Second Emulation

Blind Justice: When the Law Isn't Enough

• Shawn Juarez • Episode 85

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The Man Without Fear makes his triumphant return in "Daredevil Born Again," and we're diving deep into everything you need to know about this gritty Marvel series that's making waves on Disney+. 

Marvel fans have been holding their breath since the announcement that Daredevil would transition from Netflix to Disney+. Would the show maintain its dark, mature tone or become another sanitized superhero story? The verdict is finally in, and it's largely positive. Charlie Cox and Vincent D'Onofrio reprise their roles with the same intensity and nuance that made the Netflix series a standout, but now with elevated production values that bring a more cinematic quality to Hell's Kitchen.

What makes this iteration particularly compelling is its focus on Matt Murdock's dual identity – not just as the vigilante Daredevil, but as a lawyer committed to justice through legal means. This season explores the moral gray areas when fighting enemies who don't play by the rules, creating rich character development alongside the bone-crunching action sequences fans expect. The return of Jon Bernthal as Punisher adds another layer of complexity, bringing back the electric dynamic between these two different approaches to justice. However, not everything works perfectly – shorter episodes and seasons create pacing issues, and the show's tendency to kill off promising characters prematurely leaves some storylines feeling underdeveloped.

Whether you're a longtime fan of the Netflix series or new to Matt Murdock's world, this episode breaks down everything from character development to production quality, plot points to missed opportunities. We examine why critics and viewers alike are giving it a solid 4 out of 5 rating while acknowledging where it falls short. Subscribe now to join our discussion about this pivotal moment in Marvel's television universe, and stick around for next week's exploration of "Sunrise and the Reaping."

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Hi, hello, and welcome to Second Emulation! Oh my God, you guys, I’m so excited for you to listen to this episode—like, it’s going to be so good! Your amazing host is about to take you on a deep dive into all things movies, anime, gaming, and pop culture. Seriously, it’s, like, the best way to spend your time. So, grab your favorite drink, maybe a latte or something cute, and get ready to have the best time. Okay, love that for you! Here’s your host

Hey everyone. Welcome back to Second Emulation, the show where we dive deep into the latest TV shows and see what's worth your time. I'm Sean, your host, and today we're gonna be talking about Daredevil Born Again, the new Action, superhero fiction, science Fiction, crime and drama series. I just premiered on Disney Plus.

If you're a fan of Marvel, then this might be on your radar. Stick around as I break it down, share my thoughts, and see what other viewers are saying about it. A brief synopsis for those who haven't seen it yet. Daredevil, born Again follows, Matt Murdoch, the Blind Lawyer, vigilante facing a renewed threat from Wilson Fisk as their identities and connections resurfaced.

Matt known by a day as a defender of Hell's Kitchen, and by ninth a masked Daredevil finds himself on a collision course with Fisk, who is now pursuing. Political power in New York, the Syria explores themes of justice, morality, and consequences of past choices. It is now brought with an assemble of similar cast members such as Carly Cox, Gavin anal  Kaur de Margarita Lavia, John Berthel Wilson Bethel, Vincent Donofrio, and it was also created by, uh, Dario.

Scar Pan and Matt Corman and Chris Ord. Let's dive into it. First impressions. When I first heard about Daredevil Born again, I was kind of excited because I, I had originally watched the series when it was on Netflix, and for those who don't know  Netflix had owned the. Rights to create Daredevil along with Jessica Jones and Luke Cage and Iron and iron fist, and so they were in a con contractual agreement that Netflix would own those properties for the TV show.

Now it appears that over some time, that contract has since lapsed and the properties have reverted back to Disney. Now, there was some hesitation to watch the series, as  with Disney being the name, a big brand and the show is being brought to Disney Plus, there was some confusion that would the show  be.

A direct sequel or even connected to what was done on Netflix and would it be a, a kind of soft reboot now. And there was a lot of that sentiment going around because it was very unknown what Disney was going to do with Daredevil.  Because of, did they want to keep everything connected? Was this their first opportunity in their TV department to actually maybe  push the envelope of Daredevil or  tone it down?

So there was a lot of, you know, back and forth. Now what we got. For this series was definitely on par to what we were expecting. And  with that, for those who don't know, Daredevil  brought in the  theatrical movie type quality for series of this caliber that. Smallville did for the cw, which no longer exists, but it was at a time in an era  where superhero live adaptations were not big.

