Commentary: ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Proves Even A Bad Season Can Have Good Episodes

Television has changed a lot in the era of streaming. Seasons used to have over 20 episodes and took its time with story lines. Sometimes episodes were isolated from the main story and could stand on their own. After all, twenty episodes is a lot. Writers had to fill in space somewhere. But this became lost along the way when streaming took over. Seasons became shorter and more intense as plot lines became condensed. Viewers stopped looking at seasons as a collection of individual episodes and started looking at them as a whole. But Daredevil: Born Again‘s longer episode order is a good reminder that a show is more than the sum of its episodes.

The program is a transition for the characters from the original Netflix series into the main Marvel Cinematic Universe. Originally, Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) and Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) were the only characters to return. However, the show had a shift in vision that included bringing back characters such as Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson) and Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll). The show has thus far been a hybrid between the two different phases of production, resulting in more isolated episodes, such as a recent one that saw Daredevil foil a bank heist.

Although the heist episode was compelling, it had very little to do with the larger narrative involving Kingpin. Instead, it felt like a one shot comic that allowed Daredevil to do what he does best. The character used his abilities to a phenomenal degree and ended up saving the day. Regardless of how fans receive the larger storyline of Wilson Fisk becoming mayor and Matt Murdock swearing off the Daredevil persona, this episode can be enjoyed in isolation. Doing so is a great reminder that shows don’t have to be viewed as a singular entity of one season. Individual episodes can shine all on their own.

Daredevil: Born Again is streams Tuesdays on Disney+.