#every scene they shared was gold. need more of this duo in s2

[thearmoire]

i KNOW their rituals are intricate.

[heloflor]

Ducktales S2 episodes thoughts

So I finally caught up with Ducktales, since I stopped watching in the middle of season 2, right after “Whatever happened to Della Duck”; and I’ve decided to share my thoughts on each episode of the post-hiatus S2 and the episodes of S3 we have so far. So here is season 2 for those who are interested, and yes, this post is going to be long (this is definitely not the most practical way to do it but I don’t want to make one post per episode) :

“Treasure of the Found Lamp!” : not much to say on this one, aside from the fact that this is probably an ‘’’excuse’’’ to show more of the Beagle Boys (when you think about it, these guys barely show up after S1) and that the character of Djinn is pretty cool; I like him.

  “The Outlaw Scrooge McDuck!” : still a delight to see Scrooge and Goldie interact and see how these two are genuinely attracted to each other but their desire for gold prevent them from being together. Though honestly, you can’t convince me that they didn’t date at some point, unless one of the creators (*cough* Frank *cough*) says otherwise. I mean, in season 1, when Goldie is introduced, not only does Scrooge immediately calls her his ex but Goldie is also willing to kiss him 5 minutes into their first meeting in years. Seriously, in season 1, you can tell that these two know they are attractive to the other, they know the effect they have on each other, and it wouldn’t be surprising that they acted upon those feelings at some point, before betraying each other again. Hell, remember the best quote from this episode ?

“You love gold more than you loved me.”

“And that’s why you loved me.”

They’re literally admitting that they’re in love with each other, or at least loved each other at some point.

  “The 87 Cent Solution!” : this episode did not age well. AT ALL. But this aside, the scene with Glomgold showing up during the funeral was one of the most hilarious things this show has done. And speaking of Glomgold, I really like how threatening he was in this. It shows that when he has a plan in mind and the right tools, he can really pull it off. We need more of Glomgold being clever like that (though I’ll admit he is pretty hilarious the way he is and in season 3 we have our lot of serious/threatening villains).

  “The Golden Spear!” : And they were roomates ! But more seriously; speaking of threatening villains : Lunaris is amazing as a strategist villain ! I absolutely love the way he’s able to pass himself as the good guy and manipulate everyone to get what he wants, whether it be Della by asking her for the ‘blueprints’ or his own people by making Della a traitor to their eyes. Hell, even Penumbra is at a loss by the end of the episode and doesn’t seem to know whether she should obey or not. And speaking of Penumbra, her evolution throughout the episode is really great. I especially like how Della is just so oblivious to the hatred Penumbra has for her. Honestly this episode alone is definitely enough justification for the Penny/Della shippers.

As for the “B plot”, it was nice to see a bit more of Donald being a dad, especially with the kids starting to realize the impact their actions can have on him. Though, they made Donald such an interesting and tragic character in this show that I’m not that big of a fan of seeing him get hurt for laughs.

Oh and one last thing about Della : for some reason, that shot of her in the rocket, seeing the earth and crying while saying “mommy’s coming home” gets me very emotional every time I watch it. I think it’s because we know that she spent 10 years trying to get home to meet her kids, facing failure after failure; and finally, after all these hardships, she’s going back with nothing to stop her.

On the same note, Donald’s hope when seeing the rocket and his accidental launch were pretty heartbreaking.

  “Nothing can stop Della Duck!” : Ok, first off, that intro. It is waaay too early in the episode for such feels and I love it ! Although, on one hand I’m a bit disappointed that the boys accept their mom so quickly (I expected a bit more heartbreak) but on the other hand it works because they all have a different reaction that truly fit with their personalities.

