The Punisher Puts Frank Castle's Moral Dilemma In The "Crosshairs!"

The Good: Interesting character conflict, Good performances, Decent direction
The Bad: Very simple plot, Climaxes in a strangely stupid moment for the protagonist
The Basics: "Crosshairs" continues to throw all of the protagonists from The Punisher into further chaos and conflict!


There is something both refreshing and disappointing about the formulaic nature of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The works in the Marvel Cinematic Universe are like the repetitive epic; while the specifics and the style might vary, the stories told are essentially the same one over and over and over and over again. The refreshing aspect of this is that perceptive viewers can pretty much figure out from the beginning who the good guys are and which allies are likely to betray the protagonist, etc. etc. As a perfect example, having had almost no knowledge of the source material going into The Punisher, the moment Ben Russo's company - Anvil - was mentioned, it hearkened back in my mind to the fact that Russo and Castle's corrupt c.o. went by the street name The Blacksmith and I had Russo pegged as the show's less-obvious adversary for Frank Castle. By "Crosshairs," the rest of the audience is up to that speed.

"Crosshairs" follows the events of "The Judas Goat" (reviewed here!) and because of the serialized nature of The Punisher, there is no way to discuss the new episode without some references to the prior one. After all, "The Judas Goat" had major movement as Madani exposed herself and her case to Billy Russo. Lewis snapped and killed the fraud, O'Connor, which was a pretty big move. And by the point "The Judas Goat" ended, Billy Russo's true allegiance was revealed to the audience.

Lewis Walcott cleans up after killing O'Connor and returns home, where his father tries to express his concern for him. Castle and Lieberman plan to infiltrate a military base to meet with Colonel Bennett, whom Gunner said was a man who could identify Agent Orange from the MICRO tape. When Russo visits Madani at her office, Stein gets offended and shortly thereafter, Madani confides in her partner that she believes her office is bugged. Russo meets with Rawlins and they try to figure out how to get to Frank Castle.

At Bennett's weekly visit with his mistress, Castle breaks in so Lieberman can clone his phone. The moment Castle breaks in, the Mistress calls for back-up and Castle is left to take out U.S. soldiers who are hunting him. After escaping the military base, Castle and Lieberman wait for Bennett to go on the move. Lewis goes shopping for bomb materials, while Bennett gets debriefed by Russo and Rawlins. After Madani and Stein find bugs in her office, Lieberman tracks Bennett's phone, which puts Castle directly in front of Agent Orange!

"Crosshairs" is an interesting episode in that it is a pretty simple episode that takes the time to deliver a genuine character conflict for Frank Castle. Instead of having a big reversal that makes the plot more complicated, "Crosshairs" features a very small reversal; that Lieberman and Castle have rightly figured out that going after Bennett will put them in a trap. Lieberman proves his intelligence by coming up with a smart way to get the information they want without risking killing Bennett. Castle relies upon Lieberman to keep him from his own worst instincts.

But the real conflict in "Crosshairs" is within Frank Castle. Castle's quest for revenge upon everyone who was involved in the illegal actions coming out of Kandahar - and the death of his family and subsequent cover-up - is now putting Castle in conflict with some people who are still in the U.S. Military. The conflict that Castle has in the idea that there might be collateral damage among military personnel who are, essentially, innocent in the conspiracy he is investigating is a compelling one. Castle wants his vengeance, but he acts as a scalpel in "Crosshairs," not as a sledge hammer. That transition is well-handled in "Crosshairs" and it feels very organic.

The other major character in crisis in "Crosshairs" is Lewis and so far in The Punisher, he is simply coming unspooled. In "Crosshairs," Lewis falls apart as Madani takes control of her life. The contrast between the two characters is exceptional, but as Lewis falls in "Crosshairs," Madani comes out of the dark and actually starts trusting Stein more.

Amber Rose Revah has a comparatively small role in "Crosshairs," but her performance as Dinah Madani is quite good. At a key moment, Revah stops all that she is doing as Madani and she emotes powerfully with her facial expressions. Without any dialogue, Revah takes the viewer through Madani's entire thought process and as the scene progresses, her determination makes it entirely clear exactly what her character is searching for.

