By: Salvatore Cento

Matt Murdock must step into a dark place to take on his opposition. Photo Credit: mashable.com

In a world where Iron Fist and Luke Cage both get cancelled within days of each other, the third season of Daredevil easily cradles viewers back into a safe space.

Premiering on Netflix this fall, the new season introduces us to two new characters, FBI special agents Ray Nadeem and Dex Poindexter.

Nadeem is a good man who’s working tirelessly to make ends meet for his family, as well as helping his sister-in-law financially with her cancer treatments.

Poindexter, on the other hand, is someone with no family. He just happens to have psychopathic tendencies that originated from childhood.

Even though the foundation for the show aptly named “Daredevil” is going to be focused on the characters of Matt Murdock, Foggy Nelson and Karen Page, the two polar personalities of Nadeem and Poindexter shine through, when stacked up next to the originals of the series.

Through spoken words, facial gestures and emotional outbursts, especially by Poindexter when he releases a primal scream, the audience is guaranteed to come back with an unfiltered reaction.

Another element of this show that shines through is its use of exposition. Twice during the season, we are shown backgrounds on pivotal characters that last a lot longer than these types of scenes usually do.

But the way they are created and portrayed do not take away from the main plot in any way. What went on in these people’s lives before they arrived to the point in which we see them now is so gritty and brutal that you get lost in the past and temporarily forget about the present.

An unexpected moment of the series is when an immediate family member of Matt Murdock’s is revealed.

Through the use of comparing and contrasting, the climactic moment of this specific subplot is quite satisfying to see.

There’s no other result that comes out of this revelation besides a motive, which was already there to begin with. And when that certain person learns that Matt now knows, the emotional outburst that follows is certainly not on a Nadeem or Poindexter level.

We cannot talk about Daredevil without talking about the big bad himself. Played by Vincent D’Onofrio, the character of Wilson Fisk is tangled up in sophistication and sinisterness more than ever before.

Seeing that this powerhouse, this kingpin, which he is referred to this time around, even if it’s only once, has such an edification about him when it comes to his choice of material belongings it makes him seem charming and almost hypnotizing.

When you see that he has a controlling hand on the FBI to do his bidding and what kinds of lows they steep to, to ensure his security and power, do you snap out of the spell that he’s put you under and finally realize that he’s nothing more than unadulterated evil.

The viewer is not the only one that Fisk has under a spell. When investigating Fisk’s whereabouts and how to get to him, Murdock starts to hear Fisk constantly, just over him, as if an angel and a devil were on his shoulders.

While this works in old cartoons and such, this cliche feels misplaced in a world where so much of it is grounded in reality.

It went on for too long and again, just like the other sub-plot mentioned before, this didn’t have a real consequence. We already knew that Murdock wanted Fisk dead.

The most memorable scene of the season must be noted though. In episode four, while finding out something that Fisk had done, Murdock is trapped in a prison during a riot.

As tradition has it, the viewer is gifted with a ten minute, steady shot that follows Murdock through the confines of the penitentiary, evading attackers and natural hazards. This is nothing short of an adrenaline rush.

After binging through the whole season, viewers might feel the need to rewatch it, since the season was just that good.

Even though some nitpicks were made, the third season of Daredevil is a must watch for comic book fans and casual Netflix viewers alike. Hell’s Kitchen is a wonderful place.