return to HHM and accept the plea deal. This gets Kim back in the good graces of her boss, but Jimmy really isn't sure how to feel after all of this. He goes to the new office again, probably to say goodbye to it and lets his frustrations out on a door. He's definitely not going to be able to afford that place now.

Netflix is taking over the TV market

They're doing it slowly, but they're doing it. Over the past few years there have been marked declines in TV ratings on traditional, cable and premium networks. Executives scrambled to try and figure out the cause(s), thinking that it may stem from incorrectly measured statistics, etc but recent data shows that it may have been the growing use of Netflix and other similar streaming services all along. 

In fact, Netflix now represents close to 6 percent of total TV viewing in the United States, according to analyst Michael Nathanson. This trend does not currently seem to be in any danger of slowing, so if Netflix is able to keep up its current frenzied pace of promotions and the development of successful original programming, we're going to see a more drastic shift in viewing habits over the next few years. I'm not sure yet how I feel about this going forward, but as a lover of well produced, serialized content that you watch on a screen - bring it on!

Full disclosure - I didn't read the comics

It would be remiss of me to start off this review without first mentioning that I am not a Daredevil expert. Far from it, actually. I've seen the 2003 movie starring Ben Affleck, which I don't regret seeing but was certainly not memorable. I haven't read any of the comics and I'm not familiar with any other version(s) of the story that may be out there in the media from years past. But I'm not here to compare this new original series to anything that already exists out there.. I'm going to review it on its own merits.

Starting on a good note
Daredevil was created by Drew Goddard, who worked with both J.J. Abrams (Alias, Lost, Cloverfield) and Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, The Cabin in the Woods) on numerous projects. Initially, he was given the role of show-runner, but he had to step down when he was offered a chance to write and direct Sinister Six, a Spiderman spin-off featuring a group of super villains. For whatever reason, though, Sony decided to put Sinister Six on the shelf for the time being and instead move forward with a new Spiderman reboot.

Why a new Spiderman reboot, you ask? Haven’t there been enough?! Right, well.. apparently Sony has decided to share Spiderman and Marvel, Sony and Goddard are hatching a plan to cast an actor for the long haul and mix Spidey in with the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Cool!

Daredevil S01E01 Review, "Into the Ring"

"The Incident"

Daredevil is immediately linked to The Avengers and the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) by mentioning that the events that occurred in The Avengers had just happened (referred to as "the incident" or "death and destruction raining down from the sky") and the resulting devastation is allowing criminals to breed in the underbelly of the city. It's refreshing that Daredevil doesn't feel like it has to hold our hands through this back-story and actually glazes over it rather quickly to get back to the characters and story at hand. 

Nelson and Murdock, Attorneys at Law

Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) and Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson) form Nelson and Murdock.. a brand new law firm trying to find clients in order to keep their lights on. The banter between Matt and Foggy works pretty well and Foggy is a likable character providing some comic relief. We don't have very much background on their relationship together and how it first started yet, but that would shed some much needed light on the situation. Based on their interactions, it seems like Matt and Foggy have been close for quite a long time. 

Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll) was previously in HBO's True Blood (in fact she actually started filming Daredevil less than two days after True Blood wrapped).. and her initial appearance here would not have looked out of place in Bon Temps, Louisiana. We are first introduced to her character with the striking visual of Karen racked with emotion, quivering on the floor, holding a knife and covered in the blood of her former co-worker who is lying next to her. Yikes. She is not, of course, a vampire - but at a high-level her character is not that different from the one that she previously played in True Blood - innocent, but harboring secrets. 

(Tune in to the TV Soup Podcast - Daredevil, "Into the Ring" & "Cut Man" Review) 

Now that she has been saved by Nelson and Murdock, it looks like she has signed on as their permanent secretary. She could be trouble though.. she lied to the people that were helping her, and stole the file that got her into trouble in the first place (called 'pension master', apparently containing evidence of some illegal activities disguised as rebuilding and renewal projects for the city). Did she actually have bad intentions in mind such as blackmail or worse? Perhaps not, but having taken the file at all shows us that Karen is strong-willed and able to act swiftly if necessary. Karen lies to Matt about having taken the file when he questions her about it, so we know there will be some turbulence between these two characters going forward.

Origin story

As I said earlier, I am not familiar with Daredevil's original back-story from the comics, but in Netflix's Daredevil, young Matt has saved an older gentleman by pushing him out of the way and in the process gotten a toxic chemical all over his face and eyes, blinding him. It's not clear exactly what the chemical is at this point, but it doesn't appear to have caused any superhuman abilities for Matt. It's no radioactive spider, if you know what I mean.