Secondly, the way Della is in this episode. It’s perfect. She’s not a mother, this is something the fandom had realized ever since “The Last Crash of the Sunchaser!”. Della had children too early, at a time when she was too immature for such responsibility. And her ten years on the moon, most of them in total isolation, didn’t help making her wiser. So now she’s back, still as immature, but now she has three kids to take care of; and she has no idea what she’s doing. Also, like some people already pointed out last year (or at least it probably was last year), Della doesn’t immediately know about Donald leaving the mansion for a decade. To her, the triplets grew up exactly like she did, hence why she doesn’t think her scary story would terrify them that much.

I also really like how Louie was and how Scrooge and Beakley handled the situation. I like how one of the kids wasn’t completely sold at the thought of their mom being back, and Louie works as the insecure triplet there. As for the adult characters, I love how they both knew that Della needed to learn how to be a parent but at the same time she just arrived, so they kept their distance to let her be with her kids while at the same time being close enough to act if something goes wrong.

Finally, it’s sweet to see how Della is truly willing to learn how to be a good parent, although the road is still very long, even in season 3.

  “Raiders of the Doomsday Vault!” : Nothing much to say about the plot with Glomgold. It’s just Glomgold being Glomgold while Owlson and Scrooge are just done with his shit. As for Della and Dewey, it’s a great plot. We see Della trying to bond with her kids by doing what they like, and it was pretty obvious that Dewey would be the first on the list. After all, he was the first to wonder about his mom and they both share the same thirst for adventure. And it’s great to see how Della doesn’t know her kids’ abilities. So at first, she’s completely fine with putting Dewey in stressful situations; but by the end of it, she realizes how dangerous things are and what she could lose, while Dewey started to believe too much in himself due to what his mother told him, only realizing too late in which situation he put himself in.

So yeah, it was great to see Della discover what her kids are able to do during their adventures, especially their limits.

  “Friendship Hates Magic!” : So, when I watched in 2017-2018, I didn’t really understand where the whole Lena/Webby came from; but seeing this now, I was definitely blind (and it didn’t help that I used to ship Webby and Dewey until I discovered Ace Att//orney and the ‘found siblings’ relationship between Edge//worth and Fran//ziska). Also I’m a bit split on Violet. Don’t get me wrong, she’s a good character and I do like how she got interested in studying magic and her personality in general. But at the same time her personality kind of rub me the wrong way, not in a “she’s evil” way but more a “I don’t like her” way. It’s weird.

As for the rest, it’s sweet how Webby tried to be more normal because she’s afraid to lose a new friend, and her reaction to seeing Lena again was adorable. Lena was also really sweet in how much she cares for Webby and wants her to be safe.

As for the B-plot, it was nice seeing Beakley and Launchpad get along, and it’s pretty clever how what brought them together was their liking for heroism.

  “The Dangerous Chemistry of Gandra Dee!” : Firstly, the kids are still shippers, which is a nice touch.

Secondly, that scene with Beaks and the lasers was amazing. If the scene at Scrooge’s ‘funeral’ is the best Glomgold scene, then the scene with the lasers is the best Mark Beaks scene so far.

Thirdly, I’m pretty sure it’s safe to say that Launchpad is pansexual. I mean, if a person can date anyone regardless of species, then gender shouldn’t be much of an issue. Also Launchpad mentions in his ‘list’ a wereduck and a ninja, which are often considered as male (by that I mean that, while werewolves and ninjas can be both male/man and female/woman, when you think of one of them you’ll have a tendency to see them as masculine, because that’s how they are represented in media most of the time). He also mentions a clone of himself, so another same-sex relationship; and a talking cloud of energy, which I’m pretty sure doesn’t have a gender to begin with. So yeah. Pansexual Launchpad. Or at least non-straight Launchpad. And speaking of Launchpad, I like how he can tell that Fenton isn’t smooth at all and puts some music on to prevent the duo to be forced to talk; it’s a pretty sweet gesture. Honestly it’s great how Launchpad is often seen as a complete idiot but then you have those specific ‘fields’ in which he knows and lot and can really shine (*cough* the next episode *cough*).

