Summary
Part legal drama, part action extravaganza, the finale of Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 pulls out all the stops to resolve the core Matt vs Fisk conflict, while also leaving the door open for more.
Well, we have plenty to discuss here, don’t we? As well as finally bringing the long-simmering conflict between Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk to something resembling a close, the ending of Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 also goes to great lengths to set up the next outing, which, at least based on Episode 8, will incorporate many more elements and characters than just its titular vigilante.
Part courtroom drama and part action extravaganza, “The Southern Cross” is a very capable finale that only gets really exciting at the end, in a closing montage that teases a bunch of angles, characters, and subplots that should be pretty interesting to see play out. There was definitely some stuff here that I wasn’t totally on board with, but nothing that I found actively off-putting.
Matt’s Back in Court
The first half of the finale comprises Karen’s trial. In case you’d forgotten, she’s on trial for being a vigilante, or at the very least a vigilante’s assistant, and given the way that Wilson Fisk’s justice system works, the verdict feels like a foregone conclusion. This seems especially true in Matt’s absence, since he’s busy being patched up by Jessica, with Kirsten left to handle Karen’s defence on her own.
Luckily, Matt manages to limp to court in the nick of time to discredit Heather Glenn, who is once again lying through her teeth on the stand. The beginnings of Matt’s counter-arguments begin to emerge – how fine is the line between vigilante and criminal, what separates one from the other, and is a mask and a skintight suit necessary?
For instance, was Karen hiding behind Daredevil’s mask, or is Heather hiding behind Fisk’s? Perhaps it’s both.
Kingpin Takes the Stand
Matt’s major coup is targeting Fisk’s ego, which compels him to take the stand personally and defend his Safer Streets Initiative. In so doing, he opens himself up to a vicious cross-examination that lays bare many of his abuses of power.
Matt has a few aces up his sleeve. One is the video testimony of Christofi Savva, the first mate of the Northern Star, which was smuggling weapons through the freeport with the CIA’s – or at least Mr. Charles’s – blessing. Savva identifies Fisk as the mastermind behind the operation and the ship being scuttled.
With Fisk having already clarified earlier that Daredevil was present on the ship, he clears the way for Matt’s coup de grace, which is to reveal himself as Daredevil to the world and testify to having seen what happened aboard the ship firsthand. He proves his vigilante bona fides by tossing his cane off a wall and catching it as it ricochets back.
Kingpin’s Downfall
Unable to do anything else, the judge dismisses Karen’s case with prejudice. Fisk is publicly disgraced. And luckily, Governor McCaffrey has been toiling away in the background. The Attorney General has filed a laundry list of charges against Fisk, frozen his assets, and seized the Freeport. Just as Matt gave Fisk the offer of leaving New York earlier in the season, he’s once again presented with resigning and stepping away. And he once again refuses.
Fisk has a backup plan, which is to have one of the AVTF goons, disguised as Bullseye, assassinate Matt from across the street. But Bullseye himself has already gotten ahead of the plan, taking the would-be assassin’s place. He makes another attempt on Fisk’s life, but this time Buck jumps in the way to take the bullet for him.
Fisk uses the attack as justification for a load of charged political doublespeak designed to incense his supporters and lead them into a march on the courthouse, deliberately evocative of certain real-life political events of recent memory. Matt, Karen, Kirsten, Jessica, and McCaffrey are all trapped inside the courthouse as protestors begin to amass outside, many wearing makeshift Daredevil suits.
The Courthouse Turns Bloody
The standout sequence of Daredevil: Born Again Season 2, Episode 8 is a multifaceted battle through the courthouse. Matt, now suited up, teams up with Jessica to fight his way through the building, while Fisk begins to batter his way through the various protestors who manage to make their way into the building thanks to a sudden face turn from Cole.
This is the bit I found slightly head-scratching. Cole is compelled to turn on Powell after hearing that Hector Ayala was innocent and seeing Powell ordering the men to open fire on Cherry and Brett Mahoney, who are among the crowds outside. But Cole has seen – and been complicit in – much worse than this already, so I’m not sure it rings entirely true that he’d turn to the light side now.
Nevertheless, chaos erupts. And the chaos is good, bloody fun. Since we already had the physical Matt vs Fisk showdown earlier in the season, this finale provides another resolution to their ongoing conflict, with Matt offering Fisk grace. He’ll let him go if he leaves New York, giving Fisk the chance to avoid prison and an endless cycle of death and destruction. Again, I’m not sure that I totally buy Fisk’s fondness for the Big Apple, but Matt does, and I suppose that’s all that matters.
The Season 3 Setup
The final scenes of Daredevil: Born Again Season 2’s ending are all about setting up the various interweaving plot strands of Season 3, and there are quite a few to keep track of. Here are the main details in handy bullet-point form:
- Matt is arrested and sent to prison for his various “crimes” as Daredevil. He’s incarcerated alongside Cole, Powell, and the rest of the AVTF.
- Fisk stands alone by the sea, having lost New York, but presumably not achieved any measure of peace.
- Luke Cage returns to Jessica and their daughter after a leave of absence. When Jessica closes the door to her office, we get a lingering look at the Alias Investigations lettering.
- BB gets a job at the New York Bulletin, inheriting Ben Urich’s previous position and treasured box of story clippings.
- Bullseye leaves New York… with Mr. Charles, presumably on his way to becoming a government assassin.
- Heather finally pulls on Muse’s mask.
Phew! I’ll see you when the show returns (presumably next year).
