As I was saying, the best episode so far of Daredevil’s first season introduces (finally!) the main villain of the series, Fat Brando, I’m sorry, The Kingpin as played by Vincent D’Onofrio. It’s the very last moment of the episode, though, so let’s get there first: in front of a painting only Yazmina Reza could love, Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin of Crime, looks longingly into its depths, until the beautiful, sinister gallerist Vanessa (a terrific Ayelet Zurer, who gives such a good performance you might actually look away from D’Onofrio gnawing on the scenery) asks him how it makes him feel.
“Alone.”
BOOM.
Our opening beating is delivered by a guy named Healy (played by Alex Morf), in the employ of someone he won’t name. He’s in need of a lawyer on account of having beaten some guy – a union heavy, maybe? Some other miscellaneous tough? – to death with a bowling ball. This is extremely horrible, but it is not the most horrible thing in the episode, as the show reveals more and more its penchant for Korean-action-cinema-style excruciating violence.
It’s becoming increasingly clear that Netflix’s suggestion with respect to watching these episodes nowhere includes the act of putting on pants. It’s basically a 12ish-hourlong movie, and Daredevil reminds you of this with little callbacks: when Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) gets punched, he stays punched, and he shows up at the beginning of this episode with a split lip as a nod to his drubbing at the hands of Russian baddies last time around. Less amusingly, Karen still has a burn on her neck from her garrotting by the corrupt prison guard last episode.
We enter now into the realm of fantasy, where, I assume, dragons soar majestically through the air, every wardrobe contains a magical kingdom ruled by a magical lion, and wealthy bloggers run amok throughout New York, because this episode introduces a favorite character of mine, the reporter Ben Urich, who lacks job security because, as his editor puts it: “Everyone we know is making twice what we are writing for blogs in their underwear.”
I’m firing off a warning shot: between Ben and The Flash’s Iris West, the Worst Reporter in All the Land, I am one more example away from a trend story. I’m not kidding.
Anyway, the A plot, which is the least interesting part of this episode, is concerned with Fisk’s consigliere, Wesley, hiring Nelson and Murdock to represent Healy at his trial for the regrettable incident with the bowling ball. This coincides with Matt’s shaking down everybody he can shake for information on who, exactly, is behind the crime spree in New York, and when Healy finally gives up Fisk, he kills himself in the worst possible way.
Well, I assume it’s the worst possible way. This is only episode three.
Stray observations
The lightweight creep Daredevil beat up in the first scene of the first episode turns out to be Turk, a mainstay from the comics.
There was some mild sturm and drang about casting Vondie Curtis-Hall as Ben Urich, but frankly he brings so much gravitas to the role it’s hard to imagine anyone else. Also it’s nice to see Curtis-Hall, who’s primarily a director, in front of the camera.
I believe this was the episode where I figured out that Bob Gunton’s character is in fact The Owl.
