Martin Carr reviews the ninth episode of Daredevil season 3…
This is the one where the options run out. Where the emotional hooks which have been working their way beneath the skin for eight straight hours, finally burrow deep enough and find purchase. Here is where those seeds which were sown bear fruit and begin to take away any vestiges of salvation either religious or otherwise. When good men trying to do the right thing find themselves sucked into a corruption which is starkly illustrated, mercilessly administered and coldly metered out.
Agent Nadeem has a moment of redemption here which stands up against anything else season three has served up thus far. A realisation which is registered in a slack mask of terror and confusion, as the world of law and order he believed in is revealed as rotten, culpable and seemingly impregnable. As the scenes pile up he can see that these people are no less honest, yet Fisk holds the cards and controls them without question. Fear and anger subside quickly to be replaced by resignation and duplicity. That combined with the family scenes in which Nadeem and Poindexter share space are stark reminders of Fisk’s influence and underlying sense of threat.
Externalised internal monologue feeds into Murdock’s current state of mind once again as his father and Fisk both have something poignant to add. These conversations which clearly represent the clashing elements of Matt’s subconscious lay bare his guilt, confusion, isolation and limited moral compass. Embroiled in an emotional reaction which finds him neither thinking clearly nor rationally this is the moment where the audience are completely on side. Fisk and his counterfeit crime fighter have every ally that Murdock had hamstrung or paid off. Betrayed by those he relies on and privy to information which further undermines his faith in people, if Murdoch is not running on empty you have to question why not.
Emotive flashbacks may provide context for decisions made and paths chosen, but ultimately Daredevil personifies the collateral damage and broken person beneath that public face. Self-destructive does not even come close to what Matt Murdock stands for right now, but since his adversaries are equally damaged that fails to matter. As the pack dogs are let loose, Kingpin sharpened his teeth in readiness for the new arrival and rope bindings thicker than nautical rigging wrap round our anti-hero we are out of options. Whether or not you ever believe in God means nothing anymore, because after this season finishes you will believe in Daredevil.
Martin Carr
Originally published October 27, 2018. Updated January 8, 2019.
