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This show manages to combine a "monster of the week" kind of story while advancing the overall plot all at the same time. It reminds me of shows like Fringe, which did it well (though Daredevil may do it better) and Burn Notice, which did not do a good job of mixing it.

(Tune in to the TV Soup Podcast - Daredevil, "Rabbit in a Snowstorm" & "In the Blood" Review) 

Episode 3 - "Rabbit in a Snowstorm"

In the opening scene we see a bloody execution of someone who is clearly a boss of some type, bringing a couple of bodyguards with him to an empty bowling alley. While watching this, the gruesomeness of this show becomes apparent. Marvel movies don't usually feature too much blood, but our new friend (Healy) is splattered with it. He hides his gun, and in a move that does not seem very typical, he waits to be arrested by the police.

Matthew, imbued with some proper Catholic guilt, finds himself sitting in front of the church. Father Lantom really tries to get him to come in and talk, as clearly Matthew has been roughed up and has a lot on his mind, but he's not ready to talk, not yet.

We meet a couple of new characters against the backdrop of New York City. I'm not sure if there are a lot of buildings missing, but you can definitely see lots of buildings being constructed after "the event" or whatever they're calling it. It's an informant/gangster relationship, clearly, and later on you learn that Ben is a reporter and not a cop. In proper comic book fashion, Ben is warned off of the case that he's about to embark on (spoilers?).

Confederated global investments, represented by James Wesley (the errand boy with the employer-who-must-not-be-named), shows up at their law office with an offer to put them on retainer. Matthew is clearly (and rightfully) suspicious of their intentions, and Foggy is the opposite, fawning all over the money they've just been offered. Matt has a good line about how Foggy might care the other way around if he couldn't see the check.

Matt's senses are really finely tuned; he can tell Wesley by the specific tick of his watch, he can hear one conversation a ways off and I'm sure there are more surprises still to come. We've been wondering thus far if this is some sort of extra ability, or just his senses making up for his lack of sight.

Foggy is interviewing Healy, who finally tips off Foggy's BS detector with his amazingly fluent legalese. Clearly, as Foggy says, "this wasn't his first rodeo". Matt shows up and, without consultation, tells Healy they are taking the case. Matt's being a little bit unilateral in the early days of this law firm.

Matt is really just interviewing Healy for info on Wesley (whose name he doesn't know yet). Healy is eerily nonchalant about the whole thing (a "shark in a skin suit"), but Matt says they need to take clients just for the money, though clearly he wants to dig into their mutual "employer" more.

We see Ben at his office, and it's all very standard "we're old news guys, we can't do the news like we used to before". I've seen this now for the last 10 years on almost every newspaper storyline in anything I've seen on TV. It was done best on The Wire, season 5. Unless you're going to beat that, take a different angle.

Karen is offered a contract and buy-off to keep her mouth shut forever about Union Allied Construction (another good generic name) in exchange for the company not going after her for legal ramifications for breaking the NDA and stealing a file which got leaked to the papers. She leaves and it's uncertain which way she went. She later encounters Daniel's (the guy who they tried to frame her for killing) wife, asking her if she can help track down what really happened. The wife had already signed an agreement and is getting the hell out of dodge so Karen is on her own, but looking for someone else. Since she lied to Matt & Foggy about taking the file (by not telling them about it), she doesn't want to go to them about the situation.

Healy's case is sped to trial, and during the opening Matt quickly sniffs out a juror who has been compromised and deals with it that night nearly as quickly. This actually works, and Matt makes his closing argument to a jury of the untampered (he certainly listens for long enough to be sure). His speech is a warning to Healy as much as it's meant for the jury to take only the facts of the case into consideration. It's a good speech, but no McConaughey from A Time to Kill.

The verdict comes back, and there is no verdict! It's a hung jury, and the state will not be retrying the case as it's "too expensive". It doesn't seem like a hung jury should come back so quickly, clearly something else is happening behind the scenes. I like how every time Matt asks Healy a question he doesn't want to answer, he not only changes the subject but seems to compliment him too.

