Mid-season plot shifts are hard to pull off, especially without the aid of a slight break between regularly scheduled episodes in order to deliver a slight palette cleanser to the viewer. One of the better attempts in recent memory of the fourth season of Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. that managed to cram in multiple arcs that dealt with Ghost Rider, a robot LMD uprising and a virtual reality Hydra world all within a single run while switching between them as nimbly as a ninja negotiating rooftops. Well, now Daredevil is giving it a try as the four episode introduction of the Punisher gives way for yet another stressful encounter with someone not entirely all the way sane. Enter Elektra.
Not to slip into the standard, off colour jokes about “crazy exes”, but as handfuls go, Elektra Natchios is one for the history books ever since being created by Frank Miller in 1981 during his seminal run on the Man Without Fear’s monthly title. However, despite being arguably one of Daredevil’s most important supporting characters, will the sudden shift from such a gripping plot thread into the cold start of another do the infamous sai twirler justice?
Isn’t it always the way? You’ve finally managed to convince the pretty girl in your office that you should go on a date and your deranged ex shows up soon after to take a hefty, metaphorical dump onto your state of mind. To be fair, it’s somewhat par for the course for poor Matt Murdock and after his very frosty reception to Elektra Natchios suddenly showing up in his apartment after ten years, we get a string of trusty flashbacks to show that even the man destined to become Daredevil had his weak moments when it came to a hot girl.
After sneaking into a swanky soirée to spend the name of Nelson & Murdock around, Matt bumped into the wealthy daughter of a Greek ambassador and after responding well to one another’s rizz, so found themselves in a tempestuous relationship that soon swerved into some fairly dark places. You see not only is Elektra fairly bored thanks to the life her wealth has afforded her, she also likes pushing the envelope to a near-psychotic degree. For example, after hearing of the story of Matt murdered father, she found where the man responsible was living, convinced her clueless blind beau to break in with her and then tried to get Murdock to beat him to death.
The fact that Matt refused is what broke them up a decade before, but now Elektra has returned in order to enlist Murdock’s help while she does business with the Japanese arm of the Roxxon Corporation. But it soon becomes apparent that she’s manipulating him again to suit up as Daredevil and challenge the resurfaced Yakusa for old times sake. Is Elektra just a scary, thrill seeking woman who loves to bend men to her unpredictable will, or is there some secret method behind her bunny boiling madness?
Women, eh? Can’t live with ’em, can’t avoid fighting the Yakuza with ’em.
So, before we start, if feel I have to make sure that I’m not misunderstood here. There are many aspects about Kinbaku that work extremely well. For a start, Elodie Yung hasn’t exactly got an easy job following in Jennifer Garner’s lithe footsteps because even though her solo Elektra movies isn’t what you’d call highly regarded, she still made a splash as the crimson clad assassin. However, hardly a stranger to playing lightning quick ninja thanks to her role as Jinx in G.I. Joe: Retaliation, Yung, while looking as Greek as Michelle Yeoh, manages to fill the role nicely, giving us a much more predatory, duplicitous Elektra than we’ve ever seen before. Similarly, the flashbacks we’re given showing how vunerable and easily led Murdock once was when it came to women is not only a fascinating way to show the Natchios really does have a way to look directly into the darker parts of Matt’s psyche (you know, the ones that would eventually have him beating up junkies while dressed like the devil), but it gives a new look at their problematic love affair that mercifully doesn’t have them flirting/fighting while balancing on a seesaw – yes, that’s a well deserved jab at the 2003 movie. In fact, the scenes that see Murdock and Natchios consummate their burgeoning, if tempestuous, relationship after sparring in a ring and trading full contact blows, proves to be a great bit of storytelling sets up exactly the sort of toxic relationship these two often had.
Their passion burns hot, but fire tends to damage things and once it’s revealed just how far Elektra will go to have her way and how much she likes being in control.
In fact, while Elodie Yung’s performance as Elektra veers more into the psychotic spoilt brat territory, it’s a refreshing take that deliberately sharpens off any soft edges the character has, leaving her feeling like a legitimate threat to Matt’s life that comes with a cut glass accent and exquisite cheek bones.
While the season is gifting us a more uncompromising version of Elektra which in turn gives us more insight into Matt’s younger years, it doescome at a hefty cost and it’s simply a case of momentum, or to be more accurate, an utter lack of it. Taken on its own, the episode does fine work, but placed directly after the bombastic work the first four episodes achieved with Jon Bernthal’s Punisher, it pumps the brakes a little too hard while ostensibly starting an entirely new story. The result isn’t catastrophic by any means, but the change also means that with no Kingpin and no Punisher, the show is now technically without a villain considering that Elektra is more of a wild card than an out and out threat.
Still, the plot wheels keep on turning and even though the Punisher is a no show, his presence is still felt throughout the efforts of the supporting cast as the pieces move about in the background. DA Reyes still has a mad on to not only bury Frank Castle for personal reasons but take Nelson & Murdock down with him in a way that could also target other practising vigilantes. Elsewhere, Karen Page continues with her ‘roided up Nancy Drew routine as she goes to Ben Ulrich’s old paper and convinces his boss to let start digging into the mostly covered up past of Frank Castle. However, there’s a sense that season 2 could start to lose focus as it splits its time between both Elektra and the Punisher which could seek to undo all the good work the show has already done.
Still, that doesn’t change the fact that the show has managed to rehabilitate Elektra into this side pocket of the MCU in a way that feels genuine to the world the Daredevil has created that also feels a little different from the scantily clan character seen in the comics. Better yet, her relationship with Matt Murdock is something that could bear truly great fruit; but if the showrunners don’t treat her with respect, she’s at risk from becoming nothing more than a distraction from the big bad Punisher when it should be more of a case of Elektra Boogaloo.
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