In the end — or at least in its penultimate installment — “Daredevil: Born Again” kept things pretty simple. For weeks we’ve noted the contrasts and parallels between Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) and Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) as they circled each other ahead of an inevitable showdown.
But it was also always about a man grieving his best friend and fighting the less savory emotions that come with that. Justice was served in the assassination of Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson), but was that ever going to be enough for Matt? Will anything?
The twain converge in Episode 108, “Isle of Joy,” directed Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead and written by Jesse Wigutow & Dario Scardapane. After being held hostage and shooting her captor in Episode 7, Heather (Margarita Levieva) is invited to a black and white ball by Mayor Fisk himself — an invitation that Matt rightfully views as a threat. The mere mention of Fisk’s name is enough to catapult Matt’s relationship into rocky territory; despite the trust and comfort of his life with Heather, the past and the truth are closing in at the worst possible time. With Fisk in the periphery — or at her office, or in the same ballroom — every second is an opportunity to reveal Matt’s true identity and push Heather out of his life for good.
The second wrench comes in the form of Foggy’s killer Benjamin Poindexter (Wilson Bethel), who requests a meeting with Matt that plants the idea of him working as a hired gun. Their short scene together illustrates just how close to the surface Matt aggression lives. He may have donned the mask and suit and beat up opponents over the last eight episodes, but Poindexter elicits a special kind of resentment. When Matt smashes his head into the table and blames the victim, it sure feels like the type of tactic more prevalent on say, Fisk’s anti-vigilante Task Force.
Marvel shows and movies are known for combative set pieces, but “Isle of Joy” makes a case for mixing that up with extravagance (even James Bond is required to dress up and go to parties). The Mayor’s ball is an absolute feast for the senses; the black-and-white costumes, the massive number of performers, the layout and possibility of the space. In this setting, the episode shifts between covert conversations, furtive looks, confrontations behind doors, and everything in between. It’s both spectacularly theatrical and immensely realistic.
Benson and Moorhead find opportunities to play within that, especially with lighting and color. Most of the background players are in black, with only Heather and Fisk fully in white and Vanessa providing a potent pop of red (she just killed a man, recently tried to kill another, and is responsible for killing Foggy. It’s not subtle and it’s not supposed to be!) that pairs with Matt’s glasses — and eventually, his blood. The lighting around Poindexter goes a chilling shade of blue both in the prison hospital and when he’s preparing to shoot his gun into the party. When Fisk speaks privately with Jack (Tony Dalton), the cameras flirt with mirrors around the room and the idea of his many personas.
Vanessa’s power hasn’t exactly been concealed all season, so it’s not a shock that she ordered the hit on Foggy — and ostensibly the one that misses Fisk at the end of this episode. Matt accidentally, but undeniably, takes a bullet for his enemy, entangling them even further.
Meanwhile, Matt makes increasingly less sense the longer he hides his past from Heather; by the time they’re on the dance floor, he might as well be speaking a different language. At what point does he tell her so that it all clicks into place? Does he ever? Between the danger to her life and her own anti-vigilante values, it does seem like the truth of the mask is a hard line they can never cross.
IW on the Street
- I can’t help but admire the sitcom-level irony in Matt and Heather arguing about vigilantes and the Muse fallout. “Not sure you can put Muse and Daredevil in the same category…” “You weren’t there, Matt!” Cue laughter!
- Fisk on Adam: “I hear his voice, I see his hands, it’s unbearable” — because Vanessa loved his hands! This shit is hilarious!!
- The shot of Adam’s dead body through the gap between Fisk and Vanessa, embracing amid their rekindled love? YIKES (complimentary).
- J’adore a strategically deployed “Fuck you!” Watch out, Deadpool!
- Respectfully, how are Daniel and BB friends, like this guy is being radicalized before our very eyes?
Grade: B
New episodes of “Daredevil: Born Again” start streaming Tuesday nights on Disney+. Season 1 concludes on Tuesday, April 15.
