My Top Ten Episodes of "Daredevil"

Spoilers ahead for all three seasons.

I finished "Daredevil," which improved so greatly in the third season that I'm pretty comfortable calling this one of the best live-action superhero series ever made.  There are only 39 episodes, but that's still enough for me to feel comfortable about putting together a Top Ten.  The episodes below are unranked, and ordered by airdate.

"Cut Man" - The second episode of the series gives us the death of Jack Murdock, an introduction to Claire Temple, and the first of the show's many beloved one-shot hallway fight sequences.  It also shows off one of the best elements of the show, which is how bad Matt Murdock is at being a superhero sometimes.  He's constantly being beat up and having to lay low for multiple episodes to recover.  Rosario Dawson is great here, and I wish she appeared in the show more.

"Speak of the Devil" - After multiple episodes of building tensions, Daredevil and Fisk are finally put in direct confrontation.  The escalations within the episode are great - Fisk going public ruining Urich's investigation, Murdock visiting Vanessa's art gallery and immediately raising everyone's suspicions, and the death of Mrs. Cardenas, setting up the big brawl between Daredevil and Nobu.  And of course there's the ultimate ending that sets up the big revelation scene and the next episode.

"Nelson v. Murdock" - This is my favorite episode of the season because it does what so many superhero shows fail to do, which is to actually deal with the personal fallout of a secret identity being exposed.  Nothing is immediately resolved, and Matt being so injured means he can't just walk out of the conversation.  Elden Henson is great, and totally cements himself as one of my favorites in the cast.  We also get some fun flashbacks to Matt and Foggy's school days and "avocados at law."

"The Path of the Righteous" - And this is the entry where I gush about Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page, who I'd argue is easily the second lead of the show right after Charlie Cox.  The development of the Karen character through these three seasons is so well done, and a big turning point is her confrontation with James Wesley, and an ending that I admit I did not see coming.  Meanwhile, there's also our first real encounter with Melvin, who also doesn't appear in "Daredevil" nearly enough.

"Semper Fidelis" - Murdock and Nelson being lawyers, it makes sense that a major court case should be a plot point.  I especially appreciate that Foggy having to shoulder the entire defense of Frank Castle is used to show how Matt's priorities are a mess, and that Foggy is a much better lawyer than the show has portrayed him to be so far.  Watching him try to put together a trial strategy on very short notice is legitimately interesting, and Elektra is used exactly as much as she should be.

"The Man in the Box" - I haven't said much yet about Vincent D'Onofrio as Wilson Fisk, but even in brief appearances he's fabulously menacing.  His meeting with Murdock in the prison is probably my favorite scene in the whole second season.  The rest of the episode with Castle being framed for a new round of killings, and the discovery of the creepy imprisoned kids is also excellent, building up the Hand as a threat.  And who else cheered when Reyes finally went down?

"Blindsided" - the most impressive action scene of the series is probably the ten minute long one-shot sequence where Matt infiltrates Fisk's prison and has to fight his way out.  This time around Matt isn't in costume, and has to try and maintain the fiction that he's blind in the middle of a prison riot.  And there's a dialogue scene in the middle.  And the ending is an infuriating cliffhanger, of course.  This is also the episode where Foggy decides to run for office, and nobody questions it at all.    

"The Devil You Know" - I've seen big season arc low points before, but few have been as emotionally devastating as the showdown at the Bulletin.  It's all orchestrated so beautifully, with Matt, Karen, and Foggy all working together again, a big plan in motion to take down Fisk, and at the exact wrong moment, enter Wilson Bethel's Dex in the Daredevil suit to wreak havoc.  It's not just that things go wrong, but that the rug is pulled out so fast, handing our heroes a total, utter defeat.

"Revelations" - Jay Ali's Agent Ray Nadeem is a big part of the third season, and this episode puts him front and center, even though at the outset it's all about Matt learning some hard truths about his past from Father Lantom.  Nadeem trying to do the right thing, and being completely blocked by the frightening extent of Fisk's corruption is so crushing to see.  Foggy's family being compromised and Karen on the run just turn the heat on the situation higher.  

"A New Napkin" - I decided to include the finale on the list, even though I have some issues with it, based on how much I admire many of the individual pieces.  The showdown with Daredevil, Dex, Fisk, and Vanessa is great.  Letting Agent Nadeem have the final twist was very satisfying.  However, there was a little too much tonal whiplash, and I felt everything wrapped up too fast.  Then again, considering the sudden cancellation, I'm glad we got the last scene.

Honorable mentions: "New York's Finest," "Resurrection," "Karen," and really most of the rest of the third season.     

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