Truth or Dare – Daredevil: Episodes 10-12 Review

<p>Good friends are hard to find&comma; harder to leave&comma; and impossible to forget – or so it&&num;8217&semi;s said by someone that must not have been Foggy Nelson or Matt Murdock&period; What&&num;8217&semi;s a guy to do when he finds his best friend on the ground wearing a ninja suit&quest; That&&num;8217&semi;s exactly the question hanging over our two gentlemen for the better half of <em>Daredevil <&sol;em>as much as Fisk for better or for worse&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;04&sol;05001031&sol;Daredevil-Netflix-S1-Nelson-V&period;-Murdoc-BagoGames&period;jpg"><img class&equals;"alignleft wp-image-82150 size-medium" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;04&sol;05001031&sol;Daredevil-Netflix-S1-Nelson-V&period;-Murdoc-BagoGames&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Daredevil Netflix S1 'Nelson V&period; Murdoc' BagoGames" width&equals;"300" height&equals;"174" &sol;><&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>As its title would imply&comma; <em>Nelson V Murdock<&sol;em> is all about the men of its namesake and that&&num;8217&semi;s really quite enough&period; It&&num;8217&semi;s a terribly familiar scenario that both of them find themselves in as far as genre conventions go&period; We&&num;8217&semi;ve seen what happens to the hero when he&&num;8217&semi;s unmasked at least a dozen times over and a lesser show could easily have skirted over and moved on from&period; Not so with New York&&num;8217&semi;s Nelson and Murdock Law Office&period; In a series so much about flying fists and the occasional flying toaster oven&comma; it&&num;8217&semi;s just as gratifying to see words pack as hard of a punch and especially when they&&num;8217&semi;re coming from two actors as talented as Elden Hanson and Charlie Cox&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>This time&comma; it&&num;8217&semi;s Foggy who has to pick up the pieces of Matt&&num;8217&semi;s double life and even save it&period; That Matt&&num;8217&semi;s lied about basically everything&comma; late night crime fighting included&comma; is something he can&&num;8217&semi;t forgive&period; The questions that begs to ask about the both of them are hard and the answers either of them can give are naturally unsatisfying&comma; but strikingly honest&period; It&&num;8217&semi;s <em>Nelson V Murdock<&sol;em>&&num;8216&semi;s campy college flashbacks that reminds me just how much I enjoy watching Matt and Foggy do anything together&period; Hanson&&num;8217&semi;s Foggy probably does rock a mullet better than anyone in this series as easily as he does impromptu Yoda impressions while Cox exudes a quiet wisdom beyond his years befitting his straight man schtick of the duo&period; That nothing can ever be the same between them is a deliberately human strength on the show makers part&comma; but one that sees both of them coming out better for it&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;04&sol;05001019&sol;Daredevil-Netflix-S1-Path-of-the-Righteous-Claire-and-Matt-BagoGames&period;jpg"><img class&equals;"alignright wp-image-82153 size-medium" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;04&sol;05001019&sol;Daredevil-Netflix-S1-Path-of-the-Righteous-Claire-and-Matt-BagoGames&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Daredevil Netflix S1 'Path of the Righteous' Claire and Matt BagoGames" width&equals;"300" height&equals;"174" &sol;><&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Whether just one man can make a difference is something that drives Matt as much as<em> Daredevil<&sol;em><em> <&sol;em>which&comma; for the first time in the series&comma; really does leave Matt in a lonely place&comma; sad little monkey balloon in hand&period; Matt&&num;8217&semi;s a man very much the sum of his friends&comma; ones that don&&num;8217&semi;t take kindly to being shut down&comma; including one Claire Temple&period; For the screen time Rosario Dawson&&num;8217&semi;s given&comma; she certainly makes up for it in levity&comma; and powerful proof that not every actress need end up as a committed romantic interest – at least in the conventional sense&period; Not every one&&num;8217&semi;s willing to wait for Matt forever&comma; and maybe not even Matt&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Fans of the Marvel universe may take particular interest in these last few samplings of Daredevil&&num;8217&semi;s first season as the show continues to brilliantly weave itself into the thicker fabric of its comic book roots&period; Spider-man fans might raise an eye at a certain &lpar;Miles&quest;&rpar; Morales at Foggy and Matt&&num;8217&semi;s first law gig and &&num;8220&semi;that Greek girl&&num;8221&semi; in Foggy&&num;8217&semi;s Spanish class&&num;8230&semi;Elektra&comma; anyone&quest;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;04&sol;05001006&sol;Daredevil-Netflix-S1-Path-of-the-Righteous-Kidnapped-BagoGames1&period;jpg"><img class&equals;"alignleft wp-image-82155 size-medium" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;04&sol;05001006&sol;Daredevil-Netflix-S1-Path-of-the-Righteous-Kidnapped-BagoGames1&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Daredevil Netflix S1 'Path of the Righteous' Kidnapped BagoGames" width&equals;"300" height&equals;"174" &sol;><&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>It&&num;8217&semi;s <em>Paths of the Righteous<&sol;em> that puts everyone&&num;8217&semi;s loyalties on the line&comma; Karen&&num;8217&semi;s included&period; Always the hopeful center to the