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!

Daredevil S01 E12: The Ones We Leave Behind

Who is Karen Page? If I'm being honest, and I always am with you readers, I don't know. I can't say that I have ever read a comic book with her in it that has stood out. I mean I know who she is, but I don't know who she is, ya know?

Karen Page began life as a typical Stan Lee supporting cast player, the mutual romantic interest of both Foggy Nelson and Matt Murdock. At this point in 1964, she was interchangeable with other Lee women like Pepper Potts, Betty Brant, and even Sue Storm to an extent. She didn't really become interesting until Matt told her he was Daredevil and they split up.

Disappearing for short periods of time, she bounced around the Marvel Universe as an actress, spending some time with Ghost Rider, but eventually returning to Daredevil. Her father was revealed to be the super-villain known as the original Death's-Head, so in the comics her background wasn't always squeaky clean. Later she starts working in porn, abusing drugs, and sells Daredevil's secret identity to the Kingpin. At the end of her downward spiral, she is murdered by Bullseye.

After the events of the last episode, killing James Wesley, it seems as though TV Karen might not have that pretty a past or future either. She tries to drink away the memory but is haunted by nightmares of the Kingpin, one particularly scary one in the pre-credits opening sequence. Her fear is compounded by both her drinking, and the fact that her law office is now just three people that don't talk to each other any more.

The plainclothes Matt parkour chase scene was impressive. And it leads to something even more impressive. The blind sweatshoppers making Madame Gao's heroin took their own eyes, because they have faith in something beyond this world. I had suspected that perhaps Gao might be from K'un L'un, a mystical land associated with the training of hero Iron Fist. And did Gao knock Daredevil across the room with the power of an iron fist? Da da dum.

Madame Gao makes one last appearance, to confer with The Owl, sans translator. As it turns out, it was the two of them who poisoned the Kingpin's benefit, trying to pull his attention away from Vanessa and back on business. I liked my Wesley theory better. Gao says she is going home to reflect on the situation. Owlsley asks if home is China, but she replies, not for the first time in the series either, that her home is a considerable distance further. My bet is on the otherdimensional K'un L'un. I'm sure we'll find out for sure when Iron Fist gets his Netflix turn.

An interesting tidbit came out of a talk between Urich and Daredevil. The heroin marked with the sign of the Steel Serpent, that we know from the comics as such, is actually called 'Steel Serpent.' More Iron Fist links.

Just as we had been punked in the opening of this episode with Fisk showing up in Karen's apartment, only to be revealed as a dream, it actually does happen to Ben at the end of the episode. Determined to print the entire story of Wilson Fisk in the Bulletin, they fired him. Still unharried, he decides to blog it online when he gets home. As he starts to type, Fisk is there.

What follows is a conversation worthy of Quentin Tarantino, and then the most brutal of the Kingpin's kills. It's true, we have seen him lose his cool serious more than few times, but this is entirely a whole new level. Do not mess with Wilson's mother.

Next: finally, Daredevil...

Daredevil S01 E09: Speak of the Devil

After the end of the last episode, Daredevil and the Kingpin (both as yet unnamed thus, so let's call them as we've seen them - the Devil of Hell's Kitchen and seeming philanthropist Wilson Fisk) are officially at war, and the man in the shadows, the mystery head of the house of cards, has played his hand in the bright sunshine. Things are not looking good for Daredevil, even with his new alliance with Ben Urich. And I'm not just talking about that blow he takes in the opening seconds of episode nine.

The opening fight sequence is between Daredevil and a ninja in red, the latter a master of martial arts fighting skills and weapons. It's pretty intense, and our hero is on the losing end for most of this pre-credits scene. Could this be the first real appearance of so-far-only-speculated Hand? It could be, as this episode is written by show staff writers Christos Gage and Ruth Fletcher Gage. The former is also a Marvel Comics writer who has in the past impressed me with his knowledge and respect for the Silver Age, something rarely seen in today's deconstructionist event themed comics.

Speaking of the Silver Age, there's been a recent hubbub about artist Wally Wood getting credit on the show and a possible lawsuit brewing as well from the comics creator's estate, the fires fanned of course by the rabble-rousers at Bleeding Cool. I think a lot of this comes from the show credit of 'created by' being followed by the names Stan Lee and Bill Everett, and not Wally Wood.

While it's true that almost everything we associate with Daredevil - the red costume, the billy club, the chest symbol - all came from Wally Wood's early redesign of the character, of that there is no doubt, how far should we go with this? I'm on episode nine here and the only reference to the Wood work so far is in the credit sequence itself. In actuality, and I hate saying this, if anyone really deserves any extra credit for this series so far it might just be Frank Miller, stylistically and principally, from his Man Without Fear story.

