Full spoilers follow for Daredevil: Born Again Season 2, Episode 5, “The Grand Design,” which is streaming on Disney+ now.
Though the action scenes are definitely a highlight of Daredevil: Born Again, it’s a testament to the core characters that this episode – one where we got no actual Daredevil fight scenes – still works so well. The focus here was mainly on whether Vanessa would survive or not, but the scenes set in the past both upped the poignancy already present in the Fisk and Vanessa relationship, as twisted as those two are, while also spotlighting a key character in DD history, Foggy Nelson, and underlining his significance.
There was some great material here between Matt and Dex, as Matt balanced his core belief in saving Dex’s life – powered by his guilt over nearly killing him himself in Season 1 – with the fact that Bullseye is freaking Bullseye and that Dex’s mere mention of Foggy had Matt grabbing and choking the guy he was trying to save.
I mentioned in my review of last week’s episode that it was amusing to see the aspect ratio change when we got some clips from the Netflix series, but the newly filmed flashbacks here had a very cool touch of maintaining that old look. In scenes set in the build-up to the original series, not only was that 1.78:1 aspect ratio revisited – filling the whole screen versus Born Again’s 2.39:1 look — but the lighting also felt very much in line with the darker look of the Netflix days. It was all so well done, I can mostly overlook the pretty goofy looking wig on Charlie Cox… mostly.
These flashbacks allow us to revisit a core dynamic for Matt that is missed, as we saw he and Foggy working together in their early days, before they’ve started Nelson and Murdock. Yes, the parallels weren’t subtle, as we saw Foggy push for the idea of a second chance, while in the present, Matt was trying to help the guy who had murdered Foggy, but they worked. Written by Jesse Wigutow and directed by Angela Barnes (Ironheart), this episode did a great job of investing you enough in Foggy’s history with their client Ray for this to all come together, as Foggy gave grace to a man who’d once treated him so badly. Kudos to guest star Nathan Wallace too, who really sold that broken kid inside Ray as he told Foggy he’d never had the kind of genuine friendship he saw Foggy and his brother have.
And what a beautiful counterpart with Dex talking to Matt about not being able to outrun your nature! Just wonderful acting from all involved here, with Wilson Bethel and Charlie Cox getting to share a scene together in a quiet, contemplative way they never have before. It also hit hard when Dex tried to weaponize Matt’s anger over Foggy by bringing it up again so that Matt would leave him behind… even as Matt, ultimately, had to let Foggy’s way guide him, not Dex’s, as he went back to save this guy who’s caused him so much pain.
Kingpin’s gonna do some absolutely awful things now that Vanessa’s gone, right!? “
Besides getting Elden Henson and his ever-likeable energy back as Foggy, it was also great to see Toby Leonard Moore return as Fisk’s right-hand man, James Wesley, reprising his role for the first time since his character was killed off 11 years ago in Daredevil’s first season. Vincent D’Onofrio and Moore slipped right back into their old dynamic as Fisk, with Wesley standing out as one of the few characters Fisk seemed to genuinely care for…
..but of course he cares for no one as much as Vanessa. And there was a ticking time bomb element to the quest to say Vanessa in the present, since it’s so clear that losing her would be very, very bad for a person already as unhinged as Wilson. (As an aside, I was chuckling imagining the characters on, say, The Pitt, dealing with a guy like Fisk screaming and raving and getting in their space to the extent he was as they tried to help Vanessa at the start of the episode).
The episode flashes back to Wilson and Vanessa’s first meeting on the Netflix series.
It felt very unlikely Vanessa would survive, simply because the idea of Fisk unleashed is too enticing to not explore. But Vincent D’Onofrio and Ayelet Zurer made the most of their final scenes together here, with their nostalgic discussion of how they met putting them in their most relatable and genuinely sweet light. And that final montage, with Fisk in so much pain, as we also got one last actual Daredevil Season 1 flashback, seeing her walk up to him for the first time, was notably powerful…
…which means Kingpin’s gonna do some absolutely awful things now that she’s gone, right!?
Other Thoughts From the Kitchen:
- Is BB really being so direct and obvious as to immediately leak info Daniel gives her like Vanessa being in critical condition? I don’t really buy she’d be that reckless.
- I loved the pissed look on Karen’s face when Matt brought Dex in. He may have specific reasons to help Dex, but she sure doesn’t.
- It was wise to keep the flashbacks pretty focused on just a few key characters from the Netflix days, but it was a fun touch to have one Born Again-era specific face pop up, as we saw Wesley hire Buck to kill Ray.
- I’m sure I’m not the only one whose ears perked up hearing Matt mention he knew a nurse, hoping we were about to see Rosario Dawson’s Claire Temple return.
