‘Daredevil’ season 2, episode 9 review: Wilson Fisk, Frank Castle and the fight of the century
On the last episode of “Daredevil” we saw the return of Wilson Fisk! We can’t ever say enough how much we love him as a villain and that he’s raised the bar for all other super villains (“Jessica Jones” Kilgrave is a very close second). We only saw him for a moment with Frank Castle, and we didn’t learn what Wilson wants with Frank. Things are finally starting to get good…
Wilson Fisk and Frank Castle: This episode started out with Wilson Fisk’s incarceration and it’s been the story we have been wanting to hear all season long. After giving up all of his worldly possessions (including his father’s cufflinks) he meets with his lawyer to learn that his appeals are not going well, but that money has been secured for Vanessa as he requested. In prison, Wilson meets a few men that bribes into working for him – and with that we see Wilson moving into the position of Kingpin at the prison and working to push out a man named Dutton who currently runs the place. When Fisk reads about the Punisher in the paper, he realizes that they may have a common enemy since Dutton worked with the Irish mob and we already know how Frank feels about them. Fisk uses the last bit of his available funds to bribe the cop to get Frank into the same jail as him.
When Fisk meets Frank, he tells him that Dutton had a hand in killing Frank’s family, and that he is sharing this information to gain control of the prison. Frank says that he won’t help Fisk since he doesn’t help crime bosses, but he’s in a rock and a hard place because he wants revenge, so he eventually says he will do it. Frank learns from Dutton that the day his family was killed wasn’t a massacre like he thinks, but instead was a sting to take down the three crime rings. He gets the name of the guy who was in charge of it all – The Blacksmith – but he is also reminded by Dutton that there were a hundred guys there that day pulling the trigger so his quest is far from over. He kills Dutton like Fisk wanted, but when he tries to leave the cell block, the crooked cop leaves him in there to die from other angry inmates (by Fisk’s orders). What emerges is a bloody battle that ends with Frank lying in a pool of the other inmates blood after killing them all. Later Fisk offers Frank an opportunity for freedom and to continue to rid the city of the other criminals, so that the city will be his for the taking when the time is right. And with that… Frank is back on the streets.
Matt: It has been like a minute since Matt told Elektra that she should leave Stick and work with him instead, but after killing a ninja (who was about to kill Matt to be fair), he’s breaking off their working relationship, because he can see now that she won’t ever change. After she leaves, Foggy shows up and tries to tell him that he’s sick of the way Matt is treating him and their job and Matt tells him that he’s done apologizing for who he is and that Foggy should go and open up a firm without him. Matt then goes on his quest to find out about the big hole dug on Fisk’s property and to stop The Hand from bleeding people out for some strange immortality experiments.
Karen: Foggy tries to tell Karen that Matt is out of the firm, but instead she brings him information about the John Doe that was altered in the medical examiners report (along with Frank’s family) and she thinks that this missing John Doe is the key to exposing the cover up. He tells her it doesn’t matter anymore because the firm is shut down. Karen meets up with her reporter friend to tell him what she’s learned. They go to talk to the medical examiner and he confirms that the body Karen saw in photographs is the same John Doe he covered up and that he was an undercover cop. She is offered Ben’s old office and a chance to do research for the paper and she takes the opportunity.
The highlight of this episode was watching Frank and Fisk fighting each other after being double crossed. These two men had some serious power behind their punches that we could feel them right through the TV. This was easily the best episode of the season for us and what this whole season should’ve felt like from the beginning. It helped that Elektra is gone (for now at least) and we had a heavy focus on two incredible actors (Jon Bernthal and Vincent D’Onofrio). Very powerful episode. Episode grade: A
What did you think of this episode of “Daredevil” and do you like the season so far? Leave us a comment below and share your thoughts.