show&comma; a fateful confrontation with Wesley finally tests the cracks in Karen&&num;8217&semi;s resolve&period; Though we haven&&num;8217&semi;t gotten to know either character very well&comma; their battle of the wills raises a revealing discussion and Deborah Ann Woll and Toby Leonard Moore carry it with chilling class&period; Suffice to say&comma; Karen&&num;8217&semi;s great at calling bluffs&comma; if not manufacturing some herself&comma; and the resulting fallout is one that&&num;8217&semi;ll surely leave its mark beyond this season&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>No one&&num;8217&semi;s really as they seem in <em>Daredevil<&sol;em> as Matt himself proves time and again&period; Friends can become enemies and enemies become friends in Matt&&num;8217&semi;s search for a suitable replacement to his <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;men-monsters-daredevil-episodes-7-9-review&sol;">diminishing supply of black leotards<&sol;a> that takes him to a rather unlikely ally for some more serious superhero duds&period; Besides a hectic garage fight and Matt&&num;8217&semi;s brutal version of twenty questions&comma; <em>Paths<&sol;em> does provide the best not-Assassin&&num;8217&semi;s Creed parkour chase with a sucker-punch of a surprise from Leland Owlsley&&num;8217&semi;s shadowy small-talker&comma; Madame Gao&period; Alongside Stick&comma; Gao&&num;8217&semi;s character is arguably the most frustrating loose end dangling from the show&&num;8217&semi;s tassels&comma; but call me interested by this tough old lady&period; But it does beg to ask&comma; who can Matt be allowed to hit in this show&comma; hmm&quest;&&num;8230&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>I might have changed <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;trial-by-fire-daredevil-episodes-4-6&sol;">my tune about Owlsley<&sol;a>&comma; the sneaky little bugger&comma; if <em>Paths<&sol;em>&&num;8216&semi; Red Wedding level disaster is any indication&period; A couple – okay&comma; a <em>lot <&sol;em>of bad drinks leaves Fisk&&num;8217&semi;s precious Vanessa and half his party guests foaming at the mouth&comma; his one chance at a life in a hospital bed&period; As easily as a neon-sign emblazoned with &&num;8220&semi;perp&&num;8221&semi; could be pointing to Owlsley&&num;8217&semi;s vicinity&comma; it&&num;8217&semi;s the women in Fisk&&num;8217&semi;s life that take center stage here than crime&comma; moreover their maternal power over him&comma; figuratively or otherwise&period; It&&num;8217&semi;s tender moments like these that I can&&num;8217&semi;t help but love watching Fisk and Vanessa&&num;8217&semi;s genuinely moving chemistry&period; But&comma; for the love of God&comma; don&&num;8217&semi;t mess with Fisk&&num;8217&semi;s real mommy&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;05&sol;04233638&sol;Daredevil-S1-Paths-of-the-Righteous-Ben-BagoGames&period;jpg"><img class&equals;"alignright wp-image-82906 size-medium" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;05&sol;04233638&sol;Daredevil-S1-Paths-of-the-Righteous-Ben-BagoGames&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Daredevil S1 'Paths of the Righteous' Ben BagoGames" width&equals;"300" height&equals;"169" &sol;><&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Of all the characters to get their fair share these three episodes&comma; it&&num;8217&semi;s fitting that Ben Urich get the best of it in the somber note that <em>The Ones We Leave Behind<&sol;em> implies&period; As the show&&num;8217&semi;s straight-laced reporter &lpar;ugh&comma; blogging&excl;&rpar;&comma; it should come by extension that Ben&&num;8217&semi;s shouldered the burden of the reluctant hero who doesn&&num;8217&semi;t so easily resonate with the fantastical characters around him&period; Nevertheless&comma; in a show all about shades of grey&comma; it&&num;8217&semi;s Ben&&num;8217&semi;s unwavering honesty that come as the show&&num;8217&semi;s beacon of hope&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Fisk&&num;8217&semi;s empire is his image as much as his muscle and Ben&&num;8217&semi;s sleuthing that&&num;8217&semi;s Team Daredevil&&num;8217&semi;s real weapon in a war of ideas&period; That Ben should choose to do the right thing for all the right reasons is a moving twist for a devoted husband we&&num;8217&semi;re shown would much rather keep all he has to lose&period; It&&num;8217&semi;s safe to say that <em>The Ones We Leave Behind<&sol;em> does justice to its namesake as the episode&&num;8217&semi;s end credits roll&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>If honesty is the best policy&comma; then it&&num;8217&semi;s <em>Daredevi<&sol;em>l&&num;8217&semi;s cornerstone in building towards a heck of a finale&period; A break from the action paid off in spades as we got a personal look at every corner of our character&&num;8217&semi;s lives and into their hearts&period; <em>Daredevil<&sol;em>&&num;8216&semi;s just keeps beating with the same vigor it did in its debut and I trust it&&num;8217&semi;ll keep mine &&num;8217&semi;til its very end&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<p>All thirteen episodes of <em>Daredevil<&sol;em> are available for streaming through Netflix on TV&comma; PC&comma; tablet&comma; mobile&comma; and game consoles&period; Check back next week for our review of the season finale here at <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com">BagoGames<&sol;a>&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

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