Daredevil, Season 2, Episode 12: The Dark At The End of the Tunnel
The Blacksmith's real identity is revealed as Colonel Schoonover, and, well, as awesome his portrayal by Clancy Brown is, it really isn't that much of a satisfying answer. Yeah, he showed up before for like two minutes so it didn't really came out of the left field, but it really felt unsatisfying. The way it was handled was mostly procedural as well, with the Punisher just tracking Schoonover down, ignoring Karen's pleas for finding another way and executing the motherfucker. Schoonover is portrayed to be quite unhinged, but having all this twelve-episode-long buildup hinting at a larger conspiracy involving the government and whatnot ended up being nothing but, well, just a drug boss whose drug deal went south and Frank's unfortunate family just got caught up in the middle.
Considering how great the writing has been in this series, I really hoped for something that ties in to the other plotlines more. Maybe Blacksmith is a member of either the Chaste or the Hand, planning to use those drugs for... something, I'm sure they can find a plausible reason (it's not like that big hole in the building really ended up amounting to anything but look creepy-cool). It could be Stick, it could be Nobu, it could be that Hirochi fellow who seemed to seem to have all but disappeared... hell, having it Wilson Fisk or hell, even one of Fisk's already-slain associates would make more sense. How awesome would it be if it turned out that the Blacksmith was in reality Wesley, Fisk's right-hand-man who Karen shot for entirely unrelated reasons a season ago? That would be far more satisfying. How great would it be if it was Stick who used the drug thing to bait the Hand, and Frank's family was a wholly unintentional casualty in some kind of greater good argument?
But no, like a fucking episode of Scooby Doo, the ghost turns out to be this one guy we saw halfway through the episode and then forgot about.
There is some nice writing in weaving Karen into the story, with her newfound passion for journalism thanks to Ellison being a great supporting figure to her ending up leading her to interview Frank's old commanding officer, but at the same time that also felt way too contrived a coincidence. Oh well. I guess Frank's season-long plotline is finished. Maybe he can show up and shoot up a bunch of ninjas next episode. It's not badly done, certainly, and there were worse ways this could've been done, but there definitely could've been a lot of better alternatives.
What was satisfying, however, was how this Punisher seemed to be built up to be a more rounded version of the character. And having him spare this one life, the one most responsible for the deaths of his families would be a great redemption arc, and a nice echo to how Daredevil was all like 'just this one life' last episode. But nah. Punisher blew his head up. Also found a crapton of guns. Yay for Punisher's new armoury!
Meanwhile, we get flashbacks for Elektra where we learn how she was oh-so-much-more-talented than the other kids in the Chaste, how no killing was from the get-go difficult for her to do... and how Stick is a shitty father figure. Okay, granted, Stick probably does care a fair bit for Elektra, even killing a fellow Chaste member to protect Elektra, but like what Matt points out, Stick's passion for grooming people to fight for his war without confiding reasons in them, and his assholishness in general, ends up kinda backfiring. Stick caring for Elektra and trying to steer her away from her destiny as the Hand's weapon is definitely there, though.
Alas, as entertaining as Elektra and Stick's fight is, it is immediately interrupted by Nobu... who claims that Elektra is Black Sky. Even though we've already seen a Black Sky in season one, and the blood-drained kids are implied to be prototype Black Skies or something. I honestly still don't understand what the meaning of Elektra-is-Black-Sky thing really is. Was she the original that the others are a mere pale imitation of? She's definitely special, but nowhere as indestructible as the prophecy makes her out to be -- the Hand certainly nearly killed her with that poisoned blade that one time.
I think they're trying way too hard to show how Elektra fighting against her "Black Sky" destiny is a parallel to Matt Murdock abandoning Matt Murdock and becoming Daredevil full-time, and I don't really think it worked well at all. For one thing, well, Elektra was conflicted for a bit but considering she has been fighting the Hand for her entire life and as much as she's ready to stab Stick through the face... she knew Stick and Matt far longer than these strange Japanese men. Matt being conflicted between one set of friends and the other is hardly as easy a choice to make.
Also a weak scene was the drawn-out cliche of Elektra going 'you were my mission, but I fell in love for reals'. That was kinda badly done, I think. Thankfully the more important Stick/Elektra/Matt three-way fucked-up family spat was far more entertaining and well-written.
This episode does have great moments, but some of it is kinda marred by hurriedly giving Frank and Elektra a nice conclusion to both their season-long character plotlines so that next episode can be Matt-centric, and it kinda shows. It's not a bad episode, and it's definitely entertaining and great to watch on several levels, but the Black Sky and Blacksmith reveal really felt like they came straight out of nowhere, and could've used a far more satisfying alternative.
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