And  they took a chance. And what came out of Smallville were  arrow, which happened a year later after Smallville had ended. And thus.  Creating this revolution of superhero shows on tv. Now, the quality of  arrow in those, in those type of eye products weren't  to that movie quality because again, it was a TV you network.

But there can be similar lines that. What Daredevil did you know, and having, you know, a big budget behind it and creating their own  bringing their own characters.  Con did push that, uh, revolution to we can have movie type quality shows that are not,  are that are not movies, but it would allow them to flesh out these characters so that they, if they wanted to be utilizing movies, they can.

And so we got Daredevil, we got Luke Cage, we got Jessica Jones and Iron Fist, and then we came later with Netflix  with Defenders. So first impressions was that the soul of the show and what made it a favorite amongst fans was still intact.  There was that concern, as I mentioned earlier, that the show would change going from Netflix to Disney and that  it would lose,  lose that, that dark tone that people appreciated that was different from your spidermans or your arrows. It just had, it was more ground level. So there was that concern that  that would be lost. That is not the case. What actually took place was more of like. The quality of it and the level because going from Netflix, Netflix still had that type of like TV S kind of background and CGI and things like that, which was great, you know, for pushing the envelope.

But.  Seeing it, you know, and the power and the money behind Dead of A Born Again made it much more interesting. And also we get an introduction to a slew of new characters, which I'm excited.  This has been a long time coming for the show. And so I am very much    looking forward to the entire season.

Now what worked? I think carrying the tone once it transitioned from Netflix to Disney, really    allowed people to gravitate to the series. And again, the quality, the suits, like prior to this we did see,  daredevil,  do guest cameos. He did one earlier for She Hulk, where we got to see the suit quality and him  his acting chops in a series though he, it was very brief.

We did get to see him and so I think that, and then earlier he was in a cameo for a movie. I think seeing Matt Murdoch or Charlie Cox have that exposure as, um, Matt Murdoch in these films helps build his character, his character  through the series and allows him to bring up other characters who are associated with him.

And I think doing that is what makes the show work. Because you don't like. Though  people had this  assumption that you would have to watch the entire series on Netflix in order to watch it. No. Those series that Netflix grade are now on Disney Plus and you don't technically have. To watch them in order to watch Daredevil Born Again.

Now, it would be nice to get more of the context and the grounding of the character for Daredevil, but it's not needed. I feel like what worked is that.  Charlie Cox  is acting his portrayal of Matt Murro does allow for like  you to interpret a lot, but at the same time, this even though is a continuation.

It also feels like a standalone where you can just. Watch it not have to know what's going on. As they'll kind of explain, you know, they'll give subtle nods to it, but they won't spend an entire episode trying to  get the audience up to speed. And I think I like that. I think what also worked is like, not.

I know people wanna see Matt Murdoch in the outfit as much of the time and I do too.  But I also like seeing him work as a lawyer and I feel like, you know, in the previous  series we didn't get to see him much as lawyer Matt Murdoch.  But more as like the vigilante and I, it's nice to actually see him use the law, help people.

I believe  you know, he was stuck on a case while he was, you know, doing his daredevil type work. And it was kind of nice to see him,  act as a lawyer and he's proceeding, even though we saw him previously, you know, as a guest, uh, spot on sheet Hulk. But it was nice to see  him, not just be  at night, Daredevil around.

It was nice to see that he does have a day job. He does have to work. And seeing him    on that fine line of like  following the law or breaking it. And so I do, I do like that. And what we're seeing now is him being in a new type of situation where he may have to bend the rules a bit, um, in order to find justice.

And I think that is something that we don't see a lot of. We don't see, you know, someone working within the confines of law to get justice.  Even though the people  that you're going against. Are not playing by the rules. And I also find what work is bringing John Berthel back  as Punisher, because season two of Daredevil was  in the introduction of Punisher.

So I felt like this is a very nostalgia nod that we're getting. And these two, their, their interactions are very on par. Like, it's like they never left. So I feel like that is what worked, introducing these characters that we've already seen  and not like trying to bring someone new and have them try to be of replacement for a character in the series that  we've grown to love  prior to  switching from Netflix to Disney plus, I think what works this time now is it's having a one.

