In the aftermath of Dex’s attack on the church and father Lantom’s unfortunate death, we catch up with Matt, Karen, and Sister Maggie, who are doing everything they can to keep Matt and Karen’s location inside the church hidden. On the crime scene are Nadeem and Poindexter, who are not on the best of terms after Episode 10’s conclusion. Kingpin tasks them with keeping the scene secure, finding and killing Karen, and making sure the falsified version of events is uphold. Brett Mahoney and Sister Maggie pop up now and then to question the logistics of their story and point out inconsistencies, such as Dex’s lie that Daredevil returned to the church when, in reality, Sister Maggie saw him exit the scene.

While Maggie is working double shift keeping up with both Matt and Karen AND the police investigation, we get many great character moments and interactions between the three, particularly scenes with Karen and Matt. They sit and talk and discuss Karen’s past, and Matt’s failed plan to kill Fisk. They don’t judge each other and we see why these two play so well on-screen. This is why this is my favorite Marvel Netflix show. Not only is it a great representation of the comics, but the characters and their relationships are just so real.

We get another fantastic Kingpin scene, in which it is revealed to the public that he is being released from custody and will roam the streets again. His speech is excellent and intense, due in part to the excellent score. It is interesting that Fisk’s influence runs so deep that the FBI still protects him after his release. He truly is unstoppable.

Well, almost unstoppable. He visits the owner of his beloved “Rabbit in a Snowstorm” painting, which leads to a random outburst about the Gestapo breaking down this woman’s doors during WWII. At one point the woman stands up and proclaims “You will take nothing more” and i just couldn’t help but laugh. It was just so intense and this whole scene had no build up. Don’t get me wrong, it was a well-acted scene, but it was so out of nowhere and out of place, I just wonder why it is even here. Why have this plot line of attempting to get the painting just for him to let this woman keep it? It’s beyond me. Maybe it’ll pay off more later.

Nadeem continues to feel doubt and regret as he clearly wants out of his forced contract with Kingpin. I loved the scene in which he takes Mahoney to the side and tells him to take Karen Page away from the FBI ASAP or she would be killed. It was perfectly acted by both parties, down to Mahoney’s near-reaction before Ray told him not to react. Amazing. Excellent. Nadeem really pisses Kingpin off, getting one henchman beaten to death and Kingpin ordering Nadeem’s death.

This leads to a home invasion, in which Ray tries to lead his family to safety as their house is broken into and shot up. Daredevil shows up and helps Ray take out the henchmen. In a bold (and out-of-character) move, Matt takes off his mask and reveals his identity to Nadeem, to gain his trust and work together to win Die Jackpot-Gewinne .

VERDICT

4.5 wolves out of 5. 

This was yet another great episode to add to the roster. It is jam-packed with great character moments and intensity. Kingpin’s speech in front of the Presidential Hotel was a highlight, as well as the Matt/Karen dialogue scenes. I loved Sister Maggie’s line “Few of us get what we deserve”. That -.5 is for some silly and dumb moments, such as Nadeem not keeping his eye on Sister Maggie when he catches on to Foggy’s suspicious behavior, or leading his family out of his house directly behind him instead of going first for some reason. Overall, this was still a solid, albeit driven by character and focusing less on action.

ONE-SHOTS

  • Sister Maggie had almost no reaction to finding out Father Lantam was murdered. Really??
  • No WHiH World News mic at the conference in front of the Presidential Hotel?
  • Foggy’s family was dumb to sign what was clearly a scam loan, Foggy wasn’t to blame and Theo shouldn’t be pressuring Foggy to fix his problems.
  • Fisk beating his henchman to death with a jacket on his head was cool but very short and not as good as the car door scene from season 1. Also, why did he kill him and how did he know he was dead? He could’ve survived that!