silly little sharky thing

24 | He/Him in my nice phase | mentally unstable wannabe a writer, so check out my works on Ao3. https://archiveofourown.org/users/Creepevan Also, I have Twitter-account: https://x.com/1mn0tdaredevil Self-proclaimed expert in Daredevil's lore I believe in Karen Page's supremacy

[creepevan]

So, um, hi, here's (almost) every Daredevil fic I wrote on AO3 with links and little summaries, so check it out, I guess (I have no idea how to self-promote). I don't have any beta-reading and English is not my first language, so a lot of strange stuff going on there, but I will update them sooner or later to make all of this less raw than initially published.

The Missing Years (series)

Summary: a series of stories happened in-between "Daredevil" (Season 3) and "Daredevil: Born Again", mostly during in The Blip era of MCU, with bigger ones having long notes here on tumblr page. Mostly karedevil, but as this progresses there will be more than that.

Too Many Coincidences [One-shot] Summary: During her investigation, Karen accidentaly discovers that Ninja Turtles franchise is very similar to Matt's life and it really bothers her. She decides to bring this up at trio's first gathering in Josie's since reunion.

Everybody Loves Dogs [One-Shot] Summary: Matt wants to do what's best for Foggy, but it turns out the same as always.

Stilted Conversations [5 chapters] Summary: Nelson & Murdock take the case of Karen's new boyfriend against his employers, but everything about this case turnes out not what it seemed.

Distinct Violation [One-shot Collection] Summary: Times when Matt and Karen had to break the Friends Code for various reasons

Jokes On You [9 chapters] Summary: The past suddenly catches up with Karen in the form of a cruel joke when she sees a creepy jester mask instead of her father in a video call.

Black Christmas [4 chapters] Summary: Matt spends a lonely Christmas, investigating murders of Nelson, Murdock & Page clients.

Welcome To The Fear City [WIP] Summary: Along with half of the Earth's population, criminals and villains of all kinds are beginning to return to the streets, but more importantly: a dangerous drug that caused a stir on Halloween a year ago. And as the anniversary of the terror approaches, New York is slowly but surely turning into a Fear City. And it puts at risk everything that Matt Murdock, Foggy Nelson and Karen Page cherish so much. The trio of lawyers are no longer confident that they will be able to deal with the threat of collapse hanging over them and their lives and destinies.

Daredevil: Born Again Redux (series)

Summary: Matt Murdock is on the run, recruiting his own army of vigilantes with Karen Page while trying to find ways to expose Mayor Fisk, whose authority is being undermined more and more every day. Daredevil and Kingpin play a game of chess, trying to find each other's weaknesses and expose them, and it's only a matter of time before everything ends for the better, or the city is finally drowned in the Devil's Reign.

Main plot:

Conscript (2x01/2x02)

AKA Change Is Constant (2x03)

Moonlight to Show the Way (2x04)

Predator's Smile (2x04)

Take Me To Church (2x05)

Whatever Will Be, Will Be (2x05)

Did I Tell You That I Miss You? (2x06)

The Stray Cats (2x06)

Fall From Grace (2x06/2x07)

Come As You Are (2x07)

Born Again (2x08)

Angels Unaware (2x08)

Love, War & Other Ingredients (3x01)

Devil Takes a Ride (3x02)

AKA Purple Rain (3x02)

The Devils in Cell Block D (3x03-3x04)

Avocados-Out-Law (3x05)

World War Frank (3x05)

Additional stories:

Housing Issues (prologue)

Paint It Black (prologue)

The Secret Life of Foggy Nelson

The Secret History of Hand Clan [WIP]

Welcome Back, Frank (Punisher Special Presentation) [WIP]

Brand New Day (Spider-Man 4 movie) [WIP]

One-Shots

The Last Time Summary: Canon Divergence from 3x10. Major Character Death.

If Only You Were There Summary: Insight-look into Matt's story in "Daredevil: Born Again". No canon divergence.

Memorabilia Summary: Alternate take on "Daredevil: Born Again" 1x09, written prior to series release Also: record of most kudos and hits for my fics.

Valley Of The Shadow of Death Summary: The ruler of Eighth City, Daredevil, meets an old friend, who drastically changed since the last time they've met.

Touch, Don't Touch Summary: Flashback to Matt touching Foggy's face

That Mystery Besides Me Summary: The most effective way to solve a mystery, according to Karen Page.

Meltdown Summary: Alternate take on BA 2x06. Matt snaps back.

Dreams Tonite Summary: What's left for Karen Page after the conclusion of BA S2.

Multi-Chapters

Roullete [4 chapters] Summary: Alternate take on fallout due to "Daredevil: Born Again" opening sequence, based on Daredevil #191

The Road To Hell Paved With Good Intentions [3 chapters] Summary: What If... Frank Castle's Family was killed during Battle of New York? Based on "Punisher KIlls The Marvel Universe", Canon Divergence from "The Avengers"/"Captain America: Civil War"

Runaway [12 chapters] Summary: Karen Page's year and a half in San Francisco following the aftermath of Foggy's death.

Breakaway [6 chapters] Summary: Matt Murdock deals with the aftermath of Foggy's death and tries to rebuild his life from the scratch.

