If the first episode featured Matthew Murdock’s life post-Midland Circle, this second one puts him in a little bit of a background and gives up a lot of the space to its antagonists and supporting characters. Wilson Fisk was especially developed this time around, and his love for Vanessa seems bigger everytime he talks about it.

Everything he is doing, according to himself, is for her. More than accept a deal with the FBI to put Vanessa out of danger, Fisk accepted putting himself in danger. Sure, getting rid of the Albanians creates a huge space for him to fill once he’s able to resume his criminal activities, but it also meant big time retaliation on the Albanians part. It seems unlikely that Fisk wouldn’t think of that, so getting stabbed was a decision he made to help her. The most impressive thing in all of this, though, is seeing a new tone on his personality, as Wilson Fisk, the mighty Kingpin of Hell’s Kitchen, seems to be truly afraid for his life after the weightlifting scene.

It is interesting to notice how the script keeps trying to remind us that Matt Murdock, whatever his age, has always had problems in dealing with the presence of God in his life. What episode two makes pretty clear is that the doubts were always there, but Matt found in Daredevil both his purpose in God’s plan and a way to ease his religious struggle. Now, broken as never before, he believes he was mistaken earlier on, and is finally getting rid of the doubts.

Of course, it comes as no surprise that his attitude resembles more those of angry teenagers trying to get their parents’ attention than that of someone who’s truly defying a deity. Maybe that’s exactly what is: Matt feels forgotten by the God he praised all life, and is now trying to do everything he can to get his attention. The dynamic of him challenging the divine is so clear here that the character goes as far as to say that “I’m Daredevil. Not even God can stop that now.” Exactly like a teenager trying to rebel against his parents.

Meanwhile, the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen is also following up on the people he tried to save the night before. What is his deal in all of this? Why is he going after those people in the laundry, even after he’s already saved the innocents? Of course, they are a criminal organization, but he’s not even at his best form yet and there’s a lot of much more imminent and less dangerous crimes for him to solve. We’ll have to wait and see.

The end of the episode is the first truly thrilling moment of the season. The attack on Fisk’s car is done masterfully, and we have no idea what’s going on until we hear some Albanians yelling outside the car. It’s difficult to say whether it was good or bad for Fisk, since house arrest was a fantastic deal for someone who did what he did. The credits roll before we know more about the agent that saved him, but he didn’t miss a shot in the process. We all know what (or who) that means.

VERDICT

4.5 targets on a forehead out of 5

Episode two of the third season of Daredevil is as solid as the first one. The difference, however, is that “Please” takes Matt out of the spotlight for most of its run, and gives some solid screen time for the rest of the cast to shine. We get great moments from Wilson Fisk, a development on Karen’s backstory and a sweet and relatable sequence with Foggy’s family. The plot moves on and the quality remains the same. Next!

ONE-SHOTS

  • So far, this season is doing a great job simulating Matt’s damaged hearing. Also, the noise of the shootout outside the car in the scene near the end is pretty impressive too. Way to go, sound mixing!
  • There’s a pretty intense scene in which Karen talks a bit about her past. It never gets truly explicit as to what happened but it’s the kind of dialogue that can be explored later on.
  • How can anyone not love Foggy’s family? It’s a bit like every family ever, and no one was really expecting a scene like that in the middle of a season as dark as this one.