Finally we get a hell of a fight, as both Matt and Healy are friggin' bad-asses, so in proper Daredevil form, it goes on for quite some time with both sides gaining some advantage over the other. Matt is able to squeeze the name of Healy's employer out of him, which prompts Healy to impale himself on a spike rather than continue on after having given up his name.

Wilson Fisk is our man, played by Vincent D'Onofrio, and he's just hanging out in an art gallery. He looks like Gomer Pyle from Full Metal Jacket, all grown up (and not dead) but possibly just as crazy. He buys a painting called "Rabbit in a Snowstorm" which is kind of a joke, making up something that isn't there.

Episode 4 - "In the Blood"

We find out quickly what "In the Blood" refers to (as opposed to the last episode, in which we found out at the end). The Russian brothers have a very tight bond, strengthened in a Russian prison years ago where they presumably broke out with the use of sharpened bones taken from their deceased cell mate. That's sure to forge a tight bond between anyone.

Matt is getting patched up, again, by Claire, who is running her own ER out of a friend's apartment and hiding out from the Russians on advice from Matt. Matt & Claire certainly have an interesting relationship developing, and it looks like one of those that could go romantic, but won't (yet?) because Matt doesn't want her to be a target.

The Russians are in their "hideout", basically a taxi garage. Wesley comes by and tries to motivate the Russians to take down their "problem", as it's affecting business. They're also given an "offer" for Fisk (he who must not be named) to help out, but of course they resist at first. I like Vladimir's point about how the only reason they aren't supposed to say "Fisk" is because it makes him seem like he's not a man, not because of some eavesdropping suspicions or something else.

Karen and Ben are going over the facts of their case and Ben is trying to get Karen to move on from looking further into this. He smartly points out that most people who have gotten in the way have wound up dead. Unswayed, Karen is determined to find the paper trail.

Vladimir and Anatoly go looking for answers about the masked man and they seem to know a lot about how to get a guy out of a coma. I suppose they are some hardcore gangsters, but still, this is a pretty crazy thing to do to a guy on your side. Anyways, Semyon (the guy in the coma) leads them to Claire's apartment where they are able to connect the dots and eventually find Claire at the place she's hiding.

Wesley and Fisk are in the car, talking. Even when talking amongst themselves, they use really vague terms. Maybe it's just a habit for these guys at this point. Fisk mentions that he wants to handle it all quietly... but of course it ends up being the total opposite of that. He goes into the art gallery and tries to get a date with the lady from the last episode. You almost start to feel bad for this guy, as he's trying to relate to normal people (especially at first at dinner), but it's still awkward. It almost makes you forget that he's most likely a psychopath.

Matt finds out where Claire has been taken from Santino (after Matt was just barely too late). It's interesting that most of the time, he goes around with a walking stick, but when trouble is about, he's able to run full speed and navigate perfectly. The stick is just a prop to help him stay under the radar as Matt Murdock.

Matt always fights at night, but he finally uses a tactic that I've been wanting him to use for a while now. When he arrives at the taxi depot, he kills the lights, putting him at an instant advantage. This fight isn't even close to being even, as the Russians take a really dumb approach to this situation but this is a comic book series, so I guess I need to take that into consideration. Claire takes a huge swing at one of the guys - in the face, with a baseball bat - in one of the most satisfying moments of the episode, though it does leave her very, very shaken up.

Karen buys furniture at the auction and we find out that Ben is still interested in the story. I'm hoping that Ben becomes a better character, he seems far too cookie-cutter, and I usually like the good guy journalist character.

Anatoly heads to see Fisk, who was spotted at the restaurant. Anatoly seems like the level-headed brother, but he charges into the restaurant like a fool and we find out that Fisk has been surrounded by guards the entire time. Definitely ups the creep factor right after he was starting to seem normal.