Maybe It's Not Too Late [9 chapters, WIP] Summary: Canon Divergence from Defenders 1x01 to Punisher 1x08-10. Matt doesn't lie to Karen and it changes everything.

Nine Circles of Void [3 chapters, WIP] Summary: Matt Murdock journeys through the Void, searching for repentance, relief, and a little hope in rooms filled with shame, fear, and guilt. But the longer he stays in this place and comes to terms with the past, the more this place reveals its sinister nature.

[creepevan]

There's a one interesting difference between pre-viz and final shot of Josie's fight. Pre-viz Karen gets to Foggy, holds him and tries to stop his blood right away, while in the show her first instinct is to draw the weapon for a standoff with Dex... which is absolutely pointless, because it's Bullseye, duh.

Karen wastes vital seconds to bring necessary pressure to Foggy's wound on futile attempt at counter-violence as her initial response on situation. She chooses to take a gun, instead of immediately providing first aid to her friend and found family.

While it's not explicitly stated, it adds a new perspective onto reasons on why she initially left New York and her new stage of inner struggle in second season.

Karen might beat herself up, because she believes if it wasn't for that, Foggy might've survived, and it's her fault he died in the first place. Maybe, these few seconds wouldn't make a difference. And maybe, it could change everything. Now, Karen (and we as viewers) will never know. And it eats her from the inside and drives crazy.

[creepevan]

Easy, predictable relationships are boring. But seemingly stable relationships, whether romantic or not, that see the rugs pulled out from under them? That's drama. Case in point: Daredevil (1964) #263. Matt Murdock's longtime girlfriend Karen Page hears a drowsy, semi-concsious Matt saying someone else's name while awakening, sending her into a spiral and creating a lasting conflict in the pages of the series. Don't let readers get comfortable, but make sure the conflicts springs from insecurities and character beats that you've created, so they don't feel arbitrary or like plot devices. from "Marvel's Mastering the Art of Comics" (available October 20, 2026) by Alex Segura, about Ann Nocenti's Daredevil run.

[creepevan]

Idk, maybe, it's just me, but I think that Daniel should've been the one to overgo thru villain transformation, and Heather should've been the one to die. I wasn't really a big fan of Muse trajectory of her story in the sense, that I don't really believe that the show will stick the landing with this subplot, and they should've focused on other aspects and other more tragic outcome.

First of all, the Muse himself was a big letdown of first season. Everything about this character is supposed to be mysterious, unrevealed, and thus the questions of his motives or goals would be irrelevant. Instead, they gave him a backstory and never cared to explore it. The inclusion of Heather as a therapist should've been this gateway that would also reveal her as a character, but none of it was there, it was off-screen, and it makes the following "transformation" be quite artificial. There is not much ground for Heather to even be the next Muse.

The subversion of Heather's mental degradation sounds interesting. In the comics, she was also spiraling down due to vigilante-related traumas. But it seems too... weird for a victim of brutalizing by a serial killer to adopt his identity and modus operandi. If Muse remained the unknown semi-paranormal force of evil, it would simplify the story, but at least it would remained a coherent narrative without dissonance. All of these "horror" stylized shots indicating the "possession", if they were literal and not a fancy way of showcasing the fracture of character's psyche, would be in place and would not require any deeper explanations.

And now that Muse has the background, Heather doesn't. All we know is that she was friends with Kirsten prior to the start of the story and had an experience in psyche evaluations for court. We don't know why is she a psychatrist in the first place, or even what's up with sudden obssession with masks, especially in the world where Avengers and dozen of other heroes exist for a while. Wer don't really know how good of a person she is prior to those events, we can only assume things.

Some crumbs indicate that Heather suffered from control issues since the start, before she met Matt, before she met Fisk. Her relationship with Matt starts with Heather claiming that she's not looking for a partner that's not accessible and not convenient to her. She wants to have control over that person as much as she has control over her work and her publications. She doesn't actually has any control over her surroundings and just creates the illusion of it. But why is that the case? What causes such narcissistic traits?

616-Heather, altho not very much fleshed out character either, at least had a family. The tycoon father Maxwell Glenn, who came to be the victim of Killgrave, and Daredevil was accused of murder of Heather's father for a bit. If he was present, that would at least explain something.

616-Heather was a spoiled brat of a woman, who was given "privilege" by the birthright. She didn't really accomplish anything herself, but she deluded herself into thinking that she must be granted that said control over everything just by the nature of things. That she has the final vote, that she makes decisions. She forced herself upon Matt, who was still recovering from Karen's departure, because she fell for a handsome lawyer and decided that she must take him for herself. And she later paid for that choice, when Matt's own mental problems unraveled under the series of events of Frank Miller's run.

Or, if they'd wanted to make her more sympathetic, the parents could've put certain expectations onto Heather, forced her into something she wasn't feeling was right for her. Not only it would've lay the ground for her own complex, but also make the Muse's background (guy from a wealthy family who was imposed with parents' control over his life) relate to Heather and turn her guilt into something much more personal for her. She could metaphorically "kill herself" in the face of Muse, and that connection would be the start of her downfall into the abyss of mental illness...