Update after lurking on Tumblr : apparently there’s an LGBT+ Ducktales event and a member of the crew made an art about Launchpad and all the people he dated (including his clone and the cloud of energy and I love this person for adding this); and given the appearance of several of them, it’s clear that this guy is pan. By the way if you want to see the art just time “Ducktales love is like a hurricane” on Tumblr and you’ll find it.

Fourthly, the “It’s a date” song is great and catchy.

Fifthly, the fact that DR. Atmosphere feels insulted by Fenton not giving much effort really works with him being a reference to Doofenshmirtz. After all, in Phineas and Ferb, we see that Heinz is just a lonely guy who truly likes Perry and takes their relationship seriously, between writing his monologues to making big musical numbers to complain when Perry isn’t there at the right time (and yes, by season 4, being evil is more of a job to him than an actual wish to dominate the Three-State Area).

Finally, the heart of this episode : Fenton. This episode worked well in how it develops how Fenton views his new role as a popular hero. We especially see how he struggles to balance his two lives and his relationships, wishing to be liked for who he is as a person instead of as a hero. It’s also interesting how much work he does as a hero, to the point of not really caring anymore about being dramatic and saying catchphrases and all that yada-yada. His relationship with Gandra is also pretty nice, although it is very predictable and by the end of the episode, I’m not even sure if they do end up together ? Like, Gandra talks about a second date but it’s just a trick to get Fenton to say the code thing; and though she does help at the end and give Fenton the right ‘formula’ (she draws a molecule so yeah, formula) for his invention, she still leaves without much words and seems to have taken the original ball (I think ?). Though, the idea of them dating could be very interesting in regards of her afflictions with F.O.W.L.

  “The Duck Knight Returns!” : so, first off, I never saw an episode of Darkwing Duck before seeing the recent fanart of the dt17 fandom. I more or less knew the show existed as a kid (there was a channel with old Disney shows in the early 2000s) because I remember there was another show than Ducktales that had Launchpad in it but I didn’t like his character at that time so I never watched. But I recently started watching and I have to say, the most surprising thing about it has to be the fact that Drake has a girlfriend because holy shit this show is gay ! Seriously ! Two guys, living together and raising a child together, having tons of domestic moments. Whoever wrote this show had no gaydar whatsoever ! And honestly this makes the whole thing hilarious. But shipping aside, the show’s pretty good. It has different villains with different goals and personalities, they decided to make the action cartoonish, which works well, and the show has some pretty good and hilarious quotes there and there. But what really makes this show a great one has to be the domestic moments, especially the relationship between Drake and Gosalyn. These two are adorable and their father/daughter relationship is both wholesome and feels realistic. On the same note, it’s great to see how a show from the 90s was breaking the gender norms not only by making a single father character (or, if you see Launchpad as a father figure too, you could say making two men be parents) but also by having a girl be a tomboy without it being seen as an issue by anyone (except for like one episode). So yeah, Darkwing Duck’s a pretty good show and if you like the duckverse and haven’t seen it yet, you should give it a watch !

Now, onto the actual Ducktales episode. It’s really great. I won’t talk much about it because pretty sure it’s been talked a lot already but yeah, it’s a great way to introduce Drake and give a backstory to Negaduck. Though my favorite thing about this episode has to be Launchpad. I love how he knows from the beginning that Jim’s plan is bad but still feels like he should roll with it because the guy’s his idol. I especially like the detail of Launchpad covering the eyes of the Scrooge logo while breaking into the studio. Also the “I’m trapped in a prison of guilt !” line. I also really like his interactions with Drake, especially at the end when he inspires him to become Darkwing. It really shows that, while Launchpad’s an idiot most of the time, when he’s truly passionate about something, a much more smooth and clever side of him shines (seriously during that part when he inspires Drake to become a hero, he sounds so smooth and yet it seems to come so naturally. And you can tell how much respect it makes Drake have for him with the way he looks at Launchpad when putting his hat on).

