Yesterday I said that Matt Murdock was the least interesting part of his own show, but I feel like I left a proper explanation for this. Through the first two episodes of this season, Matt seemed like he was existing in a vacuum. He was either out on the rooftops being a boss and not interacting with anyone except the thugs who were taking billy clubs to the face, or he was alone in his apartment recovering from battle. Everyone else in the show was intersecting with each other and building relationships. Matt was stuck in a state of arrested development.
But here in the third episode the writers finally fixed this issue and gave poor old Matt someone to fucking talk to. And what more, that someone is the early season MVP, Jon Bernthal’s Punisher! Most of the episode’s 48 minutes are spent on a rooftop across the street for the Dogs of Hell’s bar with Daredevil (who has been chained to a pillar) and the Punisher (who did the chaining) debating the finer points of vigilantism and defending their particular brands of justice.
Matt initially tries to probe the Punisher for information, attempting to discover who he is and what exactly makes him tick. The Punisher, on the other hand, doesn’t even take Matt’s mask off. He doesn’t care who the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen is, he only cares that he is a band-aid on the problem of crime. He puts criminals in jail just for them to be released months, weeks, or even days later so that they might continue their sinful ways. He reasons that if you put the creeps in the ground, there’s no risk of them ever raping or murdering again.
The thing is, events in the show seem to support the Punisher’s theory. Criminals in New York apear to be running scared. Grotto, for example, says that the entire underground has been talking about the Punisher and now he is doing everything he can to get out of the city. Sure, crime is still rampant, but maybe his tactics are the best way to cause real and lasting change?
Anyway, after Matt gives up on learning anything more than the fact that he was probably in the military and that his first name might be “Frank,” he alters course and tries to talk the Punisher out of the vigilante game. He says that he doesn’t need to keep doing this, but the Punisher counters, asking Matt if he was also willing and able to give the life up. Matt doesn’t really answer, but we saw how he reacted when Foggy tried to take away his suit in the previous episode. He isn’t able to stop fighting. He’s addicted to being Daredevil. He’ll keep fighting until he physically cannot. And so will the Punisher. Neither will step down and neither will see the other’s way of thinking.
Eventually, the Punisher decides to put Matt to the ultimate test. He tapes a gun with a single bullet to Matt’s hand and then presents him with Grotto and forces the mobster to confess to the murder of an elderly woman. He then gives the decision to Matt: Either Matt shoots the Punisher and saves the admitted killer of innocents, or he allows the Punisher to murder a man before his eyes.
Matt instead chooses Option Three, shooting the weak link in his chain, freeing himself. Unfortunately for him, the Punisher is also quick and he shoots Grotto in the gut. Matt tries to save his client, but Grotto assures him that he’s already dead. Now the crazy shit starts.
Do you remember when I said that the Punisher and Daredevil were hanging out across the street from the Dogs of Hell? Cause this is when the Punisher takes advantage of this fact and Matt’s distraction and blows up their bikes, casing the entire fucking gang to rush the building they’re in. What follows is one of the most fabulous fight sequences I’ve seen in recent memory. It begins almost as an homage to a fight that happens in the second episode of season one, which we’ve written about before. It then escalates into something entirely else, a brawl that never fails to increase, and which concludes with a Boss Battle with one of the few Dogs that we have met before. After 45 minutes of solid character development and magnificent TV, we are treated to five minutes of action to get us all psyched for the next episode.
Matt Murdock, as a character, has been redeemed and Daredevil as a show is off to a start to be envied.
I can’t wait for Episode Four.
Quick Notes:
>I love that the Punisher is again drinking coffee. It’s like he’s this dude who’s just doing his job and needs a little bit of a boost to get through it. Its such a great character moment.
>I didn’t talk about Foggy or Karen in this recap, but there is one thing I want to mention. At the very end of the episode, Karen is looking trough some files and finds an X-Ray labeled “F. Castle.” Its of a skull with what appears to be a bullet hole in it. Now, anyone familiar with the Punisher knows that his name is Frank Castle, so this is obviously a picture of his head. I’m really scared that they’re gonna say that he got shot in the face and that’s why he’s crazy. I don’t want that to be the case. Please don’t make that so Daredevil writers. Please.
