Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 has a bold and confident start to the series with the first three episodes: “The Northern Star,” “Shoot the Moon,” and “The Scales & The Sword.”
Where Season 1 began with a tragedy, Season 2 takes the devil by the horns in the first three episodes alone. By the fourth episode, it still doesn’t miss in satisfying fans.
“The Northern Star” throws audiences into the thick of the rebellion against Mayor Wilson Fisk’s (Vincent D’Onofrio) reign, with Daredevil, a.k.a. Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox), leading the charge. Reminiscent of the very first season of the original series, the episode begins with Daredevil fighting among shipping containers, where he discovers that Fisk is smuggling in weapons.
Longtime fans of the show are used to seeing Matt’s struggle to take down Wilson Fisk, and he more often than not always worked alone at it.
This time, he’s leading the charge and is a new symbol of hope not just for Hell’s Kitchen, but New York City entirely. With this comes a bigger responsibility: leading the rebellion while suffering as few casualties as possible.
Mayor Fisk is more powerful than ever, and to back him is his Anti-Vigilante Task Force (AVTF), roaming the streets and causing as much damage and instilling as much fear as they can into New Yorkers. Fighting alongside Daredevil is his longtime colleague, friend, and now lover, Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll).
What makes Daredevil special is the relationships and characters we’ve come to know and love over the years, making a comeback in Daredevil: Born Again. Some of those characters are still here, some yet to be seen, and others have passed.
We are lucky to have Karen Page (with a gun) back on our screens full-time, fighting alongside Matt. The two of them work perfectly as a team. While trauma and experience have made Karen more rough around the edges, she still brings so much grace and a bit of comfort in every scene.
She’s chosen her path in the resistance, and it’s right alongside Matt. She’s never been one to step down from a fight. Some may say she is more willing to make the tough decisions, more so than Matt is.
Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 Episode 2, “Shoot the Moon,” and Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 Episode 3, “The Scales & The Sword,” were released back-to-back on March 31. Daredevil: Born Again Season 1 felt like we were forced to accept newer characters and relationships, but episodes 2 and 3 of Season 2 have established that this show is where they belong.
Particularly, Matt Murdock’s practice partner, Kirsten McDuffie (Nikki M. James), solidifies herself as a strong presence that’s needed among the rebellion when she is set to defend The Swordsman, A.K.A., Jacques Duquesne (Tony Dalton).
Dr. Heather Glenn (Margarita Levieva) was introduced as a love interest in Season 1, but after a near-death encounter with Muse (Hunter Doohan), and joining Fisk’s team as his Commissioner of Mental Health, we find her in Season 2 with serious PTSD and the beginnings of a downward spiral. Her character is much more interesting, and it’s intriguing to see how it will play out the rest of the season.
B.B. Urich (Genneya Walton) is back with The BB Report and carries on her uncle’s legacy as an investigative journalist, determined to take Fisk down her own way. Her character is a lovely addition to the show, and I can’t wait to see how she navigates the rebellion, knowing her uncle’s past ties to the Kingpin.
Vanessa Fisk (Ayelet Zurer) may not be a new character, but Daredevil: Born Again has truly made the Queenpin of Crime come into her own in this series. From running her husband’s business while he was away in Season 1, to now working alongside him as the couple reigns supreme, it’s incredible to see how far Vanessa has come from being an art seller. Now, she’s creating in the art of crime.
While Kingpin, A.K.A. Mayor Fisk and the AVTF are the big bad of the new season, there is another villain lurking in the shadows, never missing his mark to stir more trouble for Daredevil. Bullseye, A.K.A. Benjamin “Dex” Poindexter (Wilson Bethel).
He’s made small appearances in the first three episodes: the first not truly seen, but definitely felt as he boomeranged a knife with the words “You’re Welcome” etched on the side for saving Matt from the AVTF. In the second episode, he’s at a church inquiring about the whereabouts of Sister Maggie, a call back to the original series’ Season 3. And episode 3, causing more trouble for the AVTF, by killing them in cold blood.
It’s “Gloves Off” that solidifies Bullseye as transitioning from an iconic villain from the comics to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
We’re used to seeing Dex being heavily manipulated. The irony that he can turn anything into a weapon is that people tend to use him as one, too, for their own motives.
