In its last episode, Daredevil really began to pick up. Fisk is killing people and blaming Daredevil in order to cover himself. Claire was hurt badly from being involved with Matt; the stakes are definitely rising. This episode, “World On Fire,” was another good installment and continued to show the chaos that is just beginning in Hell’s Kitchen. The smoothly run drug operation that was going on between Fisk, Madame Gao, and the Russian brothers is falling apart because of Matt, and now they are beginning to suspect and doubt each other as business partners. Matt is getting into much more than he might have originally expected, and “World On Fire” begins to reveal that.
Claire is staying at Matt’s now, and we get a neat opening scene of him tending to her, explaining how he can hear and feel her bones shifting, which allows him to determine her injury. This scene is where we experience our first use and meaning behind the title, “World On Fire.” Claire gets Matt to explain how he sees more accurately than anyone else, which he replies by telling her he uses all of his senses to form an impressionistic painting. There is a quick first person glimpse of how Matt “sees,” and I really like the show illustrates this.
Matt’s story is basically going after Vladimir and the Russians because it’s the only way Claire will be safe. His quest is to rid her of all threats that have been his fault. He sort of just pesters them for the entire episode but it works. He first shows up to one of their hideouts and fights a bunch of thugs in the alley, until the cops show up and he narrowly escapes. One of Vladimir’s guys gets caught and taken into the station for questioning. Matt shows up to listen in on the interrogation and discovers that the cops are on Fisk’s payroll. They kill the Russian for saying Fisk’s name and cover it up. It’s crazy that the police are so corrupt that these guys can just openly kill someone in the room. Matt doesn’t handle this experience well and ends up torturing the dirty cop for information about Fisk.
Wesley and Fisk are a great combination, and I really love their formal and business friendly bromance. Wesley shows up at Vladimir’s to ask him if they have seen his brother. He makes sure Fisk stays innocent by addressing it head on. It turns out they staged the body to look like Daredevil killed Vladimir’s brother, when really it was Fisk. They meet with Leland and Madame Gao to explain the situation with the Russians, where they decide to internally remove them from the equation.
Settling this allows Fisk to focus on repairing the fallout from his awkward first date with Vanessa. The two have good chemistry, and witnessing this softer side of Fisk is really enjoyable. They go out on a dinner date, and he is able to relax and finally be himself. Fisk is eventually able to win Vanessa back and explain to her his true motives and radical plot to save the city. I like how well D’Onofrio delivers his lines in these scenes; he gives off this powerful and confident, yet also shy and mysterious feeling.
Foggy and Karen spend the episode helping this small elderly Hispanic woman, Mrs. Cardenas, with her apartment, which was wrongfully destroyed. Matt and Foggy’s former firm, Lehman & Zack, represent the business in question, which means Foggy has to return to his old stomping grounds. We are introduced to Marci, Foggy’s (or should I say Foggy Bear’s?) ex. She starts to claim Foggy has no chance, but he actually out-lawyers her and storms off confidently. This was such an awesome scene because it illustrated just how good Foggy is at his job (plus, it made him look like the man in front of Karen and his ex). I enjoyed the Foggy and Karen plot in this episode. When they returned to help Mrs. Cardenas fix up her house, it was touching, because Karen and Foggy can be heroes just as much as Matt can.
The episode wraps up with multiple bombs going off in Hell’s Kitchen. Matt shows up to the Russians’ warehouse, and it turns out Madame Gao sent a suicide bomber to take Vladamir and everyone out. At the same time, Mrs. Cardenas’ apartment building starts to explode, and everything is on fire. Finally, Fisk and Vanessa stand in the window, similarly to The Narrator and Marla in Fight Club, as they watch the buildings of Hell’s Kitchen explode.
This sequence of scenes was put together extremely well. I loved the parallels of seeing Matt get hit by an explosion, to Foggy, Karen, and Mrs. Cardenas surviving one, to Fisk looking over what he’s caused. Matt survives, but the police show up and actually pin him down with multiple guns pointed at him. I definitely need to know how this cliffhanger picks up!
A ton happened in “World On Fire,” and it was another amazing episode. I loved seeing Matt go out on a mission to ensure Claire’s safety. I finally enjoyed the entire Foggy and Karen plot with their “date” during the episode. Fisk has been non-stop fantastic since he’s entered the show, and I love the direction they are taking his character so far. Daredevil is definitely ramping up the intensity, and I like that Matt is getting closer to Fisk in every episode.
Other Enjoyments:
– Aw. Fisk admits Wesley is his friend.
– The police actually have Matt pinned down. What a place to end!
– “Matt is a sexual rain man.”
– Matt throwing the ammo cartridge at the one Russian thug was awesome.
[Photo via Netflix]
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