One last thing to say about this episode : there’s that scene right before Jim tries to trap Drake in which Dewey and Launchpad talk about how things are currently going for them; and when Dewey talks about how excited the whole ‘making a movie’ thing is for him, for some reason I absolutely love the animation of Dewey jumping into Launchpad’s arms while Launchpad tries not to drop him. I don’t know, it just feels really ‘fluid’ or something (I have no idea what’s the language for animation) but yeah, props to the animators for that moment.

  “What Ever Happened to Donald Duck?!” : First off, the highlight of this episode is definitely the speech about Donald going to a therapist to control his anger. It’s simply amazing to have a children cartoon show a character having issues and deciding to deal with them in a healthy way, and it’s great to see Dewey realizing how much Donald does for him and his brothers and being touched by it. It’s also a great lesson about how you can’t make your anger magically disappear but you can work to deal with it in the best way possible.

As for the scenes on the moon, between Lunaris being extremely manipulative and planning everything, Penumbra trying to do what she believes is best and Donald’s determination to go home and parental instincts shining through, it was a really enjoyable episode. Not much to say about Dewey and Webby though. It’s just Dewey and Webby being Dewey and Webby.

  “Happy Birthday, Doofus Drake!” : Doofus is still as terrifying as before, Goldie is still the same gold-driven robber as usual, Louie is still looking for an easy way to get rich, Glomgold is still doing weird schemes and Beaks is still relying on technology too much. So overall, not much to say aside from it’s a great and fun episode; the scene at the end with Scrooge and Louie is sweet and Boyd is a precious baby. Also I still love Goldie’s character and it’s great to see Doofus’ parents finally be free from their son’s creepy bullshit. Also also, seeing Della bond with Huey was really sweet, especially how she was willing for a while to stay with him and his garden despite how boring it was to her.

  “A Nightmare on Killmotor Hill!” : again, not much to say. We get to see more of Violet’s character, along with what the kids dream of, which is a good way to reinforce their personalities but also their desires and fears (I especially like Dewey’s dream having him cry on the moon, it’s a great touch given that he spent an entire season trying to find more about his mom). And obviously, we get to see more of Lena and how afraid she is to be a bad person. I also like how it’s unclear by the end whether or not she can control her magic, which left room for season 3 to expand upon. It’s also great how by the end of the episode, her biggest comfort didn’t come from her friends but from seeing by herself the state in which Magica currently is. I don’t know why but I’d say it makes the whole thing more realistic ? Like, there’s only so much friends can do to help you, but seeing your abuser being in a terrible state is a much more direct proof that there’s nothing to fear.

  “The Golden Armory of Cornelius Coot!” : again, not much. It’s a classic fun episode with the kids trying to solve a mystery while some bad guys are on their tail. Though, I really like the whole thing with Webby trying to be more like Della, with Della starting to be a bit of a mom to her. I also liked seeing Della and Launchpad interact more and it’s still funny to see how the ship that so many people liked in season 1 is slowly fading away as we see Della having a hard time accepting Launchpad and as we have Tumblr remember how much it likes gay ships with the introduction of Penumbra and Drake (by the way, I’m not saying that Della/Launchpad is a bad ship; it’s just that I find it funny to see how quick a fandom is to change their opinion on shipping, especially when ‘gay options’ are created).

Although, Della felt a bit uncharacteristically cold and aggressive towards Launchpad, especially when compared to how she was with Dewey in “Raiders of the Doomsday Vault!”. But I guess it has to do with how she felt like Launchpad replaced her, making her more protective over her plane and her talent as a pilot.

  “Timephoon!” : so I have no memory of Bubba (the caveman duck) from the old Ducktales so I can’t compare him. But from what I’ve seen in this episode, he’s fine. Not the best character but he works as a one-off character and I wouldn’t mind a cameo or two in the future (as long as it’s not an entire episode focused on him because that would get boring pretty quickly).

