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Daredevil Recap And Review – S01E04 – In The Blood

By Steve Lam

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If you thought Daredevil couldn’t get any more brutal, you are so very wrong.  The fourth episode of the series, In the Blood, lifts the show’s violence to new heights.  Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not one bit offended.  In fact, I’m quite impressed at how they carried out the violence.  It was neither at Tarantino-esque ridiculousness nor was it at Saw-level sadism.  The violence presented here helped define the characters and made the episode that much more tangible.  In short, it was quite an experience.

And we finally have our first meaty (no pun intended) scenes of Wilson Fisk, a.k.a Kingpin, and they are unsettling.  Vincent D’Onofrio has made one of Marvel’s most notorious villains his own.  And in the final scenes, you truly understand how this man got to his position as the boss of Hell’s Kitchen.

A Daring Recap

We open to 8 years ago at Utkin Prison in Siberia.  Russian brothers Anatoly and Vladimir have been imprisoned there for something unmentioned.  The brothers plan an escape by using makeshift stabbing weapons fashioned from the rib bones of a dead fellow prisoner.  Their ultimate goal is to find success in America.  In present day Hell’s Kitchen, they run human trafficking and narcotics distribution operations for Wilson Fisk.  However, their days are numbered due to the heroic activities of Daredevil.

At Claire’s apartment, Matt has made routine visits to get himself patched up from his nighttime escapades.  Matt offers to exchange phone numbers so that he can at least give her a heads up in the future.  Before he leaves, he asks her if she’s ever heard of the name “Wilson Fisk”, of which she hasn’t.

Wesley meets with the Russians at their business front, a taxi cab company, due to them being late with their payments to Fisk.  Anatoly blames Daredevil for their current problems.  Wesley only sees this as a minor problem of which the Russians can’t handle.  He tells them that Fisk has offered to provide them with certain needs — code for taking over.  Vladimir is offended and refuses the offer.  Wesley wants them to mull it over and leaves.

Karen and Ben meet at a diner to discuss the next steps in bringing down Union Allied.  To Karen’s surprise, Ben doesn’t want to go forward and thinks that her story has no credible sources.  He leaves after telling her to forget about the whole thing.

Anatoly and Vladamir visit Semyon (the fake cop Daredevil threw into the dumpster in Cut Man) in the hospital.  They bring him out of his coma with epinephrine and question him about what happened.  Before succumbing to his injuries, Semyon gives them Claire’s address.

In a car, Wesley and Fisk have a discussion about a timeline that involves bringing in multiple criminal organizations.  Because the Russians are unable to handle Daredevil, Fisk suggests bringing in someone else who can.  Fisk and Wesley arrive at their destination, which is the art gallery.  Against Wesley’s concerns, Fisk wants to go in alone.  We are unaware what the situation is until Fisk seeks out Vanessa and attempts to ask her out to dinner.  She plays a bit of hard-to-catch at first, but Fisk ultimately wins her over with his awkward charms.

As Matt and Foggy are about to get in a taxi cab, Matt receives a call from Claire.  Back at the apartment, Claire struggles to fight back as she’s being abducted.  Matt has Foggy leave, faking that it’s another interested girl.  Hearing Claire through the phone, Matt ditches his cane and speeds to her apartment.  He enters to find nothing.  Using his super-hearing, Matt focuses on Claire’s screams and hears her being transported via the brother’s taxi cab.  He runs out, but the traffic commotion allows the Russians to escape.

At an auction, Karen attempts to find suspects bidding on Union Allied’s assets.  She’s quickly caught by Ben, who’s here performing his own investigation.  Agreeing to meet with her, he ends their brief conversation by telling her to bid on a low priced item as to not bring attention to herself.

Back at Claire’s apartment complex, Matt finds a beaten and scared Santino (the young man who originally found Matt in the dumpster in Cut Man).  Santino, trusting Matt, reveals that Claire was taken by a cab labeled with the company name “Veles.”