The shoe is on the other foot for once; Matt is patching up Claire, just like when he used to fix up his dad after matches. Claire urges Matt to continue what he's doing, and that it's worth the risk. Matt then reveals his real name.

Fisk is finishing his date with Vanessa, trying to act all nonchalant about the bizarre scene at the restaurant. He then takes his frustrations out on Anatoly, in a very sloppy ending to an episode where all the characters were a bit sloppy with their actions. All the fights in this episode were very one-sided as well. Also, wtf, is Fisk wearing chain mail? I suppose so, he's going to war...

So far, I've loved how the episode pairs that we've watched seem to all go together. Episodes 5 and 6 went together very well - if it was a cheesy network show, there would have been a "To be continued........." after episode 5. Thankfully, this is Netflix and we can watch at whatever pace we want.

(Tune in to the TV Soup Podcast - Daredevil, "World on Fire" & "Condemned" Review)

Episode 5 – “World on Fire”

Matt & Claire’s relationship gets much more serious as he’s trying to protect her from the Russians. We get a little more insight into his “abilities” – he can taste the copper in the air when someone is bleeding, he can hear the bones inside someone’s body to tell if they’re broken. As Claire says, “You see….so much”. 

We get a “vision” of what Matt sees, which is a “World on Fire”. I’m not sure what this is referring to, if this is because he’s trying to save the world, or if he really does “see” something, but it’s nothing like traditional vision. He did have sight until he was 9-years-old, so he does know the difference.

Wesley goes to talk to Vladimir and witnesses the seeds being planted that the man in the mask (Matt) was the one who killed his bother. Vladimir sees it as a declaration of war, which it was, but against the wrong man. This isn’t something I saw coming, but makes perfect sense. Fisk is very calculating and we see it on an even greater level later on in this and the following episode.

We find ourselves in a car wash that seems to be taken right out of Grand Theft Auto. Of course, in Fisk’s line of work, you need a shop on retainer that doesn’t shy away from hosing blood and brains off of your car door. GTA VI: Hell’s Kitchen anyone?

Matt is on a mission to get after the Russians and tracks them to a cab in the middle of an alley. This is a really well shot scene. As long as the guy working for Madame Gao is alive, they stick with the camera in the back seat next to him and slowly rotate it around to view what’s going on. Matt finds out that he’s being framed for killing Anatoly and the cops show up – they’re getting closer every time.

Back in the real world, Foggy and Karen are having technical difficulties with the equipment they bought – a paranoid person would think that the previous owners (Karen’s evil ex-employers) have bugged it. Mrs. Cardenas, their newest client, comes to them to report on a slumlord who is trying to kick her out of her rent-controlled apartment by forcing her to live in squalor. Their case of the week does a good job, as usual, in tying into the rest of the overarching story (and eventually becoming much more than a case of the week).

While digging for more info, Matt hears a couple of cops kill a guy in an interview room just because he dropped the name "Wilson Fisk". This is yet another guy that winds up dead after giving up Fisk's name. Looks like people take that "we don't say his name" very seriously.

Foggy and Karen stop by Mrs. Cardenas's to help fix up the place, and she winds up fixing them up. She can certainly make a decent meal while living in terrible conditions. The date goes very well, and yes, it is a date now. Goes to show that being a lawyer will help you net a girl that's way out of your league. Of course, that all changes once the city starts blowing up...

Meanwhile, Fisk manages to get a second date with Vanessa. Somehow, the scene at their last date didn't scare her off entirely. She’s clearly attracted to power and doesn’t know that she’s walked right into a scheme that Fisk has been working on. This is all just a part of his grand plan to trap Vladimir and the man in the black mask at the same time. It's very well unraveled, as the misdirection works and nobody ever figures out what's going on right away. Vladimir takes the bait and rallies his troops for an attack on Fisk, even offering $1 million for his location.

