#erik oleson

[bullseyelover]

Q: On that note, how does Dex’s development into Bullseye play into the season’s larger themes?

A: I love origin stories, and this character ends up becoming an iconic villain in the Daredevil pantheon, but I wanted to start him from a human place. What makes a character like that into a villain? There’s a version of Dex who could have been an upstanding member of society, saving people’s lives as a sharp-shooter in the FBI SWAT team. But because of the corrosive nature of Fisk, Dex is instead drawn to the dark side, and there are a lot of otherwise decent people in today’s society who are unfortunately being called to the darkness by people who appeal to their worst impulses. I very much wanted to tell a story about a borderline personality and a character who’s afraid to be his true self. Honestly, I think that he’s one of those guys who would have marched through Charlottesville with a tiki torch. He once could have been a decent, solid member of society and put those fears aside, but when somebody appealed to those fears, and manipulated those fears, he instead ended up becoming a villain.

erik oleson for the hollywood reporter

[crumb]

Damon has been cast in an upcoming Blumhouse/Amazon Prime Horror Action series and as a series regular!!! I'm fucking screaming! His character is “the owner of a successful country music club" named Lucky. 😭 I'm so excited for this! Full Article from BloodyDisgusting:

Four new cast members join Kevin Bacon and Jennifer Nettles on Blumhouse TV’s “The Bondsman,” an action horror series for Amazon’s Prime Video. That includes actor Damon Herriman (Run Rabbit Run, The Nightingale, “Mindhunter”). Variety reports that Herriman, Beth Grant (No Country For Old Men, Donnie Darko), Maxwell Jenkins (“Arcadian,” “Lost In Space”) and Jolene Purdy (“The White Lotus,” “Orange Is The New Black”) have all joined the show in series regular roles. The action horror series “centers on Hub Halloran (Kevin Bacon), a backwoods bounty hunter who comes back from the dead with an unexpected second chance at life, love, and a nearly-forgotten musical career — only to find that his old job now has a demonic new twist.” “The Bondsman” was created by Grainger David (The Chair), who will also executive produce. Erik Oleson will serve as showrunner and executive producer via CrimeThink. Jennifer Nettles will play Hub Halloran’s ex-wife, Maryanne. Beth Grant will play Kitty, the mother of Hub Halloran. Herriman will appear as Lucky, who is described as “the owner of a successful country music club, who is in a relationship with Maryanne.” Jenkins will play Cade, Hub and Maryanne’s son. Jolene Purdy will play Midge, who is described as “weary with the understated gravitas of someone who’s learned the hard way how to hold her ground in a male-dominated world. Midge may look unassuming but she’s actually a secret emissary.” Amazon ordered eight half-hour episodes of “The Bondsman.” Jason Blum, Chris McCumber, Jeremy Gold, and Chris Dickie for Blumhouse TV also executive produce, as does Paul Shapiro from CrimeThink. Bacon will also executive produce in addition to leading the series. “The Bondsman” also marks the latest collaboration between Blumhouse and Amazon. Blumhouse is also behind Prime Video’s horror dramedy “The Horror of Dolores Roach,” which debuted last summer on the streaming platform.

[breckstonevailskier]

Now I think about that Foggy-Marci wedding Erik Oleson had planned for his season 4.

[the-shining-river]

Karen’s relationships and priorities, DD S1

I’m rewatching DD S1, and some posts about Karen’s relationship with Matt got me thinking about her priorities and interests.

In this podcast DD S3 writer Erik Oleson talks (starting from around 14:00 mark) about Karen’s feelings of guilt and how it has kinda prevented her from forming real romantic attachments, but I think it’s also that... she doesn’t trust easily.

In S1 we also see how Matt and Foggy—two people she would like to build a closer romantic or platonic relationship with—periodically shut her out because of some other shit going on with them. At the same time, Karen is so passionate about things she believes in, and so dead-ass focused on other stuff; and if she doesn’t trust or want other people involved (to keep them safe), or if they’ve left her hanging, she’ll just go ahead and do it alone. First, it’s about her survival past the framing and the attack in the prison, then the stuff with the Union Allied NDA agreement, then investigating the truth with Ben Urich, then getting real invested in helping Mrs Cardenas. That doesn’t leave a whole lot of time for dating, even if she was in the headspace to go out and actively look for romance.

More details and receipts under the cut.

.

In S1, Karen is initially distrustful of the two lawyers, wondering about their motives and also not wanting to endanger them, preferring to do things by herself. She doesn’t tell either Matt or Foggy about the Union Allied file she stole, she doesn’t consult them about the Union Allied non-disclosure agreement, doesn’t share about going to that auction where she bought all that unnecessary office equipment.

Instead, Karen, on her own, seeks out Daniel’s widow to find out what others in her position have done about the NDA and possibly find an ally; and then she goes to Ben Urich—supposedly someone with experience in handling this sort of dangerous information.

