★★★★★ The Devil of Hell's Kitchen

Daredevil (2015-2018)

Drew Goddard, Marvel, Netflix

I spent the last week binge-watching this series (three seasons of 13 episodes, so about 39 hours). That was not the plan when I started. I was going to watch an episode a day for as long as it lasted. That plan went out the window after I watched the first episode. I couldn't stop. It was SO good -- I needed to know what happened next. So, I watched it pretty much continuously for a week, pausing only when life got in the way.

One warning, though -- it's very violent. The violence is very personal, with people getting repeatedly punched into the face until bloody, etc.

The premise is that Matt Murdock is the son of a boxer in Hell's Kitchen -- that's a Manhattan neighborhood. Hell's Kitchen may in the mid-twentieth century have been the kind of gritty crime empire depicted here, but I do not for a moment believe it's like that now. Murdock is blinded by an accident at the age of 13. But his other senses are enhanced to an uncanny degree. After his father's death Matt is trained in martial arts and becomes a formidable fighter. He takes it upon himself to right wrongs he perceives around him. Matt is not always a good guy. He becomes known as the Devil of Hell's Kitchen.

He graduates from Columbia University with a law degree and starts a tiny law firm with his best friend Franklin (Foggy) Nelson. They are soon joined by Karen Page. Matt is keenly aware of the conflict between being an officer of the court by day and a vigilante by night. This is one of the main conflicts of the series.

The main villain of the series is crime boss Wilson Fisk, known as Kingpin in the MCU, although that moniker is seldom used in the series.

As a boxer, Matt's father was often knocked down, but always got back up. Fans will recognize this as the central ethos of the MCU -- a hero always gets back up. (For instance, in the Captain America stories, it takes the form of Steve Roger's tagline "I can do this all day.") At a dinner party, Karen quotes writer Ralph Ellison, “Life is to be lived, not controlled; and humanity is won by continuing to play in face of certain defeat,” -- very much the same idea.

The series is due to be revived on Disney+ in 2025 under the name Daredevil: Born Again. I certainly intend to watch it.

Daredevil on IMDB

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