Claire is trying to keep Matt from spiraling out of control. He's saying he will do "whatever it takes" and a few other worrisome phrases. She's worried that he is getting closer and closer to the guys that he fights every night. She has a point, he's quite ruthless, even if he seems to sorta draw a line at actually killing people.

Vanessa and Fisk's date continues with plenty of creepy vibes, but apparently Vanessa is attracted to creepy. Fisk goes on about his "business" and you can see that he's justified everything that he does through his excuse that he is trying to "clean up the city". I have no idea what his ultimate motivations are, apart from probably just being a psychopath who wants power.

So, Fisk's first part of his plan goes pretty well and he winds up blowing up all four of the Russian's hideouts, in a stunt that makes it look like the city is under attack. Just a continuity note - later on Foggy is injured from the blast, but he's not bleeding at all right after, in fact his shirt seems to be entirely intact.

Fisk and Vanessa have a "Fight Club" moment, where they romantically watch a bunch of explosions from a high-rise. Vanessa is totally drinking the kool-aid. The episode leaves on quite a good cliffhanger, but of course, this is Netflix, so on to the next episode!

Episode 6 – “Condemned”

This episode opens in spectacular fashion, with Matt taking out 3 cops while handcuffed, surely one of his best performances yet. Immediately after, Matt has to drag Vladimir away so he can get more information out of him, even though he's just trying to kill Matt the whole time. I suppose that prison bond with his brother is just as strong as they were implying.

Ben is back, and he appears that he's going to be our window into the outside world solving this case. I suppose if that's as deep as his character gets, that's fine with me. I do like his use of a deck of cards to build the hierarchy of the enterprise without any photos handy. He shows up at the "hostage" situation, if only to be a pain in the ass, but it causes Fisk to call the TV networks to drown out Ben (and get a big audience for what comes next).

The pair of asshole cops, and boy are they assholes, are canvassing the area for "survivors" and changing their status quickly (aka putting a bullet in their heads). Matt sneaks Vladimir into an empty warehouse and they have a friendly conversation (I have counter-proposal - suck my dick).

At the hospital, they have a fun time crossing story-lines left and right and we see at least 5 characters that we know by name. Matt asks Claire for help and she starts settling into a little comic relief, in this ridiculously dark moment in the show. "It's not like in the movies! I don't watch movies, I like records though".

Matt has to (gets to?) cauterize the wound on Vladimir's side and his screams wind up giving them away to a cop. Matt kind of assumes that all cops work for Fisk, and if that's not true, they certainly don't work for him and the rookie cop doesn't cooperate. Matt finally hears what he wants to hear from Vladimir about Fisk. While it seems like it's the truth, it's a distraction so that Vladimir can catch Matt off guard, because, well, he did make counter-proposal and all. It becomes apparent during all of this, that Vladimir never realizes that Matt is blind.

Fisk comes up with an excellent, though crazy, plan on the fly. He doesn't seem to mind sacrificing people that he employs to reach his ends. A sign of his power is when he gets a police radio and can get the officers in charge at the scene to get on a private channel so they can all talk together. You have to own a whole lot of cops to even risk doing something like that, and Fisk doesn't seem like a guy who takes too many risks. This is his last stage of his plan, framing Matt for the bombings, pointing out that he's taken a cop hostage (he really did do that), and then framing him for the shooting that takes place right outside the building. Blake (asshole cop #1) is taken out first, and it's probably because he gave up the cell phone to Matt last episode. Anybody who disappoints Fisk is pretty much screwed.

By the end of the episode, Vladimir and Matt are besties and make it out to the tunnel. Vladimir sacrifices himself and Matt is able to get away without being either killed or captured by the cops. Vlad gives him a name that he really needs, someone who is easier to get at than Fisk. Leland Owlsley, basically the money man for Fisk and the cabal that they've formed. Now that this is done, we can move on to episodes 7 & 8!

Episode 07: “Stick”

“You can keep the sticks, you’re gonna need ‘em!”

