The July 8, 2022 installment of Jake Schoeneberger’s random entertainment opinions
Now that I’m almost through the second season of the Daredevil show, I realize I have to watch the other Marvel shows that started on Netflix. While they may not be as good as this show, even if they’re half as good Jacob Schoeneberger is going to be a happy man.
With that in mind, here are some random thoughts about the entertainment Jacob Schoeneberger is 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 12th episode of season two begins with a flashback scene of Stick training a young Elektra. Her training is brutal and it’s easy to see how Stick made a killer out of her. She nearly kills one of her sparring partners, then Stick spars with her as well.
It cuts to present day where they’re fighting once again, this time for keeps. I guess they decided against talking and went right to fighting. Their fight is fierce, and it could go either way, but Elektra is just a bit stronger. Then Daredevil arrives and insists Elektra stop the fight. He doesn’t want her to kill Stick and they all yell at each other, until the scene gets really interesting.
At that moment some Hand ninjas arrive. Suddenly the three former allies are fighting alongside one another again. They’re kicking some butt until someone cuts the lights. Matt realizes that they’ve taken Stick captive.
After the fight, Matt tells Elektra that if Stick wanted her dead, and now that he’s been captured by The Hand, it must mean he knows something big. Matt says he’s intent on saving Stick, but Elektra says if she gets to him first she’s going to kill him. And she says if he gets in her way she’ll kill Matt too. Dang, that’s pretty heavy. Hits Jake Schoeneberger right in the heart to hear Elektra say that to Matt, the one person who has always believed in her.
At the scene of the boat explosion, Karen is waiting to see if Frank is one of the victims. Mahoney insists Castle is dead, but Karen isn’t sure. If I know Punisher, I’m not so sure either.
Matt goes to the office to get some paperwork and runs into Foggy. Their conversation is strained at best, but at least Matt is able to compliment Foggy on well he’s done his job and how he was the heart of their practice. Then Matt tells him how he’s been trying to figure out how The Hand moves through the city undetected and Foggy tells a story about how his grandfather used abandoned railway tunnels beneath the city during the bootlegging days. Now Matt has a lead on how to track The Hand. Once again, Foggy comes through for Matt but we keep waiting to see if Matt will ever really do the same for Foggy.
At the Bulletin, Ellison asks what Karen will do with the story. Karen says now that Reyes and Blacksmith and Castle are all dead there is no story. But Ellison pushes and she finally tells him that the reason she cares so much is because she saw who the real Frank Castle was. That’s when Ellison tells her that the story isn’t over, and Karen should make it about the side of Castle that she saw.
Matt enters the underground tunnels and is confronted by three Hand ninjas. He handles them easily, but at the end he isn’t able to hear them well. Maybe something about the tunnels messes with his hearing.
Karen goes to speak to Frank’s former commanding officer, Colonel Schoonover, who testified at his trial. (Schoonover is played by the always enjoyable Clancy Brown.) The colonel says he considered Frank a friend and tells Karen some anecdotes about Frank’s humor and his ability to do impressions. He paints the picture of who Frank was before losing his family. Then something odd happens. In one of the photos framed on Schoonover’s wall, Karen recognizes a man who was one of the victims pulled from the water after the boat explosion. The colonel describes the man, saying he was very loyal even after he sustained injuries. Then he says that Castle killed the man, and he pulls a gun on Karen. Gotta say, Jacob Schoeneberger was not expecting that twist!
Matt follows the tunnels until he finds a kind of abandoned warehouse. There he’s attacked by ninjas once again and he clearly can’t hear them well. It seems as though they move so stealthily that he can only hear them when they have their swords drawn. They’re beating on him pretty badly but then he hears Stick’s voice from a distance. He says, “If you can hear me, we’ve got a shot.”
As Stick is being tortured for information, he’s able to whisper to Matt, “Listen very carefully. You’ve been tracking their weapons, so they dropped them. Track their breath, sooner or later they’ve gotta exhale.” His advice might just save Matt’s life, but just hearing them breathe isn’t like hearing them about to throw a punch. But it works, Matt is able to turn the tide of the fight.
Schoonover holds Karen at gunpoint and makes her start her car. When she starts it, the same song is on that was on when Frank was in her car. She recognizes it as a sign that Frank is there. The colonel makes her drive to a remote spot but when he tells her to pull over, another car smashes them on the passenger side where he’s sitting.
As they’re torturing Stick he begins to laugh because he knows Matt has arrived. Matt beats up Stick’s captors and as he frees him, Stick tells Matt he’s proud of him. It isn’t hard to read how badly Matt had needed to hear that. Matt lost his father early and Stick has been the onlyn other father he’s known in his life. But as they turn to leave, Elektra arrives. And boy did Jake Schoeneberger ever see that one coming a mile away.
