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Daredevil Recap And Review – S01E11 – The Path Of The Righteous

By Steve Lam

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After all this talk about whether or not Matt will kill someone, it was Karen who made the ultimate move.  Daredevil surprised us again with its eleventh episode, The Path of the Righteous.  In the aftermath of Foggy discovering Matt’s secret, we have Karen out trying to motivate everyone.  This, of course, gets her the wrong attention from Wesley, Fisk’s right-hand man.

Meanwhile, this is the first episode that dedicates a good few scenes on Daredevil’s heroic evolution.  He’s finally making his move to get some better armor, and we all know that means his iconic red suit will be arriving soon.

A Daring Recap

Vanessa is carried into the emergency room by Fisk.  As doctors and nurses attend to her, Fisk’s personal physician is on his way.  When Fisk wants to go with Vanessa into the ward, he’s stopped by a nurse who forces him to stay in the waiting area.

A concerned Karen stops by to visit Matt.  She doesn’t buy his story about a car accident and wants to know the truth of what’s going on.  Matt doesn’t budge.  Karen goes on to tell him about discovering the location of Fisk’s mother, Marlene.  Even though Marlene faked her death, Karen was able to track her to the nursing home via a marriage license.  Karen and Ben went to visit Marlene after trying to contact Matt and Foggy numerous times.  Matt thinks Marlene’s story is useless because of her age and dementia.  Matt tells Karen to bring her evidence to Foggy.

Foggy wakes up after a night with Marci, and ignores a call from Karen.  Marci is unconcerned about Foggy’s fight with Matt.

At the hospital, Leland is worried about Fisk’s state-of-mind and what it means for their business dealings.  Leland suspects that Nobu’s organization were the ones behind the poisoning.  Wesley has Leland keep an eye on their accounts.  One of Fisk’s men, Francis, gives Wesley an update that three other poison victims have died.  Wesley has Leland reach out to Madame Gao to see if she was involved.

Claire visits Matt to treat his reopened stitches.  She advises him to let himself heal and to invest in some body armor (fanboy red suit alert!).  Matt notes the body armor Fisk was wearing during their fight.  When Claire leaves, she mentions her indefinite vacation out of the city.  She opens up about how she felt not knowing if Matt was dead or alive during the Russian bombings.  Claire wonders how their relationship could’ve turned out had he stopped his Daredevil activities.  Matt tells her that he’ll stop when people like Fisk are brought to justice.  Claire reminds him that there will always be something or someone out to do harm.

Karen meets with Ben, who’s angry at her for tricking him into going to the nursing home.  He wants to know why she didn’t just tell him the truth.  Karen knew that he would’ve never went with her.  Ben doesn’t think Marlene could even be a credible witness.  He proposes another scenario where Fisk will just spin his history of murder as a sympathetic defense story.  Karen thinks Fisk will now get away with everything, but Ben thinks they may not need to do anything.  Because the poisoning was not public news, Ben theorizes that Fisk may control the media.  Fisk, making himself public, may have also angered people that want to stay in the shadows, which means those same people are out to kill Fisk.

At the hospital, Fisk blames himself for Vanessa’s current condition.  He has Wesley personally handle arrangements to have Vanessa hidden away from him and the city when she recovers.  The doctor enters and gives Fisk good news about Vanessa.

Matt visits Father Lantom and directly asks if he’s aware of his Daredevil activities.  Lantom admits that he knows, but doesn’t know how he does it.  Matt reveals his abilities and questions why God put the Devil in him.  Lantom thinks that God created the Devil for a reason — to scare people into following the path of the righteous.

As Matt meditates, he recollects his encounter with Nobu and Fisk.  Coming out of his meditative state, Matt dons his black Daredevil suit.

Daredevil chases down Turk, the weapons dealer, and forces him to reveal how Fisk attained his body armor.

Leland returns from speaking with Madame Gao where he learns that she’s still on their side.  When Leland leaves, Wesley makes a call to Marlene.  He learns that Karen and Ben had visited her earlier.