And even like that, it just doesn't sit right with me. I'm afraid it will be portrayed poorly in terms of depiction of mental health. Everybody's afraid of fridging nowadays, but I'd rather see Heather as tragic figure who couldn't handle the pressure, and for show to lean into this much darker topic. Instead, they most likely will try "sympathetic villain" trope, but it also seems like a contribution to another ick, which is humanizing and almost glorifying serial killers in media. And if they make her full-on monster with straight-up no mercy murder act in the name of art or whatever, it'd be rather a disservice and will create kind of a big hole in the logic. Again, we're talking about victim becoming copycat of her abuser, which sounds not as difficult story to handle, but as borderline problematic one that avoids the actually important things to discuss with a bigger audience.

Sometimes, trauma doesn't get resolved. Sometimes, there's no healing. Sometimes, the mental issues just take people away in the most unexpected and tragic way. That's what Heather's story was about in 616, the infamous #220. Heather Glenn didn't die because villains got to her, or the hero failed. She systematically destoryed herself over losing any sort of control, and made a horrific choice.

Her MCU-version could've delve into more grounded and poignant depiction of her mental state, and tackle an important theme by puching the audience in the gut with all the horror such situation can bring onto person. So far, there's not so much of stories about suicide in genre, that openly discuss it, show a "bad ending" in meaningful way and attempt to answer on "why?". So, the rejection of the source material feels more like missed opportunity, and less than correcting mistakes of outdated writing.

[creepevan]

Karen and Defenders subplot in DD:BA Season 3

[creepevan]

WIP Game - WIP Folder Dumpster Fire Drop 🔥

Rules: Post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Send me an ask with the title that most intrigues you and I’ll post a little snippet of it or tell you something about it!  And then tag as many people as you have WIPs.

Thanks to @hopewearsglasses for including me! I have tons of WIPs, and lots of them are Daredevil fics and general, but here's a list of those that take Karedevil at the center of things.

Maybe It's Not Too Late

Nine Circles of Void

Welcome to the Fear City

The Cutting Edge

Songs of Sorrow

[creepevan]

Out-of-nowhere marine tattoo that was never there and flag; Cameo roles for military buddies; Derek-chauvining the criminal (and viewer is supposed to just trust this judgement, instead of showing any actual crimes or alluding to it).

Absolutely no comment or even acknowledgement on recent in-universe events with strong critique of corrupt opressive police brutality rule, sponsored by CIA (altho watered down closer to finale). But we still gonna use a hallucination of a literal Resistance Leader who was trialed for fighting with consequences of main character's methods, to bait shippers.

A distinctly reactionary imagery of Little Sicily (a fictional neighborhood) with looting, resisting the police and etc. Instead of being traumatized and horrified or just a bit disgusted like back on Netflix, citizens are almost cheering for brutal murders in broad daylight. The most well-known ANTI-hero, who oftenly presented as antagonist in lots of stories, suddenly revisioned as "hero we need", altho entirety of his solos clearly states that he's no hero and shouldn't be viewed as such.

Separate art from the artist, they say.

[creepevan]

this is how I imagine a thought process behind naming Daredevil characters:

Sam Rosen: Damn, Stan, we're running out of time before the print and we still don't have names for our characters.

Stan Lee: You shall not fear, my friend. What is it in Bill's notes? Hell's Kitchen? Yeah, let Daredevil be Irish dude, like, Murdock.

SR: And the first name?

SL: Matt. I like when it starts with the same letter.

SR: What about blonde girl?

SL: Just name her Karen. Everybody's naming girls Karen in our glorious year of 1964.

SR: So, we still have his best friend. What about him?

Sol Brodsky: Bruh, sorry i'm late, traffic is barely moving out there. This morning fog is a total nightmare, folks.

Stan Lee: Say that again?

[creepevan]

hi what are ur favourite mattkaren parallels from the comic vs the show

Because Daredevil was originally concieved as a romance superhero story about Matt and Karen, and basically all drama revolved around that, a common thematical thread has developed over the years in comics, which is "Fear vs. Love", as an inner conflict for both characters.

While it's present since the beggining, it's directly tackled only post-Karen's death: in "Daredevil: Yellow" by Jeph Loeb (a literal love letter to Karedevil's early days), Vol. 2 #100-105 by Ed Brubaker (where Matt is defeated by Mr. Fear), and "Man Without Fear" by Jed McKay (where Matt recovers after near-death experience, when he also saw Karen in afterlife).

These three storyarcs work as a great depiction of it, completing in a trilogy that solidify this theme and the reflections on it. Is love and fear two sides of one coin, or are they direct opposites? Should it co-exist or one must prevail over other? Instead of just re-telling, let me show some of the panels, and we'll figure, whether you can see what I'm talking about.

