Episode 10, The Man in the Box – The police find The Hand’s blood farm and Daredevil convinces Mahoney to let Claire treat the survivors in secret at the hospital to avoid The Hand’s retribution. Meanwhile, Matt Murdock pays Wilson Fisk a prison visit and the city gets shocked by more Punisher “over-killings” but Karen doesn’t think it adds up.
So over the course of the season, the show gives us a few outstanding separate arcs: Daredevil Vs Punisher, teaming with Elektra to fight The Hand, the trial of The Punisher, and Fisk’s budding prison empire. This final section of the season looks to be merging and combining them in some fantastic ways. Bringing likes of Claire and Mahoney into The Hand story arc broadens it well while also setting up some very creepy scenes at the hospital and giving Matt some much needed conversation time with Claire, "You’re a lot of bad things but boring is not one of them”. Their rooftop heart-to-heart is both highly efficient narrative in rekindling their friendship while expressing Matt’s personal conflict over the ideals of law and justice, and all while still being entertaining. Making Foggy a patient also provides good opportunities for him and Matt to have a reconciling bro down even if stubbornness still resides for now. The hospital scenes also deliver one hell of a cliff-hanger as the show jumps in the 67 Impala as it speeds into supernatural territory. As far Elektra’s scenes, despite resulting in a good fight (sai blades!), this feels like the weakest part of the episode. It’s really just shoehorned in to the rest of the episode to setup the idea of Elektra making a big surprise entrance back into Matt’s life next episode. This would have worked fine if they’d just found a way to link it in the rest of the episode better.
The best feature is about The Punisher's return to town arc the way it deepens the idea of a bigger conspiracy in the works as Karen starts to wonder whether he’s really behind this new wave of shooting sprees. " The shock witnesses sequence in the first act feels in keeping with the Irish massacre in the first episode with the windows and walls getting torn just as much as those inside. Yet through continued skillful use of Karen’s character, we establish the idea someone (or some organization) using a copycat approach to carry out their own agenda while nobody will think twice about accusing Frank Castle. It’s ploy behind Tom Cruise’s Jack Reacher film (or the Reacher novel One Shot). If you kill one person, people will look at the victim, kill many and all attention goes on the shooter as serial killer, making several unrelated kills to cover up the one intentional victim. In this case, the copycat just needs to scratch off enough names on Frank Castle’s supposed hit list to make anyone believe that any subsequent victims can be the product of the same motive. As for who, there’s the previously mentioned botched Government cover up following Frank’s family shooting and bullet to the brain. Could they be tidying up their loose ends? Or this could be our introduction to the elusive “Blacksmith” figure. The Hand can be ruled out as their MO involves discretion in the shadows. Wilson Fisk can never be ruled out but in this case, feels less likely.
Speaking of Fisk, there is absolutely no doubting the standout feature of this episode and in fact, one of the greatest scenes of the entire season, is the meeting between his meeting with Matt Murdock. As the big boss man observes, the pair did meet once before (un-masked at least) at Vanessa’s art gallery but this time, they do so as clear mutual enemies. Fisk is well aware that Nelson and Murdock put him behind bars, and Matt has deduced Fisk’s hand in making Frank Castle deliberately throw his trial. The changing balance of power between the pair is nothing short of magnificent as Matt exploits Fisk’s feelings for Vanessa only to find out firsthand how far Fisk’s influence and control have spread across the prison. We get to see Fisk in his full glorious rage that makes him feel like a vengeance God around feeble mortals, and even Matt sheds some of his usual composure. Fisk’s notions about being able to kill Matt regardless of the guards and officials around him harks back to Tom Wilkinson’s Carmine Falcone in Batman Begins, “That’s a power you can’t buy, the power of fear”. There’s plenty of good foreboding too as Fisk promises to concentrate his every resource on destroying Foggy and Matt upon his release and of course, Fisk’s request to re-review Matt’s files implying he’s connected two very critical dots.
Although following last episode, we’re much more concerned over what man or otherwise Nobu has in that iron casket, The Man in the Box is an episode that shows the season shifting up a gear with city wide panic, chaos, and great entertainment. An honourable mention must go out to Lantom, who in one singular moment, justifies his entire season presence as he forces Karen to take a police escort in open acknowledgement to failing Ben Ulrich. Suddenly, the mildly comical support figure vanishes in the place of someone still suffering in regret and blaming themselves for the death of their friend. This reminds us how great Daredevil really is.
