Episode 5 of Daredevil left us on a pretty big cliffhanger. Matt is literally in a standoff with the police who have finally seem to have “caught him” at the scene. The fifth episode was another solid installment to the series, and hopefully, picking up from this cliffhanger will continue to be as eventful as the past couple of episodes have. I really enjoy how the show is moving Matt closer to Fisk, and their eventual battle is shaping up to be pretty phenomenal.
This episode of Daredevil was unique because a lot happened in all of two locations. “The Condemned” opens right where we left off, with the cops ready to take Matt in. He cooperates and even lets them cuff him before fighting them all and escaping with Vladimir. Hell’s Kitchen is still in chaos from Fisk’s explosions and now the paid off cops are exterminating any surviving Russians. Matt takes a severely injured Vladimir to an abandoned building and hopes to get information out of him. There is a very interesting dynamic between Vladimir and Matt; they don’t like each other, but have this silent respect for one another. Vladimir is only there because he was under the impression that Matt caused all of the destruction, but seems tame when Matt reveals the truth.
I really enjoyed the focus on their time together in the building. I thought that right from the moment Matt burns him with the flare to stop him from bleeding out that it was awesome. Their fight was really cool, and Matt bringing Vladimir back to life was also fantastic. I like that he helps him pull up the grate so they can both escape.
Matt’s radio discussion with Fisk is probably the best part of this episode. I like that they showed how smart Fisk really is. When he has the guts to call Matt a child, it just proves how unafraid and powerful he believes he is. After their talk, Fisk even pulls strings to immediately have the surveillance tape of Daredevil fighting the cops from the beginning of the episode put onto the news. The show is doing a great job of slowly giving Fisk more screen time; whenever he comes on, it’s usually an important scene.
I really liked Ben’s plot in this episode as well. He immediately shows up to the cops surrounding the building that Matt and Vladimir are in. He gets as close as he can and shows no fear when pestering the cops about what’s going on. It’s nice that Karen was the one to shake him back into form. Ben finally feels like the investigative journalist that he used to be. I was pretty amazed to see the cops openly threaten him, but I guess that’s just another extension of how far Fisk’s reach goes.
Karen and Foggy had a relatively small part in “The Condemned.” Their plot picks up in the aftermath of the explosions at Mrs. Cardenas’ house, where they were having dinner, and the two of them rush her to the hospital. The crossover of Karen and Foggy with Claire was really well-done. I thought that quick interaction revealed how in the dark Foggy and Karen are. Watching the show we get to see everything, so sometimes it’s easy to forget that these three characters have never crossed paths but are linked to both of Matt’s lives.
It turns out Foggy was wounded badly in his side but was too focused on getting Mrs. Cardenas to the hospital to care. He spends the rest of the episode laid up in a hospital bed, being treated. Foggy and Karen try to locate Matt in all this madness, but he’s obviously not picking up. Karen comes off as being more concerned, but Foggy has a mixture of worry and nervous suspicion on his face. I feel like either Foggy or Karen will discover Matt’s secret in the next couple of episodes. It seems like it has to happen.
Overall, I really enjoyed the sixth episode of Daredevil. It wasn’t my favorite episode, but that’s not saying it wasn’t good. I absolutely loved the scenes with Matt and Vladamir, but it felt like nothing else really happened in the episode. It’s interesting that Matt is being framed as the villain to the public and I’m curious how he will out Fisk to everyone. The show is definitely continuing to pick up, though. Despite this not being a personal favorite of mine, Matt learned about Fisk’s connection with the Chinese and is beginning to see how big this whole operation truly is.
Favorite Moments:
– “I don’t really go to the movies.”
– Vladimir compares Fisk to Al Capone, which gives us a sense for how much power he actually has.
[Photo via Netflix]
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