Villain or character that spans multiple episodes. That's essentially the, for the entire season. One thing that TV would do for like these type of superhero shows mainly, for example, would be for Smallville, is that they would have a freak of the week or a creature that they would deal with for the, for that episode of, um, you know, it would change  every episode for the entire season.

And though that was great. I do like  having an overarching character or a villain or an issue they have to deal with that spans the entire season because then it allows for growth. That allows for the character to  deal with it, not having to come up with a new problem week to week, or every episode.

Episode. So I like these type of grounded stories as opposed to the freak of the week where the character has to now deal with the new problem. It ha it has to be solved within whatever timeframe for the episode. Now, what didn't work? I think. With  the transition from Netflix to Disney Plus, which was a very big positive.

But I feel like with that comes down the run times of the episodes.  We know that with streaming  we're so used to having an hour long, uh, shows with. Streaming and especially with Disney plus, what doesn't work is that you get this variable times. Now it does make it difficult to essentially write a story with that  time of time restriction because.

Stories could be cut out, they could be taken out reus later down the line or just erased. So I feel like with that type of time constraint doesn't work. 'cause sometimes you could feel that the episode may be rushed or it could be left on a awkward cliff hanger. And especially with comic book stories like these, it.

Only having that limited timeframe to tell a story has to be very intentional.  Like what you're doing has to be intentional, otherwise the audience will feel lost. And so I think that is the one thing that doesn't work for me or I feel like I'll have to get used to, but it's just like. You want them, you wanna be able to take the show in that hour, digest it in an hour.

And these  segments almost just remind me of like how anime is. Anime is normally 30 minutes, but really it's just down to 24 because you have to include the intro and the outro. So if you think about it like that, these episodes are actually much smaller. And shorter initially because they have to include the intro and the outro for every episode.

One. Also, what didn't work, I feel like might not work for a lot of people is that them not knowing what's going on in the show and having to feel like they need to watch the prior series just so they can get a good idea of these characters. Now, I'm very fortunate that I have  some knowledge of  Daredevil and his  current row gallery, but I feel like someone who's.

Doesn't have any knowledge, just picks up the show. Um, maybe kind of confused of what's going on. I feel like they don't have all the tools at their disposal order to, to like distinguish who's who.

And I felt like that could really be directed at a character named Muse who. Initially, I thought was going to be the big bad of the series, the way they were developing him up  and his methods and who he as a character, which I enjoyed. I'm like, oh, someone different. But as you continue in the series, you realize  he was just a plot device.

His character development wasn't expanded upon, and they didn't really go too deep into it. Spoilers, they end up killing him off fairly. I wanna say quick, these episode, this season is fairly short, which is another thing I say doesn't work is that with streaming, I'll go back. Uh, having smaller seasons doesn't help convey or create good storyline.

And so that's one thing I feel like doesn't work, that I'm okay if it's like a 12 episode season. Great. Nine, eight, come on, there's, there's not so much you could do in an eight episode  12 episodes fine. That's perfect enough because TV used to be one season used to be 24 episodes, so you can imagine it's almost like two seasons and that I'm okay with.

But going back to what I said about Muse, is that. He was a interesting character, but they killed him off too quickly to use him for the greater story plot of what  dad ever born again was gonna be on. And so that was confusing to me because again, we going back to.  The Kingpin, which is Fisk as being the ultimate bad guy, which I understand.

He's a favorite. He's also within the comic books  as for Dardo and Spider-Man, but I was wanting someone else like to be the big bad and maybe I  I feel like them utilizing Fisk a lot. Was why I was kind of like  tired of it. I mean, I liked the actor, but they kept utilizing him a lot to help  connect the dots between Hawkeye Echo and this show, which, it's understandable  I feel like he, the buildup for him kind of was lost on me.

And that's one thing I, I didn't, if I feel, for me, I feel like it doesn't work just because, like I don't want the character to be overused to a point that it becomes predictable. And that now with kingpin, you know, in this series and the pot that they have for him, it feels predictable even though it's part of a storyline.

 And. I feel like it, there's no real threat. I mean, he's like more of a street level, but the way they build him up is like to be like this accidental threat.  Which is interesting where it is just, I feel like he's just being overused a lot where they, they don't know where, what to use for him because.

