"Daredevil: Born Again" took nine episodes to get there, but last night's season finale on Disney Plus finally delivered the show I've wanted this whole time.
At the beginning of the season, I wrote about how the Marvel show had a serious problem: It couldn't decide if it wanted to stand on its own or serve as a de facto "Daredevil" season 4.
Well, we can stop wondering which path it will take, because after watching "Straight to Hell," it's clear that this show is just picking up where the Netflix series left off.
'Daredevil: Born Again' finally, fully embraces its Netflix roots
Whether you've loved "Daredevil: Born Again" or not, it's undeniable that the first season has lacked cohesion and consistency.
Turns out that there's potentially a reason for this. Episodes 1, 8 and 9 are all directed by Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson and showrunner Dario Scardapane is part of the writing team on all three.
More importantly, none of these three are involved in the season's other six episodes. Instead, those episodes were written and directed by the creative team that was involved in "Daredevil: Born Again" before Marvel decided to overhaul the show halfway through production after being underwhelmed by the footage it had seen.
The only problem? After watching the entire season 1, including last night's finale, it's clear that Marvel just went ahead and kept the six episodes they already had and, whether substantial changes were made or not, these episodes were not successfully tied into the more recently produced episodes from Scardapane and his team.
Likely, this inability to stitch the two creative visions together is down to this: The initial team wanted to create a new show, and Scardapane, who was a writer and producer on Netflix's Marvel series "The Punisher," wanted to continue from where the Netflix "Daredevil" series left off.
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In the season finale, though, it was only Scardapane's creative vision that was evident.
We got the return of fan favorite characters Karen (Deborah Ann Woll) and Frank Castle, aka Punisher (Jon Bernthal). These two had appeared only briefly up to this point, but look set to be in the main cast for season 2 based on the events of last night's season 1 finale.
And we finally stopped tiptoeing around the return of Kingpin vs. Daredevil. Mayor Fisk is now Mayor Kingpin and isn't hiding his villainous intentions. Matt isn't debating whether or not to embrace the Daredevil mantle
Frankly, I just wish that we had gotten to this point quicker.
'Daredevil: Born Again' season 2 should shine without season 1's baggage
Now, if you're like me and suffered in silence through season 1's highs and lows, I have good news about "Daredevil: Born Again" season 2.
Unlike season 1, which had competing creative visions, season 2 is wholly Dario Scardapane's. Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson will also be returning as directors.
That means — no matter what else — season 2 won't suffer from season 1's biggest issue. Given that last night's season finale was the best episode so far, that makes me hopeful for season 2, and I'll certainly be watching when it comes next year.
Malcolm has been with Tom's Guide since 2022, and has been covering the latest in streaming shows and movies since 2023. He's not one to shy away from a hot take, including that "John Wick" is one of the four greatest films ever made.
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