Episode 11, .380 – The Hand assaults the hospital to recover the survivors of their blood farm with dire consequences for Claire. Both Matt and The Punisher separately track down leads to the allusive Blacksmith figure leading them to the same location.
The results of the last episode’s cliffhanger do not disappoint as the agents of The Hand scale and storm the hospital. The dark conditions really amplify the terror as Claire and her colleagues face the merciless killers. The conditions also play well to the ensuing actions as the mild strobe lightning energizes the frantic swipes and blows as Matt gets his hero on. Yet for all the adrenaline rush, the opening flurry delivers it’s the quieter aftermath scenes that provide the best material as we get our first real experiences of non-vigilantes reacting to The Hand, and with hints of conspiracy too. As unlikeable as he comes across, Claire’s boss reacts in most human and believable way possible for the hospital’s management with his “not in my hospital” approach. It’s the show’s best material yet in the justification of secrecy and groups like The Chased not having an Avengers-style public image; that even in a world of alien attacks and genocide driven robots, there are still some truths that people are not ready for. Learning that death is not a certainty upends your entire perspective of reality so we can completely understand why everyone is so keen to look in the other direction. The conveniently timed “large donation” further provokes the idea of conspiracy. Hey, at least The Hand pay their tab at the end of a night; that’s a lot better than most evil organizations. There’s also a fun feel of Claire kind of getting an origin story here. Her unwillingness to cooperate with the BS cover story implies that she’s transitioning from being an external civilian consultant in the fight against evil to a more active role. This could even be her departure for the season in setup for her part in Luke Cage’s series (in which we’ll also meet her mother, Soledad Temple).
After appearing back on the streets, John Bernthal is firing on all cylinders here. For anyone that still needed convincing of how great his performance is, he manages to make his sociopathic badass still sound cool while talking about love. Making Frank the conduit for Karen’s feelings over Matt to be discussed should have been two in the chest and one in the head for the episode, but it just works as Frank’s unorthodox arguments are refreshing and oddly relatable. Deborah Ann Woll gets her moments in too, especially as she connects the dots between her disdain for Matt and her friendship with Frank. That even though deep down Frank’s actions terrify her, she knows without question that with his straight talking approach, he will never lie to her. After feeling let down and betrayed by Matt, that is exactly what she needs right now. The more routine Punisher scenes of violence come with great escalation as Frank lets out a bigger leash on his rage the closer he gets to the truth yet in the climax, still manages to by genuinely moving in his vulnerability. The diner showdown induces Raid level wincing and it’s good to see Matt and Frank duking it out again.
The episode’s weak link is the Elektra/Stick story. Firstly, it really feels like we’ve skipped a few pages as Elektra goes from despatching the Frenchman at the airport to coming after Stick and other members of The Chased. Secondly, there isn’t any conscious effort to fill in the gaps as it all boils down to setup for the following episode. A little more clarity would have gone a long way.
So this episode is a classic deep breath before the plunge episode as all the pieces are moved in place for the final episodes. Whatever Nobu’s got in his easy bake iron casket appears ready to make an entrance. The blonde gangster’s cry of “Frank, long time no see” implies he’s either The Blacksmith himself or a key lieutenant (more likely) and their ways of finding the real deal. We even get a tease of Foggy Bear being snapped up by another law firm after owning it in The Punisher’s trial. Two to go and Hell’s Kitchen is getting ready for a war zone.
Episode 12, The Dark at the End of the Tunnel – After Elektra tries to kill Stick, The Hand busts in and captures him for torture and interrogation. Matt’s rescue attempt gets blindsided when The Hand’s agents figure out he’s tracking their weapons. After being convinced her Punisher story is not yet over, Karen tracks down more leads.