"You named me "The Man Without Fear", and I'm beggining to realize that my greatest fear... is living in the world without you." Daredevil: Yellow #6

"No, Karen... Listen, we can have another chance. Even after..." "What? After you get killed out there? You just don't get it. I loved you. I always loved you... But you were too scared to ever really love me. Too scared of what it would do to you to really hold someone's heart in your hands..." "Wait, no.... That's not right. I do love you." "No, because you have to be The Man Without Fear. And what good is that? Because love is fear, Matthew." Daredevil Vol. 2 #100

"Larry's words keep echoing... he thinks he showed me what being afraid is. But I've always known fear. I knew it every morning I woke up next to Karen." Daredevil #105

"If I could tell him, if I could speak to him, if I could whisper in his ear, I'd tell him that fear is a liar. Fear is a cheat. Fear is a thief. Fear steals joy, steals love and courage. Fear rings the game, makes you think you're better off not even trying. Fear tells us it can keep us safe, and we believe it, because we desperately want to. I'd tell him to forget fear, to go to her, go with her. I'd tell him to live the life for us who cannot. I'd tell him I loved him and wanted him to love and be loved. But even he who can hear everything, even he can't hear me." Man Without Fear #2

Also worth mentioning:

"Cat-and-mouse game". No matter what happens between the two, they always come back to one another and become stronger and more confident in their love to the point, that it's literally "only death can separate us". But in the same way, the death also can reunite them once more.

Sins of Parents. Traumatized by recent death of her father (masked villain Death's Head) Karen doesn't want for Matt to follow the same path. Matt, highly affected by never knowing his mother, doesn't want for Karen to abandon him at any cost.

Eventually, they grow up out of this fears, also thanks to constant parallel between Karen and Maggie, which even transfers to alternate realities with Maggie having a same career path as Karen in Earth-65 (where Matt is Kingpin), for example.

I believe that show conveys the same theme in relationship of Matt and Karen, with correlation between fear and love being highlighted in the eulogy Matt gives at Father Lantom's funeral in 3x13.

But there's also lots and lots sub-parallels that come out of it, both narrative and visual ones. And the "Matt, Karen and doorways" that indicate the transition from one stage to another at the end of every season is so far my favorite little rhyme the show has.

[darcyofmine]

Daredevil Born Again Season 2 Thoughts

Ok here goes. This is gonna be a long one so hang in there! Wanted to wait until the end of this season to give my full thoughts (even though I already complained on here mid-season lol). Daredevil Born Again S2 is simply not on OG series' level but even if not compared to its predecessor I would say: cool concept, delivery? Meh.

This show led by Dario Scardapane unfortunately relies HEAVILY on hype moments/« aura » or simply wants its cake and eat it too. It just wants to bite more than it can chew unfortunately. So let’s start with the few overall complaints before I dive in into the details!

1) OG characters are a shell of themselves and don’t get enough of screen time (except for Fisk which I would say gets MORE than is necessary). The literal protagonist of the show is missing. We have no idea what he’s thinking. What he’s feeling. We had to wait until the literal FINALE of the season to get uninterrupted scenes with him. Consequently: his team (Karen predominantly and Angela, Kirsten, Jessica, Cherry etc) get crumbs of a storyline or none at all. Focusing heavily on the Fisk team (newbies/ Vanessa etc) was a waste of screen time because after an entire season my reaction to Daniel dying is still « aww that sucks ! Hope we can see more of Matt from now on » and wondering why the hell Buck is still alive. So was it worth it? I have no idea. I know the main critique of Born Again was that the side characters didn’t get to have their own storyline but my God not at the expense of the leads!!!!!

2) The pacing is horrendous. Scenes are SO short and when we start getting comfortable with one it shifts to another! Even the tension we’re supposed to feel sometimes (the stakes are supposed to be high... allegedly) doesn’t get the time to build before the scene is already over! Think : prison scene between Karen and Fisk in episode 7. What was even the purpose of it ? Dario seems to be a BIG fan of season 3 (I mean... how can you NOT?) and wants to reheat its nachos so to speak lol. Except the reason why S3 is *so* loved to begin with is that it’s a season focused on CHARACTER STUDY. Each character gets to have their own storyline that is linked to the main one. Big moments like the Karen/Fisk showdown in OG S3 is not there for « hype » only. It’s a scene that serves a bigger purpose!! It allows the audience to be at the edge of their seat watching Karen be reckless in the name of justice/love as well as finally seeing Fisk realise who was behind Wesley’s death all along!!! It was THREE seasons in the making !!! So yeah. Whatever that was in S2 is a joke compared to it.

3) This is a political storyline. They know it. We know it. Everybody knows it. They call it a French Resistance storyline but it certainly takes inspiration from our modern political climate. So yes. If the writers are not willing to go DEEP... it just falls flat. I understand this is the MCU. I understand that under Disney we are never gonna get an actual ACAB/violent resistance is justified AND protected under international law storyline. Like the writers themselves talk about the French Resistance (and don’t get me started on why this specific example was chosen). They think they were what ? Picking apples? The lack of depth regarding the difficult choices one has to make during times like that is just... disappointing. Like WHY am I not getting a scene of Matt and Karen grappling with the morality of letting Angela participate in the Resistance for example? A minor who shouldn’t be anywhere near combat if it weren’t for times of war. So yeah... by not going deep (or at least deeper) they are doing a disservice to their protagonist most especially because having him act like the thought of crossing the line/killing Fisk isn’t one he’s grappling with every single day of his life is simply ??????? I understand that on a storytelling level if Karen is the one losing all hope Matt HAS to be the optimist but not giving him ANY scene explaining his POV for more than just one line here and there is SUCH a disservice to him as well as his reasoning. It’s like Dario himself looks down on the merit of the protagonist’s stance (a stance that deserves to be elaborated whether we fully agree with it or not, and I say that as a non Catholic) and consequently the protagonist comes out as naive. But that’s why Daredevil is a superhero show at the end of the day. Hopecore is the ultimate goal BUT that still doesn’t mean that certain topics should be brushed aside when they become a bit difficult. (I won’t even talk about the Cole North redemption arc and the way this show has an even bigger problem with copaganda compared to its predecessor).