Now, for the rest of the episode, I want to talk about Della, because she’s clearly the most interesting part here. Della was gone for a decade, she barely knows anything about her kids, especially the mischiefs they can get into, and that’s what the episode plays into. Della discovers that her kids don’t just get into danger from adventuring, they can put themselves in danger, more or less voluntary. And the way she reacts to it (along with the season finale) makes it feels like Donald and her never or rarely got into these kinds of situations, although Beakley’s line near the end of the episode might say otherwise. And speaking of which, I really appreciate how Scrooge and Beakley were when Della scolded Dewey. At first, Beakley was ready to step in when Louie made the comment of Della not being better than him; but Della made it clear that she needed to do it on her own. And afterwards, we see both Scrooge and Beakley respect her decision and staying silent as Louie is pleading them to step in. They know that Della needs to learn to be a good mother so they respect and support her decision. Though, if you search the name of the episode on Tumblr, there’s a post about how Della went too far given her current relationship with Louie, though it isn’t her fault as she doesn’t know him enough. You should try finding this post, it’s definitely worth giving it a read ! And yeah, there’s also a lot of other posts talking about the issue with much more analysis than I do so if you’re interested, go read the discourse on Tumblr.

  “GlomTales!” : first off, they used the takeover as the intro and I love every second of it !

Secondly, Della….yikes. Yeah. Grounding Louie was the right decision to make but forcing him to stay trapped in a room with a dangerous robot guarding him and ‘taunting’ him with recordings telling him about how much he fucked up, all the while the rest of the family is in vacation in a place he dreamed of visiting…I think you get the point. They went way too far with the punishment, so it’s no surprise when Louie wants to join the bad guys who let him do all the scheming he wants. And while Della accepted his personality more by the end of the episode, these two still need to connect more.

Speaking of the bad guys, they were pretty fun in this episode. I like how their different personalities and knowledge led them to act with each other. I especially liked Magica trying to get back her former glory and overstepping on Glomgold for the role of leader, Glomgold who is still as dramatic and dumb as ever while having actually smart schemes and I love it.

  “The Richest Duck in the Word!” : while the structure of the episode was pretty cliché (character suddenly has tons of powers but doesn’t realize the responsibilities that go with it), the ending with Louie and Scrooge was really sweet and satisfying. Honestly the season is supposed to be about Louie having a company and yet he and Scrooge didn’t have that many interactions (they still had some, but they could have more) so it’s really sweet to see them solve an issue linked to Scrooge’s company together.

And let’s not forget that Owlson finally stood up for herself and quitted (good for her honestly, she deserves a job where she can be happy and get what she wants done) and that Launchpad actually managed to land a plane without crashing (and it’s not even acknowledged !).

  “Moonvasion!” : the season finale, aka the one that should have its own post. You know what ? I’ll put the review here and, eventually, I’ll split it into its own post if it’s requested.

So, Moonvasion. Where to start. Ok, first off, it was an amazing episode. Just like the first finale, this was possibly the best episode of the season (depending of your point of view though, tastes and expectations are different). It was great to see so many characters come together and fight together, all with different fighting methods. I especially like Fenton’s mom being a protective badass, Beakley being a total badass and Gyro with his clone army (I especially love his line when everyone is debating on what to do and he’s like “Simple. Clone. Army.”. I just love the delivery here).

Secondly, I really like how they expended on Della there. As we’ve seen in previous episodes, Della still doesn’t know her kids and their abilities; so in the face of danger, she’d rather flee to protect her. On the other hand, Donald trust the kids to defend themselves and immediately starts strategizing with them. And speaking of Donald, I love how they acknowledge how much and how well he took care of the kids with the line about Della’s lullaby. In general, that entire sequence on the island with the twins and their kids (no incest intended) was probably the best part of the episode, along with the big fight with everyone and that “Hey kids.” line from Scrooge near the end. Oh yeah, and also the space fight with the moon theme playing and the family working together with the twins fighting and Scrooge being happy to have his angry babies back. This entire sequence was also amazing. And when Penumbra shows up, I love how she’s using the original spear of Selene. Again, just like last finale, the crew outdid themselves.

