While I loved Season 2, I can't deny that it felt a bit messy, and the main villain wasn't anywhere near as compelling as Fisk was. Season 3 goes back to basics as it brings back Fisk as a villain, but that doesn't at all mean it's more of the same.
I know this is an odd way to start this review but Season 3 is at its worst when it's picking up the pieces left from The Defenders. Matt coming back from dying isn't all that interesting and led to the weakest episodes of the season by a long shot. Thankfully, once Fisk starts to come back into play after being let out of prison, Season 3 really begins to jump up in quality, mostly because he's such a strong antagonist this season. I have rarely ever seen a conflict that felt so futile for the heroes, Fisk is ten steps ahead of Matt throughout the entire season and gets a major victory what seems to be every episode. Every time you get the hope that Fisk that be taken down, he squashes that hope and leaves Matt, Karen, and Foggy in an even worse place than when they started. It can make for a season that's a bit hard to watch at times, but really gripping. I also love Matt's arc about having to deal with the fact that killing Fisk might just be the only option to take him down.
But Fisk isn't the only antagonist this season, there's also the iconic Daredevil villain Bullseye. It's about time Bullseye showed up, and he was great. Wilson Bethel does a great job as the character, Bullseye's backstory and mental state are legitimately super fascinating, and the character allows for a lot of fantastic action scenes. Outside of the antagonists, though, I also think one of the biggest highlights of this season was Karen. Now that she knows Matt is Daredevil, it allows her to get more involved in the action and it leads to some great interactions between her and Matt. We also get a solid backstory that fleshes out her character, as well as an especially electric scene between her and Fisk. I also think the action this season is the best it's ever been, probably some of the best on TV period. The prison fight, the church fight, the Bulletin fight, that final three-way fight, there are so many fantastic action scenes this season that repeatedly blew me away with what Cox and the crew were able to accomplish.
Pretty much every episode after the first two is great, but here are the best ones:
Blindsided: This is the episode where Season 3 really got good for me, and it's all because of that amazing prison fight. A roughly 11-minute-long-take is ambitious in a movie, let alone a TV show, but it was so well-done. I love how Matt doesn't have his suit on, it means that the viewer can see Cox's amazing performance, having to both pull off the stunts as well as act. It's an incredibly impressive production, it's no wonder that this is the scene that stuck with so many people from this season.
The Devil You Know: This episode did the best job at balancing plot progression with action. The big Bulletin fight was another series highlight, with a nice blend of impressively tight choreography and a bit of humor at times. But while this was a cool fight, it also led to the deaths of a lot of people who work at the Bulletin, as well as Matt being framed for Bullseye's crimes.
Revelations: While not very action-packed, Revelations does a lot to really shatter Matt's world, as he learns that Maggie, the nun who's been taking care of him, is his mom. Even more, with Fisk's influence in the FBI having been fully shown, this is the episode where Matt decides he should probably kill him, which sets up his arc for the rest of the season.
One Last Shot: While Nadeem's death ultimately ended up being for nothing, he really tried to make an impact. This episode was the most damage Matt's team was able to do to Fisk for the whole season, and was thus a pretty nice breath of fresh air. Of course, Fisk managed to evade his charges yet again, and it led to a pretty cruel ending.
A New Napkin: This was a fantastic ending to the season, and worked pretty well as an ending to the series as a whole (Bullseye cliffhanger aside). It's very hard to pull off a three-way fight but it works incredibly well in A New Napkin, and Matt deciding to spare Fisk is a great end to his character arc.
Overall, outside of a slightly shaky start, this is easily my favorite season of Daredevil. Fisk is a nearly unstoppable threat this time and it makes for a really gripping storyline, but all of the characters have compelling arcs, and the action scenes being some of the best of all time definitely helps.
5/5 Stars
Favorite Episode: Blindsided
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