Daredevil Season 1, Episode 3 "Rabbit in a Snow Storm" (USE SPOILER TAGS!)

[Keyser Soze]

You will get more hot half-naked Vincent D'Onofrio.

I've come to learn a Vincent D'Onofrio performance is not complete without a deeply uncomfortable shower scene.

 

[StarLord]

Damn, that was...

Spoiler

one messed up suicide at the end!

 

[Lencho01]

I liked how it showed Fisk was still running things even after their juror left.

 

[Marvolo]

I wonder if that opening was the "R-rated" bit some critics mentioned or if that's still to come.

Never thought I'd see the day where Disney would allow something like this to exist

An MCU Punisher Netflix show feels like it's on the horizon.

That arm breaking bit would have got a film slapped with an R rating for the sound effect alone. The sound of the bone cracking made me cringe!

 

[Shakel92]

Another great one. The fights are great. I can't get enough!

 

[TX85]

Not as great as the first two episodes but still damn good. I love the fights in this show so damn much,That was an MK style suicide,The reveal at the end was awesome!

Was that lady at the end,the widow from earlier?

 

[Human Torch]

Well, at least we're three episodes in before running into some queasy violence. I could do without any more of that!

I enjoyed seeing Matt & Foggy practice law. It's interesting how ruthless Matt is, in and out of his DD persona.

First view of Fisk! Haven't mentioned him yet, but the guy that plays Wesley does a great job.

Got to see Ben Urich. Most of his stuff was interesting.But I still feel this is a very slow moving show. DD shows up a couple times for some fisticuffs, but the series isn't really breaking any records in terms of fast paced action scenes or set pieces.

We really haven't gotten to see Matt's radar sense at this point. I hope we get more than the little they've shown up to now.

Kinda so-so episode. But alright.

 

[Ghostcrow13]

Don't expect it to get faster paced. Some episodes are some aren't. They always said it's a crime drame first superhero show second, and it really feels that way.

 

[Spider-Aziz]

That guy from the bowling alley looks like Paul McCrane did in RoboCop.

 

[Solaire]

My oh my, that fight at the end was great. They've all been amazing so far, I just finished this episode. I love how we finally see Fisk and clearly see how dangerous and scary he is.

Can't wait to see what happens now that Matt has the name.

 

[Baneis8feettall]

I like it's not fast paced. Whenever a good show gets fast paced, it's quality goes down.

Also it's only fist season. Lost was slow paced and character driven in first 2 seasons. (especially first episodes)

Great show so far. My favorite MCU material including movies.

 

[Mike Murdock]

This episode is primarily about the mystery of the Kingpin. The biggest addition is Ben Urich. I'll start with this: I see him, I see Ben Urich. I don't see color at all, the guy looks like him. The personality is the same. I see his mannerisms as see the same thing. The dedication to the story, granted, is cliche, but it fits. Really like that.

The trial is pretty cool (Ron Howard lookalike and all). Glad to see Matt compromise with his high and mighty morals. Granted, the shady corruption of the system would piss me off too. I'm very much of the position that a conviction without proving the case is a corruption of the system. But threatening a juror is just bull. Since I don't have Daredevil's supersenses, I doubt I'd ever find out about it, but it's a step too far. From the evidence, I agree that he shouldn't be convicted. A hung jury makes sense even without jury tampering. I can see people not getting over the fact that he went over, picked up a bowling ball, and smashed it down. But given all that crap, I like the result. I think it's something worth Daredevil poking his nose into. I like that, once he took the job, he did the ethical thing and defended him. It resulted in the only name that matters. On a side note, I'm learning about New York law from this show. NY CPL 180.80 (mentioned in the legal technobabble) is awesome. If a guy is in jail, he can demand an indictment or preliminary hearing within five days. I'm sometimes lucky to get it within three months.

