It’s exciting to watch a series that had such a shaky start steady itself under a single guiding voice. Dario Scardapane may have been the last person standing after Daredevil: Born Again co-creators Matt Corman and Chris Ord left the series in 2023, but the creative hangover was evident throughout last season, with the Marvel Television series feverishly seeking an identity, say nothing of narrative purchase. What exactly was Born Again season one? A faithful continuation of Netflix’s Daredevil? A hard reset? It inhabited both spaces at once and squeezed in a cute pocket episode with Ms. Marvel’s dad, making it a messy but mostly successful start. If this season premiere is anything to go by, Born Again is finally less concerned with reconciling legacy status with its new place at the MCU’s vanguard. That conviction, to be the best Daredevil show it can be within the Marvel schematic, is admirable.
This confidence carries over from last year’s head-cracking finale, where Mayor Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) effectively declared open season on vigilantism and placed New York City under martial law, leaving Matt Murdock/Daredevil (Charlie Cox) to build a small resistance with his reconciled partner-in-justice, Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll). True to Hornhead tradition, Murdock kicks off his latest season by striking back against his indomitable foe, tearing through the opening fight scene with a defiance exemplified by that new intersected “D” on his black-combat pajamas. Naturally, he wastes little time thrusting this symbol into the camera, a warning for Kingpin disguised as a logo—or maybe it’s the other way around.
See, resistance, like fascism, demands a symbol, and its effectiveness depends on who uses it. Season one began threading this idea during its ill-fated Muse arc, which, in a fresh subplot involving Murdock’s former flame and Fisk’s new mental-health commissioner, Dr. Heather Glenn (Margarita Levieva), has yet to be resolved. So far, this season feels even more energized by the concept of propaganda run amok in a hyper-connected world: Fisk spins Daredevil’s actions as terrorism, and some citizens seem to buy it, illustrating how public sentiment can be swayed with one strategically deployed headline; Daredevil’s new emblem might serve as a rallying symbol for his resistance, if the public can see it; pro-Fisk videos by BB Urich (Genneya Walton) wrap the mayor’s iron fist in a velvet glove; and a nameless chaos agent circulates clips online to weaken Fisk’s grip on the city. It’s a heady brew of competing narratives jockeying for dominance and all topical without being too didactic, the series’ most potent thematic flex yet. We’ll see where it goes, or if it maintains its potency.
For now, here’s our inciting incident: Murdock’s latest move in this war against the mayor results in the sinking of the Northern Star, an off-the-books freighter smuggling illegal weapons through the East River under hizzoner’s watch. As Murdock tells Karen: “It’s a crack in Fisk’s armor.” The sinking is also an introductory hook for the season. The resistance—aided by BB, who knows Kingpin murdered her uncle Ben (there are lots of those in the Marvel U)—and Fisk’s goons actively seek the captain and first mate of the Star, the only people who know what the ship contained and who approved its journey. It’s a moderate start notable for a series that’s spent weeks hyping up flashy crossovers and a sign that the tighter, character-driven conflicts that defined the show’s earlier incarnation and the better parts of its first season are back in force.
This decision to hold back, even when holding back involves sinking a freighter, also gives Scardapane and the writing team room to work out their themes of authoritarianism, which land in even more uneasy proximity to reality this time. First, there’s an acute tension between Murdock’s goals and Karen’s journalistic instincts simmering beneath their smooching and combative foreplay. Early on, Matt insists, “We expose that [Fisk is lining] his and his cronies’ pockets, show [the city] who he is…and he will be held accountable.” Karen’s silent response puts a damper on that pretty speech, a moment of sardonic humor that underscores the idea that men like Fisk, onscreen or off, rarely face the reckoning their actions invite.