We saw it in the original series in Season 3 with Fisk using Dex as a scapegoat, and we see it again in Daredevil: Born Again Season 1 when it was revealed that Vanessa hired him to kill Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson).
On “Gloves Off,” Dex truly steps into his own as Bullseye–in an intense fight in his apartment with Matt, he tells him that he’s on his side. It’s Dex’s misguided version of justice and “doing the right thing” that makes his arc thrilling. A push-pull on whether the audience, as well as Matt Murdock, can really trust him.
The opening scene is a gentle reminder that the original series is canon in the MCU. We first saw Dex’s morning routine in the original series, and it consists of making sure everything is in its exact place.
From the episode description of “Gloves Off”, Bullseye adopts a new morning routine, reminiscent to me of the opening scene in American Psycho (2000), except it’s Bullseye’s Version. He’s a psychotic killer, but he’s making his bed, meditating in the morning, and even feeding his neighbor’s cat–he’s a good guy!
The diner scene is the most anticipated scene of the episode, and rightfully so. Bullseye shines on his own, messing with the AVTF officers and setting them up in his trap at Bel Aire Diner. He turns everything around him into a weapon: from a spitball to forks, to throwing the claw of a lobster. He doesn’t do this all without enjoying a banana milkshake first, though.
This is the first time we see Dex in full Bullseye aura: from his suit to his chaotic, unpredictable, cheeky energy. He’s a free agent and is living by his own code: by not really having one. Or at least, believing what he’s doing is the right thing.
It all comes to a head when Daredevil fights Dex in his apartment, which is genuinely one of the best choreographed fight scenes in the history of the show. Dex uses a CD as a weapon, frisbee-ing it towards Daredevil, but Daredevil catches it, throwing it back.
Bullseye never misses unless Daredevil is in his way, and at the same time, Daredevil never has to put up more of a fight than when his opponent is Bullseye. They are each other’s match.
Besides this episode giving Bullseye his flowers, it really hits the ground running in terms of plot, and for the rest of the season. Kingpin is getting ready for his fight, Daredevil is recruiting more people for the rebellion, and Vanessa is meeting with the Governor of New York, Marge McCaffrey (Lili Taylor).
Vanessa plays a critical role on this episode, throwing Fisk off his game at the fight. As I said before, she’s stepping into her own as the Queenpin, and she’s respectfully going against her husband’s wishes. Similar to how Fisk often acts on impulse and puts his pride before anything else, in an attempt to save each other, they end up hurting each other, with the assist from Bullseye as he attempts to kill Fisk.
In the nick of time, Daredevil saves Bullseye from a bullet shot by Fisk–foreshadowing a theme of this season that is grace, and Daredevil’s struggle to put aside what Bullseye did in Season 1 for the greater good, for the sake of the rebellion. Also, that’s just who Daredevil/Matt Murdock is. He’ll always jump in front of a bullet, no matter who he’s protecting.
The lighting this season is beautiful, deeply rich in color, and symbolic of whoever is on screen. When it’s Daredevil, it’s an intense red, signifying his boldness this season. When it’s Bullseye, it’s blue–symbolic of so many things, the deepness of water and the duality of calmness and chaos–completely unpredictable.
The fight choreography is at its peak this season, and we’re only halfway there. Every scene almost feels like it’s straight out of a comic panel, immersing fans and feeling every punch and (sometimes) every fork thrown.
“Gloves Off” is hands down the most intense episode of the season yet, for the way it develops the plot and brings incredible action sequences.
At the same time, it develops characters that we know and love even more, solidifying their presence not only in Hell’s Kitchen but in the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe. It’s rightfully the highest-rated Disney+ episode so far.
Don’t miss an episode of Daredevil: Born Again every Tuesday, streaming on Disney+.
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Samantha Barker
Samantha Barker is a writer and fangirl from New Jersey. When she's not rewatching Daredevil or listening to the Beatles, she's cosplaying and attending comic-cons with her friends. Sam also co-hosts a podcast called Fangirl Confessions and writes for her Substack, Samantha, etc. Connect with her on X: @0nyourleftsam and IG: @onyourleftsam.