Because she doesn’t trust anyone else. Because good people get dead because of her.

Karen and Foggy have bonded over that night of drinking in E2 and helping Mrs Cardenas in E5, and I can believe that they are actually friends. Even if Foggy, for a while, has a crush on Karen, while she simply doesn’t seem to feel the chemistry, and it’s awkward for a bit, they get over it and continue being friends.

But not Karen and Matt. Past that little bit of bonding talk when she was staying in Matt’s apartment that first night, and throughout her being busy with all her other stuff, Karen and Matt’s relationship doesn’t seem to progress beyond being coworkers and allies.

The way Matt in E3 only asks her to not have any more long lunches, it feels like he treats her simply as his employee. And in E5 when Karen has charged the auctioned office equipment to the law firm, her first concern is getting her ass fired, not how she’s gonna explain it to the guys on a personal vs professional level.

There is some attraction, a crush on Matt from Karen’s side (I think she has a bit of a competence kink too) that comes out when Matt gives cool speeches or speaks fluent Spanish to Mrs Cardenas. In E5, Foggy mentions to her how Matt always gets involved with the wrong girl, and Karen IS curious, asking about his dating habits and the face touching. She also has that cute flustered smile on her face when she calls Matt while Foggy is in the hospital following the explosions in E6. But they’re not friends, and whatever crush Karen has on Matt, it’s low-key enough that it doesn’t seem to impact her priorities or her work in the office, it’s not informing her decisions.

One of the reasons why it’s not really going anywhere is that every time Karen brings up something that is important to her (the truth about Union Allied, or helping Mrs Cardenas), Matt’s response is kinda dismissive, or it’s the bare minimum effort. If he then goes and does something about it as Daredevil, Karen doesn’t know that. Mrs Cardenas’ case gets delegated to Foggy while Matt continues following his Daredevil leads on Fisk. Even when asked about what he thinks about the Daredevil being painted a terrorist, Matt jokes and avoids answering her, and then gives a careful, lawfully neutral reply to Foggy:

“What happened to Hell’s Kitchen, to you and to Elena, and to all the people that were hurt, yeah, it pisses me off. But this man, whoever he is, whatever his motive, he shouldn’t be tried and convicted in the press. We’re lawyers, we know that’s not how it’s supposed to work.”

Foggy suspects something is going on with Karen, suspects she has secrets, but Matt is not even particularly interested. “Everyone has secrets,” he says before returning to his research on Leland (and lying that it’s about the tenement case), whereas Foggy’s reaction to being discovered following her is plain honest and straightforward: “You were acting weird. I was worried about you!” — because that’s what friends do, they pay attention and they worry.

Karen and Foggy order the Nelson & Murdock sign together. They investigate the construction workers together, while Matt is off in the art gallery investigating Vanessa. She apparently poses for a silly picture for Foggy (see the caller ID when Karen calls him in E10). When Mrs Cardenas dies in E9, it’s Foggy Karen turns to for a comforting hug, ends up sitting the wake with him at Josie’s after Matt leaves.

While still having that crush on Matt in E8 (because feelings aren’t always neat and logical), Karen knows him well enough by then to have pretty realistic expectations regarding his reactions. When Foggy mentions that they should tell Matt about them investigating Union Allied, Karen’s clear position is that they shouldn’t, because he will be against it:

“Matt wouldn’t understand. You know what he would say. [..]That we’re being stupid.”

And then, Matt does exactly that. He dismisses Karen’s trust in Ben Urich, says she’s been acting like a kid, that they need to be “smart about this”. The message Karen gets is that all the work she and Foggy have put into their research while he was away doing... personal (Daredevil) stuff, apparently is anything but “smart”, and only Matthew Murdock can do it in a smart way (It’s an understandable overprotective reaction from Matt, considering he just rescued a beaten up Claire who was kidnapped because of him, but again — Karen has no idea where he’s coming from, and he’s not explaining).

Matt strong-arms them into playing it safe, and for a guy who was pretty chill about “everyone having secrets”, he kinda goes off about Foggy having followed Karen and them both getting into trouble, and then he shuts them both down and starts making decisions like he’s in charge, not like he’s an equal member of their team. And they somehow let him. Because Matt has this confidence about him. The air of leadership.

Matt: “I don’t want anyone to be a hero, Karen. I want you to be safe. And I want to protect this firm and everything we’re trying to build here. We know the law. We’ll use that to our advantage. Agreed?”

Foggy: “Do we have a choice?”

Matt: “Not so much.”

Karen doesn’t believe the law would solve this, but she agrees to work with Matt—whatever gets the case solved, because it’s so important to her, and because he is a highly intelligent lawyer.

