Well, that ending happened.

• Russian prisons are no joke apparently.  Witch would make Hell’s Kitchen a definite step up.
• More Claire!  I was hoping we’d see more of her!
• The dynamic between the two Russian brothers is interesting.  Anitoli seems to be the more sensible of the two, at least he’s more aware of just how much damage Matt is doing to their business and how much Fisk could help with that.  Also, glasses guy has a name!  Wesley!  Sounds suitibly dorky.
• Urich seems to know just how dangerous getting involved in the Union Allied thing could be, but of course as we saw in the last episode, letting it go just isn’t an option for Karen.
• I think that the scene with Fisk and Vanessa is more interesting in light of what happens at the end of the episode, but more on that later.
• Claire and the Russians: Damn good scene, from beginning to end.  My favorite part?  “You want to know his name?  As him yourself.”
• Apropos of nothing, methinks I see something of a romance blooming between Claire and Matt.  Not sure if want.
• Speaking of romance, the date between Fisk and Vanessa is somewhat endearingly akward.  Even if it does end rather badly.
• There’s an interesting parallel between Matt and Fisk that I want to point out.  They both say that they want to make the city better.  Of course, they ways that they go about making it better are wildly different, at least in terms of morality.  In terms of methodology, they’re surprisingly similar.
• Now then, the ending.  It’s brutal, really brutal.  I didn’t even think that you could decapitate someone with a car door.  Just goes to show what I know.  And all because Fisk got embarrassed at the restaurant.  Clearly Fisk needs some anger management classes.

This was a very villain-centric episode.  It gave us a little more insight into how the villains of the show think and how they view the world.  I think that that makes them more interesting to watch and I’m very much looking forward to how things will pan out.

Episode three and things are getting interesting.

• Won’t Jam, Guaranteed: So, of course, in the very next shot, it jams.
• The fight that came after that was brutal; I actually like that they make the fights as brutal as they are, it grounds the whole series.
• Enter the Priest: I really wonder what’s going on between Matt and the priest.  Clearly they have a history together, and not just in the confessional.
• What happened to Matt’s eye: I like how they didn’t just hand-wave away how beat up Matt got in the last episode.  Again, realism for the win.
• Fair Compensation: I know the guy who hires Foggy and Matt has a name, I just haven’t heard it yet.  That said, this scene was really interesting just from a story telling point of view.  It managed to get a lot across with just acting and what has been already established about the characters in the scene.
• Foggy’s Interview: Is it just me, or does Foggy not do as well when Matt isn’t around?  Still, we again get to see that Foggy isn’t as mercenary as he seems.
• And once again I get to gush about character interactions, this time between Foggy and Matt!  I really like how they’ve made the character stuff that has very little to do with the plot just as interesting as the plot stuff.
• Karen’s Choice: Typical corporate lawyer stuff, but it can only end badly for Karen.
• Signs of the Times: Ben’s sub-plots in this episode might as well have been titled “Ways in Which the Modern World Sucks”.
• I get the feeling that aside from Foggy and Matt being clean, they were also being tested throughout the trial.  It should be interesting to see what the bad guys gleaned from all of that.
• “Bang on the Router”: It’s always the simple fixes that are the most effective.
• Healey’s Slip:  So maybe I should call Fisk “He Who Must Not be Named” for the rest of the series?
• Speaking of Wilson Fisk, I knew D’Onofrio was going to be good, but just that little bit of him at the end really made me want to see more.

Overall, this was an important bridge episode to the rest of the series.  Now that the major players have been established, we’re ready for the plot to really start moving and I can’t wait to see what’s next.

So here we are with the first of Netflix’s Marvel shows.  And so far, I’m pretty impressed.

• Foggy: He’s going to be the breakout side character that everyone loves, I can pretty much guarantee it.
• I like how they show off Matt’s abilities.  Bringing up the sound of the things he’s listening for gives the audience a way to get Matt’s perspective across in a visual medium.
• Speaking of Matt’s abilities, other than his exceptional hearing he doesn’t have any “super-powers” per se.  Which means that he gets beaten up a lot during the course of the episode, and I liked that.
• Bad Guys: Typical Corporate Douche (I forget his name) being less worried about the vigilante taking out his partners because superheroes are good for business was amusing.
• I also liked how Kingpin stayed off-screen for the entire episode.  D’Onofrio is probably the most recognizable name in the cast, and I know that he’s a phenomenal actor and keeping him out of sight for the first episode gives the rest of the cast the chance to shine.
• I liked that Karen joined Team Nelson & Murdock (can someone please come up with a catchy nickname for our heroes please?) at the end of the episode.  She seems to be a good balance between Foggy’s slightly mercenary attitude and Matt’s overwhelming desire to do good.

So that’s the first episode in the bag.  I have to admit that I’m interested in seeing how well this grittier take on the MCU gels with the rest of it.  The good thing about having it on Netflix is that I don’t have to wait a week to find out.