That hat is on point. Photo is a direct screenshot from the show via Netflix.
**Please note that this review contains spoilers for “The Perfect Game” and any episodes that occur prior**
“The city needs a new villain…and I think I might have found him.”
This season just keeps impressing, as the writers basically gave Dex his own episode. The show’s method of feeding his backstory to us was done in a very unique and intriguing way. Seeing Fisk studying and watching every detail—as if he truly were reliving the past—was eerie. Fisk is always twenty steps ahead of the game, something that is now becoming all too clear. Not only did he orchestrate the acquisition of his new place of imprisonment, but he also has already set-up a distraction for the public. As he so elegantly put it, the city needs a new villain, and Fisk has found the perfect candidate in Dex.
We learned a lot about Dex. For starters, he is a psychopath with personality disorders, and has been since the death of his parents at a young age. His rigid structure and demeanor were coaxed into existence thanks to a particularly helpful and important psychologist—and the loss of her has exposed a trigger for Kingpin to pull. It was great to see them dive so deeply into the man who will become Bullseye. We’re already off to a fantastic start when it comes to the show building the new villain that the city needs.
Dex about to get his first interactions with his girl Julie. Photo is a direct screenshot from the show via Netflix.
It was intriguing to see Dex thrown off guard by Fisk’s meddling. Dex’s connection to Julie has always been a fabricated one-way street through his watchful eyes in the distance. So when Fisk pulled his strings, you could see Dex’s rigid composure weaken. Suddenly his whole structure was shattered, which led him down a path that had no other ending than what we got. The episode made it extremely clear that Dex’s singular connections that he makes are extremely important. Without them, he can go dark. So it’s no surprise if this move is the one that breaks him—creating Bullseye.
Ray got a huge break this episode—well, at least he thought he did. Fisk has officially thrown Matt Murdock’s name into his schemes, and now the FBI is looking for him. This led Ray to some great confrontational scenes with both Karen and Foggy. It’s good to see our cast interact with Ray more; however, I really do hope that it doesn’t take an entire season for Ray to realize that he is being used. Hopefully, he’ll see both Karen and Foggy’s side of the story sooner rather than later.
Hopefully this isn’t clear foreshadowing for poor Julie. Photo is a direct screenshot from the show via Netflix.
Ray’s visit to Karen certainly didn’t make her day. I’m really happy that the show hasn’t forgotten what Karen did to Wesley. The fact that it’s resurfacing is awesome, and Deborah Ann Woll is doing a flawless job at showing Karen’s fear through the performance. Even better, Foggy now knows about it. I’m hoping that these dominoes continue to fall, leading us to see more of Karen’s backstory. Her backstory has always been something that the show has treated as its biggest kept secret, so now with this and the many name drops of her brother, we may finally get to shine some light into her darkness.
A fantastic episode gave us some great backstory of our soon to be Bullseye while continuing to evolve Kingpin and his master plan. With Matt Murdock in the FBI’s crosshairs, it looks like we may be seeing a lot more of Daredevil as he tries to clear his own name. So far this season has been able to keep up a fantastic momentum, while still giving us resounding character moments. Here’s to hoping that doesn’t stop anytime soon.
Bonus Notes:
- I get the purpose of that final spinning shot in Bulleye’s apartment, but I just don’t think it came off as well as they thought/hoped.
- I wonder if we are going to have to wait until season’s end for a new Daredevil suit.
- Foggy had a terribly designed election poster.
The third season of Daredevil is now streaming exclusively on Netflix.