Opening Credits

Ninjas.. not quite what I expected to start off the episode. This ‘blind ninja’ is stalking someone in a office building in Japan, and asks about “Black Sky”. He finds out that it was taken to New York City.

(Tune in to the TV Soup Podcast - Daredevil, "Stick" & "Shadows in the Glass" Review) 

We don’t know that the ninja is blind until after the middle-aged looking office guy has been decapitated. Cool way to unveil the character – and of course there are some parallels there to the other blind guy that we have gotten to know.. Matt Murdock.

Stick

Matt wastes no time going after the next bad guy in line (Leland Owlsley), but ends up writhing on the floor of a parking garage after being tasered in the process of interrogating Owlsley. Turns out, he was distracted by the tapping sounds of a walking stick.. Stick reveals himself shortly afterward and wastes no time either, proceeding to mock Matt’s unsuccessful altercation.

The relationship between Stick and Murdock is a rough one – Stick found him at a young age in an orphanage (the motivation behind which is still undetermined) and took him under his wing for training. It’s obvious the amount of skill that Stick has in using his senses to ‘see’ the world around him much better than even a normal person can (demonstrated by describing the specific dairies and chemicals, etc contained within a single taste of ice cream).

It’s great that Stick wants to train Matt and pass on these abilities, although Stick lets on early that he is being trained for a war that is yet to come. When Stick goes back to Matt’s house with him, he further rails into Matt because he believes that one should not become ‘soft’. Relationships, silk sheets and other material items will only lead to your death, he says.

After a physical confrontation with Stick that gives us some more glimpses into their relationship years ago, Matt agrees to help him find and destroy ‘Black Sky’ but only if killing is not a part of the plan.

Foggy & Karen

Back at the homestead, Foggy goes on a tirade about the “devil of Hell’s Kitchen.” Seems the public opinion of this man in a mask has turned sour very quickly, mostly due to Wilson Fisk’s well-timed disaster-on-demand and the city’s need for a scapegoat, blaming it on Daredevil.

Karen goes out once more to search for answers – this time to Elena’s apartment – and when she leaves she is met head on by several thugs. The only way she survives is because Foggy had followed her and was able to put them out of commission with his softball bat. Looks like he’s got a pretty good swing. Still, Karen is not happy about the situation – she would prefer to keep her secrets to herself. Like most people in this series, except for maybe Foggy. He seems like an open book.

We also find out that Karen has told Foggy all about her and Ben’s investigation, much to Ben’s chagrin. Karen insists that he is trustworthy, though, and it looks like Karen now has a whole team on her hands.

The Docks

Seems like most comic book series’ find themselves at the docks from time to time. I mean I get it, people are always shipping the darndest things. In this case, we find out that Black Sky.. ‘bringer of shadows’ as referred to earlier, is really a boy. At one point, Stick takes aim at the kid with a bow but Matt notices his actions and is able to deflect the arrow before it gets to its intended target. Daredevil also gets a new weapon, a pair of wooden batons that Stick gives to him.

Surprise, surprise – Stick reveals later at Matt’s house that he had already killed Black Sky and that it wasn’t a child, but a weapon. Unrelenting in his belief that killing is never necessary, Matt attacks Stick and this time is able to take him down convincingly – perhaps for the first time in their history. Although Matt is furious, Stick is actually pleased that Matt is finally able to defeat him.

We are not specifically introduced to the character that is revealed at the end of this episode, but we know that he is a well-built, heavily scarred man that is familiar with Stick and with Matt. He asks Stick if Matt will be ready, and received the foreboding response, ”I don’t know”.

Episode 08: “Shadows in the Glass”

All About That Fisk

Every good superhero show is made so not only because of the merits of the hero, but also because of the villain. How awesome is he, and how believable his backstory? In this case, Fisk has been built up to be a larger than life character and all of this violence and insecurity that has so far been revealed requires an explanation.