"Crosshairs" does a decent job with its smart plot twist and its character conflict, but it comes to a head with a sequence that defies the intelligence of the protagonists. There is an awesome reversal at the end of "Crosshairs," but to land that moment, one has to figure that Frank Castle is somehow less smart than the audience and that Lieberman - who seems incredibly smart and educated on a wide variety of subjects - is just terrible at communicating essential information to Castle.

Ultimately, The Punisher has a satisfying, if simplistic, episode with "Crosshairs."

For other works with Andrew Polk, please visit my reviews of:
House Of Cards - Season 4
House Of Cards - Season 5

6/10

For other television season and episode reviews, please visit my Television Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2017 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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All The Backstory The Punisher Seems To Need Comes In "Kandahar!"

The Good: Good acting, Decent directing, Characters hold to their core
The Bad: Annoying character conceits, Potential trouble on the continuity front
The Basics: The Punisher continues with "Kandahar," which provides a backstory for David Lieberman and fleshes out what went wrong for Frank Castle in Afghanistan.


The Punisher had an uphill battle with the fans; this late into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, especially the television component of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it is hard to escape the feeling that it's all been done. The Punisher has almost all of the components immediately in play for a familiar project in the Marvel Cinematic Universe: there is a conspiracy, an antihero, upper class folks who seem undoubtedly to be the villains, a revenge storyline and a person in an adjacent field who knows about the protagonist's actions and seems doomed to work at cross-purposes to the protagonist. In fact, structurally, The Punisher Season 1 seems to have a lot in common with Luke Cage Season 1 (reviewed here!). Despite, objectively, having a lot of similarities, The Punisher manages to feel remarkably fresh. That feeling continues into "Kandahar," the show's third episode.

"Kandahar" follows on "Two Dead Men" (reviewed here!) and it is impossible to discuss the new episode without some references to where the show went in the prior episode. In fact, "Kandahar" continues where "Two Dead Men" left off - with Wolf dead and Frank Castle ready to interrogate David Lieberman. "Kandahar" makes explicit, as well, portions of the mission in Afghanistan wherein Frank Castle worked under Major Schoonover. As a result, it helps for viewers to have seen Daredevil Season 2 (reviewed here!) before sitting down to "Kandahar."

Frank Castle has Lieberman tied, naked, to a chair when an alarm in Lieberman's lair begins to go off. Lieberman insists that only he can deactivate the alarm, with his retinal scan. After managing to convince Castle of the importance of letting him deactivate the system, Lieberman tries to get Castle to trust him and work with him. Lieberman tells Castle his story of getting the disc with Zubair's interrogation on it. He sent the video of the interrogation to Dinah Madani and the next morning, Wolf hunted him down and appeared to kill him in front of his wife. Lieberman, though, did not die when shot and he went underground.

Elsewhere, Madani and Stein begin investigating Wolf's murder. Curtis Hoyle and Billy Russo meet, with Russo funding the space Hoyle does his group therapy in. Hoyle turns down Russo's offer for a job. In the interrogation, Castle recalls working for Major Schoonover on Operation Cerberus, where he remembers working with Russo. The Zubair interrogation ends with the police officer getting assassinated by Castle's team and Castle burying the body in the desert. While Dinah Madani assumes command over her section, her partner brings her information that suggests Wolf was corrupt and Lieberman manages to reverse his situation with Castle. It is then that Castle recalls the mission on which Schoonover lost his arm . . . and that it was Rawlins who was calling the shots.

David Lieberman starts off "Kandahar" trying desperately to convince Frank Castle that the two of them are on the same side. It seems entirely reasonable that Lieberman and Castle would have been targeted by the same organizations. Lieberman worked for the N.S.A. and he spends a decent amount of time detailing just what it was that he was supposed to analyze and take action on. Lieberman's big break at work seemed to come when he was sent the MICRO CD-ROM.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe - especially the Netflix television aspect of it - has done interrogation episodes a lot already. "Kandahar" fits the pattern, but because it comes so early in the first season of The Punisher, the episode is preoccupied with continuing to define the characters involved. There is an immediately irksome quality to "Kandahar" in that there is a lot more torture than other interrogation sequences in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Torture does not, historically, work and there was something refreshing about "Two Dead Men" where Wolf pointed that out. The Punisher was suddenly thematically smart.