4) The cinematography, editing as well as directing. The lack of RIGOR (like @supwiththedevil said) is simply a problem considering the quality of the precedent show. It is simply NOT normal that I start enjoying how the show LOOKS like until the very end of the season : Iain B. MacDonald quite literally the only director whom I felt like knew how to shoot the quiet intimate scenes between characters (Matt and Karen moments naturally looked SO much better and seeing them be given the bare minimum in terms of cinematography felt like SUCH a relief after a whole season wondering why the hell this show was doing everything in its power to sabotage their leads...). I understand that some directors know how to shoot action scenes best. But Daredevil was never a show that relied on those scenes to look good. On the contrary. Big action scenes were sparse and that’s why when we got them we were more than thrilled. Having this show be bombarded with action scene after another every single episode simply dilutes their importance and their impact on the story.

5) Now let me go in deeper with the writing of certain characters one by one:

- Karen: BIG sigh. This show doesn’t know how to write women in the big 2026. It simply doesn’t. I personally feel like Dario barely gets her (but then how could he get her if he barely understands

the main character 😭 ). As I said before : the characters have become a shell of themselves. She has almost become a stereotype: strong independent badass woman who delivers punchlines here and

there. Very few interesting things happening with her this season even though THEORETICALLY she is a co-leader of an entire Resistance. They make her the one contacting Jessica yet not one single scene shared with one another. They make her the one who’s getting intel yet we barely get scenes of her doing just that. Sorry but one or two scenes of her meeting BB/Kirsten is simply not enough for us to get « attached » or to simply connect with that side of her. Where are the stakes of doing such a dangerous job ? Why am I not privy to her thoughts regarding living a life on the run? Her fear of losing Matt making her unhinged the longer they stay on the run is well acted yet the show treats it like an afterthought. Her grief over Foggy making her vengeful... where is the scene of her grappling with those dark thoughts ? Or are we meant to just accept one single scene at the beginning of the season of her and Matt talking about missing their NM&P days is enough ? After all that happened and how she came back after one long year of distance from Matt? Her previous stance being shaken? WHY oh WHY are we wasting Karen’s past being used in a cat fight between her and Heather (a fight I would have been more than welcome to witness if their parallel trauma was the source of tension) instead of not making it something she’s being grilled on on the stand in front of the world???? Like we are meant to believe Fisk wants to ruin her reputation as his form of vengeance... so why am I not seeing KAREN in the Karen Page trial??? Shout out to Deborah Ann Woll for being so excellent that her portrayal makes all the difference. (And don’t get me started on the whole credits situation because seeing not only one but TWO men get ahead of her in the order of credits when she was the co-lead in the previous show and always after Charlie is enraging. Yet another example of misogyny in the workplace and how far we have regressed since 2015).

- Already discussed previously but Matt is only used as an action hero until the very last episode and someone who mayyyyybe gets to nod while hearing another character speak. He also gets weirdly mischaracterised as the guy who is so anti killing as if he doesn’t think about crossing the line 24/7. As if he didn’t cross it himself in the very beginning of this entire show. Instead of explaining his stance or delving into the guilt he felt after crossing the line, we’re left with vague words of wisdom such as « vengeance isn’t justice ». And I don’t know. I would think after a decade of Matt and Karen knowing each other intimately the dialogue can do a bit better than « this isn’t you » 🙄 . He sacrifices everything for love in the end (after Karen herself questions his devotion in a moment of despair) which I think makes the whole season feel somewhat worth it but it’s still disappointing that not more was done to showcase his POV all throughout. Oh and btw : why the HELL did we have to wait until the finale to get bratty!Matt back ??? Joking about just getting shot in the leg, roasting Heather, calling Fisk old man... WHERE WAS MY SON ALL SEASON DARIO ???????? Truly feel sorry for Charlie in the end because he had just the finale to showcase his range as an actor. And it’s just unacceptable for the lead of a show.