She’s still kinda bitter in E9 when Ben comes to the law office and meets Matt officially (”Matt Murdock, attorney-at-why-the-hell-bother”), but she gets flustered and smiling when she and Matt are left alone in the office. It feels like, chafing as she is under Matt’s unilateral decision to run things by the book, that take-charge attitude is also something that appeals to Karen, at that point. I think it makes her feel safe, that he’s willing to take control of all this mess, even if Matt admits he’s making it all up as he goes.

So it feels... definitely not straightforward. There’s an attraction and a liking, from Karen’s side, and an admiration for Matt’s intelligence and strong beliefs, his goodness; but there’s also frustration with his commitment to the law and the way he tends to make unilateral decisions instead of discussing things with her and Foggy.

In terms of relationships, it feels like she’s actually the closest to Ben, at that point. They share a passion for uncovering the truth, they both see the world in terms of stories to tell. (”All the people here, all the years that they’ve lived, there must be so many stories,” she gushes to Ben when they visit the nursing home.) He’s her mentor, the brave, experienced champion for justice that Karen has so much to learn from (including being careful).

In E10, we even see Karen opening up to Ben emotionally, a bit, and that’s not something Karen Page does often:

“There's nothing worse... Feeling choices are made for us. There's nothing you can do, but swim in shit and hope you don't get too much in your mouth.”

I suppose, talking about his wife’s illness and why he didn’t tell her (”Saying it means it’s true”) struck a chord. Karen knows from personal experience how “We all have things we hold onto for ourselves, that we don’t want anyone to know”.

.

So yeah, I’m not sure where Karen’s attraction to Matt comes from. They’re not open with each other; Matt the lawyer doesn’t show any particular interest in her causes; and he makes unilateral decisions when the three should be a team.

During the wake for Mrs Cardenas in E9, they talk a bit, Matt mentions he’s Catholic, and Karen says she's not religious—a personal subject outside of their established boss/secretary boundaries. She even tries to comfort him (”Fisk will get what he deserves. You have to believe that.”), but she just spends so much more quality time with Foggy or even Ben than she does with Matt.

But maybe Matt’s aloofness and unavailability is another thing that attracts her to him. Maybe that she finds him more conventionally handsome than Foggy? The way he’s more confident? And, yeah, maybe for Karen he feels safer, finally a good boyfriend material, considering her dating history in Vermont?

It feels like Karen’s dynamic with Matt changes in E11 when she’s faced with the most glaring evidence that Matt’s lying to her about something big. There’s disappointment. A realisation that Matt never trusted her after she lied about the Union Allied pension file, and so maybe it’s her own fault that her budding feelings were never returned (not that she regrets keeping him and Foggy safely out of it).

It ends in Matt’s stubborn silence and Karen’s sad disappointment. But at the same time, it feels like the first real glimpse she has of him, without the rose-tinted glasses. The way she approaches and touches his face, she acts like his equal, not his employee with a crush. Even if Matt’s response right after she updates him on her findings is to issue her tasks and instructions—to go to the office, contact Foggy. He obviously cares about her (her safety), but he still treats her as his subordinate, to some extent. Or as some kind of a passive object for him to keep safe (also the way Matt just tells Foggy to “Get her home” in E13 despite Karen’s protests that they’re not leaving him.)

In any case, when Karen had tried calling him, when Karen had wanted to tell him what she was doing going to the nursing home, Matt simply hadn’t been picking up.

And then Foggy doesn’t pick up either, and doesn’t show up at the office and refuses to talk about it. Both lawyers are shutting her out, her relationships suddenly not as solid as she had believed them to be, the law practice hanging by the thread, and Karen is upset and freaking out, and the only thing remaining steadfast is her desire to bring down Fisk. Even with Ben she hits a rough patch after she has tricked him into going to the nursing home, but at least they hash it out and move on.

Then Wesley meets the wrong end of his gun, and Karen feels so alone. This is a Very Bad Thing that has happened, and she doesn’t dare tell anyone.

She can’t sleep, goes to the office, meets Foggy and rightfully gives him shit about not picking up when she calls and just pretending to care about what’s going on with her.

But, like with Ben, they hash it out. Foggy can’t give her the answers she wants, so Karen backs down and instead just directly asks what she needs, that “it would be really nice not to be alone” in the office as they deal with Fisk. Foggy apologises and promises that he will be around and keep working on Fisk’s case and that he won’t be ignoring her calls. This is Karen stating her emotional needs. This is Karen compromising! This is how she is fighting her loneliness, telling people in no uncertain terms what actions they can take to make her feel better (show up at the office and pick up the damn phone), and honestly I just love her for it.