And yet, in "Kandahar," Frank Castle is torturing Lieberman. Castle's perspective is that torture is about breaking comfortable patterns and the implicit argument is that most people simply do not do torture the right way. That's a ridiculous premise and it's initially agonizing to watch Lieberman get tormented by Frank Castle. Lieberman is Castle's equal and he is eager to help Castle . . . but he is treated by Castle with unnecessary violence.

Dinah and her mother interact well in "Kandahar." Farah, Dinah's mother, is no longer saddled with expository dialogue. Instead, she actually provides calm counsel to her daughter and that is refreshing. Dinah is now in line to run her Section at Homeland Security and her mother believes that she is feeling guilty over not liking Wolf before his death. That is an interesting angle and it shows that Farah has a lot of perception over her daughter's process.

"Kandahar" occurs on Frank Castle's birthday and the current and past birthdays make for an interesting contrast.

The Punisher has a fundamental issue in the way the conspiracy was developed for the show. In Daredevil, when The Blacksmith was revealed, he referenced Frank Castle as, essentially, the last hold-out to his plan. Schoonover mentions that the rest of the elite team Castle was a part of came back to work for him after the war. The Punisher retcons that by giving Frank Castle more associates who left before the rest of the team was recalled. So, while Russo seems initially clean given that he got out early, it is hard not to believe that he is corrupt as hell. In addition to the prior, established, backstory that included Schoonover selling heroin was done using his former subordinates, Russo is clearly pumping Hoyle for information in "Kandahar." The idea that Schoonover's former team all ended up corrupt but people like Russo are still in play after The Punisher's purge, which opened this season, seems to be contradictory and "Kandahar" does not yet provide satisfying answers in that regard.

Andy Goddard directs "Kandahar" exceptionally well. Goddard is saddled with a script that felt compelled to illustrate the formative mission for Frank Castle, which was well-detailed on Daredevil. Goddard seems worried that The Punisher might simply devolve into violence and gore that is familiar and becomes boring and he directs "Kandahar" with that in mind. As a result, for the most violent battle scenes, most of the violence actually happens out of frame and Frank Castle simply ends up splattered in the gore that results from his actions. It's a clever way to direct the sequence to prevent it from becoming passe.

Ultimately, "Kandahar" spells out many important aspects of Frank Castle's backstory, while making both Lieberman and Madani more important to the story The Punisher seemed to be meandering toward in its first season.

For other works with Shohreh Aghdashloo, please visit my reviews of:
Destiny 2
Star Trek Beyond
Destiny
Rosewater
The Odd Life Of Timothy Green
X-Men: The Last Stand
House Of Sand And Fog

7/10

For other aspects of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, please visit my Marvel Cinematic Universe Review Index Page for a relativistic listing!

© 2017 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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When The Meachum Plot Is Better Than The Iron Fist Stuff, "Bar The Big Boss"

The Good: Ward Meachum's character, Moments of performance by Pelphrey, Wenham and Dhawan
The Bad: Dull plot, Dull villainy, Protagonists are hard to empathize with, Poor performances by the protagonists
The Basics: "Bar The Big Boss" sets up for an unremarkable first season finale for Iron Fist.


As the penultimate episode of the first season of Iron Fist begins, I find myself in the weird place of trying not to begin yet another Iron Fist review with "This is what's wrong with this episode . . ." "Bar The Big Boss" is an interesting episode of Iron Fist in that the Rand Enterprises portion of the episode, which is essentially a family drama and a corporate drama, is far more engaging and well-developed than the martial arts plotline.

"Bar The Big Boss" picks up the Ward Meachum plotline that was entirely ignored in "Lead Horse Back To Stable" (reviewed here!) and continues the rising menace of Bakuto. Ward Meachum has, arguably, had the most dynamic arc in the first season of Iron Fist and he is a far more interesting character than Bakuto and Colleen Wing.

