In the seventh episode of Daredevil: Born Again,“Art for Art’s Sake”, Matt Murdock races to apprehend the serial killer graffiti artist Muse before he finds another victim. Angela Del Toro, niece of the slain White Tiger Hector Ayala, almost died at Muse’s hands before Matt came in to rescue her in the nick of time. As almost all fans expected, it’s revealed that an admirer of Heather Glenn’s work- Bastian Cooper -is the man behind the mask and crazed murals and murders in New York City.
Daredevil Born Again Episode 7 Recap
Shortly after his encounter with Muse, Matt is showering with visible bruising. Heather goes in to join him and notices. Before she can question what caused it, the two begin embracing. Heather attempts to resume the conversation when Matt confesses that he feels that what they have feels inauthentic. But Heather reassures him that she genuinely loves him. In Fisk’s world, news of Angela’s rescue has reached the mayor’s office. He begins to enlighten his new right hand man Buck with how Matt grew to be a thorn in his side back in Hell’s Kitchen.
We also learn through Detective Kim, who was last seen in the St. Paddy’s bank robbery episode “Excessive Force,” that Bastian has expert level taekwondo training. This was told to explain to the audience how he was able to fend off Matt for so long. Fisk appreciates the background check and starts assembling his “Vigilante Task Force” to apprehend Muse. Bastian is now in Heather’s office, with his mental instability on full display due in part to Hunter Doohan’s keen line delivery and the tight framing of both actors in the scene.
As Cooper’s nose starts bleeding and he begins to paint with his own blood, audience suspicions are officially confirmed. Before she can escape, he throws her against a wall and knocks her out cold. Meanwhile, Matt returns to Muse’s underground hideout for any clues on his next victim when he comes across a blood painting of Heather and immediately runs to her office. Police find the sketch not too long after and start wheeling out to her office too.
Cooper is now in full Muse garb and begins cutting into her for his next piece. Heather admirably tries to hold her own against him but to no avail. Matt bursts in before he can finish the twisted job and goes to work to subdue him. In a moment out of Mortal Kombat, Matt uses his billy club to graphically pull Muse back to continue pummeling him and unintentionally creating a mural of Muse. Surprisingly, it’s Heather who ends up putting an end to Muse by unloading a full clip into him.
Before Matt can get her proper medical attention, he can hear the police already en route and escapes when they come in. Fisk arrives and then and there reframes the narrative that it was the task force who killed him rather than Dr. Glenn. Over the course of the episode, one of the head of the Five Families- Luca- was attempting to kill Mayor Fisk and Vanessa goes along with his plan. When he arrives at the address she let slip to him and attempts to shoot him, Buck ends up killing him as the criminal couple wound up playing Luca all along.
Daredevil Born Again Episode 8 Recap
Heather has successfully recovered from her near-fatal encounter with Muse. The two now are at odds as she begins to revisit what went down in her office. Just then, Buck knocks at their door bearing two invitations to the mayoral black and white ball. Conversely, Fisk and Vanessa meet at an abandoned area where he showcases where he’s put Adam, the man she cheated on Wilson with.
Vanessa witnesses his battered state and hears his pleas to be released but rather than encourage this any longer, she grabs a gun and kills him herself. As Matt heads into McDuffie & Murdock, Kirsten lets him know that Ben Poindexter AKA Bullseye has been transferred from protective custody and into the general population on Fisk’s authority. Also, Dex personally requested for a one-on-one chat with Matt.
Matt’s day to day at the firm continually aggravates him at the injustice being done in the city and goes off at a new client. He heads out to his former hangout spot Josie’s to reminisce with the lovable bar owner. She pours him a drink of O’Melveny’s, a whiskey special to Matt as Foggy and him would often pour each other a glass when Nelson & Murdock won a case. It just dawns on Murdock that Foggy had a drink of it just before dying and takes Dex up on his chat.
Matt inquires to Dex if it was Fisk that hired him to end Foggy and Dex asks for his help in order to spill any details. Matt only gets further fired up and smashes his face. As Dex gets checked in the infirmary for his wounds, he loses a tooth from Matt’s attack and shoots it into a guard. He releases himself then grabs a hold of scissors and begins killing again. Dex then dresses as one of the guards on the way to the ball.
Bullseye isn’t the only one en route as Matt decides to attend as well to ensure Heather’s safety and eavesdrop on Fisk’s conversations with Jack Duquesne and other figures. Just as the dancing begins, Matt finds out Vanessa was the mastermind behind Foggy’s murder. Moments later, Dex is atop the ballroom with a rifle in tow. In a truly jaw-dropping moment, his loading gets Matt’s attention and within seconds he jumps in front of a bullet intended to kill Fisk.
Daredevil Born Again Season 1 Finale
Viewers are now transported to one year prior to the series’ beginning and see Dex in an institution with Vanessa. Murdock’s suspicions are confirmed as we see her goading Dex into signing a document ensuring he kills Foggy before he could move forward with his work with Benny Cafaro. Matt is recovering from his wound in the local hospital and tries to share his revelations but both want him to remain in hospice care.
The Fisks intend to further their reach within the criminal and political realms of the city. Wilson calls a Con Edison employee into his office and ends up killing the power to plunge the city into a blackout. He sends out Buck to ensure Matt doesn’t make it but his Devil senses kick in and he evades his path. He meets Frank in his home and the two prepare for the Vigilante Task Force as they’ve been assigned to arrive at his home as well. Daredevil drops in on the crooked cops and begins dispensing his brand of justice. Punisher finally comes face to face with his fanclub and burrows through multiple officers without hesitation.
Conversely, Matt meets the cop that was responsible for killing Hector Ayala and rather than kill him relents to hold on to his morality. A grenade sends them both running and narrowly escape from the home mostly in one piece. The reunion isn’t complete as Karen Page steps out of a nearby car to rescue them. Meanwhile, Daniel Blake, now in a new role as deputy mayor of communications, begins collecting a list of the staff for and against Fisk’s recent plans.
Frank locates the task force hideout and begins to fend out with as many as he can before they encircle and apprehend him. The only noticeable figure in Fisk’s office that has been vocal about his disapproval of his actions is Commissioner of the NYPD Phil Gallo. Gallo gets called into a tent and Fisk begins attacking him before killing him in the most graphic detail the series has shown as of yet. If there was any question on how brutal the series would be compared to the original, that scene alone proves just how brutal.
Matt comes to realize how extensive Fisk’s reach is and decides only an army will be needed to stand up against him. He employs Cherry, Karen, officer Kim, and a few other officers as a start. In a post-credit scene, we see Frank taking up residence in Fisk’s underground dungeon and subduing an officer showcasing the early start of his upcoming special.
Season One Verdict
Overall, Daredevil Born Again was a compelling continuation of the OG Daredevil series. It is upsetting that Foggy Nelson, a character integral to the Daredevil mythos and Matt as a character, was used as the catalyst for this revival but it appears to have served its purpose as it showed the darker elements within Matt Murdock. We were able to witness the iconic “one bad day” he would endure and how it would affect him.
The creative team of Daredevil Born Again being able to take what was made prior to the overhaul and make something in tune with the spirit and themes of what came before is truly remarkable. While it would have been entertaining to see the return of more Daredevil characters including Matt’s mother, Brett Mahoney, the Defenders, and many others, the few we received were great nonetheless. There’s always time for season two to have them join and continue to expand the street level stories of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