(later, in TP S1, we also see this with Frank—he’s not telling her about Kandahar and doesn’t want her involved, so, as a compromise, she asks to see him again so she knows he’s okay, and he agrees)

With Ben it’s also important that he’s the only one who has managed to unearth Karen’s past, and that, knowing all that, he still cares about her. He understands her fear of other people discovering it, and understands her frustration from her inability to publish the story herself our of a fear she’d be discredited. Ben goes along with her urging and pushing him after Wesley in E12, because getting the truth out there is so important to her, and so he gets one of those wonderful Karen hugs.

When Matt, coming from Madame Gao’s heroin warehouse in E12, says he “can’t do it alone”, that he “can’t take another step”, it powerfully echoes with Karen’s own recent feelings of being alone while being caught in Matt and Foggy’s drama, only whatever has happened to Matt is obviously so much worse than what Karen is/was experiencing. So Matt gets a hug too. Hugs and involvement compromises are Karen’s love language.

Karen really, really doesn’t do well with being shut out of conversations and relationships (wonder where that trauma might have come from...). In E13, she legit basks in the atmosphere when the avocados figure their shit out and all three start working together again.

“It’s the way it should be. [..] Nelson and Murdock.”

And in the end:

Foggy: Now everybody knows what kind of asshole Fisk really is.

Karen: And we are the ones that made it happen, the three of us.

And in the very very end of S1 when Fisk is put away for real this time, I love how the three of them are joking and bantering like a team, like equals. Even if there’s still a crush happening (Karen gets all flustered the moment Foggy leaves to meet up with Marci, leaving her with Matt), it also feels like they’re all on a much more level footing, and that there’s some real actual flesh to Karen’s relationship with Matt, ambiguous as it may be.

The way he finally asks about what it was that he has been hearing in her voice, Karen finally knows that Matt cares about her as a person too, not just someone to keep safe.

Matt: I thought whatever it was, whatever’s been... I thought it would get better once Fisk was put away, but... it hasn’t, has it?

Karen: We put him away, yeah. But it won’t bring back Elena or Ben, or erase what we’ve been through, or... what we’ve had to do to get here.

Matt: Yeah. A lot of decisions I’d give anything to go back and change. But I can’t. None of us can. It’s like I told Foggy, all we can do is move forward, together.

That little dialogue is a beautiful mix of ‘too little too late’ (Karen doesn’t have much of an incentive to tell anyone about Wesley if Fisk is put away and she’s safe), and Matt kinda opening up and offering his thoughts, and at the same time both are retreating into their own heads for a bit (each referencing something the other has no idea about).

The way Karen looks at him, with his extended hand, no flustering, for once, just this serious, penetrating gaze, like she sees him for the first time, that interpretation depends on your goggles I guess. She could be taking it as a confirmation that her interest is returned. Could be a sort of an olive branch, an apology for how he shut her out before. Could be both, why not. Either way, it looks like something solid, something real, and a new beginning or a levelup for Matt and Karen, and that’s beautiful.

TL;DR

So, in terms of Karen’s priorities in DD S1, I’d say she has a very passionate urge to unearth the truth and get justice done to the bad guys (through legal efforts or via the Daredevil). That’s her driving factor, everything else is pretty much secondary.

Emotionally, she definitely thrives in a group, among friends and allies sharing an open atmosphere. It’s interesting how she seems to make a distinction between telling lies and simply hiding things or lying by omission. Because she certainly does her own share of hiding things and not opening up to the people in her life about what’s going on with her, but she certainly wants to be able to trust what people say, and doesn’t do well at all when told something is not her business and to not get involved or that “nothing” is going on. Her own strategy is flying under the radar in all her unassuming blonde secretary glory, and in such way avoiding any interest for people to ask her questions in the first place. But if pestered (if anyone showed they cared enough), she might actually tell the truth. In return, if she has noticed something going on with other people, she expects to be told the truth, not just be shut out.

Being shut out just leads to Karen doing her thing anyway, but behind people’s backs. Because relationships are important, but not AS important as getting to the truth of the matter that she’s investigating. In case of S1 that’s Fisk, so Matt and his secrets simply get lucky. However, if a relationship is strong enough, Karen can and will push for some kind of a compromise regarding her involvement, taking into consideration how much shutting out she can take before the relationship suffers permanent damage.

If it’s not strong enough, she’ll chafe and silently disagree, and then go do her own thing in secret. So voicing her needs and compromising is a mark of a good relationship, in case of Karen Page.

And voicing this need for inclusion also seems the be the most emotionally open that she ever gets with anyone in S1. In case of Foggy, it might simply take more time for her to open up to him about her past, but the friendship feels solid there. With Matt, it’s a bumpy road, and learning that she can treat him like a friend and make demands of him, or offer comfort, that feels like the greatest milestone in her S1 relationship with Matt.

=========

Probably to be continued in Part II about DD S2 eventually..

