We are now just a few short days away from the release of the latest live action TV series to featured the character of Daredevil and well since it's been a whopping FOUR years since I last reviewed an episode of this show. It only made sense that for this tie in review that I take a look at the shows second episode and so then join me as I review the episode that has a truly iconic fight scene in it with the episode in question being called simply just "Cut Man" enjoy.
The plot of this episode is when a nurse helps an injured Matt Murdock she finds herself swept up in a missing persons case. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good with this episodes plot being shockingly violent and gory something that was all to common place with the Netflix Marvel shows with this episodes plot also doing a good of showing more of Matt's origin story which was something that does work well for this episode as at this point in the show we the audience are still trying to figure out if we like this character or not and therefor showing us just how he was growing up both before and after his accident does go along way into making us the audience care for the character and while there is a subplot with Karen and Foggy that does go nowhere as it's just there to be comedic relief and that's really it but even so because of the fact that the main plot of the episode was so interesting it felt like including this more comedic subplot was only added in because of the fact that the makers of this show felt like that they had to include those characters and not because of the fact that it's something that would benefit the episode as whole with the plot of this episode also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Starring in this episode is Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock / Masked Man and Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page. Also starring in this episode is Elden Henson as Foggy Nelson , Rosario Dawson as Claire Temple , Peter Gerety as Sammy Silke , John Patrick Hayden as Jack Murdock , Skylar Gaertner as Young Matt Murdock , Alex Falberg as Semyon , Moisés Acevedo as Santino , Kevin Nagle as Roscoe Sweeney , Susan Varon as Josie and Dean Neistat as Officer Ray Peters.
Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting thats actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good. Which is really nothing new as a good chunk of this episodes actors are a bunch of really good actors in there right and even tho this episode is still very early in the shows run they do manage to perfectly capture there characters and with the case of Rosario Dawson become a recurring character not only this show but alot of the other Marvel Netflix TV shows as well thus giving her ample opportunity to perfect her performance as her character and while her performance in this episode is still a good performance it's obviously not going to be as good as when she would play the character in later episodes of any of the Marvel Netflix TV shows as by then she would have had the chance to explore the character a little bit more with the same also being true for alot of the main actors in this episode as even tho there performances in this episode is still really good it's obviously not going to be as good as there performances in later Netflix Marvel shows but that is something that does tell you just how good this episodes actors really are as even in this episode really pretty much all of the performances are really good in there own right as well with the acting that's in this very episode really being helped by the fact that this episodes script is just so good that all of this episodes actors really have to do is just the lines as they are written and a good performance really will come out of them naturally which is something that really does help to raise the overall quality of the acting that's in this very episode.
As alot of you well all no doubt remember this is the episode that does introduce us to the character of Claire Temple. With the character being the main linking point between all of the Marvel Netflix TV shows and it's easy to see why they used her character to fulfil that purpose as they made her a nurse which means that naturally any of the Netflix Marvel heroes could run into her just by going to the hospital where she works and seeing her kind nature in this episode with her willing to help her out Matt without knowing who he is and why he's injured just because it's the right thing to do does make her a kind person and seeing her struggle to come to terms with the fact that the person that she's helping isn't all he seems to be does oddly enough make her a real person as alot of us would also struggle to come to those same conclusions if we helped out someone only for it to turn out that there's more to them then meets the eye and seeing her struggle to come to terms with the fact that Matt is a good guy does make for an interesting character arc for her to have in this episode with it being easy to see why the show kept on brining her back as she does come across as being a really likable character and one that if given the right chance and the right script could have very easily have led a show of her own and given the fact that Disney likes to make shows with female leads it's shocking that they haven't made a superhero show with her character as the lead character.
What was really odd is the fact that they just straight up rip off Rocky's speech about how it's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward from Rocky Balboa. Which was something that worked really well in that movie as the character had been through alot over the course of five movies and yet because of the fact that it's not only told in flashback but it's both Young Matt and his father Jack Murdock saying it to each other it looses all impact as while there version of it isn't all that bad as it's then just saying "It aint how you hit the mat it's how you get up" is still a really good motivational speech but Rocky's speech was done better as not only was it coming from a character that had become a cultural icon at that point in time but it was also a really well written speech about not giving up in the face of adversary with it also being a father just talking and trying to reconnect with his son where as here as both the characters still really love each other and both of them have no reason to spout such a saying just yet it's not really something that works in this context where as if this speech had happened after Matt had had his accident and not before it then there would at the very least be some sentiment behind it and heck if the makers of this show really wanted that speech to happen exactly the way that it does in the final cut of the episode then they could have brought it back in the same episode only this time have Jack saying it to young Matt as he's trying to calm him down from just having his accident as that way it would make some form of sense.
