After learning the truth about Sister Maggie, Matt feels even more betrayed and alone.  The people he considered his family and moral guides turned out to be lying to him all along.  Nadeem rapidly loses control as he becomes privy to the depth of the corruption in the FBI.  And both Foggy and Karen grapple with the decision to continue perusing Fisk.

The opening of this episode perfectly set the tone for what was to come.  When confronted about the deception, Father Lantom tells Matt that it wasn’t his secret to share.  It’s clear that Father Lantom genuinely cares for Matt, which makes their previous conversations even more heartbreaking.  He could have alleviated a lot of the suffering Matt was going through by telling the truth, but knew that it wasn’t his place to do so.  But that doesn’t prevent Matt from feeling betrayed by the omission.

It seems that Matt is so angry at his father that he equates him with Fisk.  The transition between Jack and Fisk when they were yelling at Matt was beautifully done.  Jack tells him that the only reason he became Daredevil is because it gave him an excuse to hurt people.  It also speaks to Matt’s inner demons since Jack is a figment of his imagination.

Then there’s the scene with Nadeem, Agent Hattley, and their boss Agent Winn.  At first, it plays out like a confession where the mystery is whether or not the higher ups will believe what Nadeem has to say.  But when Hattley murders Agent Winn it’s made clear the extent of Fisk’s reach and the tension of the scene becomes extreme.  Hattley’s line to Nadeem saying, “I’m not your boss anymore.  Wilson Fisk is,” was incredibly chilling.  And all this before we even get to the opening sequence.

To make matters worse, Nadeem is then threatened by Dex in his own home.  During this scene Dex’s personality is drastically different from the way he was portrayed in the last episode.  Apparently, being taken in by Fisk and given a purpose has been good for his mental health.  He’s finally found the “moral pillar” that his therapist told him too.  Unfortunately that “moral pillar” happens to be Wilson Fisk.

Karen may be brave for facing Fisk alone, but she isn’t stupid.  She knows that she’ll never be safe in New York as long as Fisk isn’t in prison.  Foggy feels that she should stand up and make herself an untouchable public figure like he has, but Karen disagrees.  Before leaving she goes to try and say goodbye to Matt by visiting the church.  Her conversation with Sister Maggie revealed a lot about how they both feel in regards to Matt.  Sister Maggie explains that she had postpartum depression which is why she had trouble taking care of her son.  She’s since tried to right that wrong, but feels like she’s failed him again.  Karen’s presence on the other hand shows us that, despite his lies, she still cares for Matt.

The conversation between Foggy and his brother was incredibly heartbreaking.  His brother and family seem like really good people and it’s clear that they were taken advantage of by Fisk and his men.  But because there’s a paper trail of their involvement, Foggy knows that they’re incredibly vulnerable.  Foggy now faces an impossibly difficult decision: does he continue campaigning for DA or will he give in and let Fisk win in order to protect his family?

We’ve seen Fisk running a criminal empire before, but it wasn’t as terrifying as it is now because that empire didn’t consist of the FBI.  It’s made clear that Fisk’s meeting with Nadeem wasn’t circumstantial and that this was his plan all along.  He’s collected dirt and threatened countless Agents and is now using the FBI as his personal army.

Before they transport Fisk, Nadeem confronts Agent Hattley and asks how she lives with herself.  Her answer that she used to have two children was really chilling.  Fisk will stop at nothing to get what he wants and he seems to pursue every Agent with the same level of detail that he went after Dex.  But hopefully Nadeem will be able to make it out of Fisk’s clutches alive.

VERDICT

4 boxing gloves out of 5.  

This episode did a great job dealing with the fallout from the last episode.  The visual of seeing the FBI obeying Fisk sends a very powerful message and makes him even more intimidating.  Also, knowing that Dex is now happy working for Fisk, his newfound confidence is much more sinister.   Meanwhile Matt is not only struggling with his lack of purpose and direction, but he’s now grappling with his mother refusing to ever acknowledge their relationship.  It seems that as Dex finds his calling, Matt loses his.

ONE-SHOTS

  • The music when Hattley shoots Agent Winn added another level of shock and fear.  Jay Ali also did a great job of portraying Nadeem’s internal thought process through the immense fear.
  • Seeing Fisk in the white suit and being called Kingpin never gets old!
  • I’m curious what the age difference is between Sister Maggie and Jack Murdock.  John Patrick Hayden, who plays Jack, looked quite a bit older than Isabella Pisacane, the actress who played Maggie during the flashback.  But that could just be because he’s supposed to be the same age as her but they wanted to use the same actor.  Which is fine, it’s not a glaring problem.