Daredevil Season 2 - Spoilers ahead!

[YorkNecromancer]

I would agree his angst was tedious. I think that's a change from the comics they've made to make the character more 'sympathetic'. Punisher never feels the slightest manpain in Garth Ennis' seminal run on the character at all. The whole fridging of his family is discussed at length, and the conclusion Ennis' comics draws is that, ultimately, Frank Castle just likes being at war. All his family's death does is provide him with the excuse he needs for a war that can never end, because the moral absolutism he follows demands that he ultimately be 'heroic', so he can stay in denial about the fact that he's a complete monster. Which he is.

Basically, to me, the appeal of the Punisher is that when he's done right, he's the Jason Voorhees of the Marvel universe. He's just this atrocity in human form who shows up, murders everything, and has to be managed by heroes who can't quite cope with him, mistaking his moral code for humanity. If the story is about his manpain, they're kind of doing him wrong, because all he is is a really competent murderer, who does not stop ever, and cannot be reasoned with because he's completely insane, and absolutely certain of his convictions. Not to mention, he's not empowered like anyone else in the Marvel universe; his powers are relentlessness and good planning. He's not faster or stronger or tougher than anyone else; he's a tactician and a strategist, and because he's in a state of constant warfare, he's really, really good at both. Given that his goals are so small and simple (kill bad guys efficiently), he's incredibly hard to act against, because he doesn't have grand, overly complex schemes. The key to defeating him, is catching him unprepared, which is something that should be very difficult to do indeed, because he's so crazy paranoid. He's essentially a more honest Batman; a Batman without the privilege of phenomenal wealth, where it is finally acknowledged that, yes, being Batman is really, really immoral. Maybe a satisfying power fantasy, but ultimately, wrong. And antivillain, not an antihero.

As for Elodie Yung, I found her intensely grating. Everything about her left me screaming for the moment when she'd be off screen. Elektra's never been a character I've been terribly interested in; she seemed too close in conception to those wretched 'Lady Death'-style 90's bad girl cheesecake heroines to me, and unlike Punisher, she was never really rescued from that nineties antihero bulls**t. I was hoping the series would turn me around but the only time her arc interested me was when they had the younger actress playing her. I don't know who the young lady was, but in five minutes she did more emoting than Yung managed in five hours.

Maybe season 3 will turn things around, but at this stage, I never want to see anything Elektra-related again. Especially with the resurrection bulls**t.

And Nobu sucked harder than anything I have ever seen in the MCU. Just a horrible, boring character: the X-Pac of the MCU.

[Kirsten]

Nobu and The Hand were just utterly bizarre. One minute they are desperate for Elektra to join them, the next they are happily attacking her. Given that they are one of those cults that happily die for the cause, attacking her when she changes her mind seems silly. why not just let her go, or try and restrain her? the build up sucked, and when it came it was just 'you must lead us' and then 'no? oh ok, back to killing each other'. Stick was the same, he keeps bringing up the war and refusing to answer any questions, but really it is just a long running battle between him and the hand. there isn't really anything special about it, and they just fight each other in the background of everyday life with seemingly very little stakes for anybody. would it matter at all if Daredevil didn't help? hard to imagine so.

[YorkNecromancer]

The Hand's entire motivation can be summarised as 'give Daredevil and Elektra people to fight'. They literally do NOTHING ELSE but this, all through season 2. There's no story arc there; just Daredevil and Elektra finding a bunch of random crap and having to fight random ninjas with nothing at stake and no consequences.

The Hand arc is f**king crap from start to finish.

[Kirsten]

it does seem to be a war so secret even Stick and the Hand hardly know it is going on, or why. I suspect that is why he never answers anybody. Also, do you think the Hand refer to their missions as Hand Jobs?

[Kaptain Badrukk]

it does seem to be a war so secret even Stick and the Hand hardly know it is going on, or why. I suspect that is why he never answers anybody. Also, do you think the Hand refer to their missions as Hand Jobs?

That's freakin' awesome!

Castle as much as admits that he was a monster, and love (or the closest equivalent he could feel) for his family was all that was holdibg him back. With them gone he's free to be what he is, rather than his angst over their deaths driving him. At least that's how I read his dialogue. Still, I've got a couple of episodes to go.

[Kirsten]

hehe, thanks