That doesn't mean, however, that Matt has not benefited in several ways from the loss of his sight. We can observe that Matt is able to hear incredibly well.. using people’s heartbeats to see how anxious they are under duress, etc and picking out voices from very far away. He’s also very athletic and able to take a tremendous amount of abuse. Traits picked up from his father, surely, and whatever training he has engaged in along the way to becoming who he is today.

A more reasonable take
Matt gets his ass kicked several times in this first episode. I hate to say it, but it’s nice that they are showing his weakness and mortality early. This guy could definitely die - he’s not from some alien planet that gives him invulnerability, etc - and apart from the obvious similarities (vigilante, no demonstrable superpowers) he is very much unlike Batman in that physical confrontations for him appear to be incredibly difficult and cause extreme consequences each time he engages in them. I appreciate this more reasonable take, especially considering that Matt cannot see in the traditional sense of the word. He may be amazing, but he is also obviously going to take a beating each time he pulls on the mask and heads out into the night.

We haven’t yet seen Vincent D’Onofrio, who is playing the Kingpin in this series, but we do get to know Wesley (Toby Leonard Moore) as the guy running the operation so far. He’s great at being an extremely unlikable, yet strangely charismatic character.

Daredevil S01E02 Review, "Cut Man"

Character development

Like other Netflix shows, there is not that sense of urgency at the beginning of new series that usually exists in linear network or cable tv programs. These series get the ‘benefit of the doubt’ from fans, who tend to watch several episodes before deciding to continue or cut and run. That is probably a good thing for shows like this that need to develop a large back-story and foster the relationship of the characters before more major plot developments take place.

This episode mainly exists to show (again) that Matt Murdock can be killed and is still made of the same flesh and blood as everyone else, and also to introduce Claire Temple (Rosario Dawson), presumably as someone that Matt will lean on and have a relationship with throughout the series. She's a nurse. How great is that for a vigilante that comes back from fights with more than just his share of cuts and bruises? Claire seems to quickly understand Matt and not have an issue with the way that he handles himself. She has also seen his face and they both realize that this forced relationship that started with a chance meeting at a dumpster will have long-reaching consequences.

It’s difficult to understand why Claire wouldn't have called the cops on Matt when she found him dying in a dumpster outside her apartment, and we have to trust in the writers of the show until the very end when she reveals that she knew who he was and what he had been doing. It's a nice pay-off for what initially seems like it could have been a poorly thought out sequence. Referring to the title of the episode, a cut man is someone who is responsible for treating the wounds of a fighter in between rounds and after the fight. Matt was his father's cut man, and now Claire is shaping up to be Matt's.

Bravery, or insanity?
It makes sense that in this time after ‘The Incident’, people are a little more willing to accept things that are out of the ordinary, as the ordinary got blown out of orbit by The Avengers, but Matt seems to have a questionable conscience. He doesn’t appear to have any issues with torturing people for information, breaking bones or dropping Russians off of roofs. How much of that is bravado, how much is necessary and how much is insanity? Would we be surprised to see Matt kill?

I think more of Matt's back-story including the events that occurred after his father's murder until the present day will shine some light on his motivations. I don't believe that we've seen Matt actually kill anyone on purpose yet in this series, but it seems to be heading in that direction. Likely there will be some upcoming fights or events that lead to a moral dilemma for Matt. How far should he be taking things? That goes all the way back to the beginning of "Into the Ring", the premiere episode, when he goes to confession not to be forgiven for something he had already done, but for something that he was yet to do.

The backstory here with Matt’s father Jack gives us a little insight into his psyche. Jack seems (so far) to have constantly thrown fights for money and was beaten to a pulp because of it. He left his son home alone, let him drink scotch and had him stitch up his cuts after particularly bad fights. Obviously, Matt had to grow up quickly. Even more so when Jack finally had enough and tried to give his son (and himself) a little pride by refusing to throw a fight against one of the big names in the game. It remains to be seen if any of the money that Jack bet on the fight (likely all of the cash that we saw in the envelope earlier in the episode) came back to Matt and his mother. But I hope so, because Jack certainly didn’t.

All the extremes
In the meantime, Foggy and Karen go drinking to forget their problems. It’s a fun sequence for the most part that shows us they are still people outside of the context of Matt Murdock but I’m not sure where they are headed. Is Karen trying to get close for nefarious reasons? Are there any inklings of romance there? I think most of those scenes were placed there simply in order to provide a stark contrast to how Matt and Claire’s nights were going.

Ultimately, Matt was on a mission to rescue a kidnapped boy – and he ended up doing just that. In a great fight scene with lots of close combat. My favorite parts about the way that the fights work in this show are that people are slow to get up, techniques are not perfect and the camera is not constantly cutting. Sure, we have to suspend our disbelief in order to swallow Matt beating up a whole warehouse full of henchmen. Still, that’s certainly easier for me to do when it looks like he’s on the verge of losing quite a few times. Again, this guy kicks his ass.. but he also gets his ass KICKED!