Ward Meachum awakens at Birch Psychiatric Hospital, restrained, having a nightmare about his father. Ward is unable to convince the nurse on duty to remove his restraints and he is restrained when Bakuto comes in to make him an offer. Bakuto wants to kill Harold and have a more advantageous relationship with Rand Enterprises. Ward is wary of Bakuto's offer, while Danny and Colleen encounter Davos on the street. Davos wants to destroy Bakuto's compound, but Wing refuses. At Meachum's penthouse, Harold and Joy reconnect, when Ward arrives. Ward wants to talk to Joy alone, but she is unwilling to leave the penthouse because she is in the process of cutting the financial ties between Rand and The Hand.

When Ward tries to get Joy out, Bakuto arrives. Bakuto shoots Joy in order to lure out Rand and he rushes to her aid. Bakuto is about to execute Harold when Rand arrives. As Rand is taken from the building, Davos and Wing come to rescue him. In the ensuing fight, Davos illustrates his devotion to the cause, while Harold continues his manipulation of Ward.

"Bar The Big Boss" fleshes Ward out even more than he had been and he proves to be surprisingly emotionally intelligent. Ward recognizes his father for exactly what he is and he wants to save his sister from him. Ward is presented as smart and actually loving, at least where Joy is concerned. Amid all of the machinations surrounding Rand Enterprises and The Hand, Ward is very genuinely protective of his sister. All he truly seems to want is to keep her safe. Tom Pelphrey delivers another impressive performance as Ward Meachum.

What is a little disappointing in "Bar The Big Boss" is that Joy seems more like a wounded little girl than the half of the "power couple" she became with her brother. Joy has been cunning and strong for most of the first season of Iron Fist. In "Bar The Big Boss," Joy is entirely weakened by her emotional desperation to be near her father. Jessica Stroup plays the part fine, but her character is diminished by how she is written in this episode.

Harold Meachum lives up to his cruel potential in "Bar The Big Boss." David Wenham perfectly delivers the most horrifying and meanly honest exchange he can. As Harold prepares for his execution, he tells Ward and Joy what he actually thinks of him and it is heartbreaking, if - arguably - the most honest thing he says in all of Iron Fist.

The portion of "Bar The Big Boss" that focuses on Danny Rand is exceptionally hard to care about. Danny Rand is, as it turns out, a character who neither learns, nor cares deeply-enough about anyone to keep his word. In "Bar The Big Boss," Danny makes the "noble sacrifice" of letting Bakuto take him in order to save Joy's life. But Rand is not even good to his word long enough to make sure she can be saved; as soon as he and The Hand reach the lobby, Rand breaks his shackles and tries to take on Bakuto and his men! Rand is not a hero or an anti-hero, he's just an impulsive little rich kid whose emotional growth was stunted at age ten.

Unfortunately, Colleen Wing is not much better in "Bar The Big Boss." Rand and Wing recognize Bakuto's obvious trap, but Wing leaps right into it. In a similar way, given that "Bar The Big Boss" occurs a very short amount of time after - context clues would indicate the same night as - Joy begins the transfer of The Hand's embezzled assets back to Rand, which was perhaps a day or two after Colleen learned that Bakuto and The Hand might not be what she thought it was, Wing seems unrealistically un-indocrinated with her entire training. Given that Gao was characterized by Wing as part of a different sect of The Hand that was destructive, Wing's willingness to denounce The Hand reads as false in "Bar The Big Boss." A more reasonable conclusion for Wing to come to would be that The Hand (the organization) was still fundamentally good with a core of innocent people and that Bakuto had let the power go to his head. Bakuto being villainous and ordering his disciples to do bad things ought not have entirely undermined Wing's opinions of the organization . . . at least not that quickly.

The direction in "Bar The Big Boss" is almost as problematic as the obvious plot twists and the mundane characterization in the episode. Lighting and the progression of time in "Bar The Big Boss" are noticeably off. When Joy is menaced by Bakuto, it is night in the penthouse, but day on the images of it that Bakuto streams to Danny's phone. Rand and his team chase Bakuto in a climactic nighttime scene. But the sun is up when, moments after Ward and Harold get Jot to the hospital, Danny calls Harold. The music in Wing and Rand's final scene is disturbingly incongruent with the intended emotions of the scene.

Ultimately, "Bar The Big Boss" is an uninspired penultimate episode that makes it very hard to care about what happens to the protagonists in the first season's finale.

