The Man Without Fear is back! Matt Murdock has returned to screens just in time to save New York City from the evil, corrupt Wilson Fisk. Yes, that's right, after a year-long wait, it's finally time to enjoy the peak that is Daredevil: Born Again season 2, as the Disney Plus revival series returns for another adventure that critics are calling a love letter to the original Netflix show.
The first season of the Marvel Cinematic Universe series brought Charlie Cox and Vincent D'Onofrio back as Daredevil and the Kingpin, but it also saw the returns of some more major supporting characters from the Netflix show, including Deborah Ann Woll's Karen Page, Elden Henson's Foggy Nelson, Ayelet Zurer's Vanessa Fisk, Wilson Bethel's Bullseye and Jon Bernthal's Punisher. At last, the gritty corner of the MCU that made the Netflix franchise so popular was back.
Spurred on by Foggy's death, Matt decided to return to vigilantism a year after he hung up the cowl to avenge the loss of his best friend, all while stopping new villain Muse. But in doing so, he found himself in the crosshairs of longtime archenemy Wilson Fisk. The new mayor of New York City sought to bring down heroes for good with his Anti-Vigilante Task Force. And thus, Daredevil responded with an army of his own. With that in mind, let's dive into the events of the season 2 premiere "The Northern Star".
New York, New York
The season 2 premiere is set six months after the events of Daredevil: Born Again season 1. The city is fully in the grasp of the Kingpin, vigilantes are outlawed, and the Anti-Vigilante Task Force is running things on the streets. But that doesn't mean that the streets are completely free of heroes, even if people are starting to buy Kingpin's propaganda. One of the main reasons for that is BB Urich's series of vignettes, which are now Fisk-friendly.
Daredevil, donning his iconic stealth suit, is still fighting, attempting to stop the injustices that crosses his path. By his side, the ever-faithful Karen Page, who is even more badass than before, getting more involved in the action this time around. Six months has changed these two. But, like always, they are together, united, and more determined than ever to stop Fisk. They are also outlaws that Fisk is hunting.
Daredevil opens the season by investigating a ship named the Northern Star with ties to Fisk's Red Hook port. He takes out all of the armed men on-board, so the captain and his right hand man decide to flood the ship on the Kingpin's orders. Daredevil submerges himself the water and eventually makes his way to shore. It didn't go as planned as a lot of the crew died, but he hit Fisk where it hurt. And now he - and whoever he is allowing to use the port - must answer for this.
Fisk, however, has other ideas. He decides that it's time to blame the ship attack on the "terrorist" known as Daredevil, peddling more propaganda to the press. He knows that this will cause a headache for the people he is working with, so it's imperative that he finds the two surviving crew members.
Matt and Karen set out on a mission to take Fisk down... again. Matt conspires with Cherry to find the crew members of the ship before Fisk and his goons do, while Karen corresponds with BB Urich. It turns out that, even though BB is feeding the propaganda machine, she knows Fisk killed her uncle Ben, so she's working with Karen to bring him down once and for all. And she's doing it in spite of her growing affection for Daniel Blake.
The bad publicity of the cargo ship in the bay yields backlash for Fisk, as the governor now wants final approval on the big decisions he makes as mayor. However, before the reluctant Kingpin has to sign off on that, CIA operative Mr. Charles (played by Matthew Lillard) arrives and successfully gets them to back off. How? With a well-timed call from none other than Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, that's how!
Although Fisk seemed oddly tickled by Mr. Charles' arrival in public, he kept him at arm's length behind closed doors. The two had a meeting with Vanessa, where they discussed the Northern Star incident. Mr. Charles doesn't want Fisk's men overseeing clean-up unless they are disposable, so he agrees to take it on himself - promising the Fisks that their names will never be attached to it.
Anti-Vigilante City
Thanks in no small part to BB Urich's forced propaganda, some New York citizens are starting to believe that Wilson Fisk actually cares about the people. They also believe that his brutal, awful, unprofessional, evil police force known as the Anti-Vigilante Task Force is cleaning up the streets. But, in a sight all too familiar these days, these untrained officers are causing more harm to normal people than any of the heroes they are attacking.
They are tasked with hunting down the crew members who survived the Northern Star sinking. It isn't too long until they find the captain and interrogate him. The brutes batter him bloody until Buck takes over and kills him. There's a semblance of regret over the fact that he had to do that, but not enough to prevent him from actually doing it.
Meanwhile, the law in Daredevil: Born Again is corrupt too. That's what happens when you put crooks in office as they can actually make the legal system work for them, and it's working for Fisk and his crackdown on heroes. He's using District Attorney Hochberg to do his bidding, having him attempt to put Hawkeye's Jack Duquesne (Tony Dalton) behind bars for simply being the Swordsman. And that's not the only person he's relying on.
Heather Glenn, now working for the Fisk administration, interviews Duquesne in her role as a psychiatrist. Although she threatens him, she does her job as she is expected to, but upon receiving a phonecall from Hochberg, she doctors the results of her session to make Duquesne look unhinged. She doesn't want to do it, but she's starting to feel the pressure from the crooks that she works for. And she's also seeing Muse everywhere she looks.
An unlikely assist
The conclusion of the episode sees Daredevil rescue Cherry from a bunch of corrupt Anti-Vigilante Task Force officers, who gave him a rough beating. As Matt battles the officers, Cherry begins to have a heart attack. Matt can hear his heartbeat, with the trauma of the situation throwing him off completely and reminding him of Foggy's death. This was all that the officers needed to get the upper hand, violently assaulting him.
They pin Daredevil down and unmask him, discovering that he is indeed Matt Murdock. Cherry looks on helplessly as an officer pulls out his gun and prepares to fire. Before he can, however, a number of blades fly into the apartment, taking out all of the officers in one fell swoop. Another one flies in and lands on the floor just short of Matt's heard. On it, a message is engraved: You're Welcome.
Yes, Matt has seemingly found an unlikely ally in Bullseye of all people. His archenemy from both the original series and the first season of Born Again, Benjamin Poindexter is now also on Fisk's hit list, so it makes sense that he reach out to Daredevil. And that means that the two will prove to be a powerful force for the Kingpin's agenda. That is, of course, if they can work together after all they have been through.
Let's not forget that Bullseye killed Foggy Nelson. That won't be being put behind anyone. And nor should it be; Poindexter is unhinged and he can't be trusted. But, for a moment, his and Daredevil's goals align. The question is: Just how long will it be before they no longer do?
That remains to be seen. But, with Matt building an army that we already know will involve some super-powered people, Bullseye is a pretty darn formidable way to start. The Kingpin has messed with the wrong people too many times.
Daredevil: Born Again season 2 is now streaming on Disney Plus.
Add us as a preferred source on Google