This is a spoiler-free review of the entire season.

One of the unfortunate side-effects of living in a world full of public figures at every turn making a mockery of the world we live in, is that there is perhaps no storyline in any drama is utilmately quite as terrifying as the real-life examples of tyranny, social justice and corruption that we see on our televisions and our phone screens.

Maybe that is the only true weakness of Season 2 of Daredevil: Born Again, a welcome return for the show that reminds us of the very best of Marvel Television. Charlie Cox is the Robert Downey Jr of the small-screen side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and his grounded performance as blind lawyer Matt Murdock, also known as Daredevil, remains a safe and welcome anchor for a show that has always been a treat to watch even when it’s not hitting its very highest of highs.

Season 2, by and large, continues to be as enjoyable as the first. The first half of the season is a little slow to get off the ground, with wheels turning every episode to mainly manouvre characters into place for when we finally hits the second half of the season. Whilst episodes are being released weekly on Tuesdays, the last four episodes of the eight-episode run build upon one another in a way that makes the back end of the season worth it to watch again in a full binge so that you can enjoy it like a three and a half hour (or so) movie.

Vincent D’Onofrio is outstanding once again, positively chewing the scenery every single time he appears, and in the decade or so since he started embodying the Kingpin, D’Onofrio has only honed the crime boss’ sense of menace to a point where you physically flinch during specific moments when he appears on screen.

For viewers who were shocked by his head-crushing moment in Season 1, be warned: there is more of this to come in Season 2. Body parts are not spared. A particular turning point for the Kingpin roughly halfway through the season leads to a spine chilling moment that you can see coming from a mile away, yet leaves you covering your eyes throughout.

Some side characters flourish in Season 2 as well: it’s truly good to be bad (or at least, morally ambiguous) this season. Vanessa (Ayelet Zurer) remains the beating heart of Fisk’s empire, and though she is arguably a little underused this season compared to the previous one, she steals the show in every one of her scenes, a fantastic foil for Fisk.

Daniel (Michael Gandolfini) also earns himself a compelling narrative, whilst so does Buck Cashman (Arty Froushan), Fisk’s right-hand fixer who surely had a blast raising the blood pressure of anyone who shared a scene with him. Margarita Levieva continues on in her role as Doctor Heather Glenn, now grappling with her trauma from Season 1 at the hands of Muse (and Matt). Her storyline is one that grows throughout the season, leading to a fun payoff at the very end of the run.

All I can say is that if we get a spinoff with her and [no spoilers, sorry!] at some point, I’d be delighted.

For Scooby-Doo fans, Shaggy’s back on our screens as mysterious figure Charles (Matthew Lillard), who provides light injections of humour throughout with his relatively chaotic presence, whilst also serving to highlight certain flaws and limitations the new Mayor of New York has that even he himself cannot fix.

It’s no secret that Krysten Ritter is back as Jessica Jones, and her inclusion in the back end of Season 2 does not feel shoehorned in as a set up for either a return to the Defenders or an Alias Investigations shows. In short: more JJ please, Marvel! Bullseye (Wilson Bethel) fans will also be pleased at the character’s return, with Bethel dialling up the anger and tensions in his character’s psyche in a manner that positively pops off the screen.

With so many characters getting more moments to shine, others ultimately fall into the background and – arguably – so does Daredevil himself. Every actor brings their A-Game to the show, but there are several, especially on the more ‘good’ side of the board, that feel either sidelined or a little underserved.

In that vein, the portrayal of ‘goodness’ or ‘righteousness’ (or however one wishes to characterise it), is the only major flaw to be found in Season 2, and whether it should even been considered a flaw at all will probably be down to how well the viewer themselves is coping in the world we live in today.

The show does not shy away from touching on some of socio-political issues we are seeing in the real world at present. In that sense, some of the resolutions or narratives can seem too easily resolved, a little too saccharine in the face of the real life monsters these characters parallel.

The Daredevil TV properties have always ruminated on what it means to take the law into your own hands, where exactly righteousness, goodness and heroism stand in a world where these concepts can be twisted and bent all too easily by those with the means to do so. In Season 2 of Born Again, how these conflicts live within Matt is probably least compelling exploration of the ‘shades of grey’ that exist within him there’s ever been. But is that really a bad thing for our present time period, to have a hero that so doggedly stands in the light?

For the hopeful watcher (and I would count myself amongst them) Daredevil: Born Again, Season 2 is more than ever a mirror through which we can escape, a brief space where villains are larger than life and where hopeful heroes are genuinely empowered to fight them, where people truly can and will find a way to come together. To some viewers, one can easily imagine how such messaging will feel disastisfying in the face of what stands right on our doorstep.

However, this ultimately feels like small nitpicking over what is still one of the best superhero tv shows out there right now. Season 2 comes across as an enjoyable transitional chapter for the show: one that richly experiments with the full strength of its large cast, plays with the limits of its voice, and still debates what makes a person a human versus a symbol. Like Daredevil himself, when the show lands, it lands on its feet. With a finale that leaves you on the edge of your seat and with some truly fanastic shots and fight sequences to boot, it leaves you not just satisfied, but genuinely excited for what Season 3 will bring.

Episode 1 of Daredevil: Born Again is out now on Disney+ , with new episodes every Tuesday.