-  Matt and Karen as a couple: Dario when I catch you........ cinematographer/editors you’re next dw. Such GREAT concepts this season for these two characters but 1) writers clearly don’t want to dive deep into it. How is it that we start the season with them established (not a problem imo) with NO line at all referring to their separation in BA season 1?? Why are we not acknowledging the fact that this is them trying again most likely for the 3rd time (we started this show with Karen propositioning Matt so I’m gonna need the confirmation that they were somewhat together during the Missing Years @ Dario. Give me the freaking flashbacks!!) 2) Dario has a very weird concept about how these two are supposed to act around each other. He said in an interview once that their love is « pure ». I don’t necessarily disagree with the concept but my GOD stop sanitising them!!! Showing us one make-out scene in the beginning of the season is simply not enough to establish (again might I add because this isn’t a new concept) the sensuality between these two. Physical touch is their love language!!! Where is it?!!!!! And stop making Karen the only one allowed to be mad/frustrated ??? They’re BOTH brats with big hearts!!! Dario seems to get that they’re mirrors yet is not willing to have it be displayed more « equally ». Their fight scene in ep6 could have been AMAZING but the serious lack of repartee from Matt ruined it. There’s deep love between these characters. So let them actually fight. They can survive it ffs. 3) Fire these directors immediately. They clearly only know how to direct action scenes and nothing else. (Except maybe Angela Barnes and obviously Iain B. MacDonald you legend <33 You both can stay.)

-  Anyway. I focused on Matt and Karen because they’re the ones I love the most and the OG leads but I can make a whole thread about how Dex is being written as well (what felt like a multidimensional character in s3 is a cliche of an anti hero/villain (wink wink we’re telling the audience there’s no redemption arc but we still want to sell this character as cutie patootie who’s just unhinged hehe). It seems like he was hired by the CIA in the finale so I guess he’ll be a paid assassin ? If they’re going that route I think a scene with Elektra next season is mandatory.

-  Fisk losing Vanessa is whatever. Like ok sad but could have been shortened to one episode instead of 3. It just feels like an insult to Foggy who didn’t get any funeral or an episode dedicated to just Matt and Karen grappling with their grief over him. Anyway. I just miss when Fisk was just in a few episodes but still had so much depth. I feel like the more we see of him the less scared we are of him in the end (although I will say him killing those civilians in the finale was oooof.). I think having him end the season in a beach is clever because he said he hates sand on his feet and in the flashback we got of him and Vanessa it seems like it was the only reason he could tolerate it at all. I don’t personally think he got a happier ending compared to Matt I think he is probably on the run after he took the deal and left the country before the police came after him like they did with Matt (Matt had a whole day of peace before it was shattered so I guess Fisk probably left the morning after I don’t know). Sooo yeah. No Vanessa. No NYC. The city he loves so much keeps rejecting him. I think this show needs to get serious though because we can’t keep having the same storylines over and over. I can only see death as the final solution for him.

-  Newbies: instead of GRADUALLY making us care they hit us with them to the point that come Daniel’s death I was literally relieved that there would be one less character taking up screen time in the future 🙃 (and I actually did like him!!). Heather as Lady Muse could be interesting I guess but when I’m already frustrated about my favorite characters not getting their due focus I end up not caring for anything else #sorry. British Wesley is a pretty face and has as much personality as Matt did this season I guess.

-  Jessica as guest star: love her and I am interested in seeing a project focused on her in the future but I don’t like how promo focused SO much on her return when she was there for like 3 episodes (to the point that she had more promo than Karen even!!! @ D*sney your place is in h***). After the 3rd reference of her being a mother I’m sorry but I started rolling my eyes. Thanks Dario. I think we got it the first time. Like WHY are all her lines somewhat a reference to her being a mother now...?? See what I mean when I say this show doesn’t know how to write women ?

-  Kirsten : I feel sorry about how she’s under-utilised in the story.

-  Angela : I wanted more of her and we need more scenes with her honorary parents (aka Matt and Karen).

-  BB : I hope she thrives as her uncle’s successor but I wonder now that there’s no Daniel if she can have more scenes with Karen instead. Who knows.

-  Foggy : I have NO idea if they’re going for the witness protection storyline in the comics but if they are the reveal is not happening until the very end of Season 3 at this pace. I just find it all bewildering how they kept teasing it in the promo but there’s no sign of it happening (yet) in the show. If Foggy truly is dead then the way he’s been treated is truly so disrespectful... I understand the post overhaul team had little time to fix that mess of first season but. No episode dedicated to his death is CRAZY for a character so dear to not one but TWO of the current leads of this show.

Sooooo yeah. That’s about it. If you’re still here thanks for reading. In conclusion : this season was good but unfortunately tries to do TOO much with the few episodes it has as its disposal. There are wayyyyy too many characters and I’m afraid this is gonna get even more tricky next season with the return of the Defenders. I don’t really have hope of it becoming better than this (I think Dario is simply not the right guy for the job sorry. Like thanks for bringing back our fav characters and all but I’m gonna need someone else to try and tell a slower paced DD story focused on character study rather than going from one plot to another. If this show gets renewed for a 4th season they need to call Steven DeKnight and Erik Oleson back and MAYBE then we can have our real show back.

[creepevan]

Thought on Everything Wrong about Born Again S2

I enjoyed it. But it'd be unfair to ignore major flaws this show has.

Cinematography

Hilary Spera's cinematography doesn't suit this series at all.

The constant haze is incredibly harsh on the eyes and ruins the shots. They also go way overboard with the overexposure. While this gives us the vibrant color that was sorely lacking in the first season, I'd like to see the artificial sunlight a little bit more.

It's funny how Netflix darkened everything to the point of being impossible to see, while Disney+ brightens everything and still makes it impossible to see anything.

It's not exactly a total disaster, but the shot still lacks some depth, which is why you intuitively feel a certain… strange feeling of dissatisfaction.