With all the previews, I almost expected the Kingpin from the beginning. But they did a good job of building the tension. When he came, he came with force (although, with the art, he came with a gentlemanly veneer). The subtlety he ended the episode with left me wanting more. I have to say it was a nice touch.

 

[Kane52630]

http://kane52630.tumblr.com/post/116430923119/episode-3-rabbit-in-a-snowstorm-daredevil

 

[Kane52630]

http://kane52630.tumblr.com/post/116432318169/episode-3-rabbit-in-a-snowstorm-daredevil

 

[Ms. Marvel]

I actually found Vanessa's rabbit in a snowstorm joke funny. Might use it one day.

 

[Silliminite]

I actually didn't fully understand the part with the jurors. If anyone would care to explain exactly how the case proceeded and what role the two intimidated jurors played, it would be highly appreciated.

 

[warhorse78]

That arm breaking bit would have got a film slapped with an R rating for the sound effect alone. The sound of the bone cracking made me cringe!

Wow. Then don't ever watch Jaws, which is PG and has one horrifying scene of a man getting bitten in half by the shark.

 

[Mike Murdock]

I actually didn't fully understand the part with the jurors. If anyone would care to explain exactly how the case proceeded and what role the two intimidated jurors played, it would be highly appreciated.

All 12 jurors have to agree on a result of either guilty or not guilty. One juror was threatened so she would vote not guilty. She instead withdrew from the jury (selecting an alternate instead). But it was revealed that another juror was threatened too.

Because of that, presumably 11 voted guilty and one voted not guilty. That one could never be convinced to change her mind and a mistrial was declared (technically, that means they hold a new trial to determine if he's guilty or not guilty). However, the prosecutor decided to give up after the first one and not prosecute a second time.

 

[FataLethal]

So in the end, Wesley wanted Healy to be guilty and Matt wanted not guilty?

Matt wanted not guilty so he can interrogate Healy outside. Is that right?

 

[metaphysician]

I think its more ambiguous than that. Matt would prefer the guy get convicted, since he's obviously ( to him ) guilty. However, it was clear they were being set up by Wesley; he also wasn't going to unethically torpedo his own defense effort. All that being the case, I think Matt wanted to win the case with an ethical defense, but while preventing jurors from being intimidated, and *then* interrogate Healy. Which is basically how it went, he just didn't expect a panicked suicide.

 

[Silliminite]

All 12 jurors have to agree on a result of either guilty or not guilty. One juror was threatened so she would vote not guilty. She instead withdrew from the jury (selecting an alternate instead). But it was revealed that another juror was threatened too.

Because of that, presumably 11 voted guilty and one voted not guilty. That one could never be convinced to change her mind and a mistrial was declared (technically, that means they hold a new trial to determine if he's guilty or not guilty). However, the prosecutor decided to give up after the first one and not prosecute a second time.

Thanks Mike, I got it now.

 

[Mike Murdock]

So in the end, Wesley wanted Healy to be guilty and Matt wanted not guilty?

Matt wanted not guilty so he can interrogate Healy outside. Is that right?

I don't quite think so. Wesley wanted Healy to be found not guilty (or, more accurately, to not be found guilty). That's why he intimidated both the jurors and (probably) the witnesses.

Matt's view is far more ambiguous. He generally didn't like to take cases where the person is guilty and he didn't buy the self-defense argument for a second. But, for whatever reason, he took this case.

Once he took the case, I think his position was this: In a court of law, the guy is not guilty because there's simply no proof of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. So, while you can judge him morally, you still have to acquit him. That was pretty much what his closing argument was. But, while the law couldn't do anything, Daredevil could. So, after the guy was set free, his costumed version came out to get information about who was tampering with the jury.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

You know... Even with a poster her familiar with law explaining things... I still don't get what happened in this episode or why. Maybe it gets clearer in the next episode but for me, this was an episode where the character moments and gurgling subplots in the background, which I liked, couldn't save the TOO mysterious and uneasy to follow main plot.

