After 9 episodes Daredevil: Born Again season one is coming to an end after a somewhat uneven season and it leaves a lot of loose ends to tie-up in Season 2, while offering closure on just a few storylines
After a cliffhanger with Matt Murdock taking a bullet at the hands of Benjamin Pointdexter aka Bullseye which was meant for his archnemesis Wilson Fisk things very quickly ramp up as Matt’s brush with death seems to become almost an after-thought only slowing Matt down slightly as he dons the Daredevil costume again and reunites with Punisher. Even Bullseye is very quickly pushed aside, only appearing in a flashback revealing that Vanessa did indeed hire him to kill Foggy and then later to tease his return for Season 3.
While Bullseye is pretty much sidelined this episode Punisher gets a fair amount of screen-time this episode. He teams up with Daredevil to battle Fisk’s anti-vigilante squad in what may be the most action-packed fight scene of the entire season which answers the question of who killed Hector Ayala aka White Tiger by revealing it was corrupt cop and member of Fisk’s Anti-vigilante squad: Cole North (Jeremy Isaiah Earl) who is presumably killed by a grenade at the end of his fight with Daredevil and Punisher
It was good to see Daredevil and Punisher team-up once again as their chemistry still seems to work well especially given there dueling philosophy on crime-fighting. Honestly Frank even steals the show a few times, especially when he tries to take on Fisk’s squad by himself, but ends up captured. He does manage to escape from Fisk in the end credit scene so look for him to have an even bigger role in Season 2.
Frank’s return also brings back Karen Page, who has not been seen since the premiere episode. There is an attempt to hint at a love triangle between Matt, Karen, and Frank, but honestly it feels too contrived and adds very little to the episode. Matt’s other love interest Heather Glen does seem to be ignored this episode in favor of Karen’s return. She really only appears in one scene to be concerned for Matt after he is shot before being sidelined much like Bullseye. She does get offered the job of Fisk’s Secretary of Mental Health which is a plot line we will most likely see addressed in Season 2. It seems this episode has too many characters to juggle, leaving some plotlines lacking, but hopefully that will be addressed in Season 2.
Most of this episode however focuses on Wilson Fisk finally returning to his true nature as Kingpin and using his power as Mayor to declare martial law in New York under the guise of protecting it from vigilantes. He even goes out of his way to remove all opposition to his plans, notably Police Commissioner Gallo (Michael Gaston) who is killed in a truly gory manner which almost comes as a complete surprise in this episode although this is probably the most bloody and violent episode of the season. Fisk also managed to cage a lot of his opponents and vigilantes including Jack Duquesne (Tony Dalton) aka Swordsman. Daredevil’s fellow Defenders and other recognizable vigilantes were noticeably absent from the Kingpin’s captives as well as the final scene where Matt begins to gather a small army after he realizes he can’t take on Fisk alone. I think both scenes would have been the perfect opportunity for some surprise cameos, but with Daredevil in need of allies for season 2 expect a few surprise ones to pop up next season.
Overall “Straight to Hell” does wrap up a few storylines from season 1, but does not feel as much like a solid conclusion for the whole season as much as prologue for Season 2. It was fun to see Punisher and Daredevil teaming up again and it does set up a Season 2 which looks to hit the ground running, but for me it felt a little underwhelming, although it does make me excited for what is to come.