[mediamixs]

The Bondsman: horror, violence and a lot of blood

The Bondsman is an upcoming American action-horror television series set to premiere on Amazon Prime Video on April 3, 2025. Created by Grainger David, the series features Kevin Bacon in the lead role of Hub Halloran, a bounty hunter who is resurrected by the Devil to capture demons that have escaped from Hell. This mission offers Hub a second chance at life, love, and his nearly forgotten musical career.The show blends elements of crime, horror, comedy, and music, presenting a unique take on the genre. Bacon's character, Hub, navigates his new reality by confronting his own past sins while dealing with his estranged family. The series promises a mix of intense action sequences, dark humor, and heartfelt moments.The ensemble cast includes Jennifer Nettles as Maryanne, Hub's musician ex-wife; Beth Grant as Kitty, his mother; Damon Herriman as Lucky; Maxwell Jenkins as Cade; and Jolene Purdy as Midge. Both Bacon and Nettles, accomplished musicians, have contributed original songs to the series, adding a musical dimension to the narrative.Produced by Blumhouse Television, Amazon Studios, and CrimeThink, the first season consists of eight half-hour episodes. Erik Oleson serves as the showrunner and executive producer, bringing his experience from projects like "Daredevil" and "Carnival Row."Filming took place in Grantville, Georgia, beginning in April 2024. The series aims to offer a fresh perspective on the horror genre by combining supernatural elements with a gritty cop-show aesthetic. As Bacon describes it, the show is "very violent and has a lot of blood and scares, but it also has some tongue-in-cheek aspects. It's oftentimes funny, and it also has a lot of heart."

With its unique premise and talented cast, The Bondsman is poised to be a standout addition to Amazon Prime Video's lineup this spring.

[giveamadeuschohisownmovie]

Since “The Last of Us” TV show came about because Neil Druckmann met up with Craig Mazin due to his work on “Chernobyl”, I’m gonna need Neil to meet up with any of the following creators for a possible “Uncharted” TV adaptation:

1) Erik Oleson (Daredevil season 3)

2) Jonathan E. Steinberg (Black Sails)

3) Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen (Agents of SHIELD, Spartacus)

4) Jane Espenson (Warehouse 13)

[bullseyelover]

“Also, when I was looking at that character, there was another layer to him that I wanted to add. It was speaking to kind of a larger world. I thought that there are people right now who could go into light or could go into darkness. People who may have been drawn into evil by people who have that effect and appeal to fear and to hatred, and psychologically manipulate people into the darkness. I wanted kind of a borderline personality. What we took then, and we spoke to psychologists and psychiatrists and we did research, we defined Dex as having this Borderline Personality Disorder where he could have become a functional member of society. He was an FBI sniper. He was trying to help people. He was on the right side of the law. Enter: Wilson Fisk.” Oleson described Fisk as, “This moral black hole who pulls everyone into darkness who are in his orbit. He is the one responsible for pulling a character who is on the border of good and evil into the darkness.”

Erik Oleson for Marvel

[ljones41]

"DAREDEVIL" Season Three (2018) Commentary

"DAREDEVIL" SEASON THREE (2018) COMMENTARY The last episode of the Marvel Netflix limited series, "THE DEFENDERS", ended with costume vigilante Matt Murdock aka Daredevil asking his compatriots - Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Danny Rand aka Iron Fist - to leave the Hand's crumbling headquarters, while he remain behind to convince his former girlfriend Elektra Natchios to leave with him. The Midland Circle building crumbled to the ground. And the limited series' last scene featured a battered Matt waking up in a room with a nun by his side. Season Three of "DAREDEVIL" conveyed Matt's further adventures following the Hand's destruction.

