Daredevil: Born Again Episodes 5 and 6 Review

Warning: This review contains full spoilers for Daredevil: Born Again episodes 5 and 6!

Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about! This week, Daredevil: Born Again delivers an excellent one-two punch with a pair of superb episodes that showcase what makes Matt Murdock so especially awesome. Though episodes 5 and 6 don’t make up a two-part story and are essentially unrelated, they were aired together so I’m reviewing both at once. The first is an incredible episode largely confined to a single setting, while the second delivers the long-awaited return of Daredevil in rousing fashion. The past few episodes had us hungry for just this sort of thing. Well now, Daredevil fans, we are eating well.

Almost the entire runtime of episode five takes place inside a bank during an armed robbery staged by a clever gangster who seems to always be one step ahead of the police. It puts Murdock in an interesting place where he still doesn’t suit up as Daredevil, yet he can’t help but literally walk into danger to help the hostages. He truly is the man without fear, even when he’s wearing a suit instead of a superhero’s armor. It’s incredible to watch Murdock navigate the intense situation using his lawyer smarts and super senses while also trying to keep a low profile – and lowkey hilarious at times, too.

It’s all just so well done. I can’t remember the last time a Marvel show had me wearing such a big smile the entire episode and had me completely captivated from start to finish. This episode also achieves something very important given the lack of Daredevil thus far: it shows what makes Matt Murdock such a unique and amazing hero, even when he’s not in costume.

This episode contains what has to be Born Again’s most overt connection to the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe yet, Yusuf Khan (Mohan Kapur). He’s the father of Kamala Khan, a.k.a. Ms. Marvel, and here he’s working as the assistant bank manager assigned to help Murdock with his bank loan. And even if it feels like the episode’s references to Ms. Marvel are a little too blatant, if anyone can make this type of thing work, it’s the enjoyably affable Yusuf. Kapur plays the character with effusive humor and infectious energy, and his surprised and mildly hurt reaction when Murdock says he had never heard of his daughter’s superhero persona is priceless. Once things get dangerous after the bank robbers showed up, Yusuf makes an entertaining counterpart to the much more serious Murdock.

When the heist is busted up by the police and the leader tries to sneak away in disguise, it’s so cool watching Murdock chase him down wearing another robber’s red mask. Their brawl is fast and frantic and tense, and given everything Murdock had to endure from that guy during the heist, it’s especially satisfying watching him take him down. That knee stomp will be replaying in my nightmares, but it’s still very satisfying.

Moving on to episode six, we get a very different yet no less enthralling kind of story. The artist serial killer Muse becomes a huge problem for both Mayor Fisk and Murdock to contend with, and he ends up forcing them to go to two distinct extremes. It’s quite juicy watching Fisk trying to deal with a villain for once, as it tests the character in a way we’ve never seen before. Ultimately, he uses Muse as an excuse to create a task force of bad cops who also happen to be huge Punisher fanboys, considerably increasing his level of power and control over the city. Fisk also tends to personal matters when he gives poor, imprisoned Adam a chance to fight for his life. Even though Adam as a character feels underdeveloped, the brutal violence is horrifying to watch. As respectable a face as Fisk puts on as mayor, underneath it all he’s still the same monstrous titan he’s always been – he just has to unleash it in secret.

On the opposite side, Muse targeting Angela del Toro is the (walking) stick that breaks the camel’s back for Murdock, finally pushing him to don the red horns once more. I was a tad disappointed with the actual moment where Murdock chooses to become Daredevil again: Sure, it’s kind of funny hearing him make such a flippant remark when there’s such a long and moody buildup to his return to costumed vigilanteism. But I would have preferred something more earnest; something more in line with the serious tone of Matt’s internal struggle. How many times did we watch him fiddle with that horn piece in deep contemplation about Foggy’s death and his fear of unleashing the monster within, just for him to throw it all to the wind?

While I’m in a nitpicking mood, I have to point out the goofy CGI Daredevil that files across the screen at the start of the fight with Muse. It feels like another bit of the MCU’s worst habits intruding on the show, where lackluster CGI is used in place of the practical fight choreography that Daredevil made its name on.

Quibbles aside, the sequence of Daredevil tracking down Muse and having an absolutely brutal brawl across the villain’s bloody art studio/sewer hideout is fantastic. It is very, very satisfying seeing Daredevil back in business. But it comes at a cost. Murdock’s “deal” with Fisk from the first episode now means he’s got a target on his back. It’s a delicious irony: For Murdock to save the city, he must damn himself. That’s always been a core aspect of Daredevil, a powerful characteristic that Born Again is showcasing in a new and refreshing way.

Other Thoughts

• As it turns out, Ron Burgundy had the right universe, but the wrong superhero when he said, “The Human Torch was denied a bank loan.”
• Did anyone else find it cute that the robbers’ masks just happened to match the rainbow colors of the Infinity Stones?
• I’m pretty sure bank safes are made with far more advanced technology these days, the kind that can’t be cracked just by listening real good.
• Given that Murdock accepted Yusuf’s dinner invitation, that means a potential Daredevil/Ms. Marvel team-up could be on the horizon. I never would have called that one!
• As predicted last week, it looks like Angela del Toro is being positioned to inherit her uncle’s mantle and become the new White Tiger. She has a passionate drive to seek out justice, no matter the risk to her personal safety, and she presumably has access to the magic pendant that grants the wearer super powers, which sounds like the perfect recipe for a hero to me.