Daredevil season 2 episode 5 viewing notes: Kinbaku

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Elektra is a major part of Daredevil’s mythology, so it’s almost surprising that Season One didn’t immediately jump the gun by introducing her early in the same way the movie did. Instead, we got to see Matt established before his life was turned upside down by the return of his old flame – and that makes her presence all the better for it.

I kind of enjoyed the extra flashbacks to Matt and Foggy’s college days, even though it takes more than a clean shave and baggy hoodies to sell Cox and Henson as young guys. The narrative of Elektra leading Matt astray – and him liking it – was sold really well, right up until the point where you can understand why he’d never want to see her again. Elektra offering Matt his father’s murderer to execute really drives home how twisted her ethics are, and it’s clear that Matt’s moral judgement was ultimately stronger than his attraction to her. At least, back then.

Generally speaking, Elodie Yung really sells Elektra as an incredibly complex, inscrutable and seductive presence. You can understand why Matt would fall for her as much as you can understand why he’d want to stay away once he saw her true nature. The comics character has drifted far away from her origins as a wildchild, but if you look at the version shown in Miller & Romita’s Daredevil origin series, Man Without Fear, I think it’s recognisably that character. Whether we’ll see her develop beyond that is debatable (it’s something that mostly happened off-panel in the comics) but personally I prefer the version with a little more personality.

Although the Punisher arc isn’t yet over, it’s definitely taking a back seat at the moment. Karen is still digging (and it’s looking more and more like she’s going to play a major role in whatever happens with the Punisher) but her tentative romance with Matt is what takes the spotlight in this episode. Juxtaposing their awkward but comfortable interactions against the fire of Matt and Elektra’s past relationship really highlights the question of what Matt actually wants – someone who likes the moralising lawyer version of him, or someone who likes the furious vigilante version of him.

So despite Matt’s protestations, he ends up doing Elektra’s dirty work for her, investigating Roxxon (Marvel’s go-to evil corporation, previously seen in Agent Carter, the Iron Man films and Agents of SHIELD). The ninjas he runs afoul of as a result suggests that he was probably right to help, but it’s a slight disappointment that, after the strong storytelling in this episode, we were denied a climactic fight. I guess if you’re binge watching some action isn’t a long way off, but I had a wait at this point and would’ve preferred a bit more pay-off up front.

As expected, this episode was a real change of pace after the Punisher mini-arc, focusing on a different character and changing the tone of the show slightly, with the rage and adrenaline of the Punisher being replaced by Elektra’s icy manipulation. It’ll be interesting to see how these characters dovetail (if indeed they successfully manage to) but I’m enjoying the approach of exploiting the various tones Daredevil can get away with. And if that means we can finally see Daredevil fighting ninjas like he does every six minutes in the comic, I’m okay with that.