According to (3.01) "Resurrection", the first episode of "DAREDEVIL" Season Three; following Midland Circle's destruction, Matt had washed out of the New York City sewer system and a taxi driver found him. The driver delivered him to Father Paul Lantom, who entrusted Matt's care to a nun named Sister Maggie Grace at the Saint Agnes Orphanage, where Matt was raised. Matt spent a period wallowing in grief over Elektra's death and experiencing a crisis of faith. However, by the middle of "Resurrection", Matt had decided that he would prefer putting his life in danger as Daredevil than resume his civilian life. During this period, his two close friends Franklin "Foggy" Nelson and Karen Page, have no idea of his whereabouts and began to lose hope that he might still be alive. The season's main narrative arc began when imprisoned crime lord Wilson Fisk discovered that his lady love Vanessa Mariana could be charged as an accessory to his crimes. This discovery led Fisk to contact the F.B.I. and volunteer his services to snitch on existing criminal gangs in the New York City area. The F.B.I. Manhattan Office assigned Fisk's case to Special Agent Ray Nadeem and Fisk revealed intelligence on an Albanian crime syndicate. When news of his cooperation with the F.B.I. spread, Fisk's fellow inmates tried to kill him. This led Nadeem to move Fisk from prison to home detention. The attack on Fisk also caught Daredevil's attention after Albanian criminals tried to attack Fisk's convoy. While investigating this case, Karen learned that Matt might still be alive, but Foggy remained skeptical. The attack on Fisk also allowed him to form a relationship with the F.B.I. Special Agent that saved him during the convoy - a sharpshooter named "Dex" Pointdexter. The Fisk/Pointdexter relationship allowed the crime lord to use the Federal agent as a tool to take control of the F.B.I. Manhattan Office. On paper, this narrative seemed sound to me. Well, most of it. I really tried to enjoy Season Three of "DAREDEVIL". But the more I delved into the season, the more I found myself disliking it. By the time I finished Season Three, I found myself speculating that "DAREDEVIL" may have been an overrated series. Mind you, none of the Marvel Netflix shows were perfect. But I really got weary of everyone proclaiming how wonderful "DAREDEVIL" was. The more I thought about the series - and especially Season Three - the more I found it difficult to accept this view. Of the three seasons of "DAREDEVIL", I actually enjoyed Season One. Well, most of it. But I noticed how its pacing dragged in the middle of the season. The one episode that nearly dragged Season One to a halt was the very boring (1.10) "Murdock v. Nelson". Season Two struck me as nothing more than a narrative mess. I do not believe there was any ONE major narrative for Season Two. It seemed to be split between Daredevil's conflict with fellow vigilante Frank Castle aka the Punisher and Matt's relationship with former lover Elektra Natchios and their conflict with the Hand. The season's two narratives barely connected. Only Jon Bernthal and Elodie Yung's performance made that season bearable for me. But Season Three? Nearly everyone praised it to the skies and I thought I was going to find myself watching something wonderful. Boy, was I wrong! Before I had commenced upon Season Three of "DAREDEVIL", I assumed the first episode would reveal who had saved Matt's life following the destruction of the Midland Circle building in "THE DEFENDERS". Instead, (3.01) "Resurrection" revealed that after the building's collapse, Matt's injured body had washed into the New York City's sewer system before he was discovered by a taxi driver. Needless to say, I found this revelation very disappointing and rather hard to swallow. Worse, the episode had merely revealed what happened to Matt through dialogue. "THE DEFENDERS" had failed to visibly convey his escape from Midland Circle. Instead, the limited series' last episode merely ended with Matt waking up inside a room, with a nun by his side. I thought Season Three of "DAREDEVIL" would provide a scene featuring Matt's survival. Instead, showrunner/screenwriter Erik Oleson had merely fallen back upon the old mistake of "show and tell". He had decided to tell and not show. Which is not a good idea in visual media. "Resurrection" also featured a long and dry portrayal of another one of Matt's "crisis of faith" that bored the hell out of me. Matt spent this episode mourning over Elektra (which did not bother me, considering she was my favorite character in the series). But it also featured another one of Matt's struggles to decide whether he wanted to resume his life as a private citizen or as a violent vigilante. By the end of the episode, he chose the latter. And because he had done so, I found myself wondering what his character arc was about throughout the rest of Season Three. Actually, his season long character arc seemed to be more about how his grief over Elektra's death and his decision to fully embrace being the Daredevil had damaged his relationships with close friends Foggy Nelson and Karen Page. And you know what? I had no problem with Matt struggling with Elektra's death. But the conflict over his two friendships? Well, this struck me as old news. Why? Because previous seasons had also explored how Matt's activities as Daredevil threatened to damage his relationships with Foggy and Karen. It felt like a repeat that threatened to get old. What am I saying? It felt old. Period. The centerpiece of "DAREDEVIL" Season Three focused on the resurrection of gangster Wilson Fisk as a threat to New York City. I realized that Fisk is one of Marvel Comics' more iconic villains. And he proved to be a memorable villain during Season One. But I must be frank. The narrative surrounding his character simply failed to impress me. First of all, it took four episodes for Fisk to emerge as a threat again. Four episodes. That is one-third of the season. Second, this story produced some of the strangest and most implausible writing I have encountered within the Marvel Netflix series. Fisk managed to assume control of the F.B.I. Manhattan Office with the help of a psychotic F.B.I. sharpshooter named Benjamin "Dex" Pointdexter, whom he managed to corrupt by appealing to the latter's emotional issues. Fisk could not have achieved this through money, since Season Two had revealed his loss of most of his cash during his time in prison. So . . . one gangster, with the help of one rogue F.B.I. sharpshooter, managed to assume complete control of a F.B.I. field office. All because he had originally volunteered to snitch on other crime families in order to prevent his girlfriend-turned-wife Vanessa Mariana Fisk from serving time in prison. One would think the F.B.I. could have found other sharpshooters within its agency to take out Pointdexter aka Bullseye. But apparently, no one had considered this. What made this situation even more ludicrous was the media's vague portrayal of the F.B.I. as corrupt during this season. I am not claiming that the Federal agency has always been free of corruption. But this so-called corruption in "DAREDEVIL" came about due to threats of violence against the agency's employees and their families. Yet, according to the media, this made the F.B.I. Manhattan's Field Office completely corrupt. Not