In the next two episodes of Daredevil: Born Again, Matt Murdock’s sabbatical finally comes to an end as he finds himself in situations that can no longer be left in the hands of the police and others. The fifth episode, “With Interest”, opens on Murdock visiting a local bank requesting a loan for his new firm, Murdock & McDuffie, at New York Mutual, a local downtown bank. His meeting is with Yusuf Khan, the bank’s assistant manager and also the father of fellow local hero Kamala Khan AKA Miss Marvel.
Matt Murdock Becomes Properly Motivated
While in conversation with Yusuf, it’s revealed that Matt Murdock and his team have taken on several pro bono cases since starting his new firm. As a result, his joint operation has become overleveraged- or basically accruing more debt compared to the revenue that they receive. Matt’s attempt to offer his legal services to Mr. Khan proved to be fruitless as it still wouldn’t satisfy New York Mutual’s loan requirements.
As he heads out of the bank, Murdock’s superhuman hearing catches wind of a group of Irishmen equipping guns with the intention to rob the bank, coincidentally on St. Patrick’s Day. The Irishmen are led by Devlin, a noted criminal figurehead that’s been working for four other major crime families along with Vanessa Fisk in New York recently.
Matt waltzes back in and plays up his blindness to survey the environment covertly and save all the frightened hostages. He feigns having to go to the restroom, and one of the masked robbers, who, of course, is donned in a red mask, accompanies Matt. Within seconds in a scene reminiscent of The Dark Knight when Bruce Wayne incapacitates one of the Joker’s henchmen, Matt takes care of him without breaking a sweat.
The Darkness is Unlocked
Murdock subdues another of the Irish robbers who’s attempting to get Khan to open the bank’s secure vault. Again, he uses his hearing to unlock the vault and retrieve something of value so as to stall the other robbers. He eventually retrieves a small, amber colored diamond. As he ascends the stairs with Khan in tow, police are closing in right outside New York Mutual.
Matt tosses what looks like the jewel just as New York’s Finest burst in and deploy a smoke bomb. As the hostages scream and try to find cover, Matt uses the distraction to knock out another robber and follow the trail of Devlin, who’s now donned a cop uniform to escape in plain sight. Matt conceals his identity with one of the robbers’ red masks and starts to face off against Devlin, cutting his face on nearby debris and breaking one of his legs before knocking him out.
One of the bank hostages turns out to be working for Devlin and retrieved the pouch Matt tossed in the air. As she opens up the bag however, she finds a piece of butterscotch candy that Khan offered Matt earlier. Matt returns to the bank and while checking up on Khan, secretly returns the amber stone in the candy bowl. All in all, a solid continuation of the series as it shows Matt Murdock truly starting to break as Frank Castle said he would and return to his roots despite his efforts to leave his vigilante life behind.
Many fans were shocked to learn from Born Again director Jeffrey Nachmanoff that this episode was among those that were “untouched” from the creative overhaul the series went through. While on the Phase Hero Podcast, Nachmanoff shared, “This episode is the only completely untouched episode, I believe, from the original version of the show before we went back and reworked it. It has that bottle episode feel because it’s just Matt for the most part.”
Matt Murdock & Wilson Fisk: Two Sides of the Same Coin
The sixth episode, “Excessive Force”, opens on a more vulnerable Matt akin to how open he was with Frank during their explosive exchange. He openly prays the Litany of Saint Ives, a Catholic prayer dedicated to the patron saint of lawyers and advocate of impoverished people. His past actions and losses replay in his head, including the death of both Foggy and Hector Ayala.
Angela, his niece, ditches school to talk with Matt as she is still angered that the police are getting away with his murder. Matt continues to put up a front and continues to reassure Angela that the men responsible will be held accountable. In the world of Fisk, the new mayor is made aware of a rise in activity involving a serial killer graffiti artist known on city streets as Muse, who drains the blood of victims to make politically themed art.
His presence leads Fisk to form an anti-vigilante task force comprised of corrupt police officers, including Officer Powell, to snuff out Muse and other public “heroic” figures. When Hector’s wife notifies Matt of Angela not coming home, he initially wants to notify the authorities. His better judgement takes over and he immediately starts donning his supersuit to return as Daredevil.
In an underground subway station, viewers see that Muse has kidnapped Angela and has begun draining her blood. Matt arrives to stop his twisted game and disables his machinery in time. On the flip side, Fisk returns to Adam with an axe in tow. Viewers assume Fisk uses it on Adam, but he instead offers it to Adam. Both Daredevil and Kingpin begin to release all their pent-up aggression on their foes. Matt seems to be on the verge of killing Muse, but he relents to resuscitate Angela. Fisk, however, rests next to Adam’s battered body.
Final Thoughts
The fifth and sixth episodes truly feels on par with the original series. Matt and Fisk’s brutality is on full display after so much time in their facades. The choreography and camera work during their respective fight scenes captured each character precisely. Fisk’s bonechilling delivery of “Mine!” captured the essence of his character. It seems the series is working toward making Angela the new White Tiger as she is in the comics.
The bottle episode format is typically used in hero stories, so it was keenly inventive and enthralling to see the new series pull it off. The new task force Fisk has enforced, along with the crazed Muse, should shape up for a combative and impactful next batch of episodes.
