Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Friday, April 10, and Saturday, April 11. All times are Eastern.
Top pick
Marvel’s Daredevil (Netflix, 3:01 a.m., Friday): As the Marvel Cinematic Universe extends its spandex-ed reach to every broadcast medium (coming soon—The Champions, exclusively on your Zune!), Noel Murray checks in on Netflix’s first MCU effort, a moody, broody series about everyone’s favorite blind superguy, Daredevil. How’d they do? Noel gives it a B- for effort, but says there’s still good stuff to be found, especially if you like your heroes with a bit o’ grit:
Fans of the comics should appreciate the clear intent here to make a superhero series that doesn’t deviate too much from the source, or pull too many punches. This is a hard PG-13 (bordering on R-rated) Daredevil, with smatterings of profanity and near-nudity, and a level of blood and gore previously unseen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Nearly every episode builds to a brutal action set piece, with either the masked Matt or some criminal lackey beating the snot of an adversary, in sequences choreographed and shot for maximum visceral impact.
Judge for yourself—there’s a clip below—and then check in with Oliver Sava’s daily coverage over the next couple of weeks.
Also noted
Grimm (NBC, 8 p.m., Friday): Nick and Hank investigate a mysterious series of deaths caused by the fact that the victims are all frozen to death and stuff. Les Chappell is no doctor, but he’s gonna go ahead and call “supernatural” on this one.
12 Monkeys (Syfy, 9 p.m., Friday): In the season finale of this surprisingly enjoyable time travel series, Cole and Railly head for the final confrontation with their mortal enemies, no doubt settling all their troubles forever. And then Emily L. Stephens is like, “Um, guys, you know that since this is a whole time travel thing, nothing is ever really going to be settled for good, right?” And then Cole and Railly slowly turn and stare at her until she shrugs and walks away.
Comedy Bang! Bang! (IFC, 11 p.m., Friday): The episode is titled “Jack Black Wears An Embroidered Cowboy Shirt And Ox Blood Sneakers.” David Kallison says, “Nice spoilers, guys.” At least the delightfully ubiquitous Paul F. Tompkins shows up as a fun surprise. Oh crap! Sorry, David.
Childrens Hospital (Adult Swim, 11:59, Friday): It’s a comedy love triangle, when Nurse Beth (Beth Dover) gets involved with both Ken Marino’s Doctor Glenn and Rob Heubel’s Doctor Owen. While LaToya Ferguson thinks that’s a bad idea on several levels, she’s comforted that it will all be over in 11 minutes.