It’s been seven years since Matt Murdock last graced our screens with a solo adventure. Because of that time gap, Daredevil Born Again finds itself facing the nearly impossible task of reintroducing the characters and world of Daredevil to newcomers while still feeling like the same show of the past. It’s because of this task that the first two episodes of the show have left me feeling empty. While I’ve enjoyed seeing Charlie Cox portray everyone’s favorite blind superhero, sorry Madame Web, Born Again appears to be a show that struggles with implementing the already existing world of Netflix’s Daredevil into the sometimes overly complicated world of the MCU.

While I mostly enjoyed the first two seasons of Daredevil, I eventually lost interest in the show and never watched the Defenders mini-series or the third season of Daredevil. I bring that up because the first episode of Born Again feels like a direct continuation of the original show, casually showing characters that it feels like I should have a connection with but sadly don’t. Yes, I remember Karen and Foggy but everyone else… who are these people? Even the villain that shows up in the opening of episode one left me guessing. Don’t get me wrong, the show gave me enough context to understand that the person on screen was evil, but I was also sitting there going, “who are you again?”

As I said earlier, the disconnect between the Daredevil show and the MCU is apparent, at least for me. As an example, when does this show take place? Matt Murdock appearing in No Way Home is fine. In fact, I have a pretty good guess for when that would have taken place, but what about She-Hulk? Is Born Again before Matt’s adventures in California? I hate to come off like I’m nitpicking, but I enjoy the fact everything in the MCU is connected and I get frustrated when Marvel gets careless with one of its shows or movies.

On top of my issues with when the show takes place, I’m also confused about where. The New York City that’s presented just doesn’t feel like the same place that I’ve watched Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, The Avengers, or even Kate Bishop save multiple times. I wouldn’t be upset if there was an explanation given for the city’s change of tone, but the show never seems interested in slowing down enough to help build this new world in which the show takes place.

With all this said, because of the classic Daredevil action and the outstanding performances from Charlie Cox and Vincent D’onofrio, I’m not remotely close to giving up on the show. Hopefully, next week’s episode will move the story along enough so that audiences can start to understand just what the plot of this season will be. If it continues to be more of the same, well… let’s just hope that’s not the case. For now, though, let me leave you with a very serious review score. I’m giving Daredevil Born Again 6.75 Philly cheese steaks out of 10.