So as the season draws to a close, it’s time for The Hand to show their hand over their dastardly scheme and sure enough it revolves around the previously teased “Black Sky” weapon/asset. The exact means and nature of this are a bit of an anti-climax but everything along the way is excellent. Firstly, this is probably Daredevil’s most action packed episode all season, which harks back to strengths of Season 1, when Matt’s furious fists and feet were a bigger selling point. It’s all Hand Vs Chased warfare so it’s all an insane flurry of limbs, swords and sai like a Ninja Turtles-themed acid rave. The choreography throughout the episode is some of the best all season long but it impresses the most by the way it hits the reset button on Matt’s ability to fight these enemies. Ever since The Hand first showed up, we’ve been aware that Matt has been incapable of “seeing” or sensing them for their lack of heartbeats, making his fighting tactic depending on the sounds of their swords. Now, there’s nothing worse on a show with recurring villains than watching them fall for the same tricks over and over when we’re supposed to be viewing them as lethal and cunning. That is why it’s excellent to see that after a few encounters The Hand have actually sussed Matt’s weakness and fully exploit it by ditching their weapons to blind him for a good old fashioned slobbernocker fist pummelling. It also provides the perfect obstacle for Matt to overcome and level up both his fighting ability and mastery of his senses. Stick’s Obi Wan-like whispers are great little touch, and the man himself is a lot of fun this episode, especially when giving his own version of episode four’s Punisher torture stubbornness (“Only thing gonna crack tonight is your skull asshole”). Be warned though, the episode does have a few brutal moments for those queasy about fingernails and eyes.
Now, for all the joys, the Punisher stories have given us across the season, this episode gives the unfortunate impression of a rushed conclusion. With the Elektra and Hand elements taking priority, the season just ran out of road for a proper climax. The identity of The Blacksmith, the man that masterminded the drug gang massacre that killed Frank’s family, has been built up for several episodes. The result is a heavy disappointment in both who and how it comes to light. What should have been a shocking reveal feels like nothing more than an extended cameo and stamps out all themes of conspiracy into the dirt because of just how casually the curtain is dropped. Such as an elusive, invisible force in the criminal underworld owns up to it all like South Park’s Butters being tricked into the blame, “Yeah that’s right.... it was me”. Of course, once the penny drops on an unsuspecting Karen, there is some good tension and even better is Frank’s tape player message that he’s her guardian angel waiting for the right moment to strike. It’s like the story slips up only to spin in the air and recover itself. The play out of Frank’s long-awaited confrontation is also very well staged as a battle of his rage and humanity. When he drags Blacksmith to the woodshed, even he observes that all the available tools are like Christmas for a torturing sadist. Yet the powerful sight of Karen screaming and pleading with him outside in the snow symbolizes his humanity calling back to him in the darkness. It becomes an embodiment of his character’s development across the season following the influences of Karen and Daredevil on his single minded approach: that while some people do deserve to die, nobody is above some form of human rights. Even if that just means a clean death.
The young Elektra scenes are a nice touch even if the girl’s resemblance to Élodie Yung is a bit questionable. As are the Matt and Foggy scenes of not just defaulting to a normal again/super best avocado friends again. There’s no denying that Nelson & Murdock is closing its doors, but they swing shut with the pledge of the pair at least on the path back to friendship. So Daredevil sets up for its finale a little shakily with the feeling that not everything will round off perfectly but despite the points to be picked, the sheer entertainment value of the show is undeniable.
Episode 13, A Cold Day in Hell’s Kitchen – After foiling their scheme to obtain the Black Sky, Nobu and the Hand decrees that Daredevil must die, leading Matt and Elektra into a suicidal hostage rescue against all Hand forces; Foggy has a job interview with a familiar face and with his vengeance taken; The Punisher sets out to find a new mission.