[Knowing that single episodes are an inefficient way to get episodes, it's worth looking into Iron Fist - The Complete First Season, which is also a better economical choice than buying individual episodes. Read my review of the debut season here!
Thanks!]

For other works directed by Andy Goddard, please visit my reviews of:
"Manifest" - Luke Cage
"Regrets Only" - Daredevil
"The Next Doctor" - Doctor Who

3/10

For other television season and episode reviews, please check out my Television Review Index Page for a listing of those reviews!

© 2017 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Rise Of The Luke Cage Villains: "Manifest" Plods Along Until A Wonderful Last Act!

The Good: Some of the performances, Last act
The Bad: Pacing, Mike Colter seems bored, Generally basic plot, Does not adequately explore Dillard's backstory
The Basics: "Manifest" gives the two main Luke Cage villains a thin backstory before dramatically altering the direction of the season.


The key to every hero story is giving the hero an adversary or adversaries worth combating. Luke Cage suffered in its first season because the enemies of the seemingly invincible protagonist were hardly a match for him. In fact, almost immediately, Cornell "Cottonmouth" Stokes was illustrated to be comparatively weak and essentially a middleman for the invisible power in Harlem, Diamondback. The seventh episode of the season, "Manifest," attempts to flesh out the backstory of Cornell Stokes and Mariah Dillard while advancing the menace they pose to Harlem and Luke Cage.

Picking up where "Suckas Need Bodyguards" (reviewed here!) left off, it is impossible to discuss "Manifest" without referencing where the prior episode left off. After all, there are huge ramifications to Scarfe's death, Stokes's arrest, and the television interview Dillard did that went south. "Manifest" starts to put the pieces together for Luke Cage and raises the menace of Stoke, Dillard, and Shades Alvarez.

Opening with Zip trying to unload guns for Stokes, Luke Cage approaches and attempts to intimidate him, but learns from the thug that the gangster is getting out of prison. Zip is right and Stokes is released, much to the ire of Knight and Cage. Stokes returns to his club, where Shades is waiting for him. Having re-established his street credibility, Stokes is annoyed that Shades will not vouch for him with Diamondback. At Pop's, Cage is frustrated, but Claire Temple tries to motivate him to do what the police cannot. Stokes calls for a parlay with Cage while Misty Knight reacts to her boss getting replaced for failing to make an effective case against Stokes. While Knight's career is threatened by the new Inspector, Cage visits Stokes. Stokes reveals that he knows Luke Cage's true past and extorts Cage to work for him.

In a series of flashbacks, Stokes and Dillard's backstory is revealed. Under the reign of Mama Mabel, the gangster effectively running Harlem while Stokes is living with her, Stokes and Dillard learn how to run a criminal empire. Stokes was a musical prodigy who was quiet and sensitive, who witnesses one of his friends - who started selling drugs in Harlem, against Ma Mabel's wishes - killed by Uncle Pete. When Cottonmouth sees one of Mama Mabel's hookers hurt, to get himself out of trouble, he accidentally outs Uncle Pete for spending time in Spanish Harlem uses Stokes to kill Uncle Pete, setting him on the course to taking over the business after Mama Mabel dies.

"Manifest" is interesting because it transitions the villains in Luke Cage. Alvarez has consistently been an operator working in the shadows of Harlem for the mysterious Diamondback. In "Manifest," he sees the potential in Dillard, much the way that Claire Temple sees the potential in Luke Cage. Placing the two scenes back to back where others influence the protagonist and antagonist is a clever foreshadowing for the revelation of how the menace of the season will truly progress.

Mariah Dillard is a person who is used to being in authority and control. By "Manifest," most of Dillard's power is stripped away and she is being asked by her party to resign from the city council. Dillard losing her power puts a crack in her veneer and she starts slipping over the course of the episode into pure anger. Alfre Woodard finally makes Dillard into a force to be reckoned with. Dillard is given a wounded, horrible, backstory over just a few lines in "Manifest" and when Dillard cracks, Woodard brings her a-game to portraying Dillard's fracture. One of the problems with "Manifest" is that Dillard's traumatic backstory does not have nearly the realistic impact of someone who has been so victimized. Beyond that, Dillard and Stokes are given an incredibly basic backstory that never quite rises to the height or complexity of Wilson Fisk, Kilgrave, Frank Castle, or Elektra.

