The fifth episode of Daredevil: Born Again’s sophomore season was all about character and the theme of redemption, mercy, and guilt. It made strong use of flashback in order to convey these themes, which ultimately felt like a love letter to the Netflix run, and delivered arguably the best episode of the season yet.
With Vanessa in the hospital and her fate unknown, Wilson Fisk spends most of the episode worrying and reminiscing. At the same time, Matt, of all people, is trying to save Bullseye from the wrath of the AVTF. While both men are locked into their current presents, they both end up thinking about their pasts, a key case with Foggy Nelson, and when Fisk first met Vanessa, just seen from a different perspective. To align with the Netflix run, the flashbacks are presented in full-screen. Matt and Foggy are still associates and haven’t formed their own firm yet, and end up debating the moral and legal dilemma of representing and potentially saving a drug dealer, who just so happens to be Foggy’s childhood friend named Lionel. Foggy argues that Lionel was a victim of his environment, leading him down a troubled career of crime and that he has the capacity for change. Matt argues that if you do the crime, you should do the time. Lionel predicts that powerful figures, in this case, Fisk, will have him killed in jail, so sending him to the penitentiary will be a death sentence for him if he makes a deal, something Foggy emphathizes with.
This theme of mercy and redemption is ultimately what propels the Bullseye thread forward. By all rights, Matt should leave Bullseye to be picked up by the AVTF. Bullseye did kill Foggy, an act that had a surprising moral conflict for the assassin. But Matt lingers and ultimately is convinced by Foggy’s message of mercy and second chances, which ultimately saves Bullseye’s life. Life isn’t without its little ironies. Karen, however, is not pleased to see Matt rescuing and sheltering Bullseye. I’m guessing she’d love to off him right then and there, Frank Castle style.
Vanessa ultimately wakes up, and I initially thought she would have brain damage to the point of not recognizing Fisk. But all seemed okay, despite a few quirks like a newfound appreciation for pineapple juice. Wilson tells the story of how they met, only for Vanessa to ask to hear that story again. Then Vanessa dies for real this time. As mentioned last week, it’s a testament to the writers and actors to make us care this much about the relationship of two terrible criminals. This false sense of hope, to have her on death’s door, only to come back for a moment, then be taken away, feels far more cruel for Wilson, and I can only imagine the horrors he’ll instill upon New York City as of next week.
Elsewhere in the episode, and in the flashbacks, we get a bit of time with Buck and Daniel. After Daniel reveals to BB Vanessa’s condition, the story breaks, and he fears for his life. Buck confirms he was in the SAS and owes a lot to Fisk, and we see that both he and Wesley from season one of Daredevil knew each other, and this is how Buck ended up working for the Kingpin. Luckily for Daniel, he wasn’t on the chopping block today, and if you were wondering who was in the trunk, that would be Christofi, whom Buck offed last week. Buck just needed some help with disposal, and Daniel keeps saying how he’ll do anything for Fisk, so there they are. But time is surely running out for Daniel.
But this week’s episode was just so good, and I’m glad this show is delivering the high-stakes character drama we crave from this franchise. Bring on next week!
