Summary
Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 finally erupts into chaos, both literally and interpersonally, with “Requiem” delivering big in several areas while also feeling a bit trapped by its own moral dilemmas.
You can tell that Daredevil: Born Again is reaching a fever pitch in Season 2, since “Requiem” feels in many ways like an effort to stuff as many on-brand things as possible into a single episode. You’ve got Matt and Karen reaching a moral impasse, Jessica Jones returning, and a showdown between Daredevil and Kingpin in front of the Rabbit in a Snowstorm painting once again. Episode 6 isn’t a finale – there are still two outings left – but it could definitely pass as one if you squinted a bit.
It’s good stuff, needless to say. The Matt/Fisk fight is very good, it’s nice to see Jessica Jones again, even if her powers are on the fritz and it’s a bit of an ass-pull that she’s suddenly involved, and the escalating tensions on the street and interpersonally are working well. You could make the argument that it’s a bit tedious after three seasons of the Netflix series and two seasons of this one that Matt is still toing and froing about whether it’s morally prudent to take a life or not, but that’s kind of essential to Daredevil’s status as an avatar of masochistic Irish-Catholic self-penance, so what can you do?
Fisk Has Lost It (Even More Than Usual)
I said when Vanessa passed away that there was going to be hell to pay for it, and, well… I was right. Not that it wasn’t blatantly obvious, but it was worth mentioning, since Fisk having a tantrum is one thing, but him having a tantrum as the Mayor is quite another.
His first order of business is to bear hug the doctor who extends him condolences to death right there at Vanessa’s bedside. Later, at Vanessa’s funeral, Fisk leaves silently, without addressing anyone. Not a good sign.
Vengeance Isn’t Justice (Or Is It?)
Following on from the end of the previous episode, Matt and Karen are still nursing Bullseye back to health, and the latter is not fond of this. Soledad reluctantly treats his wounds and gives him a 50/50 prognosis, but Matt has stuff to do, so his recovery is contingent on Karen babysitting him and not putting a bullet between his eyes, which is easier said than done.
This moral dilemma is obviously essential to Daredevil as a character, but it’s also really hard to see Daredevil’s point of view at this point because he has been proven wrong so repeatedly that it’s starting not to make sense anymore. Here, Karen recalls the night Dex killed Father Lantom (and almost Matt himself), and wonders whether killing Fisk even back then would have been the better option. And she’s right!
This isn’t to say that taking a life is no big deal, but Daredevil’s insistence on leaving justice to the system has repeatedly backfired. Fisk didn’t stay in jail. Bullseye didn’t stay in jail. Foggy is dead as a result. There’s chaos on the streets. Sure, vengeance might not be justice in Matt’s restrictive terms, but maybe it’s a good idea either way? This comes to a head later, when Karen really debates shooting Bullseye when he wakes up, and Matt stops her. She’s simply too disillusioned at this point to stick around and decides instead to walk away.
Welcome Back, Jessica Jones
Daredevil: Born Again Season 2, Episode 6 finally reintroduces Jessica Jones after a long stint of absence. She and Matt seem to have been in cahoots for a while, which is a bit weird since I don’t recall it ever being mentioned, but she’s inspired to intervene more directly when a wet team tries to kill her and her daughter, Danielle.
That team wasn’t Fisk’s AVTF, either. This allows her to put the pieces together – she’s a detective, remember – that Fisk is working with support from national intelligence, particularly through Mr. Charles and the CIA, even though Fisk isn’t currently playing ball with him either.
Daredevil and Jessica team up to attack Fisk’s warehouse, which is being guarded by Powell and some AVTF goons, in a serviceable action sequence that mostly exists to highlight how giving birth has made Jessica’s powers dangerously intermittent. Jessica almost gets killed by Powell – who manages to survive again – until Matt is able to save her, but the warehouse goes up in smoke.
Street Level Justice
For all the influence Fisk has, he’s nonetheless losing control. Protestors are up in arms about the AVTF’s abuses and are kicking off outside City Hall, a situation exacerbated by Karen, who, in her very unconvincing disguise, projects statements from detainees about the abuses and disappearances that are being committed on Fisk’s watch.
With the situation spiralling, Powell strikes a match, metaphorically, by killing Agent Sanders, the newbie who helped Daredevil break into the detention centre. He then instructs the AVTF to brutalize the crowd, leading to chaos, and Karen being unmasked (or perhaps “de-wigged” is a bit more accurate). The episode ends with Powell holding Karen at gunpoint, but there’s one more thing to discuss.
Daredevil vs Kingpin (Again)
The standout sequence of “Requiem” is yet another fight between Matt and Fisk in front of the latter’s favourite piece of art, and it’s a good scrap that is noteworthy because of how it functions in the context of both these characters’ respective arcs.
Matt has reached the end of his rope, but because he’s not willing to cross the line of killing Fisk, he proposes that both of them leave New York. But Fisk knows that Matt won’t kill him, and is so incensed about Vanessa’s death that he won’t even consider the deal. Hence, they fight. But even that’s a stalemate, since even though Matt can technically get the better of Fisk physically, he can’t put him down for good, and Fisk won’t stop getting up.
Something has got to give. It’s just at this juncture, it isn’t entirely clear what will.