compromised, but corrupt. I also found Season Three's portrayal of the New York City Police Department equally problematic. Whereas the series tried to push the idea of the F.B.I. being completely corrupt, it portrayed the N.Y.P.D. as the moral center of law enforcement in New York City. The entire police force as a whole had protested against the F.B.I. using Wilson Fisk as an informer on other criminal gangs and organization without knowing the full details of Fisk's deal with the Federal agency. I found this position difficult to belief, let alone accept. Especially since many law enforcement agencies - at the Federal, state and local levels have used criminal informers to acquire intelligence on other criminals. Was this whole scenario set up to portray the N.Y.P.D. as "white knights" of the city? This struck me as a complete reversal of how the city's police was portrayed in Season One of "DAREDEVIL" and during the entire run of "LUKE CAGE". How did the N.Y.P.D. suddenly become imperious to corruption? When? Why? Speaking of the N.Y.P.D., this brings me to one aspect of "DAREDEVIL" that I have always found problematic - namely the series' racism. The local police were not the only ones disturbed by Fisk's deal with the F.B.I. Matt's friend, Franklin "Foggy" Nelson also became upset when he learned about the deal. He became so upset that he decided to run in the city's District Attorney election against the current one, Blake Tower. One of Foggy's steps in his election campaign was recruit the support of the N.Y.P.D. Union. This recruitment played out in (3.04) "Blindsided", in which Foggy held a meeting with the police union. For the cops' support, he not only promised to place Fisk in the deepest prison hole, but also militarize the N.Y.P.D. even further - an act sure to have consequences for oppressed or non-privileged groups. Foggy had pandered to the cops utilizing fear mongering and the entire sequence felt like something from a Nuremberg rally. What I found even more ludicrous is that the only cops that stood up to verbally express support of Foggy were all black. Was this Oleson's way of manipulating television audiences into accepting the idea of a more militarized police force? Foggy's campaign for District Attorney came to nothing for the season ended with him dropping from the race and reforming his partnership with Matt. But Foggy Nelson's meeting with the N.Y.P.D. Union was not the only questionable portrayal of race in "DAREDEVIL" Season Three. The latter also featured a scene in (3.03) "No Good Deed" in which Daredevil ambushed Fisk's attorney, Ben Donovan, inside the latter's car and strangled the latter (as a means of torture) in order to learn the endgame behind Fisk's decision to become a Federal informant. This scene proved to be the second time in which Matt Murdock aka Daredevil had tortured a black man in order to gain information. The first time I saw this happened was in an episode of "THE DEFENDERS" in which Matt had utilized strangulation as a means to torture the Hand's only black member. I felt just as disgusted by this scene with Donovan as I had, while watching "THE DEFENDERS". In fact, Season Three of "DAREDEVIL" featured a good deal of unnecessary violence against other characters, especially non-whites. But one of the worst examples of this situation occurred in "Blindsided". Early in the episode, Karen Page witnessed a group of young black men catcalling some young women on the street. After the latter walked away, Karen approached the men and pulled a gun on them in some effort to scare them from any future incidents of catcalling. This was so fucking dumb . . . and pretty insulting to boot. As a woman, I dislike dealing with catcallers. But having a white woman threaten black men with a gun, whose only crime was catcalling struck me as a useless and insulting act of racism. What in the fuck was Oleson thinking? The showrunner also subjected the series' viewers with (3.10) "Karen", a standalone episode about Karen's past with her family. The episode began with Karen hiding out at a New York City Catholic church after she had revealed to Fisk that she had killed his right-hand man, James Wesley, back in Season One two episodes ago. I thought that this episode would explain how Karen managed to become a newspaper journalist after being a secretary and a legal assistant. It never did. Instead, the improbability of Karen's new profession as a journalist remained intact, since she never went to college or studied journalism. I thought Karen's background would play some role in the season's main narrative. It never did. Eventually, I discovered the reason behind this episode in an interview that Oleson gave. He wanted to flesh out Karen's character and explore her backstory. Nothing more. Nothing less. I do not know how anyone else felt, but I thought this was a fucking waste of my time. The only bright spot in the entire season came from Jay Ali's portrayal of F.B.I. Special Agent Ray Nadeem. Agent Nadeem proved to be the most complex, yet sympathetic character in the entire season. At least for me. Oleson and Ali could have easily allowed Nadeem to be compromised by Fisk through the offer of cash. After all, he began the series as someone struggling with debt following his sister-in-law's operation for cancer. Thankfully, the series did not take the easy way out and allowed Fisk and Pointdexter's threat of violence against his family to compromise him. My only problem with Nadeem was his final fate. I hated it. "DAREDEVIL" has developed a reputation for its action sequences. I can think of one that nearly garnered my respect. I am referring to the sequence that featured Matt's infiltration of a local prison in order to speak with a prisoner with a connection to Fisk. Matt was forced to make his escape, while fighting off inmates and guards under Fisk's control. What began as an exciting action sequence stretched into one that nearly refused to die. It nearly went on . . . forever. I believe I eventually grew bored with it before Matt finally made his escape. And there was the final confrontation between Matt, Fisk and Dex. What can I say? It was a mess? Because I thought it was. After serving as Fisk's murder tool for several episodes, Dex learned from Daredevil in the finale (3.13) "A New Napkin" that his new best friend had been responsible for the murder of Julie Barnes, a waitress who had been his co-worker at a suicide hotline center and whom he found attractive. Dex went to the hotel where Fisk and Vanessa had their wedding in order to kill the crime boss. Matt went there to . . . stop Dex's murder attempt . . . arrest Fisk . . . kill Fisk? I have no idea. But it was one of the worst fight scenes I have ever viewed in a Marvel Cinematic Universe production. I do not know what else to say about "DAREDEVIL" Season Three other than I disliked it. Or that it was my least favorite season within the entire Marvel Netflix franchise. No amount of good acting or good action could save this season for me. Before one believes that I had loved "DAREDEVIL" before its final season . . . I did not. Honestly? Season One was the only one I found admirable, despite its flaws. I realize that it is highly regarded by television critics and fans of the franchise. But for the likes of me, I simply cannot share this opinion. Oh well.

