When this show was announced I have to admit I didn't expect much. After the recent mishaps with agents of shield and agent Carter I thought this show would follow suit and not be anything more than filler between the long awaited films. And as I have just finished all 13 episodes, I am so happy to admit that I was wrong.

Daredevil takes place in Hell's Kitchen which as my fellow Scots would say is the arsehole of the word. It's a nasty horrible part of New York, and it's where our hero Matt Murdock aka Daredevil (and is a lawyer by day) was born and raised by his father Jack Murdock who was a boxer. After an accident that leaves him blind at the age of nine Matts life changes, he developed special abilities, that are explained in the show so I won't go into them here. And after a number of years of very unfortunate events, and intensive training he honed these skills and has become a mask vigilante. Yes I know clichéd but honestly it was executed very well and one moment nearly brought me to tears. Matt's story is one of tragedy and angry which he later vents out on some thugs and follows the pattern of recent films such as Captain America the winter solider and Gaurdians of the Galaxy where the main protagonist have tragedy thruster upon them. The story then expands into much bigger story about one mans struggle to make his city a better place and having to fight forces that are well equipped and as tenacious as he his. Enter Wilson Fisk, who at first I though was portrayed very strangely, as I was comparing him to the Wilson Fisk I remember from the Spider-Man cartoon back in the day and was expecting this very intimidating man who had unquestionable loyalty of his followers and was intimidating 24/7. But the more I saw, the more I appreciated this take on the character, he is a violent and fiercely intimidating man on the outside, but he's a fragile being on the inside that has a troubled past which bled into his present. I have to say that these two characters where played brilliantly by their actors. The conflict between Murdock and Fisk was more that just fighting on the street, it took a more political route with Fisk trying to destroy daredevils image whilst glorifying his own. This added layers and complications to the characters. And not just Murdock and Fisk, Foggy (Murdocks friend and partner in their law firm) and Karen Page ( a client that later works for them) also find themselves sucked into this struggle against Fisk along with an old fashioned reporter Ben Uric. All played well by their actors. In fact almost every character was portrayed brilliantly and has a significant part to play. One character that I didn't like was a Nurse called Claire who ends up helping Murdock with patching him up after a rough fight. It wasn't her acting, it was her characters reasoning and introduction which I found too convenient and didn't feel right. That, and the fact that some episodes just felt like they where put in to make it 13 episodes are two of the only major complaints I have about the show and the later can be said about game of thrones or breaking bad so I don't hold it against the show too much. What I also liked was the dark gritty nature of the show, which was refreshing from the light-heartedness of other marvel projects, it added a sense of realism and relatability to not only the show but also the whole Marvel Universe. And yes this is apart of the MCU. There are references to Avengers Assemble and even the Incredible Hulk. It was fun watching and seeing these references and knowing that whilst all this is going on that the Avengers are out there stomping on Hydra and the Gaurdians of the Galaxy are out in space doing something that's a bit of both good and bad. It also doesn't beat this over your head but some references did feel a bit clunky and unnecessarily ambiguous. The action is well directed and violent, and I mean violent, arms get broken and heads get smashed, there's blood and all sorts getting sprayed around and it's awesome, especially when it's a fight scene with Daredevil (which oddly enough are majority of them) he's a bad-ass, and you get to see (well hear) the world as he does when he's in these fights. Hearing heartbeats or when weapons get drawn/picked up, even guns getting cocked. It's cool and makes it feel unique to the character rather that just a copy of fights in other franchises such as Batman. But whilst he is a bad-ass he does take a beaten which makes him feel human and you are in fear for his life especially against some advisories who can match up to him. It makes fights interesting and tense which is rare in the superhero genre these days. Outside of fights the cinematography is really nice, especially when they film a scene all in one shot (which usually happens before a fight) it's cool and can be appreciated by people who do appreciate that type of thing like myself. All in all whilst it does have some flaws Daredevil is a fantastic start to Marvels new line of shows, I'm genuinely excited for Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron fists TV debuts. And of course to see the Devil of Hell's Kitchen again. A must watch for both fans of the Marvel comics or of the MCU as well as average TV watchers. 9/10