We've discussed the first episode of Marvel's Daredevil series, but the last scene of the second episode is where things really start to pick up. It's a single fight scene, shot in one take, that lasts over five minutes and is wholly encapsulated in a single hallway.

The show's creative team knew how important that shot would be in getting people involved in the show.

"I think this was what started defining the show for me, and the weight that was being played into it. Phil Abraham was directing, and it was always scripted that this scene was going to be a one-shot. For me in my head, with the time, we had, I said let’s do wipes and we’ll be able save things," Philip J. Silvera, the show's stunt coordinator, told the Observer.

"But Phil challenged us to do a pure one-shot, which really just brought a grounded real feeling to the whole thing. We were able to slow down the fight, and just have this raw, animalistic feeling happening."

They made it work on shot seven or eight, and the show's lead switched placed with a stunt double for some of the fight, but it's a single shot, with no fakery and no cuts.

Why this is so amazing

The single shot action sequence is a showy way to get people talking online, just ask True Detective, but it only works when it's designed well, and this shot is designed perfectly. It shows what Daredevil can do in subtle ways; watch how he places his hand on the first door to hear, feel and smell how many people are inside and what weapons they're carrying. It takes half a beat, but he's putting together a mental image, and a plan.

Much of the fight happens offscreen as well, but when the battle spills out of the room into the frame it's almost used for humor. It takes someone with super-senses to know someone is running to join the fray and to get a piece of furniture ready to throw through the door at just the right time.

His movements grow increasingly slack yet heavy as the fight moves on

The offscreen moments also allow the camera to remain fixed on the door at the end of the hallway, which slams home just how important the end goal is. There is nothing in that hallway that's going to keep Murdock from getting to the young child held behind that door. It's not just an action scene, it's a gauntlet.

Which is another way this scene rises above the normal superhero action tropes; everyone involved gets tired. Murdock doesn't just put everyone down, he has to take a few runs at each adversary before they stay down. This fight is obviously inspired by a similar scene in Oldboy, but Daredevil runs with the basic ideas and makes it work in this world.

There are moments in the fight where both Daredevil and his opponents take a moment to rest and catch their breath, and then Murdock goes back to attacking them one by one, assessing the more pressing threat before moving onto the next one. Watch how he uses the wall to gain momentum in a tight space, while his movements grow increasingly slack yet weighty as the fight moves on.

He knows what he has to do, but his body is close to giving out through the entire scene. Heck, someone was pleading with him to go to the hospital, and that was before this fight begins. In one of the final moments of the fight the momentum of a punch actually causes him to fall over a body into one of the side rooms, out of the shot.

An interesting bit; many people I talked to assumed there were a few hidden cuts in here, including the moment where the camera pans across Daredevil's midsection to show the other end of the hallway. I wonder if there was any discussion about not just keeping the scene as one long shot, but also minimizing the moments that looked like they could be cuts.

Barring that bit of assumed misdirection, everything about this scene is nearly perfect. Once all the criminals have been beaten to the point they can't get up or fight back Murdock unlatches the door before thinking about what he's about to do.

He knows the kid has been terrorized, and he knows he's a guy in a black mask who just beat the shit out of piles of people with his bare hands. He takes a moment to remove the mask and reset his face and body language a bit to be less threatening. This is one of the rare times we get to see Murdock take a moment and knowingly go from vigilante to caring human being.

The moment, that intimate moment where Daredevil and the child are face to face and interacting, happens off camera. It's between them, not us. We don't even see them leave the building; the shot ends when they both leave the hallway, after a long five minute, one-cut scene. The conclusion is hard to miss: We're just voyeurs in this world. The victims, and the few people trying to make it better, are on their own.