…and, we’re back!
After a skull-cracking finale to season one, Daredevil: Born Again season two opens with the latest episode of “The BB Report,” although there’s a noticeable shift in tone and features the citizens of New York praising Mayor Fisk… suspicious to say the least.
Then, we’re thrown right back into the action as we catch up with Daredevil (Matt Murdock) on his latest mission, infiltrating The Northern Star, a cargo ship passing through the Fisk owned/operated Freeport, that Daredevil discovers is smuggling military-grade weapons for - surprise, surprise - the Kingpin of Crime (Vincent D’Onofrio). He’s not exactly subtle with his approach, beating down a handful of thugs in brutal fashion, so it doesn’t take long for his presence to be detected.
His actions put Captain Achilleo Kyriaco (Thomas Cokenias) and first mate Christofi Savva (Yorgos Karamihos) on high alert and they’re forced to put Fisk’s contingency plan in motion: sink the ship and leave no survivors. They abandon ship swiftly thereafter. Daredevil hears them put their plan in motion and acts quickly, leaving a ticking watch in one of the shipping containers, so he can track the guns later. He then goes down with the ship, and we see him resurface on shore. He regroups and listens as the ship goes down, it’s a massive spectacle and something Fisk won’t be able to cover up. He flashes a devilish smile… cue the credits!
Daredevil returns to his secret hideout, where he’s been staying with Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll), who’s been sharpening her combat skills. He recounts the success of his mission to Karen and they wonder aloud who Fisk’s client could be, a mystery they decide to work on later, but for now, they’re happy with their win. It’s a big blow to Fisk’s operation and will halt future shipments through the freeport for an extended period of time. To close the conversation, the pair share a kiss, confirming they’ve rekindled their romance.
The Kingpin arrives on the scene of the accident and watches The Northern Star slowly sink from afar. He’s visibly upset and wastes no time declaring it a terrorist attack orchestrated by the vigilante of Hell’s Kitchen. He declares war on Daredevil and tells his team of Sheila Rivera (Zabryna Guevara), Daniel Blake (Michael Gandolfini), and Officer Powell (Hamish Allan-Headley) to start hunting him down immediately. He then takes Buck Cashman (Arty Froushan) aside and asks for actual intel on the shipwreck, Buck informs him that only the Captain and First Mate survived, so Fisk tells him to find them immediately.
We’re taken to a bar in Washington D.C. where Mr. Charles (Matthew Lillard) is watching news coverage of the shipwreck. He’s on the phone with someone and tells them he’ll take care of this mess himself.
Back at Matt and Karen’s hideout, the pair discuss Fisk’s current mental state and both agree that Fisk is losing his mind. Karen suggests it may be time to consider alternative means of taking him down, since nothing they’ve done thus far has worked long-term, but Matt is insistent that exposing Fisk to the public for who he truly is is still their best course of action. He wants Fisk held accountable for his actions. Karen then gets a lead on the whereabouts of the Captain and First Mate and heads out to track them down.
In Fisk’s office, Kingpin watches footage of Daredevil breaking into the ship, and slams his laptop closed. The Lieutenant Governor (Lenny Platt) and Attorney General (Ty Jones) drop by his office and begin to question the Mayor’s recent actions, his emergency powers and declaring vigilantes as terrorists. They’re laying into him because none of his moves were sanctioned by the office of the Attorney General nor the Governor’s office. Fisk retorts that he’s been a man of his word and his actions have indeed cleaned up the streets. The AG promises more oversight, especially with the impending vigilante trials.
The tides seem to be shifting against Fisk, that is until Mr. Charles joins the meeting. He’s acquainted with Fisk already and we learn that he’s coming from Langley and is apparently working for CIA Director Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. The AG promptly gets a phone call from Miss de Fontaine and suddenly changes his tune toward Fisk. He offers support and Fisk smugly shows his appreciation.
Karen dons a wig before sneaking into a convenience store to covertly pick up a file that presumably contains information about the Captain and First Mate.
Then, we go to prison where Jack Duquesne (Tony Dalton) is getting an unwanted psychological evaluation from Heather Glenn (Margarita Levieva). She claims she’s impartial and that his evaluation will be provided to both the District Attorney and to his legal team at Murdock & McDuffie, but Duquesne scoffs, knowing she works for the Mayor and this is all a sham. She writes unfavorable things about him before she starts having visions of Muse, so yeah, she’s not in a good place.
At the office of Murdock & McDuffie, Cherry (Clark Johnson) stops by to meet with Kirsten McDuffie (Nikki M. James) and both are frustrated that no one has been able to find where the AVTF has been taking their prisoners. They haven’t heard from Matt either, which worries Kirsten, but Cherry assures her that Matt will be fine. DA Hochberg (John Benjamin Hickey) interrupts to talk to McDuffie about the upcoming Swordsman trial and suggests she plead out to save her career. He even hints at the odds being stacked against her and offers her a job in his office, but she refuses.