I know I'm making a lot of folks mad here, especially writers, but all that comics work back in the day was work for hire. Lawsuits decades later are ludicrous. By the same token that Wally Wood gets credit for creating Daredevil, Bill Finger and Gardner Fox and Jerry Robinson should have their names above Bob Kane's for creating Batman - because they really created Batman, and I'd add Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams to that list as well. Those five men made Batman more than Kane ever did. As far as I'm concerned, Bob Kane knew his way around a lawyer's office better than he ever did a drawing board. Just my opinion, so you know where to send the hate mail.

The fact is this - comic books are a collaborative artform in a shared universe created via work for hire. Maybe the credit should read, and read accurately, 'created by Marvel Comics,' and be done with it. I'm not begrudging Wally Wood or his estate what is due, but this just gets in my crawl. Enough is enough.

After the credits sequence we once again find Matt in front of St. Agnes with Father Lantom. I doubt we will get a Runaways reference for Lantom, but the fanboy in me still hopes for some nod to Skye from "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." for St. Agnes. Either way, this time once again cribbing from Frank Miller, Matt is seeking some sort of therapy through confession. I was pleased that Lantom, unlike Karen and Ben later this episode, has figured out Matt's other identity. It's not that hard.

Merely a plot device in his first two appearances, here Lantom's Peter McRobbie (who had also worked with Charlie Cox on "Boardwalk Empire") has room to play and make an impression finally. Rather than confessional, they chat over coffee, and McRobbie, doing an almost Robert Duvall rift tells a tale of his belief in, and his encounter with, The Devil. Lantom's story is both morality play and warning to Matt. Do not mess with The Devil.

Meanwhile, Fisk revealing himself as a benefactor and savior before being exposed as a devil has hampered if not frozen Ben Urich's investigation. As I mentioned, it kinda lowers my respect for Urich that he can't stand so close to both Daredevil and Matt Murdock and not know they're the same person. So much for the dying art of investigative reporting.

There are some intriguing name drops this episode, most notably Senator Cherryh. In the comics this corrupt senator is close to the Kingpin and has run afoul of Spider-Man, Elektra, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, Daredevil - most of the heroes in these Netflix series leading up to "The Defenders."

Speaking of the Defenders, when Matt brings the fight to Fisk by visiting Vanessa's art gallery, she makes mention of putting a Richmond on the guest list. "He won't come but he'll get pissy if he isn't invited." Could this be millionaire Kyle Richmond, longtime leader of the Defenders, also known as Nighthawk? The description unfortunately fits the temperamental and much-dissed hero.

Also, location location location. I keep forgetting about the law offices of Nelson and Murdock, across from Atlas Investments, a possible homage to Atlas Comics, the name Marvel went by in the 1950s, and the Agents of Atlas, the retconned name given to the heroes of that era. N&M's offices are also where Van Lunt Real Estate used to be. Cornelius Van Lunt was the criminal industrialist also known as Taurus, one of the twelve-member cartel called Zodiac - longtime enemies of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers.

Back at the art gallery, Charlie Cox shows his first weakness as an actor when putting up a front for Vanessa, but is it bad acting on the part of Cox or of Matt Murdock? An argument could be made for both. When Fisk shows up he is equally uncomfortable. It is almost as if they know each other already subconsciously. Of course they have already spoken as Daredevil and Kingpin in "Condemned", perhaps this meeting is just a formality. And D'Onoffrio's Fisk silently makes no doubt of how he feels about Matt. That final look as our hero leaves says volumes.

Throughout the episode, Foggy and Karen, who are doing most of the heavy lifting, continue to piece together the house of cards with Fisk at its peak. The murder of the tenement woman they had been helping - so soon after Matt's visit to Vanessa has raised many flags. Matt, who has been keeping a low profile as Daredevil, puts the suit back on for a night on the town to release some of his pent up rage on the criminal element.

On this rampage he corners a drug dealer and asks him where he got his product. This product has a symbol on it that we saw Madame Gao's servants packaging in her drug sweatshops earlier in the series. The symbol in the comics is that of the Steel Serpent, an enemy of Iron Fist. Much like the Marvel Cinematic Universe proper, everything here is connected. Daredevil's tracking of the drugs, and the tenement woman's killer, eventually leads to the ninja, coming full circle to the episode's opening in media res.

The ninja, in what could very well be paraphernalia and costuming of The Hand, is revealed to be Nobu. He knows of Stick, and has some more than human abilities himself like slowing his heartbeat and lowering his body temperature. The battle that follows is intense, bloody, and increasingly one-sided. Daredevil takes the upper hand by luck, barely surviving himself... only to walk into Fisk's trap.