Overall, the ending of this season doesn’t feel quite as strong as the first but at the same time, it'sbolder and deserves considerable respect for that. One of the most enjoyable features about season 1 was the way all major plots across the season concluded by the end; it was a complete story. Now in building upon that success and more assured of continuation (there’s no doubting we’ll get a Daredevil season 3), the show leaves many big points open and teasing. Some people will like that a lot but others will miss the more self-contained narrative. In terms of the finale, it hits all the right notes of going big on the action and drama. We see The Hand not only going to war against Daredevil as a person but as an idea in the way hostages are selected from police records of people he’s saved. It’s a statement against the futility of being a hero/vigilante in itself as they aim to demonstrate just how quickly all their good can be undone. This matched well as Matt & Elektra’s plan in essence revolves around doing the same to Nobu in the face of The Hand to cut the head off the snake, “Not to make him a martyr, to de-throne him”. It paints of wonderful picture of the battle between good and evil being fought between a few chosen champions but won or lost by belief of the ordinary masses around them. The Die Hard-like building hostage situation (who didn’t think of Sergeant Al Powell when the cop was radioing for back up while being shot up from above?) lets the show flex its biggest muscles of delivering jaw-dropping film quality fight sequences as Matt & Elektra take on ever increasing numbers of Hand ninjas. There’s also good simple escalation as we see some Hand members now wielding firearms instead of their more traditional armaments, that they are taking whatever means necessary to kill Daredevil. The rooftop showdown is particularly spectacular with themes of desperation and stunning camera work (I genuinely flinched back when Nobu’s blade swung in front of the camera).
Despite a lot of things working, there is sadly one major problem with this episode and the finale it presents: the villain. Nobu is great..... but he’s no Wilson Fisk. That’s not just a straight comparison of their characters but in story involvement throughout the season. The ultimate showdown between Daredevil and Fisk was so powerful last time around because of the investment we’d placed in Fisk’s character by that point. The combination of Vincent D’Onofrio’s performance and his heavy story involvement throughout the season meant we went into that fight knowing Fisk better than many of our direct family members; it mattered because it felt so dammed personal. We haven’t had anything close to that with Nobu this season, who if anything, has felt like a rushed tacked on figurehead for The Hand. He feels nothing more than an end of level boss fight rather than the epic final showdown he should be; he’s just a red shirt villain. At no point does he feel as formidable or visually impressive as his feature season 1 showdown with Matt in the Speak of the Devil episode. This is sadly a consequence of the season spending too much of its time telling separate stories without managing to merge them well enough: The Punisher story and teaming with Elektra to fight The Hand. If Nobu had been woven more into the earlier events and with a deeper personal connection for his character, then everything about this episode would have been elevated.
In keeping with the big costume reveal of last season’s finale, this sophomore offering closes with some more comic honoring apparel. After teasing us with the X-ray sheets all season, we finally see Jon Bernthal rocking the iconic skull design across his skull. The choice of a more metallic/silver design over traditional white plays nicely to his overall look. We’d still like to have seen more of it in action but we re-assured well that we haven’t seen the last of The Punisher to let that pass. Though most interesting costume developments come from Matt taking Elektra to see Melvin for an outfitting. It’s a fun play on Melvin’s character in that he’s already designed and built protective attire for his beloved Betty. You can just imagine him casually dropping into a dinner conversation and asking her to wear it under her clothes for safety like a Kevlar body stocking. On Elektra, it looks cool enough but doesn’t carry tremendous impact for looking a bit similar to her outfit from the previous episodes. However, there is a glistening divine cherry here when Matt is handed the spring line Billy Club commonly wielded by his literary counterpart... it’s awesome! Both its physical appearance and abilities stay within believability while being immensely cool. It finds the right balance of seeming like something Melvin could have constructed with his fabrication skill base while pushing the show and its titular character closer into comic territory. Melvin also finds his most touching line of the season in the process, “Some of us in Hell’s Kitchen, we know who’s really looking out for us”. Most importantly though, its arrival doesn’t herald a mass CG sequence of Matt swinging through New York like he’s Spider-Man in a Halloween costume. It adds to the show and character rather than twisting it into something else.
So let’s be clear here: despite some problems in its concluding episodes, Daredevil Season 2 has been incredible. It may not have battered its first season but in terms of the bigger character gambles taken, must be considered a firm success, especially in its first half. Foggy’s job interview is a great Universe linking bridge in the making and Karen’s concluding Ben Urich style voiceover is a wonderful touch, “What is it to be a hero? Look in the mirror and you’ll know”. And so that’s it for this Flix fix. Iron Fist casting news keeps on rolling in so keep an eye out for further announcements here on Epicstream and of course join us back here for some “Sweet Autumn” when the Luke Cage’s series drops on September 30th. See ya around, Redheads.