So, thoughts:

1. Cox continues to own the part of Murdock. Meeting up with the priest again was no coincidence but Matt wasn't in the mood for a one on one this time. He's conflicted with his faith and the need to enact justice himself, obviously, but perhaps he also still can't square that with a faith that says that ultimate justice is in God's hands and that righteous vengeance is the Lord's province. We could tell that he wants to be a champion for people in need and he found taking the job distasteful but he perhaps thought he could find bigger fish. Maybe. Again, in terms of plot there was too much opaqueness going on. Cox was grand as Matt but as I said, in the end, all for naught.

2. Again with Henson as Foggy... Where are they going with this? Foggy doesn't want to take the case, he doesn't want trouble and he doesn't want to take shady money... Except when he does want to take a case, any case because they need the money. I don't think he was written well this episode. He wants to be a noble lawyer... Except when he shows that he want to make oodles of cash, except when he just wants to keep the firm above water... Yeah, this episode was a whiff for Foggy's character and for myself, that makes it 3 in a row so far.

3. Karen's story was very good and I liked how it pointed out how corruption when it comes to those with deep pockets works. I think Karen is a too naive, but a good person, and she can't let something like the madness that entered her life, go un-addressed. Which seems to be what brings in...

4. Vondie Curtis-Hall as Ben Urich... What more can be said. The stuff with him this episode was the richest material of the show. Hall was a very good down to Earth adaptation of a character that is already one of the Marvel Universe's most down to Earth character, so kudos all around. The basics are there. The hard nosed reporter that has a strong moral center who never the less understands about the way of the world, who is also dedicated to his wife. The scene of Ben arguing over the death of real news in print and his talk with his informant was just all written so sharp and real. Now I guess we will see how Ben, already finding connections, links up with the rest of the plot.

5. My complaints about some things aside the show still has top production values and there were great moments of cinematic violence. I see that like the comics, Turk may end up being an entertaining reoccurring character. The opening was masterful in it's violence and the fight Matt and Healey had was very cool.

Still, at best, if I were passing out a letter grade this episode would have been a C-, it would have been a D without the moments with Urich and Karen, and Cox holding your attention with his performance. Every series has their episodes that are lesser lights. For me, RABBIT IN A SNOWSTORM was one such for DD.

 

[Mike Murdock]

What don't you get about the legal aspects? I seriously thought it was as clear as could be.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

What don't you get about the legal aspects? I seriously thought it was as clear as could be.

Well... I mean, they never explain why the DA was not going to charge again after the hung jury. Am I as viewer supposed to infer corruption there, or what? If they had a line where they said, "You know in a case like this they never ask for another trial" ect. (even if that's not based in facts, like I said, I don't know the legal system with any great precison) I would have had something to latch onto. Then there is the simple fact that I don't think it's communicated all that well exactly what Fisk's asst. Wesley was after to begin with here, in terms of the trial, nor whether or not any outcome was definite or if it was up in the air. The jury tampering was to assure the hung jury, okay, I get that, but was it stated why the City prosecutors wouldn't go forward with another trial, and weren't Matt and Foggy actually doing a good job in terms of stating the case to the letter of the law, thus giving them a good shot at winning the case? (Though I also get that maybe that answers the question, that they knew they could lose so make it a sure bet and a hung jury... But again they didn't give us, the viewers the reasoning why a follow up trial wasn't going to happen). I think this episode's plot was just too mysterious for it's own good, and that's coming from someone that likes that the show so far doesn't hold the viewer's hands... But yeah sometimes you can "show not tell" so much that actually laying things out would be better. I mean, we already know Wesley is a no goodnick that works for a powerful man at the center of a criminal empire, so just let us know what the frack is going on.

I don't know, I just feel this was so far much further down the ladder of quality and clarity from the proceeding two episodes. Perhaps it will become clear in hindsight as I go further along in viewing the series.