[savedaredevil]

Here it is, #FandomWithoutFear - the lineup for #SaveDaredevilCon! Visit the link below to find out about our #Daredevil panels, livestreams, and virtual fandom meetups, including on #AnimalCrossing! Can't wait for you to join us! #SDCCOnline

👉 https://con.savedaredevil.com/schedule

[trombonesinspace]

What might have been

I was watching the video from SaveDaredevilCon in which Steven DeKnight and Erik Oleson interview each other about their experiences show running Daredevil, and I decided to transcribe everything Oleson said about what he was planning for future seasons before the show got canceled.

If you haven’t watched it and want to see it for yourself, the video is on YouTube. What I’ve transcribed here happens starting at about 41:55. I removed a few ums, likes, and you knows, and one instance where Steven DeKnight made a brief comment that Oleson confirmed (about a casting choice he wanted), but otherwise I have not altered what Oleson said. Ellipses are not edits, just pauses in what he was saying.

“Season 4, I was going to hopscotch, I was not going to directly pick up the Bullseye storyline because his back was broken and he had to heal. I was going to bring him back in season 5, is what [Jeph] Loeb and I had figured out.

Season 4 was going to be Typhoid Mary, Alice Eve [who played the role in Iron Fist], we were doing a kind of...I had a much different version of her than what Raven [Metzner] had done in Iron Fist. I was kind of rebooting what she was going to be like, and we were going to do a, you know, kind of a warped love story/murder mystery kind of femme fatale, but kind of a modern-day, feminist version of it, as opposed to kind of the older, sexist kind of femme fatale archetype.

We had, we’d broken more or less the entire season when we got canceled. So that was heartbreaking. But Owlsley [comics villain The Owl, who in the TV universe would have been the son of season 1’s Leland Owlsley] was going to be one of the key figures in that season as well. So we had a really intense, but different kind of season. Because I wanted to take—I didn’t want to just do season 3 again, I didn’t think I was gonna be able to pull that off, honestly. I had to take a different tack. And then I had plans for season 5 for how that would all kind of come back together.”

[Steven DeKnight mentions Melvin Potter, and how the show could have turned him into his comics counterpart, The Gladiator]

“I was planning to continue The Gladiator as well because, you know, in season 3 he basically had to go on the run, Fisk forced him to build the suit for Bullseye, so like I was answering some of those story threads as well.”

So there you have it! There was speculation back when the show was first canceled about what Oleson had planned for season 4, but definite information has been pretty scarce. So now that he’s revealed some details, I thought it might be of interest to people who might not have watched the video. 

I definitely have some thoughts about some of these ideas, which I may write down if I feel motivated enough. Is it really worth the effort, when this is all completely theoretical, and right now there’s no reason to think it will ever actually happen? Debatable! Is that likely to stop me, if I feel a good opinion post coming on? Probably not! I haven’t written any meta in ages, maybe a good theoretical post is better than nothing. We’ll see!

[nikolaj-costerwaldau]

[fadedtoblue]

The cast of Marvel's Daredevil Season 3 at NYCC 2018

[netflixdefenders]

Daredevil Cast at NYCC 2018