When Fisk offers Daredevil his shot, free punch, in the beginning of a hand to hand combat, our hero is in no shape and is no match whatsoever. Fisk beats him senseless, pummeling his foe almost as he did his father as a boy. When Fisk walks away, telling Wesley to finish him, Daredevil escapes. You might think that's the cliffhanger, but it's not, as it's Foggy who finds Matt near dead, in costume... now things are getting interesting...

Daredevil S01 E03: Rabbit in a Snowstorm

Turk Barrett, or just plain Turk, is not just a fixture in the Daredevil mythos, but also in Marvel Comics New York. He is the underworld everyman, every bad guy default henchman, the street tough with connections - but who ultimately posed no threat. He's worked for the Kingpin, the original Fixer, and Mister Fear among others, stolen and worn super-villain armors, and fought the likes of Iron Man, the Punisher, the Black Panther, Night Thrasher, and Daredevil.

My first exposure to the character was in the first Marvel Super Heroes role-playing game from TSR back in the eighties. The game did not have metal figures to place on combat maps like many RPGs of the time, instead there were cardboard fold-ups. There were well over one hundred of them, depicting the major super heroes and super-villains of the Marvel Universe, and Turk was one of them. Yeah, apparently he was that important.

The first time we see Daredevil in action in episode one, "Into the Ring," Turk is there, as a matter of fact, he's the guy taking the biggest beating. Here, as in the comics, 'crime does not pay' is a saying that Turk never remembers. At the end of that episode, we see him getting a second chance selling guns, and that's where we find him here, selling his guns. One of them falls into the hands of an assassin set to throw the Russians into chaos.

There are lots of connections in this episode, and Turk is really the least of them. Matt takes a moment to talk to the priest from the first episode outside the St. Agnes church. His name is Father Lantom, who has appeared in the Runaways comic, and the church is the same one where Skye was found as a child in "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." It is all connected.

Also more important than Turk, or Lantom or St. Agnes, is the first appearance of reporter Ben Urich. The character has switched races, much like Heimdall in Thor, and also switched allegiances of his profession. Because of the whole Marvel/Sony/Spider-Man thing, Urich can't actually work for the Daily Bugle here on "Daredevil," but has to write for the New York Bulletin instead. That's okay though, that's easier to deal with than Ant-Man and the Wasp not being in the Avengers at least…

Vondie Curtis-Hall is no Joe Pantliano (from the Dardevil movie) in the role of Urich, but he is a pro, a great character actor that folks most likely know from "Chicago Hope." His wife is the brilliant Kasi Lemmons, the director of The Caveman's Valentine, Talk to Me, and one of my absolute favorite films, Eve's Bayou. His portrayal lends a very cool and very real vibe to the show that reminded me in a good way to "The Wire." Yes, I said it, "The Wire."

In the comics, Ben Urich works frequently with Daredevil, Spider-Man, and the Punisher, and his investigations have exposed the identities of several heroes and villains, Daredevil and The Kingpin among them. Vondie Curtis-Hall kicks up the quality of this character, and I'm looking forward to more of him in this series. I feel for him, and his ailing wife. My heart breaks as a writer knowing that his wife's hospital care are definitely aiding his decision between his passion for journalism and keeping his job. Writers need to follow their bliss, to quote Joseph Campbell, but Urich is chained by his hard reality.

Much of the episode revolves around Wesley hiring Nelson and Murdock after an assassin murders Prohaska in a bowling alley with one of Turk's guns. It's a test. Let's see what they're made of, what they can do, if they are dangerous - it's what the big bad is thinking. Maybe we'll need a lawyer sooner or later. Karen is shuffled off to a subplot where she's asked to sign off on not talking about what Union Allied tried to do but can't. There's more to this, and her, than meets the eye.

There is a very nice juicy scene between Wesley and Leland Owsley. I can see the beginnings of The Owl here, his mannerisms, etc. This could be very very good if they go in that direction. With a second season just announced, would they use The Owl as a baddie, or go right to Elektra? I suppose it's sadly unlikely. The Owl became a forgotten character, as opposed to daredevil arch-foe when Frank Miller, Kingpin, Elektra, and Bullseye all took center stage. We Silver Age Marvel Comics readers can dream though, can't we?

There is great use of Matt's powers while trailing Wesley and in the courtroom later. There's precious little fighting or even Daredevil in this episode, but everything else is so good one doesn't notice. That said, I hope that what we have seen the past two episodes - the "Kung Fu" move of only having action in the last five minutes - will not become the pattern.

Speaking of endings, we not only finally get a name for our big bad, Wilson Fisk, but we see Vincent D'Onofrio's Kingpin as well. We see him admiring a stark white painting, where we get the title of this episode, and beginning his romance with a woman, who in the comics will become his wife. D'Onofrio's Fisk is childlike, with a sense of menace, frightening indeed. I think I am going to dig him very much...