New posts

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mel O&#039;Drama" data-source="post: 329155" data-attributes="member: 23">Daredevil Blindsided / The Perfect Game The first few episodes weren’t a fluke. This is a quality series. Hugely so.One of the best things about this season has been its sense of subjectivity. Scenes in the first few episodes captured Matt’s disorientation and isolation incredibly well as he came out of his coma and things were hazy, combined with his loss of hearing and “vision”. We really got a sense of how he heard, saw and felt the world.This has been built upon with some of the scenarios. Matt’s entrapment in Ryker’s Island, for example. I smiled when it ended in yet another series of corridor fights because I know it’s become something of a cliche for this series (though Daredevil did originate it, so if not here, where). But the sense of going down the rabbit hole in the scenes building up to this with the assassination attempt on Matt by inmates and guards both (first the people working for Fisk, then the Albanians). The feeling of dread was almost suffocating as Matt was taken deeper and deeper into the prison to be locked in a room with a medic, ostensibly there to make sure he’s OK but actually intent on killing him. It was so uncomfortable I found it almost a relief once it broke out into the more familiar chaos of fighting, though the disorientation and senseless violence of the rioting was its own kind of horrific. Even after Matt’s escape, things didn’t let up with him being driven into the water, trapped in the back of the locked taxi and we got a Matt’s-eye view of the water rising above eye level.With this season there’s a sense that all bets really are off. How quickly Fisk has learnt of Matt’s living status and acted upon it. If Fisk knew Matt was Daredevil I’ve forgotten it. Matt’s fighting abilities seemed like news to him, and yet he didn’t seem all that surprised. But then responding impassively to almost any surprise is one of Fisk’s strengths (unless it relates to Vanessa, of course).It’s a testament to the incredibly strong ensemble in this series and to the compelling storytelling that around two-thirds of The Perfect Game went by before it struck me that we hadn’t seen Matt at all in the episode. And this is with the previous episode ending on a cliffhanger that had his life in the balance. Foggy running for DA (I now keep seeing similarities between Foggy and Cliff Barnes); Karen’s quest to bring Fisk to justice; Matt becoming wanted by the FBI after Fisk told them Matt was working for him… there were so many compelling elements.Poindexter’s psychiatric history being brought vividly to life onscreen as Fisk read through his medical records was wonderful. The execution reminded me of Misty Knight reliving a crime as she worked the scene. It’s theatrical and very effective. In the space of less than an episode, Poindexter became a living, breathing human being. I do love a good origin story, and I feel we’ve only just scratched the surface. Dex’s obsessive and compulsive behaviour and the stalking of his ex-colleague was great.Karen’s desperation this season has been great, as has Deborah Ann Woll’s performance. The scene in which she pulled a gun on the thugs harassing young women was most effective because Karen’s character wasn’t lost. It didn’t come easily to her. It’s a similar story with own wild-eyed obsession in trying to  bring down Fisk - going to someone’s home for a story because she couldn’t wait until their meeting the next day. And her response when confronted by the FBI, as she tried to hold it together and meet them in a level way while very clearly extremely shocked and anxious was just spot-on.Likewise, Karen’s response when Foggy came to her with news about Matt was nothing short of wonderful. It’s an outlandish situation which Deborah Ann Woll makes entirely human, beautiful and convincing. Soaps and other drama series would do well to take a lesson from these scenes: this is how a back from the dead should be done!If you loved the first season there's a good chance you'll like the second, I think. While I enjoyed some aspects, there was a lot of the series that wasn't my cup of tea, but that's fine. It's different strokes for different folks.Enjoy. I've hit a bit of a wall with No Way Home.  I'm opting not to continue with the films (or my subscription) until it appears on Disney+.</blockquote>

Verification: Who played Sue Ellen in Dallas?