Episode Eight: “Isle of Joy”
Fans who have watched all three seasons of Netflix’s “Daredevil” (2015-2018) series may feel underwhelmed with how different “Daredevil: Born Again” (2025) feels and looks. Of course, the first version of the show was quite the opposite of what fans have now.
“Daredevil: Born Again” is a tale of two creative teams. One team wanted to deviate from the Netflix show as much as they could. Another team was brought on later to make the show a strong continuation of the lives of Matt Murdock/Daredevil (Charlie Cox) and Wilson Fisk/Kingpin (Vincent D’Onofrio).
The patching and stitching of old and new scenes is noticeable. Still, showrunner Dario Scardapane and filmmakers Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead did as good of a job as anyone could with their resources.
Episode eight and the show’s finale were shot and written by the new creative team. If, for whatever reason, those who may believe “Daredevil: Born Again” could not live up to the Netflix version, they will be proven wrong with this week’s latest episode.
The episode’s opening sees the return of Benjamin “Dex” Poindexter/Bullseye (Wilson Bethel) as he is transferred from solitary confinement to the general population of the prison where he is incarcerated under Fisk’s orders.
Later, Fisk invites Heather Glenn (Margarita Levieva) to a Black & White Ball fundraiser hosted by him and Vanessa (Ayelet Zurer). He also reveals he has kept her affair partner, Adam (Lou Taylor Pucci), in a cell beneath their home and watches as she fatally shoots Adam.
Upon learning she was invited to Fisk’s ball, Murdock further strains his relationship with Heather and contests her anti-vigilante views. At Josie’s Bar, Murdock realizes that Foggy (Elden Henson) was celebrating an impending court win the night he was killed by Dex.
Murdock goes to interrogate Dex in prison but fails to get any information out of him. Murdock only makes matters worse by injuring Dex, who uses a broken tooth to escape prison, killing a doctor and a guard along the way.
At the ball, Fisk blackmails Jack Duquesne (Tony Dalton), who is the vigilante Swordsman. Fisk also blackmails countless other socialites into supporting his port project. Aware of Fisk’s involvement in her uncle’s murder, BB Urich (Genneya Walton) speaks with Commissioner Gallo (Michael Gaston) about taking down Fisk and his Anti-Vigilante Task Force.
Murdock soon realizes Vanessa was the one to hire Dex to kill Foggy and not Fisk. As couples are dancing, Murdock confronts her. Dex makes his way to the ball to kill Fisk, but Murdock instead shields Fisk by taking the bullet. Murdock ends up in the same position as his dear friend Foggy in episode one.
It is no surprise the episode is more in line with the tone and filmmaking present in the Netflix series. The energy is what fans were starving for.
The nature of Daredevil and his stories are dangerous, violent and mature. Each one deals with heavy themes often associated with Catholicism, morality and the justice system. While what was shot previously in the first rendition of the show was not terrible, it is nice to see that Marvel listened to what fans wanted and responded.
Episode eight, titled “Isle of Joy,” is far better in every conceivable way than what the previous episodes had to offer. One of the biggest differences is the cinematography.
For the most part, “Daredevil: Born Again” looks like any regular television show. It is often shot with flat lighting and no real stark contrasts, like how the Netflix show was presented. Episode eight looks like a comic book, and never once does it shy away from experimenting. Instead, it keeps expanding.
“Isle of Joy” is truly something special and serves as a great setup for what chaos and action are to come in next week’s finale.