And the Netflix, the prior series  kingpin was the villain for a good chunk of it, for like one, two seasons, I believe. And so I feel like we need to give kingpin arrest and use someone else. I'm hoping that, you know, with. With the season two of Born Again, that we tie up things and then we introduce a new, big, bad  someone that's    more of a threat than kingpin, maybe we'll get that.

Another thing is having multiple storylines and in, in the season. Now I understand like there's different directions they want to go in, but having multiple different storylines, you know, within the season to kind of like bake things over can be confusing because you can be left with like a cliffhanger or they never pick it up.

And I, for me  would be the introduction of  Punisher and like. His storyline that's being introduced is actually pulled directly from a comic book. Um, and they're mashing that to with  kingpin and what he wants. And so I feel like Dardo, not Dardo, but I feel like Punisher is not getting his proper.

Storytelling that he has to be at the hip for Daredevil in order for the storyline to like  expand or for him to get his due. And so I feel like when you do something like that, other characters kind of can fall to the wayside. Another example would be foggy. You know, they in. They introduced him and then spoiler, they killed him off within the first episode.

They used him as a plot device. Not sure if the actor knew about it, maybe he did. But to bring these characters back and be like, Hey, this is connected to the prior series is interesting, but you kill off the character. And so that I was not expecting, but also I was like, wait, what? And it just sucks because I'm like, I like the character.

 They now have to have like a new person kind of be like the foggy replacement, which for me doesn't make sense, but I get it.  They wanted to use him as a platform to pers to progress a story and also have this  form of trauma for Daredevil or Matt Murdoch, which. It is interesting because he already has that type of trauma.

He's lost his dad, he's lost people. He understands that pain. So to kind of have him go and relive that again, was in, was very interesting. But also the story plot of like, you know, born Again is. Synopsis or similar to like Spider-Man, not being Spider-Man, where he's had enough and he doesn't want to be Daredevil, so he's taking a break and you know, doing things as Matt Murdoch  which is that storyline.

As I mentioned, there's a lot of different storylines in this series, in this season alone, which is. Interesting, confusing because you don't know which one's gonna be  the larger picture and what they're going to follow. So I'd say be careful. Don't get attached right now.  There've been to anyone because you don't know who's gonna like  who's gonna get axed.

What also I feel like is another pain point is that we get an introduction that other superheroes exist in the landscape or in the series, but we don't see any of 'em. Like Spider-Man gets mentioned. But not by name. Just, you know, a web singer, someone who dresses up as a spider and, you know, swings through buildings.

So we get like  not catch phrases, but.  Sim different names or adjectives or explanation of these characters, but we don't see them. And I believe like the only one character that we, that's a vigilante that we do see. Again, it's very brief and I had no knowledge of him or who he was.  And this was white tiger and he is,  instantly killed off. We are met, were introduced to him only for him to get killed off, which  doesn't make any sense 'cause I thought that  Daredevil could use another ally who's a superhero. And so right now he, it's doesn't seem that way. A lot of the, within the first season, a lot of people are just dying, which  I love it.

But the killing is just being overused as a plot to, to progressive story. And we're given very little time with certain characters before they're just taken out. And so I feel like that for me, doesn't work  because then you're telling me I can't get attached to a character, don't really care because  they're gonna get taken out.

Or if they seem important, oh, they're gonna get taken out. Now, on a scale of one to 10, I'd give Daredevil. Born again, a four to five. It's not perfect, but it's definitely worth watching if you're into action. Super fiction, science fiction and crime drama. Now, there are other people that might have different opinions or give it a different rating.

Rating or review. Uh, we're going to look at. We're gonna read some reviews that I was able to find on the movie db.org website, and these are individuals who've seen the series and gave it a rating  and a little bit of their opinion about the show. Alright, so we're gonna start with our first one.  With.

Username movie guy. He says, Daredevil, born again is what you might expect. Plus little that isn't. Yes, the series is better written than your usual tacky superhero fair. There's a sense, in spite of the silly costumes that the characters are real people with all the complications, contradictions, and baggage that comes along.

For the ride. This extends beyond the protagonist and to the antagonist as well. He gave it an 85%, and I do agree that this kind of goes beyond what you're normally used to of like the tacky comedic superhero dramas that you normally would get, and it's more fleshed out and human. Review number two is gonna be from Matthew Sanders.