Daredevil S01E11 – “The Path of the Righteous”

Fight or Flight

Wilson Fisk barges into the hospital with Vanessa, who has been poisoned by something in the drinks that were offered at the benefit they were attending. Immediately, he tries to get his way and get Vanessa immediate care. “Don’t you know who I am?” asks Fisk to a young woman working in the hospital when she refuses him entrance to the room that they take her into - “doesn’t matter,” she says, “fill out the paperwork.”

What will happen if Fisk loses his newfound love? Wilson Fisk without Vanessa at this point – especially if she was taken from him in this way – would likely send him into a chaotic freefall, even more out-of-control than he currently is.

“There was a time when I believed that I was complete – that I needed no one to understand who I am”. “If she dies..” Fisk suggests that Vanessa be sent away if she recovers so that she doesn’t have to be in danger any longer by staying at his side.

Battered and Bruised

Karen finds Matt still visibly hurt and thinks he may not be telling the truth about being in a car accident. It’s pretty amazing that for all of this time she doesn’t seem to have caught on to Matt’s after-hours escapades but, of course, she is dealing with a number of her own issues at the moment.

TV Soup Podcast: Daredevil, "The Path of the Righteous" & "The Ones We Leave Behind" Review 

Both Claire and Karen are telling Matt to be more careful – his injuries are showing more and more and it’s becoming more difficult to hide his nightly exploits from the people that he associates with during the day. He doesn’t have to hide them any longer from Foggy, but Foggy doesn’t want anything to do with him for the time being. I suppose Karen will eventually find out if she continues to spend a great deal of time with Matt, but I don’t think it will be anytime soon.

A Turning Point

“Fisk killed his father, people need to know that”. Karen tries to get Ben to write up the story – Ben is still upset that Karen was lying to him when she brought him to the home on false pretenses. Ben says that Fisk can simply spin this like anything else. Good point.

Karen appeals to Ben’s morals and he lets her know that someone may have poisoned the drinks at the benefit – and that perhaps there are already people that are going after Fisk and his people (the news of this is currently being covered up).

Karen really does appreciate the people in her life that care about her and are worried/concerned with her well-being. She’s starting to develop a good relationship with Ben. She is abducted at the end of the evening by Wesley.

Wesley spends a long time talking to Karen about Fisk’s mother and her visit. “If you’re going to kill me, just do it,“ Karen says. “I’m not here to kill you, Ms. Page, I’m here to offer you a job.”

Wesley wants Karen to convince Ben that Fisk is a good man and that he should no longer be trying to find faults in him and his character. He suggests that if she doesn’t comply, he will slowly kill everyone that she cares about before coming after her.

Karen is able to take a moment of distraction (Fisk calling) to grab the gun from the table and shoot Wesley. He had unloaded the first chamber of the gun, but the rest of the bullets were just where they needed to be. Bye, Wesley.

Wesley knows that Ben was there as well, which doesn’t bode well for him in the short term.

It’s Personal

Karen is still trying to get the word out about Fisk’s mother, but Foggy is of the same opinion as Ben was –  “it won’t be enough”.

Foggy wants to talk to Karen about what he found out about Matt but he is still keeping his mouth shut out of the remaining respect he has left for his old friend. “It’s personal,” is all he’ll say.

Angels & Demons

On one of his many visits to talk to the priest, Matt has an intense conversation about good and evil. Maybe devils were created as a warning to us all – to tread the path of the righteous. The priest basically admits to knowing that Matt is the masked man – I’m not sure that Matt can trust the priest, but then we don’t know very much information about him and his history.

One would think that someone as careful as Matt would have thought all of these things through, but then again he often just bursts onto a scene without giving the situation enough thought beforehand. The priest has basically given Matt his name and purpose here.

Becoming Daredevil

Matt finds out more about Fisk’s body armor – he’ll need to figure out a way past it if he is to finally be rid of Fisk. Turns out the source of this armor was a man named Melvin Potter, who is not very intelligent but is possessing of a huge amount of strength and endurance.

Melvin is being made to work for Fisk – he is afraid that if he doesn’t do what Fisk says, ‘Betsy’ will be hurt. Betsy is someone that Melvin cares about. Matt talks Melvin into making him something.. “a symbol” out of the armor that he works with. Looks like we’re talking about a new, upgraded costume! Thank goodness for that, because Matt likely would not have lasted much longer getting his ass kicked at least once per episode.

Daredevil S01E12 – “The Ones We Leave Behind”

Reconsideration

Fisk shows up at Karen’s house - he has quite an imposing presence. He says, “It gets easier” (referring to Wesley’s death by her hand), “the more you do it”. Thankfully, she wakes up – it was just a nightmare. All of this is weighing on Karen quite heavily.

