Meanwhile, the Fisks’ ominous ambitions for Red Hook crystallize. As it happens, the pier—the seat of Kingpin’s new criminal empire—is an 1885-era free port exempt from city and federal oversight. “I ran to save the city,” he tells Vanessa. “But opportunities present themselves.” After surviving Bullseye’s assassination attempt, Fisk is emboldened to take his plans to the next level, ordering a “Safer Street” initiative that deploys his cronies to hunt down vigilantes—no body cams, no due process, no warrants, no mercy. “Next, you’ll be condoning lethal force!” Commissioner Gallo (Michael Gaston) protests. “Encouraging!” Fisk shouts, swinging his fist with comic gusto. Hizzoner gives another order to Buck (Arty Froushan): Make damn sure Matt Murdock succumbs to his wound.
Before turning to the episode’s vigilante action, let me stay with Gallo, who implores Fisk’s distraught advisor, Sheila (Zabryna Guevara), to help him bring his objections to the governor. She’s watched her boss take liberties with his position throughout this season with increasing shades of disbelief and understands that the stakes are too high not to act. But what can be done to stop him? Gallo says he’s heading to Albany the following day, and while Shelia’s presence at the governor’s mansion would give weight to their cause, she decides to stay in town and play it safe. Sheila’s decision not to openly defy her boss saves her from a grisly death and ensures Gallo won’t have an open-casket funeral when he finally, inevitably, meets his. (R.I.P., Commissioner Gallo; you were far too ornery for this world.)
With all the vicious Kingpin-related stuff that’s been going on this season, it’s sometimes easy to forget that this is a show about Matt Murdock. In truth, Born Again is more an ensemble piece than a dedicated character study like its prior incarnation. “Straight To Hell,” true to form, spends quite a lot of time further ratcheting its stakes before returning to the various plights of its hero. Eventually, as Buck descends on Murdock during the citywide blackout, he springs to action, gunshot wound and all, and high-tails it to his apartment. There, Matt finds an unexpected visitor: Punisher, who greets his reluctant comrade-in-arms with typical Frank Castle charm. “You know you’re a wall-to-wall asshole?” Frank asks, suited up for a battle he’s avoided too long. “I got a phone call—changed my mind,” he admits. From whom? None other than Karen Page.
Before Matt and Karen’s (and Frank’s) reunion, we finally arrive at the moment that’s been building since the White Tiger assassination in episode three: Punisher and Daredevil versus Kingpin’s Castle-idolizing Task Force. After a violent scrum, Hector Ayala’s (Kamar de los Reyes) killer is revealed: Officer Cole North (Jeremy Isaiah Earl), fitted out in one of those ridiculous skull flak jackets the Task Force wears without irony. There’s some predictable growling from Frank, who insists Matt kill the cop, but Matt’s sense of vengeance isn’t directed at Fisk’s lackeys. One explosion later (R.I.P., Matt’s apartment), Karen swings by for a rescue pick-up. Later, in the storage unit owned by Nelson, Murdock & Page, Matt and Karen compare heartbeats during their reunion while looking for a never-filed motion to dismiss the Red Hook case. Matt says he heard Karen and Frank’s hearts go pitter-patter back at Punisher’s hideout. “Adrenaline, I’m sure,” she says. Karen asks him if he heard hers when she saw Matt again. “Yeah,” he responds. “Adrenaline, I’m sure.”
We now pivot to an emergency city council meeting, where Daniel Blake (Michael Gandolfini) delivers a brief on the “Safer Street” initiative. “This makes ‘Stop And Frisk’ look like daycare,” the deputy speaker protests, which Blake notes, stating unequivocally that dissent in the ranks will not be tolerated. Blake has wormed his way into becoming a useful stooge in the Kingpin’s mayorship; when one cabinet member says his notes resemble an “enemies list,” he pivots genially and calls it “outreach.” He pivots further and addresses the Council Speaker directly concerning her shady investments in city real estate. “[The mayor] hopes that Safer Streets has your full support. If not, let us know,” he says, gesturing to Buck, who glowers in the shadows. “We’ll make arrangements.” (A Gandolfini out-muscling folks in city government who believe they’re smarter than him? What show are we watching again?)
As the city descends into riots and looting, and the Task Force plants vigilante evidence on whomever they kill, Matt comes to a grim realization concerning the mayor’s plans: achieving a city-state where he rules as a king. The irony is that the army that supports Kingpin’s fiefdom is built on vigilante worship. “It’s an honor to meet you, Castle,” Officer Powell (Hamish Allan-Headley) says to his hero, who took three buck shots to the back and found himself at the mercy of the fanboys who have taken his symbol and perverted it. It’s a scene that’s been a long time coming for Marvel and its Punisher character, as his mission and purpose have become a popular standard for members of the police and military. “You think you know me? My pain? You’re a bunch of clowns,” Frank tells his would-be brothers-in-arms. It’s not what they want to hear.
It proves a busy night at the Red Hook pier. Wounded and outgunned (with Frank sleeping off his police heart-to-heart in a cell), Daredevil faces a tough decision to walk away. “You will die, or you will kill,” Karen says. “You can go down there, and you can fight [Fisk],” she says. Or, Daredevil can cool his jets until next season after he’s amassed an army of his own—former cops like Cherry (Clark Johnson) and the like willing to fight the good fight against a tyrant king—and set their base operations at Josie’s Bar, where this surprising and violent sequence of events began with Foggy Nelson’s death. It took him too long to come around to accepting his destiny as a hero vigilante, and biding his time only emboldened his greatest enemy, but the Devil Of Hell’s Kitchen is finally home where he belongs and spoiling for a fight.
One aspect of Born Again that has not gone unnoticed is how the Fisk ascendancy has painted a vivid picture of the strongman politician and how they exploit calamity to enhance their strength. It’s another thing that the series has excelled at: drawing clear parallels to certain real-world figures without letting reality overshadow character or letting didacticism overwhelm the story. Fisk’s methods of dominance—removing “disloyal” staff members, emboldening violent militants, and unlawfully imprisoning perceived threats—aren’t inventions of comic-book villainy; they’re the well-documented steps in the authoritarian playbook. Yet, whether by luck (if you want to call it that) or design, the prescient “Straight To Hell” rightfully amplifies recent real-world developments into distorted, vicious fiction. Fisk is no Trump (he’s too shrewd—plus, he isn’t real), but his belligerent overthrow of law and order is no less disturbing to watch. Remember Gallo’s final words to Shelia and try not to get too depressed: “We’ll get through this. The city always does.” We’ll see.
Stray observations
- • As we turn the lights out at Josie’s Bar (for now), I’d like to take a moment to commend the Newton Brothers for their terrific retooling of John Paesano’s Daredevil theme. I’ve been humming it for two months straight.
- • Sidebar from last week: If Bullseye was so hellbent on killing Fisk, why did he only fire once?
- • What brand of aftershave do you suppose Punisher wears?
- • Frank: “Why would you take a bullet for that asshole?” Matt: “That is a good question.” Something to explore next season.
- • I hope Matt has renter’s insurance.
- • “Avocados at Law.” A cornball joke from original-recipe Daredevil that resonated surprisingly well this week. Maybe Elden Henson will get a flashback next season.
- • The newest member of the Fisk administration: Dr. Heather Glenn, Commissioner of Mental Health. I think she and Matt are done, you guys.
- • Josie’s jukebox: Florida Mass Choir’s “Storm Cloud Rising,” Roberta Flack’s “Killing Me Softly With his Song,” Radiohead’s “Everything In Its Right Place.”