Daredevil breaks into the garage armory of Fisk’s tailor, Melvin.  When Melvin returns, Daredevil confronts him and asks him if he works for Fisk.  Mevlin attacks Daredevil, who’s still weak from his wounds.

Wesley has Francis give him his gun and keys to the car.  He tells Francis that he’ll be back soon if Fisk asks for him.

Daredevil and Melvin continue to fight.  Melvin chokes Daredevil with a chain, but Daredevil somersaults his way out and grabs Melvin in a chokehold.  Melvin falls to the ground and starts crying, scared that Fisk will hurt someone he cares about, Betsy, because of Daredevil’s presence in his armory.  Daredevil quickly learns that Melvin, though talented in what he does, has a child’s mentality.  He makes a deal with Melvin.  If he helps him make a suit with the material, Daredevil will not only free Melvin from Fisk, but make sure that Betsy is safe.  Melvin agrees and asks what type of suit he’d like.  Taking a page from Batman Begins (2005), Daredevil requests that it be a “symbol.”

Karen finds Foggy at the bar getting drunk.  She asks him if he received her messages about Fisk’s mother.  Foggy brushes off the evidence as being not enough.  She tries to get Foggy to open up about his troubles with Matt.  But Foggy doesn’t think she can understand what he’s going through.

Leaving the bar, Karen calls Ben to communicate her concerns about Matt and Foggy.  Ben patiently listens and gives her some advice on life.  After hanging up, we learn that Ben has been looking at an image of Fisk’s childhood home.

When Karen reaches her apartment complex entrance, she’s quickly abducted.

Fisk visits a still unconscious Vanessa and talks to her about his views on faith.  He makes a vow to exact revenge on the people who poisoned her.

Karen wakes up sitting at a table at an unknown location.  Wesley sits himself across from her and explains that she was supposed to disappear after she took the deal from Union Allied.  Wesley then presents his gun and places it on the table.  He doesn’t want to kill her.  He wants her to influence Ben so that Fisk will be presented in a positive manner in the media.  Karen refuses which prompts Wesley to threaten the lives of Ben, Matt, Foggy, and everyone she ever cared about.  Wesley suddenly receives a call from Fisk which distracts him.  Karen grabs the gun and aims it at him.  Wesley, though, claims that he’s not stupid enough to place a loaded gun in front of her.  When he stands, she calls his bluff and shoots him in the chest multiple times, killing him.  Karen quickly cleans up as much evidence as she can and runs out.

Moments That Blind You with Awesomeness

  • Daredevil’s fight with Melvin.  How awesome was that somersault that got him out of that chain noose?
  • Daredevil offering to protect Melvin and Betsy in exchange for a special suit.  It cements the hero nature of Daredevil because, as a hero, he only needed to ask for someone’s help.  Fisk, though, had to force it by using threats.
  • Karen calling Wesley’s bluff and shooting him multiple times in the chest.  Bad move, Wesley … bad move.

Final Thoughts

Another great Daredevil episode that quickly moves into action territory and thrusts our hero’s development into warp speed.  I love the manner by which he’s getting his suit.  I can’t wait to see Fisk’s face knowing that Daredevil is literally using Fisk’s own weapon against him.

The switch of alliances of Melvin was also well done.  The writers did a great job in making an enemy turn 180 degrees and transforming him into a sympathetic being.  I’m interested in seeing how Melvin will sneak behind Fisk’s back in getting Matt’s measurements for his new attire.  Guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

And let’s not forget about Karen.  How many times in television shows and films did a criminal just grab a gun away from a victim by instilling fear?  Too many times.  That’s why I loved how Wesley called Karen out and she didn’t even flinch.  Man, did he get a surprise of the day.

Only two more episodes left.  I’m really sad and excited at the same time.  Of course, sad because the series is ending, but excited to see Daredevil cement himself as the superhero he was meant to be for Hell’s Kitchen.

Next: Check out our previous recap of Episode 10 - Nelson v. Murdock

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