Luke Cage's heroic ascent continues as he puts the squeeze on Domingo for the weapons the gangster got back from Stokes. By "Manifest," Mike Colter looks bored with the fights and scenes where Luke Cage is being shot at. While it makes sense that Cage would be bored by always being shot at, Colter seems bored in "Manifest." Colter's dry performance plays off Simone Missick's more emotional, engaged portrayal of Misty Knight.

What saves "Manifest" from being a wash that is firmly average is the climax of the episode. Dillard's snap and Cage's newfound resolve are well-executed to be a gripping end to an otherwise basic episode.

[Knowing that single episodes are an inefficient way to get episodes, it's worth looking into Luke Cage - The Complete First Season, which is also a better economical choice than buying individual episodes. Read my review of the debut season here!
Thanks!]

For other works with Curtiss Cook, please visit my reviews of:
House Of Cards - Season 4
House Of Cards - Season 3
House Of Cards - Season 2
House Of Cards - Season 1
Shutter Island

5.5/10

For other Marvel movie, television season and episode reviews, please check out my Marvel Cinematic Universe Review Index Page for a listing of those reviews!

© 2016 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Another Christmas Spent With Doctor Who And "The Next Doctor!"

The Good: Good performances, Intriguing premise
The Bad: The Cybermen story is not particularly compelling, Rosita's character is presented very flatly
The Basics: The mystery of the identity of a man claiming to be The Doctor in London's past overshadows the return of the Cybermen in "The Next Doctor."


Following the events of the Doctor Who episode "Journey's End" (reviewed here!), The Doctor was at an interesting point. Having lost all of his Companions and allies, The Doctor finds himself traveling alone. The Christmas episode that follows the climax of the Doctor's allies is "The Next Doctor."

"The Next Doctor" is, essentially, a mystery set in Earth's past which pairs The Doctor - David Tennant's incarnation - with what appears to be a different incarnation of The Doctor. "The Next Doctor" is played by David Morrissey and sees the return to the narrative of the Cybermen. Russell T. Davies, who wrote "The Next Doctor," had kept the Cybermen out of Doctor Who for years, since "Doomsday" (reviewed here!). Their return in "The Next Doctor" is overshadowed by the mystery of who, exactly, the Other Doctor is.

The Doctor on Christmas Eve, 1851, in London and almost immediately someone begins crying out for help from the "Doctor!" The Doctor is shocked to be joined in rescuing Rosita by another man, who claims to be The Doctor. The Other Doctor sets loose an animal with a Cyberman head, which drags both Doctors and Rosita through an abandoned building. The Doctor interrogates the Other Doctor, who acknowledges that he has massive memory gaps, as a result of the Cybermen. Investigating the home of a newly deceased man, The Doctors find a Cyberman memory module and The Other Doctor recalls how the Cyberman robbed him of his memories.

Chased out by Cybermen, The Doctor accompanies The Other Doctor back to his headquarters. Meanwhile, in town, Miss Hartigan attends the funeral of the priest and uses the Cybermen to kill off all of her enemies, but four. When The Other Doctor takes The Doctor to his TARDIS and The Doctor and his TARDIS is revealed to be a hot air balloon, The Doctor indicates he knows what is going on with The Other Doctor. When Miss Hartigan unleashes the Cybermen on London and she takes over as the new Cyberking, The Doctor and his two new companions must team up to stop them from transforming or killing all of the children.

"The Next Doctor" is a cool basic premise, though attentive viewers are likely to recognize exceptionally early on in the episode where the work is going with the titular character. After all, there is only one reason for The Doctor to give The Other Doctor a physical and the results are made very clear through the sound effects.

As a geek, there is something riotously fun about an episode of television that features the Governor and Kilgrave working together. Of course, David Morrissey has much more range than simply playing the Governor and Tennant's Doctor is nowhere near as villainous as Kilgrave. Morrissey is the caliber of actor who could credibly play The Doctor and he helps to sell the premise of "The Next Doctor" and make the viewer enjoy the discovery of whether or not his character is an incarnation of the Time Lord.