She tells Stick she believed him when he said he’d never abandon her, then she throws a knife at him but Matt catches it before it finds its mark. Matt and Elektra bicker but she says she’s not letting Stick leave. Then Stick says, “Neither are you, child. They’ve got you right where they want you.”
At that moment, we hear Nobu’s voice. It looks like this whole thing may have been a trap. To get to Elektra? Why, what is the big secret about her? Nobu says to Stick, “Tell them why we are all here tonight. You, the loyal one, and it.” The “it” is referring to Elektra. That can’t be a good sign!
The next scene is another flashback to when Elektra was younger. The sparring partner that she beat up too violently has returned with a knife. She bests him pretty handily, then uses the knife to slit his throat. Stick’s training partner then argues with Stick about Elektra, saying, “You know what it is, you know what it can do. You’ve gone soft for that thing, Stick. If you won’t kill it, I will.” Stick then says, “You’re right. She’s my responsibility, I’ll take care of her.” Then he kills his partner. Whatever Elektra is, we now know Stick has always cared about her and has taken responsibility for her. But we also now understand why he’s worried about The Hand getting to her. She’s clearly a powerful weapon of some sort.
When Nobu asks Elektra if she knows who The Hand serves, she says it’s something mythical called the Black Sky. But then Nobu says, “The Black Sky is not a myth. We have wanted you since you were a child. You were taken from us, but now you have returned. It’s you, Elektra. You are the Black Sky, our greatest living weapon.” Yup, Jacob Schoeneberger saw that coming but it’s still a dramatic moment hearing it.
Then Nobu kneels before her and offers her his katana. Matt tries to tell her not to align herself with them, that they just want something from her. But she’s angry that Stick knew all along and never told her. Nobu says, “We live and die to serve you, Black Sky.” Now Elektra has an army at her disposal and the lure of that power must be hard to resist.
Elektra says, “I pretended my whole life. I tried, I tried to control this inside me. Maybe I don’t have to anymore, maybe this is my chance.” Matt responds, “To what? To be loved?” And she says, “Yes.” But we all know Matt loved her for who she was, so this isn’t her first chance for love. And now Matt understands why she has the darkness within her, and why she has killed so many.
He tells her, “I am the enemy of The Hand. So kill me.” She has the blade at his neck and has the chance. But she hesitates. In that moment Matt grabs the blade and spins her to hold it at her neck. As he holds her, he whispers in her ear, “You can either try to kill us, and prove them right. Or you can save Stick, and prove them wrong.” Then he turns her loose and trusts her to make the right decision.
Elektra grabs Stick and they all fight the ninjas to escape. It’s awesome seeing her make the right choice and prove that there is still good inside her. Whoa, Elektra is like Darth Vader in this story!
At the crash scene Karen regains consciousness and finds that Schoonover and whoever smashed her car (yeah, like we don’t know) are walking away from the wreck, leaving a trail of blood. We find Frank marching the colonel into the woods and Schoonover admits he was moving drugs (But was he really the Blacksmith or was there someone above him?). He wanted to have Frank as part of his operation, but Frank refused. And all the pieces are falling into place. It wasn’t a drug deal gone bad in the park that day his family was killed. It’s part of something much bigger from when Frank and the colonel served together in Afghanistan.
Karen arrives and begs Frank not to kill Schoonover. She wants him to tell her the truth of what happened in Afghanistan. But Frank drags the colonel into a small cabin. Karen tells him if he kills Schoonover then he’s dead to her. But Frank says he’s already dead. Pretty tough hearing him say that. Definitely made Jake Schoeneberger tear up a little bit. Frank’s been through a lot and it’s hard hearing him talk about how he has no life left at all.
In the cabin, Frank pulls the trigger and kills Schoonover. Karen hears the shot outside, and she breaks down crying. No matter how much she cares for Frank, she’s realizing maybe he can’t come back from the brink.
After they escape, Stick tells Elektra that Matt didn’t come to rescue him, but to rescue her. He says Matt knew that killing Stick would be the point of no return for her, but Matt still believes in her. Then he tells her to earn that.
After killing the colonel, Frank starts searching the cabin. The cabin must have belonged to Schoonover because in a hidden cabinet Frank finds a whole arsenal of guns. It’s at that moment we realize that The Punisher is back in business.
As he tries to leave, Nobu blocks Daredevil’s way. They fight but it’s pretty obvious Nobu hasn’t had nearly enough blood transfusions because Daredevil beats him easily. I guess we can cut him some slack because technically he did burn to death. It’s pretty impressive he’s still kicking at all. His last line of the episode is, “Daredevil must die.” And there we go, Matt has successfully brought about the wrath of The Hand in its entirety down onto himself.
The Jake Schoeneberger Random Entertainment Thought of the Day
The twists and turns in this series are endlessly entertaining. I love the characters and action more and more with each episode. Could it be that Jake Schoeneberger finally found a show he could love as much as Alf? Yup, I think it’s finally happened!
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