Another thing that I can praise here is Glomgold. I really love how they made his weird schemes work out. I also love how not only did he do this to help but he also used the situation to spite Scrooge by trolling him. Also earth baby jail. Just earth baby jail.

And speaking of strategists, I absolutely adore Lunaris in this episode. This guy was truly prepared for anything Scrooge could send him and it’s great.

Another character that I’d like to mention in this episode is Drake. Basically, watching the episode again, I’m pretty sure that guy has no fucking clue on what to do. I mean, we see him show up at Launchpad’s place at the beginning of the invasion, then he’s at the meeting with the others and gives ideas that show he’s much more on the theatrics parts of being a hero, which is fitting with him being an actor (side note that I forgot to mention earlier : I really appreciate that they made Drake an actor. It really fits with how overly dramatic he was in the old show; and it could play with his ego as well, though DT17 Drake doesn’t seem to have that big of an ego). Then, before the giant fight, he’s on a car with Launchpad and once Scrooge takes his place in it, Drake still holds onto it. And by the end of the second act, he’s trying to fight with Launchpad helping him. In other words, Drake spends the entire episode glued to Launchpad. So personally, I interpret it as Drake not really knowing what to do so, since Launchpad is the one who inspired him to be a hero in the first place and is the only one taking him seriously, Drake is going to try to stay with him and have him as support. And yeah, overall, the joke about nobody knowing who the fuck Drake is was pretty hilarious.

Finally, because no episode is perfect, here’s a few details that, while not making the episode any less amazing, still bother me a bit.

- When Della left Duckburg on a gigantic plane, how come no Moonlanders tried to follow her ? Hell, we know they came to her specifically and we see later that Lunaris was able to see her position; so what gives ? And even when they’re in Egypt, though I can understand why they wouldn’t try to follow since they only have one ship. But still, Della was able to fly for possibly hours before getting attacked, and they only got attacked because they landed on a place that was about to be invaded !

- What happened to Drake after he fainted ? Like, don’t get me wrong, I understand while we stop seeing him. After Scrooge see the landing of the ship, we get into the third act, which seems to take place a few hours after the previous scene (given that several characters changed clothing and it started freezing). And I know that, since it’s the third act, they only wanted the main characters to play a role. But still, one minute we see Drake faint into Launchpad’s arms and the next Launchpad arrives alone saying everyone was captured. So what happened to Drake ? I see three possibilities, all with a few flaws : A) Launchpad ditched Drake/the two split up. Let’s be honest, this didn’t happen. Launchpad would never let an injured person behind, especially not someone he admires so much. B) Launchpad tried to find a safe place to hide Drake so that the guy can rest; but given that they’re in an invasion, finding such a spot could be very hard. C) During the time between the two acts, they got attacked by Moonlanders and either Drake was too weak to fight and got captured or he basically sacrificed himself so that Launchpad can go try to find Scrooge; with a “He needs you more than me” move. But, again, it would feel weird for Launchpad to abandon someone but then again, if it’s for the sake of everyone by trying to find his boss, I guess it could happen. This scenario would even fit with the “everyone got captured” line. Though, if Launchpad and Drake got attacked which led to them being separated, then we were robbed of a perfectly good action scene !

- There’s a shot at some point where you can see Doofus and his family and I have two questions there : 1. Why are the parents still wearing the maid outfits (and why do they keep doing it in season 3) ? and 2. Can’t Boyd do anything to help them ? Like, I know he believes he’s a real boy but that doesn’t stop him from having some pretty powerful defense mechanisms.

Update (before the post was made; I know) : so I ended up wasting 4 hours of my life reading all of Frank’s answers that I hadn’t seen yet (the things asperger makes you do…) and apparently Doofus burned his parents’ other clothes. Still doesn’t explain Boyd tho.

- During the fight in space, when the Duck family started to lose, they took a few damages before finding themselves behind the rocket. So, if they were to take damage anyways, why couldn’t Della immediately pull them on the side to get out of the way instead of heading to certain doom ? And yes I completely understand that it was a very stressful situation so she did the first thing she had in mind. Honestly that last flaw is the one that bothers me the less in a characters’ standpoint, though it still feels like plot convenience.