What was shocking was the fact that alot of the episode really does take place just at Claire's apartment with there really being very few other locations that we actually get to see in this episode. This is something that is kind of refreshing as it means that we get the chance to see how Claire reacts under pressure and when something new is thrown at her but at the same time tho as this show is still developing it would have been wise to show us more of New York and how the people in it react to certain as while yes we have the mainline MCU films for that as well we've never really seen from the ground level heroes and that is something that could be more interesting to see as daredevil unlike say Captain America , Thor or Iron Man for example can be beaten easily and by everyday people and yet we don't get to see alot of that world in this episode which does have the add on effect of making the episode feel alot more claustrophobic then what it actually is with it also oddly enough making the episode seem alot more cheaper then what it actually is as well and yet by showing us more locations even if it's the Karen and Foggy plot line it would then go along way to make this shows version of world building seem alot more better then what it already is because as things stand this show really doesn't have to do that much world building due to it taking place in the MCU and yet because of the fact that we haven't seen New York from the point of view of these ground level heroes it would be more interesting to see there version of New York.
Whilst it was a good idea to show part of the origin for Matt in this episode as it is something that does help to further endure him to us the audience. Given that this is Netflix and the show has a more mature rating they really could have showed us Jack getting killed instead of it happening off screen as he was a major influence on young Matt and while they approach that they take does make sense by only showing it from Matt's point of view and there putting us the audience into his shoes it also would have worked if they showed us the characters death as well as then they could really make whoever did kill him really more of a bad guy and heck they even could have had young Matt there to great his father after the fight which is something that would have made sense for that character and it would have given the older Matt more trauma as he would have witnessed his beloved father get killed thus not only starting his lust for vengeance but adding fuel to it at the exact same time but what let's the origin down is the fact they perhaps do a little two much of it which is something that does make sense given that this first season was only thirteen episodes but given that the whole show was all about Matt becoming Daredevil they could have ended the season with him having the flashback to his father getting killed in the final episode as that's where it could be argued that Daredevil was well and truly born where as having it here doesn't really make sense from a storyline perspective and yet if they did have the death flashback happen in episode thirteen then the makers of the show could have milked it for more trauma over the course of the season by showing us in flashback form just how much they each meant to each other and how good of a father that Jack was to Matt.
Now then this episode has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly fifty two minuets and thirty eight seconds. Which was a pretty solid running time for this episode to have as this episode really does have the right amount of plot there to cover that running time but at the same time tho all of the scenes involving Foggy and Karen in this episode felt like filler scenes as they not only add anything to the plot of the episode they also add nothing to either character either with them just being there to eat up screen time that would have been better used if it was say given to Claire or Matt for example and yet because of the fact that the makers of this episode felt like that they had to use the Karen and Foggy characters we get a bunch of painfully unfunny scenes in an episode that was doing just fine without them and really didn't need any padding as all the episode would have to have done to reach that exact same running time is expand on it's main plot and that's really it and by doing that it would allow for the characters of Matt and Claire to start to form a friendship with each other and maybe who knows we could have gotten some of Claire's backstory outside of the fact that she once dated some guy called Mike and if anything she was the one that needed to have some of her backstory explored in this episode as this was her debuting episode and there for there needed to be a reason for us the audience to care about her character and while we do still get that reason due to her interactions with Matt it still means that we know less about her coming out of the episode then we did going into the episode but I really will admit that this episode really does have some really good pacing to it tho.
So now then as this is an action show that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual action tat's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good. With of course the best action in the whole entire episode also being the episodes only action scene and that being the truly epic and truly iconic hallway fight scene near the end of the episode with the thing that makes that action stand out from all of the other action scenes in other superhero shows not only being the fact that it takes place in one small location but also the fact that we see the villains openly using guns to try and fail to take down Matt and also the fact that the whole scene from beginning to end was done in long take which is something that's always going to be hard both for the director shooting it and the actors taking part in it as it means that everyone has to be on there A game and if one person just one messes up then they have to do the whole scene over again from the beginning and yet even tho there might have been one or two hidden cuts in there as they do go a random black shadow on the wall alot of the time the scene itself is well done as we get tot Matt pulling of alot of really cool moves with the scene itself being awsome and a true sign that if Marvel really does want to pull off a great looking and unique looking action scene then they really can do it as this scene right there is nothing short of proof of that in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Overall with Daredevil: Born Again really coming out just a few short days this episode is a perfect one to watch in preparation for the new show as it shows you the character of Matt Murdock when he really was written at his best and here's hoping that the new show is good because it has some really big shoes to fill as both this show and this episode are just that good in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very episode in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very episode really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 7.5 out of 10 from me.
Now then as for where I personally got all of the images hat I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from the official marvel Cinematic Universe fandom wiki page , IMP Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very episode that I used in this very review being the really great the official Marvel Cinematic Universe fandom wiki page really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very episode with alot of them being better quality then what you'd really think of and all of the images are really of course up and really on the official Marvel Cinematic Universe fandom wiki page are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.