He wrote It's pretty good. Pretty good. I will give it a  I'll give the season a watch. It's better than a lot of the modern entertainment. The performances are great and I like that it's taken its time and letting anticipation build up In the story. He gave it four outta five, and I have to agree that normally.

There are things that that feel rushed, but overall there's a lot of buildup and anticipation for what the story's trying to tell. Even though I have stated that there are things that didn't I don't like and that didn't work, it's still an overall good story at its core and the narrative it's trying to tell.

And our final review comes from Philip, the one he says Dare Ever Born again, is a show that I really enjoy. I love the first episode, which part of my top favorite episodes of the season, along with episode eight and nine, with what went. What went down in those episodes, Charlie and Vincent give phenomenal performances as they portray their characters from the Netflix series.

He gave it a four out of five, and I agree there's like a general consensus for that, that we notice a totally different. Progression of acting and storytelling from Netflix to now and seeing these actors  portray and reprise their roles as these iconic characters that we enjoy watching is very refreshing.

Um, it's like they never skipped a beat and they already have that rapport. So I do agree with him on that. Is that so far,  all the reviews kind of share the same sentiment that the show is a four out of five, not quite a five, but there is room to improve for the series.  Which  we've just got confirmation.

That season two, as of this recording, is in production for filming and there's been picture pictures leaked of, you know, set pieces, new costume de designs. So I'm interesting to see where the story goes from season one. Now I will give a little spoiler warning. I normally don't do this part  but I feel like I'm gonna try something new.

But spoiler warning ahead  for this season, what  we get to is that we get some key characters who are killed off.  Throughout the season, white tiger has killed off and used as the plot point of the cops are now taking on the monocle of the Punisher and taking justice in  their own hands and killing  without cause towards vigilantes.

And we have Muse, who's a murderer, who's killing people and using their blood to paint with. He's killed off  halfway through the season.  But his death is used as propaganda as a, a way to propped up  kingpins, uh. Gacho Police Force who was used as to go after vigilantes and since they needed a win, they used that as propaganda to say that they're the ones who took out Muse.

And it gives them the leverage and  that they need in order to say like, Hey, we are keeping people safe. Which is why Darida was brought back in order for him to kind of investigate and go after the so-called cops who are using his symbol as a way  to. Take out their justice. It's a perverted version and they are idolizing him because  he's military, a cop, and so a lot of these law enforcements are like idolizing him and we get this, you know, confrontation where he does take out, I would say a handful of individuals from the vigilante group.

 Unit, but not all of 'em, and he's later captured as a result. Now, kingpin fabricates his own threat in order to get the people to align with him and get the powers that he needs to have full control. So he creates a threat. Um, and at the same time, you know, tries to take out Matt Murdoch slash Daredevil where there's an epic fight scene.

But all in all, we get like the cliffhanger of  what is the real reason for,  kingpin wanting  power is that he wants to be able to control a port, and this port is essentially unincorporated from New York City and it wouldn't follow any geo jurisdictions of city law. So while that's happening, all these things that are mentioned earlier are just mis misdirection to keep people from digging into what he wants.

And then we later see their, uh, king. We let her see the punisher who's captured, and then he escapes. So for those, this is spoiler warning.  I just wanted to make that clear.  For those who didn't, who didn't want to hear this, you can skip to the end. Final thoughts, overall, Daredevil Born again is a four out of five.

Now, if you're a fan of the Marvel shows, similar to like Moon Night, miss Marvel, echo Hawkeye, and then of course Jessica Jones, Luke Cage  the prior Daredevil series, then you will love this show. Because it's gonna follow  that same vein  even Loki as well, like these  type of shows along with the Falcon and the Winter Soldier are gonna be in that same genre.

And if you like  this, then you'll love those shows because I feel like they are fleshing out those characters and their storyline for them to be utilized in other areas.  Similar to that, the actress who plays Miss Marvel was in the Marvels, along with Captain Marvel. So you can see like the TV series IP of a Marvel character Live Action does open the doors and progression into films, which is interesting to see.

And I want to thank everyone for tuning into this episode of Second Ation. If you enjoyed the show, don't forget to subscribe. Leave a review and share it with your friends. You can also follow us on our show socials. The link will be in the episode description for more TV recommendation and updates. Let me know what your thoughts of our idea of a born again, and I love to hear it now.

Next week we'll be diving into a book review of sunrise and the reaping. Until then, happy watching and bye.

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