So, I finally got to see Daredevil!
I liked it! I really did. I thought the casting and performances were fantastic. I wasn't familiar with most of the cast, notable exceptions being Vincent D'onofrio (we watched a fair amount of early-season Criminal Intent, and liked him in that a lot) and Elden Hensen, whom Emma loved from Mighty Ducks and I first saw in Idle Hands. Foggy was just a perfect role for him, allowing him to be goofy and funny but also to show some real emotional depth and range.
But really, my favourite characters in the show were the women. They were amazing. They were mostly of colour. They had incredible character arcs that involved real moments of shadow, proper shades of grey and strength beyond 'women kicking butt'. My personal favourite was Karen, but Vanessa, Claire, Mrs Cardenas, Mrs Fisk, and Mrs Ulrich were all captivating, too. The variety of languages spoken was wonderful, and the diversity of race was a lot closer to reality than occurs in most Western media. They weren't background colour either - with the unfortunate exception of the Asian characters, they got character development, story arcs and detailed lives. (Read 'Black Mask, Yellow Peril: Anti-Asianism in Netflix's Otherwise Brilliant Daredevil')
The only gaping void that I really felt was was queer representation. They very quickly paired up each character with a hetero partner. Matt had Claire, Foggy had (briefly) Karen and then his old flame from the law firm, Fisk had Vanessa, Ben had Doris. Fisk's mother's throwaway line about her second husband being attracted to men is not representation.
I can see why Daredevil is not for everyone - the violence is incredibly brutal and bloody at times, for example - but the writing is solid and very complex for American television, the performances deep and captivating, and the visuals dark and evocative. If you like noir, and you like superhero origin stories, then Daredevil could be what you're looking for.
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