Last week’s White Tiger drama proves to be a tough act to follow. In the aftermath of Hector Ayala’s (Kamar de los Reyes) murder, Daredevil: Born Again slows its already sluggish hero’s journey with a crowded installment that dwells on character moments, minor revelations, and a small-time case for Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) that highlights the inequities faced by New York City’s most vulnerable citizens. While it’s somewhat disheartening to see this week’s episode not even attempt to surpass or even match last week’s dramatic high point, there’s just enough here to sink our teeth into. Perhaps the biggest contribution of this latest installment is that it advances the pursuit of the mysterious gang of Punisher-idolizing cops introduced over the last three hours—enough to lead Matt straight to the lair of Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal) himself.  

The reunion of Cox and Bernthal, a major selling point for Born Again, is a prime reminder of how Bernthal’s commanding tough-guy schtick can create a power imbalance if given too much space to breathe. Recall, for instance, the Punisher’s trial in Daredevil season two, which provided the actor a platform to showcase his signature intensity before going berserk in a spin-off series. This week, the charismatic balance between Cox and Bernthal operates not unlike a see-saw, with Frank and Matt taking turns chopping it up over their shared disillusionment with justice. This shouty scene nudges Matt ever closer to reclaiming his vigilante roots while also planting seeds for a seemingly imminent Daredevil/Punisher team-up; as for whether Frank’s appearance will lead to a new Disney+ Punisher series, we’ll have to file a motion for discovery.

One troubling outcome following the murder of Hector Ayala is Matt’s failure to take responsibility for publicly exposing Hector as a vigilante without his client’s consent. There’s little time to mourn Hector during the episode’s cold open at the morgue, where his niece, Angela Del Toro (Camila Rodriguez), appears as Matt collects her uncle’s belongings. Her fury over the injustice of the situation feels righteous, yet Matt is strangely detached in this scene. “You have to believe that someone will find his killer,” he tells her. 

Those words might have resonated if there had been any substantial pursuit on his part to uncover the truth this week. All he achieves is discovering a spent bullet casing (with a ridiculous skull printed on its side) and engaging in a growling match with Frank that acknowledges the Punisher’s “bullshit fanboys” (the NYPD officers who bear his symbol) but does little to close in on Hector’s killer. Aside from another confrontation between Murdock and Officer Powell (Hamish Allan-Headley), who appears genuinely oblivious to the assassin’s identity, the impact of the White Tiger affair dwindles.

Directed by Jeffrey Nachmanoff (Traitor, Replicas) and written by Jesse Wigutow and David Feige (no relation to Kevin, though he happens to be a lawyer), this week’s episode offers little more than meandering thematic playtime. Here, justice comes in multiple flavors: both Frank’s blunt-force approach and Matt’s conflicted understanding of it, highlighting how justice serves (or often fails to serve) those most in need of its grace. Matt embodies the classic bleeding heart, inclined to take on pro-bono cases even when his firm hasn’t been asked to, which has unintentionally put Murdock & McDuffie in financial jeopardy (a new problem for a future episode, perhaps). This week introduces another hard-luck case: Leroy Bradford (Charlie Hudson III), a homeless man caught by the NYPD for lifting a couple of boxes of Fiddle Faddle, a petty crime that will land this repeat offender in Rikers for an extended stay should Matt fail to work his legal magic.

This week, forgiveness, or the lack of it, drives the Fisks’ story. Kingpin (Vincent D’Onofrio) and Vanessa’s (Ayelet Zurer) latest unhappy therapy session with Dr. Heather Glenn (Margarita Levieva) opens a wound that New York’s mayor would prefer to keep closed: Vanessa’s infidelity with the faceless “Adam,” who entered her life during Wilson’s Disney+ tour through Hawkeye and Echo. The latter series, you’ll recall, concludes with the Kingpin’s lethal protégé (Alaqua Cox) shooting him in the face, from which Hizzoner has recovered astonishingly well. This doesn’t shake Vanessa: “[Adam] was like finding a Klee at a garage sale,” she dishes to Heather, reflecting with satisfaction on the artist’s hands that kept her amused while her cuckolded husband convalesced elsewhere. 

With Fisk’s adversarial impasse with Daredevil on the back burner these past few weeks, opportunities to witness New York’s latest mayor truly chafe under the pressures of his new role have been scarce. His strained relationship with Vanessa compensates for this lack, especially this week with one mild mayoral misstep: Office aide Daniel Blake (Michael Gandolfini), during a ketamine-induced lapse, leaks Fisk’s plans regarding the garbage unions to BB Urich (Genneya Walton). Fortunately, Vanessa’s vivid memories of her former lover provided all the sordid drama I could want in this respect. Besides, any extra time watching D’Onofrio and Zurer shift uncomfortably on that therapist’s couch is time well spent; Zurer captures the pain of her character’s broken marriage and how it mirrors the bitter memories of her father with steely grace. D’Onofrio looks like he wants to bare-knuckle box with a boulder. 

I feel for Levieva during these scenes. Her character is already poorly developed, but sitting in this room she’s the least interesting person there by a substantial margin. That might explain why Dr. Glenn pulls Vanessa aside to inquire about her safety later on. While any professional therapist would do this if they suspected someone was in danger from their spouse, Vanessa’s response—”You’re so sweet”—only emphasizes how weak Heather (and her gesture) really is.