A visually and emotionally grueling episode, we’re taken through Fisk’s childhood with an abusive father and all that goes with it. Strangely, this episode comes across as much quieter than the previous ones - even though it ultimately ends with death and the disposal of a body in the river.

The routine that Fisk has for himself every morning – making the same omelette, picking out the same cufflinks, etc is a way for him to make sure that he is in control. Absolute control, over every single thing that occurs around him. He has demonstrated an extreme rage when presented with things that were not a part of the plan.

The one exception to this may be his infatuation with Vanessa. When originally at the art gallery, Fisk was drawn to one painting in particular, entitled ‘Rabbit in a Snowstorm’. When we first discussed this, we thought it may be the chaotic patterns, or a number of other things that attracted him to it – but it turns out that this visceral reaction that he experiences when taking in the painting can be directly attributed to his childhood. In fact, ‘Rabbit in a Snowstorm’ looks very much like the plastered design of the wall from his house as a child. The one that he was forced to sit in front of and stare at while in the background his father savagely beat his mother. The one that he stared at while building up the courage to stand up and put an end to that beating, permanently.

Vanessa Marianna

It’s all a little suspicious, isn’t it, that Vanessa has stuck it out this far into a relationship with someone that can kindly be called ‘troubled’? I suppose she herself may have an equally sordid past and thus be able to deal with Fisk much better than normal people.. on par with someone like James Wesley, for example. If that’s the case, though, she has not yet revealed any of that to us.

Yes, I assume that there is more underneath the exterior there, because there always is (except maybe with Foggy) but it seems like Vanessa has had an extremely large impact on Wilson Fisk in a very short amount of time. She has taken him from an unstable dinner date to shattering his normal routine and joining him for breakfast. He is even letting her pick out his clothes (and cufflinks!).

A bit of a breakthrough for Fisk, it seems, after letting the worst of himself and his past out into the light. In doing so, he reclaims his name and sets to become more of a public personality – which just so happens to shatter the expose that Matt has urged Ben to write for the paper. The one that he almost submits right before seeing the live footage of Fisk’s speech on his computer screen.

Vanessa is certainly guiding Fisk at this point. Whether or not that is for her own nefarious purposes, I suppose we will find out in the episodes yet to come! I will be watching the rest of the season’s episodes with rapt attention.

Daredevil S01E11 – “The Path of the Righteous”

Fight or Flight

Wilson Fisk barges into the hospital with Vanessa, who has been poisoned by something in the drinks that were offered at the benefit they were attending. Immediately, he tries to get his way and get Vanessa immediate care. “Don’t you know who I am?” asks Fisk to a young woman working in the hospital when she refuses him entrance to the room that they take her into - “doesn’t matter,” she says, “fill out the paperwork.”

What will happen if Fisk loses his newfound love? Wilson Fisk without Vanessa at this point – especially if she was taken from him in this way – would likely send him into a chaotic freefall, even more out-of-control than he currently is.

“There was a time when I believed that I was complete – that I needed no one to understand who I am”. “If she dies..” Fisk suggests that Vanessa be sent away if she recovers so that she doesn’t have to be in danger any longer by staying at his side.

Battered and Bruised

Karen finds Matt still visibly hurt and thinks he may not be telling the truth about being in a car accident. It’s pretty amazing that for all of this time she doesn’t seem to have caught on to Matt’s after-hours escapades but, of course, she is dealing with a number of her own issues at the moment.

TV Soup Podcast: Daredevil, "The Path of the Righteous" & "The Ones We Leave Behind" Review 

Both Claire and Karen are telling Matt to be more careful – his injuries are showing more and more and it’s becoming more difficult to hide his nightly exploits from the people that he associates with during the day. He doesn’t have to hide them any longer from Foggy, but Foggy doesn’t want anything to do with him for the time being. I suppose Karen will eventually find out if she continues to spend a great deal of time with Matt, but I don’t think it will be anytime soon.

