Foggy has finally discovered Matt’s secret, and he doesn’t exactly take it well. Over the course of the episode we flip between the fallout, with Foggy trying to reconcile this news with the Matt he knows and loves, and flashbacks to their first meeting, their time in school, their first internship, working together with their desks crammed into a closet. There was a lot I loved about this episode. We calmed the action down a bit, as Matt is temporarily out of commission, barely able to sit up on his own, and focused more on the emotional and on relationships. We get a clear picture of Matt and Foggy’s relationship and how it’s developed over the years. From day one they clicked, took to each other instantly, and it makes their scenes in the present all the more tragic.
The present-day scenes between Matt and Foggy were incredibly raw; Foggy wears his heartbreak and betrayal openly, and Matt is clearly torn between trying to convince his best friend that he’s doing good, and feeling guilty. We’re at a point where Matt is having a hard time separating himself and his own actions from those of Fisk and the people he is working against. Matt wants to believe that he’s the good guy, but when his own best friend responds like a kicked puppy, it’s difficult for him to stand by his actions.
I appreciated this episode for the way it handled the revelation and the fallout. Matt and Foggy’s relationship hasn’t been explored or explained much before this episode. We’ve already seen that Foggy treats Matt like a person rather than just awkwardly stepping around the blind guy, and in this episode we see that that’s been the case from day one. It’s because they hit it off from the start and had each other’s backs for so long that Foggy feels so betrayed. I thought Cox and Henson both handled the drama well, but it was particularly great to see from Henson, since he’s been the comic relief up until now.
Foggy and Matt take up most of the episode, but there are a couple of other important plot points. Ben’s ready to put the investigation behind him in favor of steady income, but crafty Karen takes him to visit Fisk’s mother. And then there’s Fisk’s charity event, where several of the attendees are poisoned, including Vanessa.
The timing for these two events is perfect; Fisk is starting to look a bit too comfortable, and he needed something to shake him up. Not only will this rattle him, but it works in favor of his public image. Poor Fisk, ruthlessly attacked when he only wants to help the city. This will be a rallying point for his supporters. And speaking of supporters, Wesley looks pretty suspicious.
This episode was a nice change of pace; we slow down a bit and zero in on a central relationship, while the side stories in this one will push the overall plot forward. We saw another side of Foggy, and a vulnerability in Matt. Foggy’s been a constant in his life for a long time now, and for them to break up, as it were, could really shake Matt. I love seeing Karen doing her own thing and leading her own investigation, putting pieces together that no one else has. And now Fisk has been targeted on a more personal level, so we’re likely to see him fall apart soon.
Score: 4/5
Daredevil 1.10 - “Nelson v. Murdock” Director: Farren Blackburn Writer: Luke Kalteux Distributor: Netflix, ABC Films, Marvel Studios Runtime: 60 Minutes Exclusively on Netflix