This week isn’t all drippy drama. We learn that Wilson was fibbing when he promised Vanessa he wouldn’t hurt Adam for their infidelity during the premiere. During Dr. Glenn’s therapy session, he admits to confronting Adam (offscreen), eliminating any chance for his wife to end the affair on her terms. (“A ridiculous term,” Wilson huffs.) Later, Adam’s fate is revealed—it seems Kingpin has set up a man den/penitentiary where he can hang out with his new artist friend (he displays Rabbit In A Snowstorm, that blood-spattered painting from the Netflix era, near Adam’s cell) while indulging in a rich diet of sausages, pasta, and red wine. It’s a demented reveal that aligns more closely with the Kingpin’s frenzied character ticks from the previous series. Naturally, where Adam ends up next shouldn’t take much imagination. The guy is most certainly cooked. But first, Kingpin savors his vengeance—and that big platter of food. So much for forgiveness.

Returning to Matt, who spends a few seconds contemplating the devil horn that Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll) gave him back in the first episode (lest we forget this is a show about Daredevil), his time with Leroy proves to be both frustrating and humbling. Leroy is evasive in their first interview—he denies stealing the Fiddle Faddle, and when Matt reminds him that the convenience store had cameras, he claims he paid for the boxes a week earlier. When that doesn’t work, he suggests a Skrull doppelganger (lest we forget we’re watching a series set in the MCU). Despite this looseness with the truth, Leroy demands leniency and probation from his attorney, which Matt manages to finagle through a jargony flirt session with city prosecutor Sofija Ozola (Elizabeth A. Davis). They discuss the fallacy of deterrence, a punitive approach that, as Leroy’s situation illustrates, makes it nearly impossible for him to recover from past mistakes. 

On a character note, it’s quite a trip watching Mr. Matthew Murdock, attorney-at-law, charm his way toward a favorable sentence for Leroy with Sojija. The two exhibit serious chemistry—just observe how she ogles our boy as he leaves the room—more so, distressingly, than he does with Dr. Glenn. It’s a fun bit of writing. More than that, the scene underscores the city’s unfair justice system, where someone’s freedom is determined by whether a stranger in power happens to be in a good mood while another shows a willingness to go above and beyond in their pro-bono advocacy for a multiple offender. While Matt does secure leniency for Leroy, it’s another setback for his client. After describing the endless downward spiral he’s experienced throughout his adult life, Leroy puts it best: “[The city] is willing to spend five times more to lock me up than they are willing to feed me.” Where’s the justice here?   

In his pursuit of a safer, more law-abiding life, Matt has become numb to the system’s byzantine unfairness. Being just another stuffed suit in a courthouse has made him aware that deference to the system enables it to crush troubled people like Leroy, kill heroes like Hector, and achieve nothing for slain people like Foggy Nelson. Matt’s emotionally backed up, but at least his splotchy bro-down with Frank towards the end of the episode loosens some of that spiritual logjam. “Foggy was the kindest, purest soul I ever met,” Matt confides. “Guys like you and me? We can work a lifetime and never measure up to his decency.”

More than a glorified cameo, Frank Castle’s guttural bellowing serves a purpose: Matt realizes that in a city ruled by fear, its good people will suffer; to avenge them, there must be a willing few to take justice into their own hands. “You ever feel like you’re pushing a rock up a hill and there’s a bunch of people on the other side pushing it back?” Matt asks Heather at the end of his day, emotionally spent and questioning every decision he’s made since Foggy’s death. Later, he stands on his building’s rooftop, working out the kinks from his rusty billy club reflexes, knowing he’ll soon need to break his knuckles against the thin blue line that stole Hector’s life. Decency, he may find, comes afterward—if it comes at all.

Stray observations

• • Not one, but two choir renditions of Starship’s “We Built This City (On Rock and Roll)”—truly, Wilson Fisk is paying for his hubris. We’re paying with him! Add both silly renditions to Josie’s Jukebox; it’s only fair.
• • “In the fullness of time, you’ll make a better man,” Fisk tells Daniel Blake, the mayoral aide that I’ve largely avoided discussing here. But whatever his function in the series turns out to be (Fisk Jr.? Sacrificial lamb?), Michael Gandolfini’s plucky performance has been a joy. Watching Kingpin put his hand on Gandolfini’s shoulder feels like some deranged knighthood is taking place—one crime lord bestowing power to a new ascendant one.   
• • Is anyone else curious about where Matt got his variant costumes made? If I recall correctly, Melvin Potter retired his vigilante tailoring business in Daredevil season three. 
• • This week’s stinger features Muse, the graffiti artist/serial killer created by Charles Soule and Ron Garney (first appearance: Daredevil Vol. 5 #11, 2016). How much do you want to bet that his alter ego was that sketchy kid who solicited Heather’s professional services last week? 
• • The credits list Leroy’s last name as “Mancini,” but we clearly hear Matt call him “Bradford.” What happened there? 
• • Adam is played by Lou Taylor Pucci, whom indie-film heads will recall from 2004’s Thumbsucker, co-starring Vincent D’Onofrio. (He also played the hippie dude Eric in Fede Alvarez’s Evil Dead remake.)
• • What say you, group? Will Adam and Wilson let bygones be bygones? Is Angela being set up as White Tiger 2.0? Which color Daredevil suit will Matt wear when he finally embraces his Hornhead identity? When was the last time you cracked open a box of Fiddle Faddle?