As a fangirl, having something to look forward to – a book, a movie, a tv show – is essential to my emotional health. Those bright-hot moments of anticipation, the little mental movies I play, imagining all the wonderful and exciting adventures to come – these things keep my internal fire lit. They keep me going. In an increasingly dark world, fandom is one of my only lifelines…but lately, I just haven’t found much to be excited about.

Enter: Daredevil, Season Three.

Okay, yes, I realize S3 isn’t anything new. I think it came out in, what, 2018? But due to a weird set of circumstances, I didn’t know it existed until a few months ago. Long before we had a Netflix subscription, I nicked the Daredevil Season One DVD set from my dad, and got Season Two as a much-anticipated birthday gift. I knew about The Defenders, and waited for it to come out on DVD while searching for news about a possible Daredevil S3. The main article I read stated that S3 was highly unlikely to happen. A bummer, for sure, but I’m no stranger to cancellation disappointment **cough**Forever**cough**Limitless and was grateful for the two full seasons we got. As soon as we subscribed to Netflix (thank you, Lucifer!), I happily watched The Defenders, and figured that was that.

So, years went by – yes, years! – with me having no clue that another whole season of Daredevil was right under my nose. I think my brother even mentioned S3 in a phone call, and I dismissed it as a mistake. Shame on me – I should have known he’d never make such an error about a Marvel show! Then again, I’m kind of glad I didn’t question him right then, because it would have totally changed when and how I found out about S3.

Near the end of 2021, on a total whim, I decided to watch the episode “Nelson vs. Murdock.” It’s one of my favorite S1 episodes, because Foggy finally knows the secret. And, being the lazy bum that I am, I figured who wants to get off the couch, pull out a disc, and pop it in the player when you have the magic of streaming right on your tablet? So I put my Netflix subscription to good use, and, for the first time, watched an episode of Daredevil on the service rather than on my DVD player. And there it was, just sitting nonchalantly in the drop-down menu: Seasons 1, 2, 3.

Even then, I thought it might be a mistake. Like, maybe they were listing The Defenders as the third season of Daredevil. I clicked on S3, caught a glimpse of some episode titles, and knew in a beat that it wasn’t The Defenders. It was a brand new season of Daredevil, just waiting there for me like the best Christmas gift ever. My fangirl heart gave a howl of joy, and I happily commenced with re-watching S2 and The Defenders in anticipation of my first viewing of S3.

Little did I know, I was running out of time.

There are many things I love about Netflix (I mean come on, they saved Lucifer – if that doesn’t earn a lifetime of goodwill from me, nothing could). But one thing I really don’t like is how they take content away without reasonable warning. A movie or show that’s always been on your list can simply vanish without a trace. The only warning you might get, if you’re lucky, is a little notice at the top of the screen – IF you happen to be watching that particular movie or show in the month before it is scheduled to be removed. Otherwise, your content is simply gone, and if you wanted to watch it one more time, that’s just too bad for you.

Thankfully, I got lucky, both in the fact that I discovered Season Three when I did, and that I was actively watching S2 in the month before Netflix was going to take all the Marvel shows away. I did some quick math, and figured out that if I binged hard, I could still finish my re-watch of S2 and The Defenders, watch all of S3, and then have a few days left over to re-watch any S3 eps that caught my fancy.

It worked out beautifully. Normally, I try to resist binge watching because then the content is gone too soon. When I’m enjoying something, I like to draw it out as much as possible (Prime example of my insanely powerful restraint: I still haven’t watched the final season of Lucifer!). In this case, though, I had no choice but to watch it fast and furious, sometimes two episodes per night. Instead of holding myself back, I had every excuse to just let go and indulge. Wanna know what happens next? Guess what, you don’t have to wait! Just watch the next episode right now! It was glorious.

What made it even better was the fact that I really loved Season Three! It was by far my favorite season of the lot. I liked S2 more than S1 because it had romance, Foggy knew the secret, there was a cool juxtaposition between Daredevil and The Punisher, and I thought the writers did a better job of giving Matt some deficits as a blind person. That said, the main villain of S2 is an organization, and it’s hard to do character development with an organization. I really admired the way they developed Wilson Fisk in S1, and that was a little bit missing in S2. Thankfully, that beautiful character development was back in S3, where we got to know more about Foggy, Karen, and Matt’s families, as well as doing a deep dive into new characters Ray Nadeem and Ben Poindexter.

I got so invested in Ray and his family – I really, really didn’t want him to die, and my heart tore a little when he did. But the truly impressive thing was how the writers actually made Dex, who commits mass murder and all other manner of atrocities, a character you could also feel for. I mean, to see someone that screwed up trying so hard not to give in to his screwed-up nature, and then have someone manipulate that situation for their own gain, effectively ruining him in the process…I did have some (limited) sympathy.

All in all, Daredevil Season Three was everything I could have asked for – full of hurt/comfort, character development, people trying to do the right thing in horrifyingly bad circumstances, amazing fight sequences (the prison escape, the Bulletin massacre, the church attack), and what I wanted most: Matt, Foggy, and Karen reconnecting and their friendship looking stronger than ever. I was excited for the future of the characters, even though I’d likely never get to see what that future was. It left me smiling and wanting to write Daredevil fanfiction for the first time ever.

I’ve heard Daredevil makes a brief appearance in Spider-Man: Far From Home. So, I’ll probably get to see Matt one more time, at least. I truly hope Disney chooses to do something more with these great characters, but even if they don’t, I am okay. The joy I got from Season Three will last this fangirl a good, long time. 🙂