They also use quite a lot of "trade cards", like overlapping scenes or some visual elements, that very quickly lose it's value and become a problem to an overall structure, rather than a cool feature.

Pacing and editing

The pacing this season is simply atrocious. I don't know, it feels like "parts of a hole" in its entirety; so much has been left out, and intentionally so. The editors cut out a ton of key scenes, which drastically diminishes the overall story, individual scenes, and entire character dynamics.

Honestly, it's hard to justify the season's editing decisions, because it's frankly surreal how much they're cutting scenes, as if they're afraid the audience won't tolerate an extra ten minutes. Scenes aren't given a chance to breathe, making the action feel unnecessarily choppy and fleeting. Before you can process what's happening on screen, another scene immediately begins.

I was expecting Matt's breakdown on the roof and his reunion with Kirsten, but in the end, neither happened. And at first, I didn't take the criticism that there was barely any Daredevil in the Daredevil series very seriously, focusing on small details that clearly conveyed a specific story, but that's beyond the pale. It's not that I'm outright angry, but it's really disappointing that there's apparently a ton of footage that didn't make it into the final cut.

This season, built around reactions to events, has practically no reactions. Sure, when compared to the first season, there's a clear sense of where the story is heading and how the characters are developing, but the second season completely lacks any self-sufficiency.

Whether it's Disney's budget mandate or shit in the head of showrunner, the season lacks flow, doesn't show, and doesn't allow you to fully experience the situation. And the most frustrating thing is: there's tremendous potential, there's evident effort, there's evident love for the original show, and some aspiration to approach it not only meta-contextually but also spiritually, at its core.

But the series simply doesn't pull it off. It's trying to cram more than the eight-episode format allows. It's a huge interweaving of characters and plotlines, thematic underpinnings, and the end result is a mess. I like to use food analogies, so here only the bottom of the plate is warm, while the top and sides are either lukewarm or even cold.

We lost the focus of main characters. They followed the audience frustration over Fisk being a main villain for 4th time + political situation today, and it forced them to wrap Mayor Fisk already, which required higher focus on villain side of ensemble cast. Devil's Reign was supposed to be S3 grand event, not to be chopped in S2.

S2 could explore the building army aspect, taking place in those 6 months, have time to re-introduce more Netflix characters for them to actually join Resistance and more, show exactly what DD did to gain citizens' support, while villains would gradually develop on their own. It would still have enough space and time for everyone, for new villains to enter the scene, but most importantly, for Daredevil and his crew, if Mayor Fisk was a 3-season arc. It'd lay ground for a much major confrontation in the finale with a more palpable sense of threat and danger.

Instead, in order to get rid of Fisk ASAP, we jump in time to "endgame", the "army" is already there, Kingpin's empire is already crumbling, the heroes are sidelined in favor to explore this downfall and to make it somewhat plausible in terms of skipped narrative.

Thematical core

This season has a lot to say. But it simply can't deliver.

There are strong moments, beautiful scenes, many narrative rhymes and parallels. There's an idea that logically continues the leitmotifs of the original series. But ultimately, it doesn't come together.

There are also plenty of missing puzzle pieces. There are many missed opportunities. The focus on the characters is off. The series simply can't keep up. There's so much here, and yet so little. I want more, give me more, I demand an hour, two per episode. For me, this creates dissonance. What I don't understand is what's holding them back.

Especially, "good cop vs bad cop" theme. It has always irked me in a wrong way about Daredevil ever since OG S1. It's not like it's significant in any way, but still seems like a smoothing out the corners too much, which causes a very apparent simplification of a difficult topic. I get why it never becomes an actual focus, there's much more important things to highlight and it's really hard to come around it. But Daredevil as a show mostly is about blurred lines, and this particular aspect avoided it in favor of very obvious distictions.

It seems like there's complete creative freedom. It seems like the i's should be dotted and crossed. But half the arcs are cut short again with cliffhangers.

Lack of subtext

This turns the discourse around the series into a phrase: "After those words, a complete nightmare began on the train." Some are overly defensive, others are overly vilified. And each side has a simply appalling understanding of the plot.

It's all so overtly obvious. And it's not even the writers' fault, because media literacy is so terrible these days that we're literally losing the notion of "subtext" in mainstream works, leaving it exclusively to arthouse and festival cinema.

Every motivation needs to be explained, every parallel needs to be highlighted, the camera needs to be focused on a crucial details, and we'll also be discussing what's going on in every interview, and we'll even create a whole podcast to make sure everyone understands exactly what we meant and what our vision is.

And the worst part is, a huge number of viewers still don't understand anything.

[creepevan]

i don't care, in MY world Foggy Nelson is chilling on a remote mountain somewhere in Japan that became new base for Elektra's splintered faction of Hand, meditates, drinks tea, has a great time in hot springs, studies new languages and is very excited to learn ninja moves

[creepevan]

"It's over. For both of us" Daredevil: Born Again 2x08, "The Southern Cross"

[creepevan]

it's doorways all over again

[creepevan]

"That's where the nerve is. Does Matt know?" Daredevil: Born Again 2x07

[creepevan]

I WANT TO BELIEVE: Update on Foggy's Alive theory

No matter how hard showrunners and producers try to convice us that Foggy is super dead-dead, I'm too deep in my delulus to just give up, and since the last time I talked about this, new clues and details appeared. Some of things in my theory were incorrect, like timeline placement and thus the intiial motivation, but overall, it's still super-plausible.

