Daredevil on Netflix: Episode One

You know how people liveblog and livetweet and livewhatever TV shows? I was gonna try that with Jessica Jones, but that comes out next month. By then I'll be back at the hospital, so instead I'll do this with Daredevil. Full disclosure, I already half-watched this once while on internal medicine service. Which means I remember like 30% of it. And I don't know how this is supposed to work with a show that's on Netflix. But here we go.

• I like the poster. The cane, the bloody knuckles, the smirk/smile thing the actor has going. Kudos to the art people, make up people, and him.
• I thought the scene with the little kid and the toxic spill was going to be the major gist of backstory, but I know from my previous binge-watching episode that, sadly, that will not be the case.
• Matt's monologue with the priest went on like 95% too long. Cut the story, keep the "what I'm about to do" line.
• During that first fight scene, there's a dude sitting in a chair with some junk food the entire time. I don't know what that was about. Like, why didn't he run? Pull out a gun? Called 911? Dropped the sandwich? I feel like I missed something about that dude.
• They were trying some artistic, noire, Game of Thrones deal with the opening, and it's pretty and everything, but just like with the GoT opening credits, I get bored.

• Why do Foggy and Matt have that awkward business fight in front of the pretty real state agent? I know the fight is for the audience's benefit, but I don't see why it has to be in front of real state agent lady. Normal people wouldn't do that.
• Don't know much about law and cops, but Idk how Matt and Foggy got in the room with Karen without like proper IDs and signing a bunch of documents about who they are. The scene has dramatic flare though.
• Karen has some Edward Elric blond hair going for her. If that's a dye job, it's excellent. Though I wouldn't know, in all honesty. I can't recognize low-budget wigs.
• Wesley dripped pretension from the moment he sleazed up to this poor gambler dude.
• The quality of the creepy-stalkerish video of the gambler's daughter is a fantasy. And masterful product placement.
• "If there's a beautiful woman with questionable morals in the room . . . "??? That must be a comic book thing because from what I remember, Matt dates a nurse, and that's it. Foggy's the one with that lawyer they made up to look plastic. In a pretty way.
• Ugh, the eye thing. I don't consider myself squeamish, but I don't like eyes. We extract the vitreous fluid from cadavers during autopsies. That is the worst part of it for me.
• It's funny that Karen just takes off her shirt in front of Matt. "Blind" doesn't necessarily mean "can't see anything", but I guess that's how most people think of it.
• Interesting that Matt shared all that blindness stuff with Karen, which built rapport between them and made her feel like she owed him something personal, then started asking "personal questions". Sure, that blindness convo was as much for the audience as it was for Karen, so I guess the scene was effective since it provided exposition, advanced the plot, and helped characterization.
• "Guess I'm just not that smart." Karen is trying to play up the silly girl stereotype. It's an effective tactic. It might've worked if not for the heartbeat thing.
• "Can you at least pretend to be cold? It's unsettling." This old dude is my second favorite of the band of old shady mob types.
• The favorite is Madam Gao.
• So Madam Gao is pretending she doesn't speak English, yet she understands everyone around her speaking English? So it's more like she's refusing to speak English.  Like I said, my favorite.
• Also, I like that evil accountant is pointing out that all the vigilante cray-crayness in the MCU is having negative consequences in regards to criminal activity. I mean, I'm not sure how these effects are working, but I'm no economist and tend to space out during those parts of the plot. I hate money.
• So I know this dead daddy thing is like part of the whole Daredevil thing, but I maintain that it's boring and slows down pacing for no reason. We know what happens with this whole thing. So I have little drive to pay attention while it's happening.
• I wonder if that knife drop-grab thing is possible in real life. It was in the Winter Soldier too.
• Okay, these mobsters are not handling these guns right at all. A dude just did something with a gun that looked like he loaded it, and then pointed the muzzle at the palm of his left hand.
• So . . . I don't remember from my first watch, but how do the Russians know that the Daredevil would take the bait of a kidnapped kid? How did they know he'd even notice? I must be forgetting something.

As far as first episodes go, it was okay. I like Matt and Karen. Foggy will grow on me, I hope (he's too much of a frat guy dudebro at the moment, but at least I buy that he genuinely cares for Matt). Wesley and the band of shady mob bosses is interesting, if a little cliche.

Still, the thing with Matt's dad got old, especially that scene were a fight was interrupted by that memory. I know this season is technically the origin story, but come on. It's the age of the internet. People who binge-watch this already know Daredevil's basic backstory. Even I know it. And those of use who don't are more than happy to google things.

So, in my expertise, I'll be giving this first episode . . . 3.5 stars. I have a detailed rubric to come to that number which I will share with everyone someday.