Karen and Foggy have a conversation at the office and Foggy reassures Karen that “everything is going to be alright” The mood turns decidedly more sour when Foggy turns to leave and finds Matt at the door.

Everyone is slowly leaving Matt’s side – Karen says “You know, I’m starting to feel like I made a mistake” [about coming to work at Nelson v. Murdock]. She is not leaving yet, however.

Later on.. “Matt.. is this what we are now? 3 People that don’t even talk to each other?” asks Karen.. this starts a conversation where Matt breaks down to Karen – he needs the support of his friends, he can’t go on alone as he has been and keeps burning bridges and keeping secrets from everyone. Although he doesn’t reveal his identity to Karen, this is a step in that direction.

Complications

Vanessa wakes up in her hospital bed - “why am I here,” she asks. Fisk explains that he has made arrangements for her to be taken out of the country, but she does not want to go along with those plans. “I knew being with you would be.. complicated.” She says. “Find whoever did this to us and make them understand.” “I’ll make them suffer for what they’ve done,” retorts Fisk. “I expect nothing less,” says Vanessa. These two are just made for each other.

Fisk finds out that Wesley was shot after his people located the body in the warehouse where he had brought Karen. In a fit of rage he beats one of his own men, just for following Wesley’s orders.

Fisk’s people are all beginning to blame the Japanese for the problems that they are coming up against recently (poisoned drinks, Wesley’s death). Fisk finds Wesley’s cellphone and realizes that the last call he made (the one that made him leave suddenly and resulted in his death) was to Fisk’s mother. Karen and Ben are still not safe.

Bach's Violin concerto No. 1 in A minor

Matt and Ben want to slow down Fisk’s takeover of the city so they’d like to cut off the main supply of money. Ben knows that a blind Chinese man is usually carrying the drugs around in a pack, so (using Ben’s information) Matt tracks the man into a car (playing classical music) as they drive through the city. It’s quite an impressive jaunt across the rooftops, really.

Now inside the building where the blind man was headed to, Matt witnesses the drug packing enterprise here firsthand. All of the workers have been blinded.

“All those people – you took their eyes,” accuses Matt of Madame Gao when they finally meet. “No, they blinded themselves,” she says. Madame Gao engages in a confrontation with Matt, knocking him out for a short time with what seems like very little physical force and managing to get away. Trying to get away himself, Matt gets in an altercation with a police officer where he attempts to explain that he is not deserving of the bad rap he is currently getting. Good luck with that, Matt.

Old Flames

Foggy allows Marci to see all of the information that they have gathered so far on Fisk (including the material handed over by the masked man (who Foggy now knows is Matt). Marci’s firm represents Fisk, but she seems genuinely interested in what Foggy has to show her.

Will she help or hurt them in the long run? It seems like Foggy and Marci had a trusting relationship and are starting it back up. Hopefully Marci won’t be stabbing Foggy in the back literally or figuratively – he’s such a genuinely nice guy.

The Long Farewell

Ben is desperately trying to get the editor of the paper to publish his latest story about Fisk killing his own father, etc but is not having any luck at all. He pushes so much that he gets suspended, and then eventually fired after accusing his boss of being on Fisk’s payroll.

Regardless of Ben’s situation with the newspaper, his wife will always be behind him 100% and suggests that he just try other news outlets in order to get the story out. The internet, etc. It looks like this story has legs and he is not going to give up on it anytime soon.

“I’m going to write about all of it. Tonight. Get it out there,” Ben says.

As Ben sits down to begin work on his new project, Fisk begins talking to him from the shadows. He explains that he had taken precautions after the Union Allied article was released and he also had found out that Ben went to talk to his mother. “I’m not here to threaten you,” he says at one point – “I’m here to kill you.” It’s unfortunate that we’ve grown to like Ben so much as a character of principle with a good heart, but those are the best characters to kill off  in a series like this – it makes the most emotional impact and reinforces just how dark the heart of our villain, Wilson Fisk, can be.

Although viewers are certainly looking around on-screen for Matt, or anyone else to come to his aid at the last moment – Ben is killed in cold blood by Wilson Fisk, and his words will die with him.

Who is Madame Gao?

Looks like Gao and Owlsley have been working together the whole time, and are trying to get Vanessa away from Fisk. They were behind the whole poisoned drink thing. They’re having serious trouble getting rid of Fisk’s girlfriend. “Yeah, she’s a real mule,” says Owlsley.

When Owlsley asks where Gao is going, she says that “I will visit my homeland and reflect upon the future.” Pressed as to where that exactly is.. China, maybe? She retorts, “It is a considerable distance farther.” Is she an alien? Referring to another world outside of the Earth? I’m just loving this supernatural intrigue – we know what types of things exist in the Marvel Cinematic Universe but haven’t seen much of that yet in season 1 of Daredevil.