Daredevil: Born Again Season 2, Episodes 2 & 3 Review

Spoilers follow for Daredevil: Born Again Season 2, Episodes 2 and 3, which are streaming on Disney+ now.

Adding a bit of added context to what is now a two-episode combo review: I wrote rough early versions of my Born Again Season 2 episode reviews as I watched the advance screeners for the season for the first time, so that both my reactions and any speculation on what’s to come are “pure.” But with Disney+ making the late decision to put out the second and third episode together – while all the rest of Season 1 will still be released one episode at a time – I will reiterate that the season improves after a slower start, and I can see why they decided they’d rather get through these first three quicker.

Jumping into Episode 2, after he saved Matt from offscreen in the premiere, we’ve got Bullseye (Wilson Bethel) back in the flesh and blood again. And he seems to be in a strange headspace, acting like the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen’s own guardian devil and maybe his shadow of sorts? Dex’s decision to seek refuge in Clinton Church, and even ask to see Sister Maggie – Matt’s mother – is a fascinating turn of events, especially looking back at Daredevil Season 3, where Dex was impersonating Daredevil.

He truly seems to mean no harm to Matt and his loved ones, at least currently, as he targeted those AVTF agents coming for Cherry at the hospital. Having once literally stood in Matt’s DD boots, does he now want to walk his path in a less overtly monstrous, yet still decidedly lethal, way? Wilson Bethel has always been great as Bullseye and it’s exciting to see him get what feels likely to be a more expanded role this time out, after he was only at the beginning and end of Season 1 (thanks to only being added during that season’s extensive creative overhaul).

Episode 2 manages to make the AVTF even more hateable and to even more pointedly echo current events as we saw more of how they operate in that sequence where Soledad (Ashley Marie Ortiz) and Angela (Camila Rodriguez), the wife and niece of the late Hector Ayala/White Tiger, got caught up in an escalating series of events at the bodega. Everything we saw that AVTF guy do when stumbling upon some teens stealing booze only made things worse, including calling Soledad’s hand on his arm “assault” and hauling her away, making it very understandable why the locals were so up in arms. It also served to make it very satisfying seeing Daredevil beat the hell out of some more AVTF guys later on when they tried to take in Josie. I just wish Angela was a more fleshed-out character to give greater weight to her getting ahold of her uncle’s amulet and clearly aiming to take over the White Tiger identity, as she did in the comics.

The dream Vanessa (Ayelet Zurer) has about Dex hunting her felt a bit weird, and played a bit goofy visually, especially on the heels of Heather’s Muse visions being introduced. Unless there’s some outside influence causing these things to happen, it’s a bit redundant to have both occurring simultaneously.

That dream pushes Vanessa to suggest to Fisk they leave New York entirely for their private island, in what is a questionable shift for her character. Her entire arc since we’ve met her has been about her becoming more of Fisks’s true match, his Queenpin if you will. This included last season where she was upset by Wilson suggesting they back away from their criminal activities for his mayoral image, and was proud of what she’d accomplished while he was gone and she took charge. To now have her switch to wanting them to flee feels off.

BB being the one making the Mayor Kingpin videos is hardly a surprise, given she was the most obvious character to be doing it, but that’s fine since they let us know so early in the season. And I liked her conversation with Daniel about Fisk, where it’s clear she’d like to get him to see why he should turn against his boss – even as he continues to only want to look at how he’s personally benefiting and ignore the actual awfulness going on around him.

Fisk knowing Matt is Daredevil is one of those plot points that can be fun but also tricky to navigate, because there are scenarios where one would presume he’d finally just reveal it. That being the case, it was gratifying to have Buck bring up the idea to Fisk here. Some may argue against Fisk’s logic that revealing it now would only complicate matters with the public, given Matt Murdock saved Fisk’s life, but I think it sounds like a credible concern. And like Matt himself said, in grim admiration, Fisk instead calling on the city to find the missing, oh-so heroic Matt is a wickedly clever way to make it much more difficult for him to stay hidden.

As for Episode 3, it was the stronger of the two new episodes, and it must be said that Born Again Season 2 sure is giving good billy club action! It felt like DD was already using that weapon more than ever in the previous episodes, but the third episode’s concluding action sequence went especially big on the billy in some rather thrilling ways. There was even an awesome, Sam Raimi-style point of view shot as the club flew through the air into the face of an AVTF a-hole.

For many reasons, this action sequence was the best one yet for Season 2, as Matt broke out all of Kingpin’s underground prisoners, including Jack Duquesne, the Swordsman. We not only got great Daredevil fighting moments here, but great Swordsman ones as well, as the two teamed up for a good old-fashioned oner, with Jack using pipes as his impromptu swords and once more showing how good he is in a fray too – for the first time since Hawkeye’s finale nearly five (!) years ago. Tony Dalton seemed to be having as much fun as Jack was, punctuated by his huge grin when Jack was handed a weapon to use by Daredevil. The end of the oner (yes, yes, there were plenty of spots where the hidden edits could be placed, as is usually the case with these things) had a very funny punchline too, with Daredevil yelling “MOVE!” to the freed prisoners.

As noted above, this episode was a step up for Season 3, bringing more forward momentum and excitement with it. The storyline with the half-sunken tanker was starting to feel too drawn out, so it’s good to have that sucker blown up at the end (though it sure sucks for the patsies Fisk was willing to let die after Mr. Charles suggested this out to get his weapons).

But wait just a second: Is Heather Glenn pulling a Tommy Jarvis?! For those who aren’t familiar with Friday the 13th lore, young Tommy killed Jason in the fourth F13 movie, and then we got repeated hints Tommy was potentially going to take on the Jason persona himself for a couple of movies – including seeing Tommy with a hockey mask in his drawer. All of which feels pretty reminiscent of Heather pulling that Muse mask out of her desk. Of course, all the Tommy as Jason teases never paid off, as he never actually went full psycho killer, so let’s see if Heather mimics Tommy fully or goes down a bloodier path.

Taking Heather in this direction is amusing but also feels rather random, as the writers attempt to figure out what to do with this character. Better served right now is Kirsten McDuffie, who was another one of Season 1’s undercooked new characters. With Matt off the grid, Kirsten is essentially getting to represent the lawyerly side of things that is usually a key part of Daredevil stories, stepping up on her own to defend Jack in court. Nikki M. James and Tony Dalton played well off each other, as they planned his defense and discussed how dire things are, with Jack evoking the Reign of Terror no less.

It was funny and a bit jarring to hear Matt go full Batman and use a fake, overly gravely voice to talk to Kirsten so she wouldn’t recognize Daredevil’s voice. I do feel like this is a place where maybe we just go with comic book logic/suspension of disbelief and let him talk more normally? But mileage will vary.

Though she’d been referenced a few times, it was pushing credibility to not have New York’s governor directly intervene with what Fisk was getting away with, so happily that was rectified here. Lily Taylor is a terrific choice to play Governor Marge McCaffrey, selling both the audience and Fisk on why she’d let things play out previously (including that old chestnut, voter popularity), but no longer was going to give him that luxury. And hey, it’s a Mystic Pizza reunion for Vincent D’Onofrio and Taylor!