Rosita is momentarily interesting and well-played by Velile Tshabalala. Still, she is largely a flat character and the lack of a Companion for The Doctor for her to play off diminishes the impact of "The Next Doctor."

While the villains in "The Next Doctor" are not particularly compelling - the existence of the Cybershades is glossed over, for example - and the episode's climax treads toward the cheesy, the central character elements of the episode are very fresh for Doctor Who. The Other Doctor is the result of trauma and, while the episode does not make it explicit, The Doctor is suffering a trauma of his own. The way one man survives his loss and the way loss breaks another man is a compelling foil pair.

Ultimately, despite the campy plot, "The Next Doctor" does exactly what fans of Doctor Who hope it would in that it refocuses The Doctor on his enduring quest to help people. That makes "The Next Doctor" worthwhile as both a character study and a Christmas gift!

[Knowing that single episodes are an inefficient way to get episodes, it's worth looking into Doctor Who - The Complete Fourth Season on DVD or Blu-Ray, which is also a better economical choice than buying individual episodes. Read my review of the final season of David Tennant as The Doctor here!
Thanks!]

For other works with David Morrissey, please check out my reviews of:
The Walking Dead - Season 4
The Walking Dead - Season 3

7/10

For other Doctor Who episode and movie reviews, please visit my Doctor Who Review Index Page!

© 2016 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Daredevil Season Two Does Not Build "Regrets Only" When It Elaborates The Punisher Conspiracy!

The Good: Performances, B-plot, Moments of character
The Bad: Elektra fails to wow, A-plot involving Elektra
The Basics: Daredevil enters a new formula with juggling plotlines involving Frank Castle and Elektra as "Regrets Only" pulls Nelson and Murdock apart!


As the second season of Daredevil progressed, I - for one - was concerned that it might end up being a terribly erratic season. After hitting a series high (so far) with the third episode, the introduction of Elektra in "Kinbaku" (reviewed here!) hit a season low point at just the fifth episode of the season. Fortunately, with the sixth episode, "Regrets Only," Daredevil bounces back. From this point on, the second season of Daredevil is very engrossing, often surprising, and well-presented (despite some physical darkness that undermines some of the direction and performances).

"Regrets Only" feels in some ways like a new beginning for the second season of Daredevil and it firmly establishes a new paradigm for the season. "Regrets Only" has Matt Murdock engaged with an Elektra plot, while Nelson and Page struggle to unravel the conspiracy surrounding Frank Castle's past and expose District Attorney Reyes and her corrupt machinations. Despite the fact that "Regrets Only" picks up just moments after "Kinbaku," there is remarkably little from the prior episode that is essential and the viewer cannot pick up from context clues in the new episode.

A Yakuza motorcycle gang arrives at the flat Elektra has taken as her own and she and Daredevil incapacitate all of them. Murdock and Natchios go out to breakfast where Elektra reveals that she has been honest about her desire to divest from Roxxon's influence over her fortune. Murdock tentatively agrees so long as there is no murdering involved. At the offices of Nelson & Murdock, Page is given a statement by the district attorney's office (via a shill) to sign. Page refuses, based on the statement being pretty much false and when the public defender reveals that Reyes is pursuing the death penalty against Frank Castle, Murdock decides to get involved.

Arriving at the hospital, the Nelson & Murdock legal team is advised by Mahoney (who has been promoted for bringing down the Punisher) to leave the case alone. Despite the warning, Nelson, Page and Murdock manage to convince Frank Castle to appoint them his counsel and, when they prove to him that Reyes has an agenda that would see Castle buried, the Punisher agrees. When Murdock is sidetracked by a mission with Elektra to secure proof of Roxxon's shady dealings, Nelson and Page meet with Castle to try to construct his defense.

What is immediately striking in "Regrets Only" is how immature Elektra Natchios is. Elektra is impulsive and surprisingly careless, which is very much the opposite of Matt Murdock. While sometimes opposites attract, the chemistry is not there between Murdock and Natchios, at least at the outset of "Regrets Only." Elektra does not develop in the episode; showing no regard for what is going on in Murdock's life, Natchios snatches up her partner without having an actual plan to bringing down Roxxon and the Yakuza. Murdock going along with Natchios as much as he does only works because of Murdock's constant refrain that him helping Elektra is a "one and done" mission.

