Daredevil S02 E09: Seven Minutes in Heaven

In the last episode of "Daredevil," we witnessed several revelations, not the least of which was the Punisher's cliffhanger meeting with the Kingpin.  One of the others was just more disturbing than dramatic.  After fighting to release Elektra from under Stick's wing, Matt finally sees her true nature - she's a sociopathic killer.  Love can't change that kind of stuff usually, at least not in the rough and tumble soap opera world of superheroics. 

As we open, it appears this opening sequence at least will go in a different direction, picking up from the end of last season with the incarceration of Vincent D'onofrio's Wilson Fisk.  He is advised by his lawyer to keep quiet, keep his head down, and remembering his performance last season, that's D'onofrio's golden range, silent and menacing. 

When challenged and warned by the 'kingpin' of the prison, an inmate named Dutton played by perennial bad guy William Forsythe, Fisk's instincts kick in and he attempts a coup.  He moves all of his last resources to gain an inside posse, bribe guards, and eventually bring the Punisher to him - bringing us up to date with the criminal mastermind.

Whether it's true or not, Fisk intimates to Frank Castle that Dutton orchestrated the murder of his family, and offers him a chance at closure.  Of course such a thing would benefit Fisk.  Kingpin plays the Punisher like a harp, and although Frank does get in one shot, calling him a 'has-been mob boss,' Fisk is clearly in control here. 

Meanwhile, Matt is busy breaking up.  First there was Karen, who over the last two episodes he subtly and indirectly kicked to the curb in unloving and uncaring fashion.  Now, after fighting for her freedom from Stick, he changes his mind as an afterthought and can't handle her being a sociopath who enjoys killing.  Seriously, this is the first time he's noticed that quirk??

So it's no surprise when Matt breaks up with Foggy too, not caring about either the friendship or the law firm.  Sure, we're watching from the omnipotent outside, but hasn't it occurred to anyone what Matt is really doing?  He's cutting people he cares about out of life, like someone preparing to commit suicide.  Does he really consider going after The Hand a suicide mission? 

Karen, with the law firm in limbo, is becoming more and more involved with the New York Bulletin, Ben Urich's old stomping grounds since Netflix can't use the Daily Bugle.  Her investigative skills have won her the attention of Ben's old editor, Michael Ellison, and he's looking to groom her for a job.  She's that good, but I miss Ben.  Great actor, great character, unnecessary death. 

After a trip to see the medical examiner whose testimony was trashed by Elektra, some pieces start to come together.  Ellison offers up Ben's old office for Karen to work in.  Seriously, it's been untouched for how long?  And how old is that bottle of Pepto-Bismol??  On the desk there's a file on Karen. Last season there was some hint of a dark secret in her past.  In the comics, her father was the super-villain Death's-Head, but here it appears she may have accidentally killed her brother. 

In prison, the Punisher gets his seven free minutes, referencing the episode title with demented glee, with Dutton.  Before Castle mortally wounds him, Dutton tells him of another player who was pulling the strings the day his family were killed - someone called the Blacksmith.  Now there is a Marvel villain called Blacksmith, but he's Skrull, and I really doubt that's where this is going. 

After Dutton, Fisk covers his ass and tries to have the Punisher killed by opening all of the cells in Dutton's block.  It's a free-for-all to kill Castle. Much like last season's hallway fight and the stair fight earlier this season, and even the arrow in the chest combat last episode, it seems like the show wants to keep one-upping itself in fight sequences.  The Punisher taking on and beating a dozen or so inmates is a good attempt. 

Of course when Frank is brought before Fisk later, there's another beatdown that the Punisher is not on the easy end of.  I was never fond of the Kingpin/Daredevil matching as I always considered Kingpin a Spider-Man villain, at least originally, but based on the performances in this episode, I could dig Fisk as a Punisher foe, maybe in the spin-off series? 

The Kingpin decides that the Punisher would be of more use to him on the outside than on the inside, and arranges for Castle to walk free.  That can't be good.  We close on Fisk, hospital bedside with Dutton, eating his dinner, waiting for him to drown in his own blood.  Chilling. 

In the background of everything else, Daredevil makes a strike on The Farm, a Hand facility.  There he finds children in cages with their blood being pumped from them.  It's pretty horrific.  There's also a ninja who nearly beats Daredevil to death.  As he escapes with a pod, possibly containing Black Sky, he unmasks.  It's Nobu Yoshioka. 

Daredevil gasps, as do the viewers, "you're dead!"  To which Nobu simply states, "There's no such thing," and disappears into a downward elevator. Cue closing credits.  Well, Stick did say they'd discovered the secret of immortality.  How can Matt stop The Hand, when he can't even beat one of their ninjas?  With Matt alone, and Elektra, the Punisher, and Nobu all on the loose, these last four episodes should be interesting...

Next: The Man in the Box!