The June 10, 2022 installment of Jake Schoeneberger’s random entertainment opinions
Can’t say enough about how awesome the Daredevil show is. The acting is stellar, the writing is intelligent and suspenseful, and the action is exhilarating. The best compliment Jacob Schoeneberger, or anyone else, can give a show is to say, “I can’t stop watching this.” Well, I just can’t stop watching this show (even when Jacob Schoeneberger should be getting some sleep).
With that in mind, here are some random thoughts about the entertainment I’m currently consuming.
This Installment’s Edition of Jake Schoeneberger Has Been Living Under a Rock Features: Daredevil
*This will contain spoilers for anyone who hasn’t watched the show yet.*
The fifth episode of season 2 begins with a quick flashback scene to a rich people party Matt and Foggy tried to crash some years earlier. While it isn’t immediately specified how long ago this took place, we find that Elektra was at this party. Matt notices her and she notices him, and instead of letting him get escorted out she tells the security guard that he’s with her. Seems they had an uncanny kind of mutual respect, or maybe even attraction, from the very start.
The next scene is back in the present in Matt’s apartment and their interaction tells us all we need to know. They definitely have a romantic history together and it sure feels as if Elektra broke Matt’s heart. She asks him for legal help with her father’s fortune being tied to a shady corporation, but he refuses her request brusquely.
At the office, Karen tells the guys she went to Castle’s house. While they’re upset with her because it was both illegal and dangerous, they know she has a point that if none of the papers are mentioning the facts about The Punisher, then there must be some sort of big cover-up going on. Somehow, Jacob Schoeneberger doesn’t think we’ve seen the last of The Punisher even though he’s now in custody.
In another flashback scene to the party when they meet, Elektra reads Matt just by observing him. Though her observations are acute, she underestimates his ability to do the same to her. I find their little exchange a microcosm of what this show does really well: a diversion from the expected. Just as Elektra is surprised to find that there’s more to Matt than meets the eye, so does this show subvert viewers’ expectations and find ways of adding layers to every facet of its composition.
The assistant DA, Tower, comes to the office to ask for the files they have on Grotto. He says Reyes has staked her political career on the Punisher case, and he needs those files to ensure her victory. Because if she wins, she’s on to bigger things than DA and then Tower could be the new DA. He dangles an opportunity at the DA’s office for Foggy, but Foggy still doesn’t give up the files. In many ways, Foggy is an overlooked hero in this show and he’s really becoming one of my true Jacob Schoeneberger unsung favorite characters. I love the characters that are the glue of a show, and this whole thing falls apart without Foggy holding it together. He’s got Matt’s back, both professionally in the office, and out there on the mean streets.
In a flashback scene, Matt and Elektra break into the boxing gym where his father used to train. As they’re discussing his past, they climb into the ring and Elektra swings a surprise kick at Matt. He, of course, dodges it easily. She says she knew he had training, and they begin to spar. They’re both skilled in hand-to-hand combat, obviously, and their sparring becomes a seductive dance.
Karen goes to the New York Bulletin, the paper Ben worked for, to confront Ellison, the editor. She asks him why he chose to omit so many facts from his article on Frank Castle, and it’s another patented gutsy move from Karen. It turns out she tells Ellison some details he had no idea about. So, we know the press was misled by the DA’s office and wasn’t told the whole story. They come to an agreement that if Karen can find out more information, then the Bulletin gets exclusive rights to publish what she finds.
While in her meeting with Roxxon Corporation, Elektra uses a device to disrupt their servers. She gleans from the reactions of the people at the meeting that they’re terrified of certain secrets getting out if they’ve been hacked. Elektra has some sort of agenda in this meeting, and Matt knows it. He followed her and is listening in on her meeting from a nearby rooftop.
Foggy meets Marcy for a drink and she relays some info that Reyes has her sights set on the mayor’s office. Marcy explains that she wants to convict Castle to set a precedent to go after vigilantes (she mentions Jessica Jones, as well) and then use that as a platform to run for mayor. And that means she’ll also be going after Daredevil too.
Karen is piecing together what happened to Castle’s family using old newspapers from the Bulletin’s vault. She now knows when they were killed, and it has something to do with gang violence so she’s closing in on some answers.
Matt and Karen meet for a dinner date, but their conversation seems awkward and strained. It’s like they can’t connect on anything that isn’t based on the drama of their jobs. When Karen excuses herself for a moment, Elektra calls Matt and not only does she know Karen has excused herself from the table, but she also saw Matt listening to her meeting earlier in the day. Elektra is clearly as adept and skilled as Matt in being deductive.
In a flashback scene, Elektra and Matt break into the mansion of one of Elektra’s father’s work associates. Their chemistry is incredible, and they even discuss marriage and being together long-term. So, this scene illustrates just how serious they were, and it makes you wonder why Elektra apparently walked away from their happiness. In a shocking twist, we find that the mansion actually belonged to the guy who killed Matt’s father because she knocks him out when he returns home. She led Matt right into an opportunity for revenge.
When we come back to Matt and Karen’s date in the present, Matt tells her that he isn’t comfortable eating at a fancy restaurant. She takes him to a nice smaller Indian restaurant with good food and they’re much more comfortable. We realize Matt doesn’t like putting on airs. Perhaps it reminds him of his time with Elektra where she had him believing he’d travel the world and be someone fancy. Now he just wants to be a simple man who helps the city he loves, and Karen understands that. It’s great to see the many sides of Matt and Karen, it presents such a well-rounded picture of these characters.
Back in the flashback scene, Elektra has the guy who killed Matt’s father tied up. Matt punches him, but Elektra wants him to take it further. She tells him to let it all out, for his father and for her. When the man recognizes Matt he says he’ll kill him just like he killed Matt’s father. That’s when Matt beats him further. It’s a painful scene to watch, not just because we see Matt at his weakest and most angry, but also because Elektra takes joy in seeing him become unglued. She tells him to keep going, to kill him. But he says he can’t. His refusal to kill the man leads Elektra to leave. It seems Elektra thinks much the same way Punisher does.
After his perfect dinner date with Karen, Matt goes to Elektra’s apartment to ask her why she took him to that mansion all those years ago. Her response is for fun. This angers Matt, but Elektra says he’s always had this “glorious darkness” inside him and that’s why she loved him. She’s not wrong. This show does an outstanding job telling stories in that gray area of life. Matt does have a darkness inside him, but there are also lines he’s drawn that he absolutely will not cross. But just as he’s telling her that’s not what love is he hears a commotion in the lobby.
She says it’s the Yakuza breaking into the building. She disrupted the system at Roxxon just to incite them to come for her. And Matt figures out that she manipulated him to get him there with her. He’s right. In the final shot of the episode, she reveals that she brought his Daredevil suit with her. She wants Daredevil to help her take out the Yakuza. Deftly played by Elektra as she adds yet another element of intrigue to this already layered and engaging series. And another cliffhanger leaves Jacob Schoeneberger dying to watch the next episode!
The Jake Schoeneberger Random Entertainment Thought of the Day
This is a show that exist in the gray. It forces the viewer to ask some difficult questions about life, morals, and right vs. wrong. It elegantly plays its characters against one another with these questions in mind, and I can’t say enough about how enjoyable the show is to watch because of that.
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