With a job well done overshadowed by news of Fisk’s disastrous transfer, Matt’s re-entry to the Daredevil’s world continued in a jam-packed third episode. Now that Dex’s introduction is complete, it looks as if the season’s full cast of characters have boarded the bus with all kinds of stops to make along the way.
Inactivity’s Consequences
Despite the best efforts of the Albanian hit squad, Fisk is delivered to his new home at the Presidential Hotel. Unsurprisingly, Matt isn’t far behind, scoping out the building. It seems that Matt’s demons aren’t far behind him. Fisk appears as a manifestation of his mind, playing off of Matt’s crisis of faith and reminding him of the deadly fates those close to him have met. Matt infiltrates the hotel after the Fisk in his mind tells him he will get Karen killed too.
The mental ghost of Fisk continues to follow Matt as he moves through the hotel and determines the real Fisk’s location within. Fisk posits the idea that he is doing more to keep the city safe by flipping and that he’s more valuable to it than Matt. He continues to taunt Matt with the fact that his inability to kill him caused all that followed. Matt believes he is capable of killing the crime lord now as he approaches Dex, who is guarding the hotel’s elevator. As Matt tries to find a way past him, Fisk reminds him that he couldn’t even kill himself. The shot is enough to make Matt dejectedly retreat.
Pro Bono No-No
The episode thankfully gives us the season’s first substantial injection of Foggy. The glue to the Daredevil crew is having repetitive nightmares about Matt and struggling to find his way in a post-Matt world. He has the career and a loving relationship, but a Matt-shaped hole seems to be missing from his spirit. However, the news of Fisk’s transfer seems to be the shot of purpose that he needs.
Foggy visits DA Tower, offering his services pro bono to help Tower’s office combat Fisk’s transfer in the courts. Though Foggy seems to have found a new source of that Murdock & Nelson fire, Tower is resistant to both Foggy and fighting the federal government. When Foggy accuses Tower of being more influenced by his reelection campaign than the people of Hell’s Kitchen, both alive and dead, Tower shows him the door.
The Faces of Obsession
Karen, Dex and Fisk reveal their own personal obsessions in various stages, from kernel-sized catalyst to full-on stalker mode, with each one’s unlocking more about their motivations and conflicts. For Karen, it is Fisk. She continues to investigate the Fisk case despite Ellison keeping her off the story. She discovers that Fisk bought the Presidential Hotel from the Kazemi family months ago and that Kazemi’s desire to buy it back could have motivated his attack. Despite the break, Ellison reasserts that Karen is off the Fisk beat.
Fisk and Dex see their obsessive personalities manifest through their approach to the women in their life. Fisk continues to show that Vanessa is the most vulnerable part of him, demanding that his lawyer, Donovan, move her somewhere safer and closer to him. Dex’s Vanessa is a bartender named Julie. He expounds about the trust and openness between the two during a psych evaluation in order to be allowed to return to duty. The genuine nature of this relationship is short-lived when it is revealed that Dex is actually stalking Julie, watching her through a rifle scope from his car.
Resurfacing Demons
Dex’s demons, spawned from the traumatic experiences associated with his role on the FBI SWAT team, appear to be taking over more of his psyche, but he isn’t alone. Matt encounters his own Fisk-shaped issues when he returns to the hotel to force information out of Donovan. After learning that Vanessa is at the center of Fisk’s motivation to work with the FBI, he is forced to fight off multiple FBI agents. Though he has them soundly defeated, Fisk tells him to let the Devil out, goading Matt into using excessive force against the federal agents. Donovan informs Fisk of the Devil’s return after the attack.
Matt surprises Foggy at a bar afterward. He informs his former partner that he is leaving Matt Murdock behind and that Foggy should stay away from Fisk. Foggy refuses, but Matt pushes the issue, saying that he and Karen are now in increased danger due to their association with Matt. Our hero stoically leaves, revealing that he stole Foggy’s wallet during the conversation.
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