A Turning Point

“Fisk killed his father, people need to know that”. Karen tries to get Ben to write up the story – Ben is still upset that Karen was lying to him when she brought him to the home on false pretenses. Ben says that Fisk can simply spin this like anything else. Good point.

Karen appeals to Ben’s morals and he lets her know that someone may have poisoned the drinks at the benefit – and that perhaps there are already people that are going after Fisk and his people (the news of this is currently being covered up).

Karen really does appreciate the people in her life that care about her and are worried/concerned with her well-being. She’s starting to develop a good relationship with Ben. She is abducted at the end of the evening by Wesley.

Wesley spends a long time talking to Karen about Fisk’s mother and her visit. “If you’re going to kill me, just do it,“ Karen says. “I’m not here to kill you, Ms. Page, I’m here to offer you a job.”

Wesley wants Karen to convince Ben that Fisk is a good man and that he should no longer be trying to find faults in him and his character. He suggests that if she doesn’t comply, he will slowly kill everyone that she cares about before coming after her.

Karen is able to take a moment of distraction (Fisk calling) to grab the gun from the table and shoot Wesley. He had unloaded the first chamber of the gun, but the rest of the bullets were just where they needed to be. Bye, Wesley.

Wesley knows that Ben was there as well, which doesn’t bode well for him in the short term.

It’s Personal

Karen is still trying to get the word out about Fisk’s mother, but Foggy is of the same opinion as Ben was –  “it won’t be enough”.

Foggy wants to talk to Karen about what he found out about Matt but he is still keeping his mouth shut out of the remaining respect he has left for his old friend. “It’s personal,” is all he’ll say.

Angels & Demons

On one of his many visits to talk to the priest, Matt has an intense conversation about good and evil. Maybe devils were created as a warning to us all – to tread the path of the righteous. The priest basically admits to knowing that Matt is the masked man – I’m not sure that Matt can trust the priest, but then we don’t know very much information about him and his history.

One would think that someone as careful as Matt would have thought all of these things through, but then again he often just bursts onto a scene without giving the situation enough thought beforehand. The priest has basically given Matt his name and purpose here.

Becoming Daredevil

Matt finds out more about Fisk’s body armor – he’ll need to figure out a way past it if he is to finally be rid of Fisk. Turns out the source of this armor was a man named Melvin Potter, who is not very intelligent but is possessing of a huge amount of strength and endurance.

Melvin is being made to work for Fisk – he is afraid that if he doesn’t do what Fisk says, ‘Betsy’ will be hurt. Betsy is someone that Melvin cares about. Matt talks Melvin into making him something.. “a symbol” out of the armor that he works with. Looks like we’re talking about a new, upgraded costume! Thank goodness for that, because Matt likely would not have lasted much longer getting his ass kicked at least once per episode.

Daredevil S01E12 – “The Ones We Leave Behind”

Reconsideration

Fisk shows up at Karen’s house - he has quite an imposing presence. He says, “It gets easier” (referring to Wesley’s death by her hand), “the more you do it”. Thankfully, she wakes up – it was just a nightmare. All of this is weighing on Karen quite heavily.

Karen and Foggy have a conversation at the office and Foggy reassures Karen that “everything is going to be alright” The mood turns decidedly more sour when Foggy turns to leave and finds Matt at the door.

Everyone is slowly leaving Matt’s side – Karen says “You know, I’m starting to feel like I made a mistake” [about coming to work at Nelson v. Murdock]. She is not leaving yet, however.

Later on.. “Matt.. is this what we are now? 3 People that don’t even talk to each other?” asks Karen.. this starts a conversation where Matt breaks down to Karen – he needs the support of his friends, he can’t go on alone as he has been and keeps burning bridges and keeping secrets from everyone. Although he doesn’t reveal his identity to Karen, this is a step in that direction.

Complications

Vanessa wakes up in her hospital bed - “why am I here,” she asks. Fisk explains that he has made arrangements for her to be taken out of the country, but she does not want to go along with those plans. “I knew being with you would be.. complicated.” She says. “Find whoever did this to us and make them understand.” “I’ll make them suffer for what they’ve done,” retorts Fisk. “I expect nothing less,” says Vanessa. These two are just made for each other.