  So that’s all for season 2 ! Again, I could put the finale on its own post if requested. As for season 3, it’d be in a second post. This one is long enough. The post for season 3 will most likely be split in half, with the last episode talked about depending on which episode airs last before the post is made.

[fadedtoblue]

Some spoiler-y thoughts on DDS3

I finally got a full night’s of sleep after being awake for about 24 hours lol, so I think I can start communicating like a regular person again. I feel like I still have a lot to process about DDS3 overall, but I thought it might be nice to share a few thoughts while it’s semi-fresh, and maybe later I’ll try to expand on them as need.

Anyway, spoilers below the cut....:)

Overall, this was a wonderful and satisfying season of Daredevil - it felt like they took the things that were notable about S1 and S2 and improved upon them by leaps and bounds. The result was a S3 that was sharply focused and consistently written, plotted like a single focus story (a la S1) while in actuality serving a broad group of equally important characters and intertwining storylines (like S2) - yet I never felt like they lost their grip on the steering wheel. There would be moments in the plot where I’d think, “Wait, are they going to address that plot point / answer that question, etc?” and in the next scene or at least by the next episode, they did. Whoever was in charge of keeping their scripts consistent and not leaving plot holes, extra gold stars to them b/c they did a fucking fantastic job. Kudos to Erik Oleson for coming in with a very clear and intentional plan and executing the shit out of it. 

Here are some things that were notable for me this season:

Matt Murdock. Look, I was pretty worried coming into this that we were getting Dark!Matt and not much else - I love my emo son as much as the next person, but it was hard for me to imagine how we’d get to a positive ending if all we were getting was dark and more dark. And while yes, we did get a lot of dark and emo and raging at God Matt, there were clear and purposeful moments of growth he made throughout the entire series to get from the Matt that washed out of Midland Circle, barely alive, broken and bereft over losing Elektra to the Matt at the end, accepting who he is as DD AND Matt Murdock and ready for whatever the future holds for him and his friends. 

Quick aside for my Mattelektra peeps: I wish he could have actually talked about the events of Midland Circle and better processed the trauma of that and losing Elektra - for the most part, it all gets grouped under ‘general rage at God and life’ during the early episodes and none of the people around him at the time, namely Sister Maggie and Father Lanthom, actually understand what happened with Elektra. BUT we do get shown a bunch of Mattelektra scenes from DD and TD and I realize that the show really didn’t need to do that, so I’m trying to be grateful that we were shown that little glimpse into Matt’s mind right before he comes to. Because it was necessary reminder that part of why he’s broken is not just that he lost some of his senses and abilities, but because he lost Elektra - again.

Thanks for indulging my moment there everyone lol. Anyway, Matt Murdock was A++++ in all scenes and states of clothedness. In conclusion: I still love him. 

Avocado Trio feels. As someone who has always enjoyed this trio, but maybe not as much the individual characters on their own, I am really pleased that they actually got the band back together again, and not only that, I came out of this season with positive vibes for both Karen and Foggy but ESPECIALLY Foggy. Goddamn, Foggy was the fucking MVP. First, he looked damn good this year. The haircut and the suits are working for him. But also, this particular team of writers actually wrote Foggy in a way that feels more true to what I had always wanted from Foggy - someone who was smart, resourceful, caring, and most of all, THERE FOR MATT. I felt like his decade long friendship with Matt finally paid off in his characterization and he wasn’t being pushed off to the side to further someone else’s narrative. My favorite moment was when Karen was ready to throw in the towel, but Foggy talks about how everyone has abandoned Matt and he’s not going to do it too. It warmed the cockles of my cold, cold heart. 