A little TL;DR to previous longpost about it: O.X.E. (a black ops company of CIA) is behind Foggy's survival.

So, Season 2 premiers and the there is a direct confirmation of bunch of major points of mine: Valentina De Fontaine (founder of O.X.E.) is backing Fisk up, and Mr. Charles is her direct subordinate, as Red Hook is used to transport illegal military weaponary all across the globe. It's the very first episode and my schizophrenic bullshit immediately checks out.

And it could be a dead end, since there is no additional info on how exactly Fisk is in contact with CIA/O.X.E., no delve into the motivations behind such deal and what it actually means besides selling high-grade weaponary overseas. There is a conflict of interest because of Fisk's actions, but Mr. Charles mostly uses other government institutions to bring him down. So, Foggy is no leverage...

Until Jessica Jones returns.

From her conversation with Matt, we learn that Mr. Charles isn't just dealing with Fisk. He's interested in superpowered individuals and offers them a job for the authorities, which is basically expanding what O.X.E. been doing all these previous years by hiring such people as John Walker (supersoldier), Taskmaster (cyborg), Ghost (quantum phasing) and creating Sentry. And Val has an eye on New York vigilantes, and the demand is high enough to directly approach those who's identity is public, including Luke Cage.

We'll probably learn what happened to him in the final episode, but for now, we know that he took the deal with Mr. Charles and is somewhere "overseas", doing black ops mission for O.X.E., so Jessica wouldn't. Danielle and her safety was most likely used as a leverage on Luke for him to join this subgroup of "New Avengers", which also checks out with period of comics the show's adapting. It was during this time Luke was the leader of New Avengers, and then Thunderbolts, consisting of Raft inmates. It was government monitored initiatives post-Civil War and pre-Dark Reign, which is also concurrent to Ed Brubaker's run that "Born Again" draws direct inspiration from, as recently reminded by Sana Amanat on official podcast.

Now, the important thing from the latest episode is the fact that Jessica is unable to contact Luke, unless it's thru Mr. Charles. Jones uncovered the entire connection between agency and Fisk and their shared operation with Red Hook, Northern Star and all that comes out of it, but she has no clue of where Luke is.

Judging by her reaction, Jessica has tried to learn where Luke might be, but never did it. This is how CIA (thus O.X.E.) are good at hiding people, that no matter how much effort Jessica made to find Luke, the only way to do so is via the said O.X.E.

So what we have:

O.X.E. is interested in exploiting vigilantes

They use dirty tricks to convince them to join their black ops operations

The person, who takes a deal, basically vanishes from existence

It begs the question of whether or not O.X.E. is interested in Daredevil, especially considering his latest activity as a Resistance Leader, which is quite useful for their line of work. What do they know about him? Are they aware of his superhuman abilities? And what they can offer him in order to recruit? And not to be too spoiler-y, we know that the season goes forward "Devil in Cell Block D" direction with Daredevil's identity being revealed to the public. But even without that, it doesn't take much time to figure out that Daredevil has a specific set of people close to him, which are coincidentally are Matt Murdock's inner circle.

So, O.X.E. granted the survival of Foggy Nelson initially as a back-up plan in case Kingpin gets out of line. He almost did with attempted murder of Governor, but it was prevented by Bullseye, so the legal options to take him down are still available. But with Daredevil's imprisonment and further confirmations that he is, indeed, Matt Murdock, this back-up plan might serve as a leverage on Matt in order to go "overseas" and do "Lord's work". Without going too far on predictions of what's going to happen in Season 3, let's stop there, and I'll just recommend you to check out the entire Brubaker's run, especially "Lady Bullseye" and "The Return of The King" storyarcs, which involved The Hand, who are coming back already in "Spider-Man: Brand New Day", which is tied by Sheila Rivera, Punisher and rumored-to-appear Claire Temple to street-level world of Daredevil. You draw your own conclusions on how it can be used further to develop my thought process.

Instead, I'm gonna give you another little hint.

Bar Franklin 820. While it is a real place, which is named after its adress (Franklin Avenue 820 in Brooklyn), it is a very suspicious choice because A. Franklin (duh), B. 820 might be a hint at Vol. 2 #82, the first issue of "Devil in The Cell Block D" storyarc, where Foggy "dies". The same trick, of using a real locations exterior, was with Nelson, Murdock & Page law office with number of the building being a legacy number of Vol. 2 #88, which is a "Secret Life of Foggy Nelson".

And Season 3 filming threw another number-hint. I won't show the set photo, cuz spoilers (altho I think everybody's seen it at this point), and there's a sus sign with drawn number 553. This is a legacy number of Vol. 4 #5, an issue that reveals how exactly Foggy Nelson faked his death for the second time in the beggining of Mark Waid's second run.

As they say: one is an accident, two is a coincidence, three is a pattern

[creepevan]

Daredevil #375, words by Joe Kelly