Fisk finds out that Wesley was shot after his people located the body in the warehouse where he had brought Karen. In a fit of rage he beats one of his own men, just for following Wesley’s orders.

Fisk’s people are all beginning to blame the Japanese for the problems that they are coming up against recently (poisoned drinks, Wesley’s death). Fisk finds Wesley’s cellphone and realizes that the last call he made (the one that made him leave suddenly and resulted in his death) was to Fisk’s mother. Karen and Ben are still not safe.

Bach's Violin concerto No. 1 in A minor

Matt and Ben want to slow down Fisk’s takeover of the city so they’d like to cut off the main supply of money. Ben knows that a blind Chinese man is usually carrying the drugs around in a pack, so (using Ben’s information) Matt tracks the man into a car (playing classical music) as they drive through the city. It’s quite an impressive jaunt across the rooftops, really.

Now inside the building where the blind man was headed to, Matt witnesses the drug packing enterprise here firsthand. All of the workers have been blinded.

“All those people – you took their eyes,” accuses Matt of Madame Gao when they finally meet. “No, they blinded themselves,” she says. Madame Gao engages in a confrontation with Matt, knocking him out for a short time with what seems like very little physical force and managing to get away. Trying to get away himself, Matt gets in an altercation with a police officer where he attempts to explain that he is not deserving of the bad rap he is currently getting. Good luck with that, Matt.

Old Flames

Foggy allows Marci to see all of the information that they have gathered so far on Fisk (including the material handed over by the masked man (who Foggy now knows is Matt). Marci’s firm represents Fisk, but she seems genuinely interested in what Foggy has to show her.

Will she help or hurt them in the long run? It seems like Foggy and Marci had a trusting relationship and are starting it back up. Hopefully Marci won’t be stabbing Foggy in the back literally or figuratively – he’s such a genuinely nice guy.

The Long Farewell

Ben is desperately trying to get the editor of the paper to publish his latest story about Fisk killing his own father, etc but is not having any luck at all. He pushes so much that he gets suspended, and then eventually fired after accusing his boss of being on Fisk’s payroll.

Regardless of Ben’s situation with the newspaper, his wife will always be behind him 100% and suggests that he just try other news outlets in order to get the story out. The internet, etc. It looks like this story has legs and he is not going to give up on it anytime soon.

“I’m going to write about all of it. Tonight. Get it out there,” Ben says.

As Ben sits down to begin work on his new project, Fisk begins talking to him from the shadows. He explains that he had taken precautions after the Union Allied article was released and he also had found out that Ben went to talk to his mother. “I’m not here to threaten you,” he says at one point – “I’m here to kill you.” It’s unfortunate that we’ve grown to like Ben so much as a character of principle with a good heart, but those are the best characters to kill off  in a series like this – it makes the most emotional impact and reinforces just how dark the heart of our villain, Wilson Fisk, can be.

Although viewers are certainly looking around on-screen for Matt, or anyone else to come to his aid at the last moment – Ben is killed in cold blood by Wilson Fisk, and his words will die with him.

Who is Madame Gao?

Looks like Gao and Owlsley have been working together the whole time, and are trying to get Vanessa away from Fisk. They were behind the whole poisoned drink thing. They’re having serious trouble getting rid of Fisk’s girlfriend. “Yeah, she’s a real mule,” says Owlsley.

When Owlsley asks where Gao is going, she says that “I will visit my homeland and reflect upon the future.” Pressed as to where that exactly is.. China, maybe? She retorts, “It is a considerable distance farther.” Is she an alien? Referring to another world outside of the Earth? I’m just loving this supernatural intrigue – we know what types of things exist in the Marvel Cinematic Universe but haven’t seen much of that yet in season 1 of Daredevil.