I’m also pretty satisfied with how they finally revealed Karen’s backstory and damn if they didn’t make me feel sad and impressed with her at various points - her phone call with her dad / her dad telling her to leave after Kevin’s death and the 1v1 face off with Kingpin being two such examples. She might not ever be a favorite of mine but she was represented well this season for sure. I’m also grateful that they actually allowed her and Matt to air their shit out in a semi-realistic way. They acknowledged there was a lot of shit and baggage and didn’t just try to rush them to some kind of romantic conclusion. In fact, this season was refreshing in that romance was never a primary plot for any of the characters! There was enough going on with the story that the sort of angsting that kind of plot usually brings would have just been distracting. Any relationships were contained to people who were already in them, like Foggy and Marci, or Kingpin and Vanessa. The focus for these characters was really on rebuilding trust and the overall friendship / family bonds between all three. That was one of my hopes for the season and it delivered :). 

Okay, I’m getting to the point in this post where I’m getting tired with my own babbling LOL, so I’m gonna try to bullet point some more notable moments:

Kingpin - Smart and menacing and I loved the take on him as being this ultimate spymaster. It was really well done and I think once you saw the full breadth of the conspiracy - it was really good. And I guess in this same point I’ll shout out Vanessa - I was SO glad to see her again and dang, she just has a presence on screen that is hard to match. I am looking forward to seeing her as badass Vanessa Fisk - maybe she hires a freelancer named Elektra Natchios as her own personal assassin since Bullseye is gonna have it out for both Fisks?? Would that not be an AMAZING duo?

Dex aka Bullseye. I loved how they established his origin and his psychopathy - it made a lot of sense to me how this inherently broken, mentally ill person could have flown under the radar for as long as he did, and that someone like Fisk would be able to manipulate him to his own ends. Wilson Bethel is easy on the eyes for sure, but I thought he did an amazing job playing a guy who always seemed on the edge of cracking. He played all the shades of Bullseye very well. I’m looking forward to seeing him again as the primary big bad and GIVE ME BULLSEYE v ELEKTRA YOU COWARDS. Speaking of which, that reminds me, I want to point out the Bullseye was literally a diagnosed psychopath who was incapable of showing empathy whereas they kept trying to tell us Elektra was a sociopath but she clearly is not - she definitely had some sociopathic tendencies, which likely developed from her very messed up upbringing and exposure to violence, and when they bring her back, she will probably keep on some of those characteristics b/c of the sort of fighter than she is, but let’s just put it to rest already. And yeah, I want those two to give me a 1v1 fight for the AGES. DD who? 

Sister Maggie. LOOK. I don’t feel like I should have been surprised with any of the stuff that happened with Maggie but everything about it was a HIGHLIGHT. I loved the way Joanne Whalley conveyed the character - every time I saw her and Matt interact, I knew it was gonna be good. When they finally reveal her as Matt’s mom (whew!), I was genuinely moved. When she realizes that Matt has found out her secret and is gone, the way she runs to his bed and completely breaks down at losing her son again? I WAS A BLUBBERING MESS. The forgiveness and acceptance in their reconciliation was something my soul desperately needed and I’m so glad we received. We better see more scenes of the Murdocks together in the future!

Ray Nadeem. Um, who would have thought I'd be so sad to lose Ray by the end of the season! The overall FBI conspiracy felt surprisingly fleshed out and was something I got pretty damn invested in (SO MUCH better than the conspiracy in TPS1). All the shifts and turns and betrayals of this particular storyline could have been very cheesy, but they ended up being working because they were almost character moments first? Because we know Ray and his relationship with Hattley, with Dex, even overall with the FBI, and then of course knowing his home life and his family...every time shit hit the fan, or a personal betrayal occurred, it really hurt. And that we got that super fun escape sequence with Ray and Matt in their civvies and then Ray’s final act of heroism with his dying declaration...RIP Ray. You will be missed. 

God, I haven’t even touched on the non character stuff, like the fights and shit, but I gotta wrap it up now before I bore myself to death :). I’m curious what everyone else thought of the season - feel free to hit me up if you wanna chatter about it!!