At Veles Taxi, the Russians torture and beat Claire for Daredevil’s identity.  The lights suddenly go out and Daredevil launches a stealth one-man attack.  Seeing no way out, a Russian grabs Claire as a hostage.  Daredevil quickly subdues him.  An angered Claire, performs the final honors by knocking the Russian out with an aluminum bat.

At a diner, Ben reveals what his real plans are: his initial disinterest in the case was to get Karen clear, so that he could investigate Union Allied on his own.  Ben recaps multiple corruption cases he’s investigated in the past.  One in particular was how he met his now ill wife.  Now that Karen is in, Ben wants her to keep the case a secret, and to sign the deal Union Allied’s legal team offered her — to get her off their radar.  Even though Karen will be barred from speaking publicly about the company, Ben is still free to say anything.

Examining Daredevil’s work, the Russian brothers agree that they will need Fisk’s help.  Anatoly finds Fisk at dinner with Vanessa and interrupts them.  Embarrassed by the whole situation, and trying to keep his underworld life from Vanessa, Fisk has his men hold back Anatoly as Fisk and his date leave.

Matt, still feeling guilty about Claire’s abduction, questions whether he should continue his crusade.  He only sees the negatives of his heroism — getting people hurt.  Claire tells him that she’s scared, but he’s someone that can do something about it.  Matt finally reveals his real name to her.

Fisk walks Vanessa home and attempts to ask her out on another date.  Anatoly’s interruption and Fisk’s unknown nature has made Vanessa unsure about how she truly feels about him.  Fisk leaves defeated.

Anatoly — under the presumption that he’s meeting with Fisk to discuss consolidation terms — is brought by Wesley to a secluded area.  There, Anatoly is brutally attacked by Fisk, who felt that he embarrassed him in front of Vanessa.  Rendering Anatoly unconcious with a final punch, Fisk places his head at the foot of the SUV.  There, Fisk brutally slams the door on Anatoly’s head — ultimately decapitating him.  Fisk asks Wesley to send the remains of Anatoly back to his brother which will start a war.

Moments That Blind You with Awesomeness

  • Daredevil’s garage fight scene.  It’s one the best “they had it coming” scenes ever.
  • Claire using an aluminum bat and dispensing some well-deserved justice on one of her abductors.
  • Wilson Fisk’s display of his temper.  The writers saw the line and did a swan dive over it … whee!

Final Thoughts

If I haven’t said it already, “I love Daredevil!”  The writers are not afraid of taking chances because, you know, high risk yields high rewards.  After the more cerebral Rabbit in a Snowstorm episode, Daredevil brings back the action in full force, and shows us what a monster Wilson Fisk is.

I have to admit that upon hearing the initial casting news, I didn’t like or hate the choosing of Vincent D’Onofrio as Wilson Fisk.  I only thought, “Hmmm, we just need a heavy-set bald white guy.  They’ll just have him yell at people and beat a few underlings up.”  After watching D’Onofrio’s performance, I cannot imagine anyone else playing this role.  From the intimidating gaze, to the small fidgeting actions he does with his cuff links, the character is perfect.  D’Onofrio almost plays him like a criminal savant — someone so tuned to crime that he’s a genius in that realm.  That, to me, is frightening as all hell.

Let’s not forget about the iconic fight scenes in this show.  Yes, I said “iconic.”  Steven S. DeKnight has definitely put his own stamp and brand on this series.  The reason Daredevil’s punches and kicks are so satisfying is due to the emotions behind them.  The writers have made it a priority to show the villains as the most vile and disgusting beings: torturing and beating women; kidnapping children; doing other deplorable acts.  They allow these scenes to simmer until they virtually bubble over.  By securing a high emotion from the audience, Daredevil’s ass-kicking entrance is welcome every time.  We love hearing bones breaking and bad guys crying.

Another A-plus episode in my book.  Okay, who here got all giddy when Claire mentioned that Matt should use some “armor.”  I said to myself, “Red suit baby!  Red suit!”

Next: Check out our previous recap of Episode 3 - Rabbit in a Snowstorm

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