Recap: A Serial Killer Takes Hold of New York in Latest Episode of "Daredevil: Born Again"
After last week’s episode of Marvel’s Daredevil: Born Again took a bit of a detour to see Matt Murdock rescue a group of hostages from a bank robbery, this week brought us right back to the ongoing nightmare that is New York City. A serial killer is on the loose and both Matt and Mayor Fisk are teetering on the edge of returning to their old lives.
The episode opens with a BB Report interviewing a graffiti artist and another man. The second interviewee shares his excitement regarding vigilantes and shows a video of one of them taking out some thugs with a sword. He even refers to the vigilante as Swordsman. In the comics, there is a hero known as Swordsman who is eventually a member of the Avengers. We’ve actually already seen this character in the MCU. He is none other than Jack Duquesne, the one-time fiance of Eleanor Bishop in Hawkeye.
We then see a man in a mask watching a subway slowly roll by. Next, we see a sanitation worker discover the body of a man with his eyes removed. This is the man we saw Muse torturing and draining of blood at the end of episode four. Another sanitation worker begins working to remove an unflattering mural of Fisk, with Muse’s signature below it.
Matt prays alone in his bedroom before Heather enters and asks what he’s doing. He says he has fallen out of prayer over the years but always ends up coming back to it. We see Fisk being given a rundown of his day before discovering Luka, the leader of one of New York’s gangs, is waiting for him in his office.
We then bounce back and forth between Matt having a conversation with Heather and Fisk having one with Luka. Heather is discussing her next book, which will be about vigilantes, asking Matt for his help. Luka warns Fisk to back off and stay out of the game, while also informing him he won’t be paying the ordered restitution. These mirrored conversations are both tense moments of Matt and Fisk being drawn back to their old lives as Daredevil and Kingpin, respectively.
After the title sequence, Fisk meets with a sanitation work in his office. The man informs Fisk that he was not able to take the mural down because the artist mixes his paint with an epoxy. More troubling, it’s also mixed with human blood. This is a calling card of Muse in his limited comic arc.
Matt and Kirsten discuss an upcoming case before they are interrupted by Angela Ayala. Matt agrees to speak with her and she tries to explain to him that Hector had been investigating the recent string of missing persons in the city. She pleads with him to do something about it and storms out when he refuses, but not before implying she is going to continue his work herself.
Fisk meets with commissioner Gallo, detective Kim and more of his team to discuss the new serial killer on the loose in their city. Fisk laughs at Gallo and tells them they are not going to raise any alarm. He also taunts Gallo by pointing out that the sanitation department found out there was a serial killer before the police did. That night, two women approach Muse as he works on a mural and ask him for a photo. Muse seemingly grabs them both as they scream.
Fisk and Vanessa talk in their bedroom and he informs her of Luka’s visit. As Wilson prepares to meet with New York’s elite and ask for money for his Red Hook project, Vanessa advises him that he is giving them what they want simply by asking them. We see Fisk meeting with various billionaires, including Jack Duquesne.
Fisk doesn’t get the responses he was hoping for from the elite, including Jack, who issues a warning to tread lightly when dealing with these people. We cut back to Vaness helping him prepare for this event and see his suit jack rip when he tries to put it on. He points out that his clothes aren’t quite fitting like they once did. This is both a clever symbolism for Fisk not being the man he once was as well as a nod to Fisk’s much larger appearance in the comics.
Matt works late in his office when Cherry brings him a drink. Matt can tell something is off with him and Cherry informs him of the serial killer who is using human blood in his artwork. He urges Matt to let this go and allow the police to handle it. Matt seems willing to do exactly that, but I think we all know better.
Fisk is pulled from the event by his team and shown a photo of the latest mural from Muse, which is accompanied by the two women we saw approach him, their eyes now missing. Fisk tells his team they can use this.
Another BB Report shows that citizens are hearing of the missing people and are scared. Gallo meets with Fisk, who informs him he is creating a task force with the objective of hunting the serial killer. The task force will have privileges like not having to wear body cameras. Clearly, Fisk has assembled a team for a violent purpose.
Fisk and Gallo meet with the officers he has hand selected for this task force, which includes officer Powell. Fisk also singles out Sgt. Cole North and allows him to provide some of his backstory for us. North is a comic character from Chip Zdarsky’s recent “Daredevil" run. In the comics, North is a tad obsessed with arresting Daredevil, despite the vigilante’s support from the NYPD. He even fights him in the streets in front of a group of officers, only to eventually go on to work with the hero. His presence here hints at this storyline maybe being on the table for the future, which could mean we see Daredevil do some time in prison in the future. Fisk refers to this group as his “anti-vigilante taskforce," before gearing them up and firing them up to hunt down Muse.
We then see Angela heading down into a subway tunnel alone. She starts to hear noises and it appears as though someone is approaching her before the camera cuts away. Matt sits alone in his apartment when he gets a call from Soledad Ayala, informing him that Angela hasn’t come home. Matt tells her to stay home and then hangs up before calling 911. The operator responds but Matt puts the phone down and, with some colorful language, decides to take matters into his own hands. We then see Daredevil swinging across rooftops.
Muse carries Angela through the subway tunnel, eventually arriving at his lair, which is littered with blood paintings. He lays her on a table and begins draining her blood.
We then see Fisk slowly making his way downstairs to where Adam is being held, with an axe in his hand. He gets to the cell and hints to Adam that he is letting him go. He opens the cell, but stands in the doorway, telling him he is having a hard time allowing him to leave. He tosses the axe to Adam and takes a step back, inviting him to attack him.
Muse continues to work on Angela when he hears a noise and is attacked by Daredevil. Much like the beginning of the episode, we then bounce between Matt and Fisk as they have their respective fights, once again mirroring one another. Muse holds his own against Daredevil, landing a few good shots. Adam, even with an axe in his hands, is no match for Fisk. Eventually, both Fisk and Daredevil have their opponents down and land punch after punch, seemingly both willing to kill them. Fisk eventually drags Adam back to his cell though while Daredevil leaves Muse unconscious and begins administering CPR to Angela, saving her life.
Adam lies bleeding on the floor of his cell while Fisk sits over him, seemingly please with himself. Daredevil turns to find that Muse has escaped before Angela wakes up and calls his name (Daredevil, not Matt) as the episode comes to a close.
This episode feels the closest yet to the original Netflix series. The duality of Daredevil and Fisk is perfectly put on display and of course the horrific, haunting violence also brings us back to that series. Now, Muse is still on the loose and Fisk’s task force is likely going to cause big problems for Matt as thing ramp up for the last three episodes.