Yet, this is still a superhero show. Good trumps evil, even if its methods get murky. And while Fisk is usually pretty good at evading justice, it’s hard to believe that, considering the current state of things beyond this series, Scardapane will let him slip through the cracks again after this mayoral run. (Born Again is many things, but a bleak mirror reflection of The Way Things Are it is not.) This fantasy world, no matter how familiar, draws a clear line between resistance and fascism; the characters on the wrong side of it simply need the right push to join the inexorable march toward Marvel’s brand new day. It’s too early to guess how many moral brick walls will delay Murdock in his war, or how high the cost will be in tearing them down. Karen can throw shade at Matt’s optimistic hopes for New York, but the MCU calculus favors its hero’s thesis.
And yet, Born Again has been cautious about current events and inventive in how they inform its story’s interpersonal dynamics and politics. So, with the Fisk storyline ramping up this season, Born Again aims for something more functional and entertaining: providing the catharsis that comes from watching this fight play out, even if we instinctively know how it will end.
And it is cathartic to see Daredevil launch his billy club through a militarized police force that breaks down the doors of New York’s citizenry, as they do to Detective Cherry (Clark Johnson) at the end of this week’s episode. And it’s perversely satisfying to see Fisk’s glowering right-hand Buck (Arty Froushan) make jack-booted Officer Powell (Hamish Allan-Headley) feel as tall as a two-dollar stack of dimes—even if Buck is just a more insidious version of what Powell represents and an artful demonstration of the prosaic concept of evil that keeps Born Again’s ideas of fascism sealed in its toy box.
Speaking of power and who wields it, Born Again tosses a curious ringer into this fight in Mr. Charles (Matthew Lillard), a Langley operative brought into Fisk’s inner circle seemingly against his will. With the sinking of the Northern Star attracting interests beyond Fisk’s orbit, this new player arrives as their emissary and a reminder that even kings must answer to someone. Charles’ abrasive manners irritate Kingpin in ways few others would dare, but the threat of further unwanted attention at Gracie Mansion compels Fisk to tolerate him—for now. Their dynamic is fun: Here’s someone who doesn’t quite buy the myth of Wilson Fisk and might even one day dispel it through capabilities yet to be revealed. Or Kingpin will drop Charles from a tall height. Time will tell.
Stray observations
- • In the episode’s final twist, Daredevil finds an unlikely ally in Bullseye (Wilson Bethel), the man who never misses except when he aims for the mayor.
- • No mention of Frank Castle’s (Jon Bernthal) escape from Red Hook Port. Gauging by his most recent appearance, he seems to be doing fine.
- • Speaking of, the Task Force’s dustup with The Punisher last season hasn’t diminished their fondness for brandishing his symbol even a little bit.
- • It’s interesting that the BB Urich interstitials are so much crappier than last year’s because they now serve as propaganda for the mayor. The awkward performances that set your teeth on edge, the green-screen framing—this ugliness feels intentional. Still, I miss the naturalism of these clips from season one.
- • Note the use of shaky cam during Murdock and Karen’s scenes and the steadiness during Fisk’s; it’s the series’ distractingly obvious display of chaos and order. Yet they seem rational in comparison to the ridiculousness of watching reality tilt its axis whenever Heather thinks she’s seeing Muse. Doctor, heal thyself.
- • The vigilante trial of Jack Duquesne might be the best use of Tony Dalton in the MCU since Hawkeye—or, at least, I’m sure hoping it will be. Swordsman has been a big zero so far.
- • Karen’s disguise wig: Now, where have I seen that before? Ah.
- • “We’re doomed to try.”
- • Mr. Charles: “I am what I am, Mrs. Fisk.” Vanessa: “I doubt that very much.”
- • Look, I love The Godfather, but there’s something remarkably douchey about putting a poster of the film over a fireplace.
- • Josie’s jukebox: James Hunter’s “Whatever It Takes,” Curtis Eugene Cross II’s “One Hundred,” Joey Valence & Brae’s “Hooligang,” Carla Thomas’s “Gee Whiz, Look At His Eyes,” Inner Circle’s “Bad Boys.”
Jarrod Jones is a contributor to The A.V. Club.
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