Cherry then heads to a secret location to meet with none other than Matt Murdock. Matt fills him in on what was aboard The Northern Star and tells him that he needs to expose Fisk fast before the Kingpin destroys the city. He also doesn’t want to bring McDuffie into the fold because he doesn’t want to put her at risk. Cherry asks what about him, but Matt says he’s old, so it’s okay, which brings some levity to the hour.
Officer Powell and the AVTF kickstart their manhunt for Kyriaco and Saava and raid a restaurant owned by a woman named Ariana (Annie Parisse). She’s uncooperative and calls Powell a fascist, which results in the corrupt cop punching her in the face. Kyriaco is then spotted in the restaurant and makes a break for it. He’s not quick enough though and Powell catches up and brutally beats him down.
What appears to be another installment of the BB Report airs, but it gets hacked and we see an individual in an exaggerated Kingpin mask slamming BB for the pivot in her coverage. The masked reporter then airs footage of Daredevil breaking into the ship and exposes Fisk’s shipment.
The next scene is BB attending a party at Daniel Blake’s fancy new apartment. She questions how he was able to afford the place on his deputy mayor salary, and he says he got a deal because Fisk owns the building. She says Fisk shouldn’t still be involved in his old businesses, but he insists everything is legit because the building is part of a trust that Buck manages. She’s clearly not happy about the loophole, but decides not to argue and tells him to be careful.
Matt visits Ariana’s restaurant and gains her trust. He knows she’s been helping people get out of New York and was going to help Kyriaco and Saava before the raid. They know it’s probably too late for Kyriaco, but he still has to try and find Saava before the AVTF does. She doesn’t know where he is, but will send him to Matt if he comes to her.
Cut to Powell torturing Kyriaco. He tells him he doesn’t know where Saava is, but Powell doesn’t stop till Buck walks in. Buck orders everyone to leave and then asks Kyriaco what happened on the boat, so he tells him how Daredevil boarded, so he had to sink the ship, which is what Buck and Fisk ordered him to do. Buck knows he’s telling the truth and seems to empathize for a moment when the former ship captain asks to go home, but then promptly executes him.
Buck informs Fisk, who is in the midst of a meeting with Vanessa (Ayelet Zurer) and Mr. Charles, who is really not happy about the shipwreck since those were his goods. He’s not remotely afraid of the Kingpin and tells him what needs to be done. They need to move the shipment across the city without anyone knowing about it, a task that is far easier said than done. Fisk says he has loyal men willing to do the job, but Charles asks if he’s ready to kill these same men once the job is done, Fisk hesitates since it’s hard to find good men. Charles offers his own men to do the job, saying they’re expendable. Fisk doesn’t want the job to be traced to him, and Charles assures him it won’t be. He finishes his drink.
Blake returns to his apartment and is pleased to find it clean. BB arranged for a cleaning service and he thanks her via text. She receives the text during a secret meeting with her source: Karen Page! BB is working with Karen to expose Fisk. Karen also asks her whether she has feelings for Blake, who she’s still using as her unwitting source, but BB says they are strictly friends. Karen also confirms to BB that Fisk did indeed kill her uncle Ben. She feels a lot of guilt about that because she’s pretty sure Ben was trying to protect her, so she tells BB to be safe.
Then, in Heather’s apartment, she’s reviewing notes when she gets a call from the DA, who asks her to juice up the evaluation a bit. She agrees to make Jack seem more dangerous and has another vision of Muse as her descent into the darkness continues. He tries to ask her out, but she hangs up.
Matt and Karen meet back up at their hideout and recap the day with a quick training session. Karen’s improved her skills, but remains unmatched for Matt. They take a break and reminisce about Nelson, Murdock & Page. She asks Matt if he ever misses it and he admits he does, she says she does too.
At Ariana’s restaurant, she gets word that there’s a man eating out of their dumpster. She tells her waiter to prepare a plate, but he tells her that he already did and now the man wants to thank her personally. She goes outside to meet him and it’s Saava!
For the final scene, we head to Cherry’s apartment where he’s reviewing his files. He gets a knock on his door from the AVTF, who want to know why he’s been looking for the Captain and First Mate. He refuses to answer their questions without a warrant, they break in and start to beat him viciously. One of the officers brings a gun to his temple and just when we think it may be over for the good detective, Daredevil intervenes and knocks out the officers, although the second one is able to warn their backup. The other officers arrive and Daredevil begins to deliver one of his classic ass-whoopings until he gets distracted by Cherry having a heart attack. The AVTF manage to subdue and unmask him, and are shocked to learn he’s Matt Murdock. All hope looks lost when an officer brings a gun to his head, but then suddenly, an unseen assassin rapidly kills all four of the officers. Daredevil and Cherry are both confused, until a knife is thrown into the room with expert precision, with a logo and message reading, “You’re welcome.”
BULLSEYE!