Episode Nine: “Straight to Hell”
After taking the bullet intended for Mayor Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio), Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) is hospitalized. Benjamin “Dex” Poindexter/Bullseye (Wilson Bethel) manages to flee without getting apprehended, and Fisk decides to cut off power to the entire city.
He also orders Buck Cashman (Arty Froushan) to kill Murdock, but he escapes and makes it back to his apartment. There, he finds Frank Castle/The Punisher (Jon Bernthal) with a fresh haircut and shave. Together, the two vigilantes fight off against a bunch of Fisk’s Anti-Vigilante Task Force officers.
Murdock’s apartment is destroyed due to a grenade, and he and Castle reunite with Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll). It is revealed she asked Castle to protect Murdock after learning of Dex’s escape from prison. Murdock and Page discover the Fisks are trying to establish a city-state in the Red Hook port from Foggy Nelson’s (Elden Henson) case file.
Red Hook would serve as an independent sovereign city, the center of political, economic and cultural life over its territory. Castle later fights and kills more AVTF officers but is subdued. Fisk’s campaign director, Sheila Rivera (Zabryna Guevara), exposes Fisk Commissioner Gallo’s (Michael Gaston) attempt to undermine him. Then, Fisk murders Gallo.
Heather Glenn (Margarita Levieva) is offered by Fisk to be his Mental Health Commissioner and she accepts. Fisk declares to New York citizens that the city is under martial law and vigilantism is outlawed. Later, viewers see Castle and Jack Duquesne/Swordsman (Tony Dalton) in cages at Red Hook.
With the help of Page, Murdock recruits Cherry (Clark Johnson), Detective Angie Kim (Ruibo Qian) and others to save the city from the hands of Wilson and Vanessa Fisk (Ayelet Zurer).
Filmmakers Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson deserve their flowers for what they had to work with from the original version of “Daredevil: Born Again” to what fans got in the final cut. The show is far from perfect. But under their direction alongside showrunner Dario Scardapane, it’s clear how much they love the original Netflix series.
The team deviates from the original series, deciding to embrace what made the original show work so well and include as many characters as they could. The patchwork done for this show continues to be remarkable, as well as the writing.
Viewers can easily determine whether the old or new teams shot certain scenes, but it is not too noticeable where it can become distracting. With season two filming and likely releasing next year, the new crew will have complete creative control over what will be in and out of the frame.
However, one of the biggest weaknesses by far in season one is the side characters. Any film or television show can face the problem of having too many characters for no good reason. Michael Gandolfini’s Daniel Blade and Levieva’s Glenn are solid, but Johnson’s Cherry and Nikki M. James as Kirsten McDuffie are terribly underwritten.
Their performances are fine, but their presence serves no purpose other than to be vessels to tell Murdock what he can and cannot do. Hopefully, they get better treatment once season two rolls around.
“Daredevil: Born Again” does feel like an adult show. There are plenty of uses of profanity, and of course, blood and violence, thanks to characters like the Punisher, Fisk and Hunter Doohan’s Muse.
Every now and then a character will crack a joke, but it is not on the same level as other MCU properties, where the comedy is non-stop and is just unfunny. It is used sparingly and references events fans know of.
Cox and D’Onofrio, who did so much to make sure this show is what the fans wanted, give great performances in the finale. No one knows how long they will be in these roles, but die-hard fans are surely thankful for the return of the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen and the Kingpin.
Rating: 3.5/5