Elektra's immaturity is offset by serious scenes at Nelson and Murdock where adults seriously debate the ethics of letting Reyes have her way. Reyes is attempting to use a legal loophole that would allow Castle to be tried in Delaware, a state with the death penalty. Murdock is against the death penalty and, despite the business implications of defending Frank Castle, Foggy Nelson feels ethically bound to not let the District Attorney steamroller the law or Frank Castle.

In a season where the overt adversary is The Punisher, by "Regrets Only," it is clear that Frank Castle is only a temporary or partial antagonist. District Attorney Reyes makes for a clear and intriguing nemesis which helps Daredevil explore the non-super hero aspect of the popular comic book hero. One of the strengths of the Daredevil book is that, at its best, it finds a balance between the vigilante hero story and the legal thriller story. Unlike Batman, where the billionaire aspect of Bruce Wayne can be neglected after explaining how Batman has the resources to afford all of his gadgets in a real world setting, Daredevil needs a consistent grounding aspect for viewers to accept the extraordinary aspects. Matt Murdock has friends and a job and Daredevil keeps both aspects of Murdock's life alive and busy in a credible way. In "Regrets Only," Page and Nelson pick up the slack of addressing the Frank Castle plotline and the legal thriller/conspiracy aspect of the show is very engaging, despite it featuring a lot of exposition.

"Regrets Only" has a few moments that may make viewers question their suspension of disbelief. When Frank Castle wakes up in the hospital, he hears Matt Murdock's voice and given that one of the most recent things in his life was slipping unconscious to Matt Murdock's voice, it seems inconceivable that he does not realize that Murdock is Daredevil or let on that he knows. Similarly, Elodie Yung uses facial expressions a lot to emote. The glance of satisfaction Elektra shoots Matt Murdock after he spills wine on the Roxxon accountant at the party to get him alone is something even Daredevil's radar sense would have trouble "seeing."

Jon Bernthal humanizes the wounded Frank Castle wonderfully in "Regrets Only." Bernthal and Deborah Ann Woll play off one another beautifully in the episode. Woll uses her eyes and body language to have Page go from incredibly guarded to softening up to The Punisher and the transition takes a realistic amount of time. Woll does not rush the process and while Bernthal infuses Frank Castle with some articulation and charm, he does not force it in a way that makes viewers forget that Castle recently murdered thirty-eight people (that we know of - how many pawn shop owners did Castle kill using a different modus operandi without getting tied back to The Punisher?!).

Bernthal and Woll's scenes are intercut to break up the party scenes with Elektra and Matt Murdock. While Elektra is presented immediately as an immature dilettante with a surprising amount of martial arts training, Elodie Yung plays the part well enough to be believable. One of the episode's most understated moments for Yung is simply a transition shot of Elektra striding in a hallway between the party and her mission inside the secure area at the Roxxon. Yung carries herself with a determination and focus that makes viewers believe that Elektra Natchios is not at all as simple and straightforward as she initially appears.

"Regrets Only" paints Elektra Natchios entirely as a user and it is unsatisfying to watch Matt Murdock be her dupe. Natchios needs Murdock more than the other way around in "Regrets Only" in her mission to find the Roxxon ledger. The two are remarkably sloppy in their exit strategy and while director Andy Goddard does not belabor the late-episode fight scene, he also does not have the otherwise smart characters do important things like close a drawer in the secret room into which they broke. The result is the understated Page/Nelson/Castle plot shines against the more flashy Murdock/Natchios plotline.

For other works in which Elden Henson appears, visit my reviews of:
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2
Daredevil - Season 1
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1
Under The Tuscan Sun
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[Knowing that single episodes are an inefficient way to get episodes, it's worth looking into Daredevil - The Complete Second Season on DVD or Blu-Ray, which is also a better economical choice than buying individual episodes. Read my review of the sophomore season of the blind vigilante here!
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6/10

For other television episode and season reviews, please visit my Television Review Index Page!

© 2016 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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