jhudson-11704's reviews

The second episode of the second season continues with a strong plot and strong writing. We get a a good focus on Hunter, the team deals with Creel and Fitz helps them find out how.

Lance Hunter gets an incredible insight into his character. The best part about this is that even though he is a mercenary, following the money in order to complete the job, he showed his love and respect for Hartley by letting her have an honorable funeral. I am not really surprised that he went after Creel as a vendetta but I am glad that Coulson still wants him to stay around because the team needs a specialist that will cross the lines.

Fitz is starting to get a little better and that is so relieving. I'm glad that Mack is helping him by having Fitz talk to and through him. de Caestecker's portrayal of Fitz with brain damage is really good because it is entirely disheartening because we know what Fitz is truly like. The fact that Simmons is gone is clearly making him worse so I really want to know where Simmons is.

Creel this episode was also boring as he was basically nothing but a brute for Hydra. However, there was some interesting parts about Creel, especially his powers and the possible fact that Hydra might have brainwashed him.

Raina popped up again in this episode and she still creeps me out. She is clearly connected to Skye's father, played by Kyle McLachlan, and can somehow hold the obelisk without it killing her. It's a very good plot point to focus on as there is clearly something special about Raina, and according to Skye's father, Skye can hold it too.

+ Hunter + Fitz' recovering + Where is Simmons? + Kyle McLachlan! +/- Creel - Raina still really weird

Final Score: 8.8/10

Agents of Shield returns and it comes back with a new tone, some new cast, familiar faces and a new threat. And for the most part, it works.

Let's start with the new tone in the show. Shield basically doesn't exist anymore so they operate in the shadows and its even more intriguing because they don't have the money and manpower available to them in the first season. I also love how Skye is an actual field agent rather than a hacker.

With a new season, comes some new cast members. We have Agent Mack, an engineer who's built like a tank, Hunter, a merc with a mouth yet not Deadpool, Hartley, played by Lucy fricking Lawless, and Idaho, who is there. Half of these don't make it through the first episode, and while I'm not surprised or sad that Idaho is gone, I am sad that Hartley is because Lawless brings something great to anything she is in like Xena, Spartacus or Parks and Rec.

We also get familiar faces from a Marvel movie, The First Avenger, as Agent Carter, Dumb Dumb Dugan and Jim Morita make a cameo that is very welcome and reveals something cool about a villain in this season. A head of Hydra has been around since the 1940s and not only that, but he hasn't aged, which is a great twist and mystery to be explored.

This episode's villain was Carl "Crusher" Creel. While this is a great nod to Daredevil, where Creel was involved in one of Daredevil's pivotal moments, this is where we actually see him. While his personality wasn't anything new or interesting, his powers sure were. And it was really well done for a TV show to show him change his body into any substance.

The humor and writing were also on pace with the last third of the first season, which I enjoy as it is already starting to feel different and better than the first season.

+ Carter and the Commandos + Tone, writing and humor +/- Creel + New Cast - Some gone though

Final Score: 8.7/10

Here it is. The season finale to Daredevil's first season. It did wrap up very nicely, albeit quickly in my opinion and it revealed the famous final suit that Matt dons that I love.

I'm really glad that Matt was able to take down Fisk on both fronts, with the power of the law and the power of his fists. With the help of Foggy, Karen and Det. Hoffman, Matt was able to arrest not only Fisk, but his lawyer, the cops, senators and judges he paid as well as any small street criminals. It was very satisfying to watch it all come to a close and I'm really glad that this wasn't actually the way the Matt brought Fisk down.

It was actually really cool to see that even with Fisk being taken in by the FBI, he still had a plan to escape. I expected nothing less from him and was glad that Matt had the chance to lay the smackdown on him. After Daredevil beat Fisk, I'm really glad that Mahoney let him go so that the police might give him some room.

Now, there was a lot of controversy over how the costume came to look. People wanted it to be like the comic book version but I actually really like the one they went with as it fits well with the tone of the story. First off, Matt always operated in the shadows, so the dark red and black is smart and meshes well together. Also, it makes sense tactically as it is actual body armor, other than like CW leather costumes.

I will say, however, that it did feel a bit rushed like last episode where things sort of felt thrown into one episode other than gradually built up. Like they were building a case, but in the last episode BOOM, they got Hoffman. I'm also kind of sad that Owlsley's dead as he was a good character but love how and why he was killed as it showed off the ferocity of Fisk and his love for Vanessa.

+ Final costume + Taking down Fisk both legally and physically + Arrest montage +/- Owlsley's death = Felt rushed

Final Score: 9.1/10