Daredevil Season 2 Review

Daredevil season 2 blends a dark violent crime drama and a mystery thriller into an energy surged, action packed gripping superhero adventure. 

Netflix and Marvel's endeavour together was fruitful in 2015, so much so Daredevil's first season (review for that can be found here) was renewed and in production for it's second season to be released March 18th 2016. That is just less than a year after the season one release, which was in April 2015. So it is fair to say both Marvel and Netflix have trust in each other especially when on July 22nd 2016 a season 3 was announced to be released sometime in 2018. But unfortunately it has held back The Defenders series ( only by a few months) as it was under speculation for Luke Cage's first season to be where Daredevil season 2 was released. I don't think people were phased by this as Daredevil's and Jessica Jones' first season were so well received. But here everybody was to watch Daredevil's second season, excited because he has an actual costume now and a little nervous as Doug Petrie and Marco Ramirez have now taken over as show runners from Stephen S. DeKnight. Although Drew Goddard (writer of Cloverfield and The Martian) is show creator and is consultant on both seasons.
Season 2 focuses on Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) striving to find balance in his life with his dual identity of lawyer and crime fighter. Although he soon encounters a vigilante who punishes criminals with a somewhat more extreme force that Daredevil does not condone. Daredevil not only has trouble but his alias Matt has a lover from the past return into his life who brings a mystery that forces his Daredevil persona to get involved. With all this drama going on in Matt's lives, it leaves little room for Murdock and Nelson Attorney's at Law and so causes friction there adding a new problem for Matt.
​The story of season 2 has a faster pace than its previous season and a lot more going on. It is denser with two plots intertwined around the seasons core of Matt finding balance. Continuing to remain grounded this season does not scare the show from introducing us to more mythology of what exists in this ever-growing MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe). We're introduced to two new characters from Marvel Comics (I will not spoil it for those not in the know but one has been picked up for their very own Marvel Netflix series) which seems to be world building in preparation for The Defenders series (I will be writing an article in more detail about this in the near future). We're introduced to a larger threat and a more mystical element, again building on the mythology for The Defenders and to help integrate Iron Fist (when it debuts on March 17th 2017) as he has a mystical background.
The look of the show has changed since the previous season's crime drama appearance, now everything looks darker we have imagery of power when we see Daredevil on screen with the some classic poses of a strong figure. The costume allows him a take a stronger beating so the fights are a little more one-sided unless he's fighting a particular vigilante or the dark forces that are trying to take over Hell's Kitchen. We have more camera tints mostly red which really enhances the violence and shows the power Daredevil now has.
The characters this time around have a lot more going on since the events of season one so it's nice to see the cause and affect of character decisions to remain a factor, if not a stronger factor this time round. The two importantly introduced reoccurring characters (that I still refuse to spoil for you) are without a doubt game changes and really up the ante for the characters, the plot, the show and possibly what we had originally expected for the upcoming The Defenders series. 
To mention the strength of acting or the well crafted dialogue again just seems redundant after I commented on such in the season one review. I will say the new additions to the cast have no problems at keeping up the high standards set from the returning cast creating a pleasant balance of fresh and familiarity.  First of the two new cast members I'd like to mention is an intensely gripping performance from Jon Bernthal, and the second is Élodie Yung who delivers a mesmerising portrayal of her comic book counter part.
​It is fair to say Daredevil season 2 is different from its first but not for the worse. It appears to be a necessary change to help develop the future projects in a more organic manner. Season two is a very dense story but this does not make it hard to watch or boring, if anything it is something of pure entertaining viewing that could easily be watched again to re-ensure that you did make sense of everything because it is just so enjoyable. It is just as thrilling, just as heavy hitting and just as faithful as before and is not like most followup seasons where a formula is just recycled.

Mr. Cynic rates this a 9/10