Recap / Daredevil S1 E13 "Daredevil"

"Daredevil" is the thirteenth episode and first Season Finale of Marvel's Daredevil.

It's an overcast and dreary day as Ben Urich is laid to rest in the cemetery in a service presided over by Father Lantom. Matt and Karen are in attendance, as are Doris and Ellison. After the burial, Karen approaches Doris and apologizes to her, blaming herself for Ben's death by pushing him to write the story on Fisk. Doris tries to assure her that Ben died doing what he loved best, trying to expose the truth, but Karen is unconvinced. Meanwhile, Matt speaks to Father Lantom, lamenting that Ben died because he failed to stop Fisk. Father Lantom assures Matt he's done more than enough.

Matt and Karen return to the office to contemplate their next move. Karen's upset that Foggy didn't attend the funeral, which Matt takes the blame for on account of his and Foggy's falling out. She also expresses her terror that Fisk will come after her next if he knows that she was with Ben when he spoke to Marlene, or if he finds out that she killed Wesley, although she doesn't tell Matt about the latter. Matt does his best to reassure her that he's still honoring his promise from back during the Union Allied case to keep her safe.

At his penthouse, Fisk is at his dining room table going over his finances when Vanessa comes out of the bedroom and joins him, against his protests that she should still be resting. Vanessa is still aghast that Fisk was planning to send her away, but he assures her that he's reconsidered. Looking at the books, he notices an irregularities in the wire transfers concerning the protection fund he wanted set up for Vanessa. It occurs to him that Owlsley might be skimming from him. He confronts Owlsley about this when they meet that night in an empty garage. Owlsley tries to deny this, but Fisk can tell he's lying because his hands are shaking and he's visibly sweating despite the cold temperatures. Caught, Owlsley confesses...and also reveals that he and Gao were behind Vanessa's poisoning. Fisk is enraged to learn that his own partners view Vanessa as a distraction to him. He moves to kill Owlsley...who stops him in his tracks by revealing that he has another bargaining chip on hand: he scooped up Carl Hoffman after Hoffman killed Christian Blake on Fisk's orders. Owlsley is checking in with him every 24 hours, and has given Hoffman orders to go to the FBI with everything if Owlsley fails to check in. Thinking he has Fisk pinned down, Owlsley prepares to leave. But Fisk cannot forgive something like Vanessa being hurt. He attacks Owlsley and throws him down an elevator shaft, then orders his men to start searching for Hoffman.

At Fogwell's Gym, Matt is blowing off steam on a punching bag when Foggy shows up. He's surprised Foggy found him here, since he's never told Foggy about the gym. Foggy hesitantly admits that he's known Matt has a sentimental attachment to the place but never said anything out of respect. He also admits that the reason he missed out on Ben's funeral is because he got called away to a last minute meeting with Marci, who's been handing him copies of Landman & Zack's dealings with Fisk. Matt chastises Foggy for dragging his ex-girlfriend in given what just happened to Ben, but Foggy fires back that the law is probably their best shot at stopping Fisk, as Matt had previously suggested they utilize. Realizing Foggy would like to give Nelson & Murdock another shot, Matt agrees to his approach.

Matt and Foggy go to the 15th Precinct to speak to Brett. Brett isn't happy about seeing them, and insists on talking outside by one of the side entrances to avoid being seen "fraternizing with the enemy". He tells them about the masked vigilante beating him up at the drug lab raid and about Fisk owning cops in the precinct, not realizing that he's talking to the very man in question. Brett's hesitant to help them, considering that cops generally don't like those who rat on fellow officers, but he does admit that the vigilante's allegations have made him think about odd events that have happened in recent weeks. While they're talking, Matt gets distracted when Officer Corbin and another cop exit the precinct and head out to their patrol car while talking on a flip phone. Recognizing Corbin from when he tried to kill him and Vladimir on the night of the bombings, Matt listens as Corbin talks to someone else about finding out where Owlsley has stashed Hoffman. He tells Foggy about this as soon as Brett leaves, and suggests that Hoffman might be the key witness to bringing Fisk down.

Matt, Karen and Foggy burn the midnight oil as they pour through Owlsley's property records looking for some hint of where Hoffman is hiding. They eventually catch a break when Karen finds a property in Hell's Kitchen that disappeared from his portfolio without any change to Owlsley's financial balance, suggesting that he had it delisted. Assuming that it's Hoffman's hideout, Matt immediately races over in hopes of saving him. Meanwhile, Fisk's men find out about the location too and inform Fisk, who orders the nearest team to go in and leave no survivors.

At the hideout, an abandoned concert hall, one of Hoffman's guards returns from a delivery run with fresh food for Hoffman and his guards. Moments later, Corbin and a few other corrupt cops burst in and open fire, killing the guards. As Corbin points his gun at Hoffman and prepares to execute him, Matt arrives and takes out Corbin and his fellow officers. He tells Hoffman to go back to the precinct and surrender himself specifically to Brett, who will hook him up with Nelson & Murdock to negotiate a plea deal for him.

Hoffman complies with Matt's request and turns himself in at the precinct. Matt and Foggy are called, and negotiate with the US Attorney's office for Hoffman to provide everything he has on Fisk and waive all considerations for immunity from prosecution. Hoffman begins talking, and provides the identities of other corrupt cops in the precinct, as well as information on many other criminals and corrupt politicians in Fisk's pocket. In a subsequent montage, the FBI are shown arresting various associates of Fisk's.

• A team of FBI agents apprehends Turk Barrett as he tries to flee.
• At the precinct, Brett watches as Corbin and several other cops are arrested and removed in handcuffs.
• At the Bulletin, Ellison's secretary Caldwell is arrested. Ellison can only lower his head in shame at the realization that Ben was right about Fisk having a mole in the paper.
• In the parking garage of Landman & Zack, Marci watches from her car with a smile as a team of FBI agents surround Parish Landman's car and serve him with an arrest warrant.
• Senator Cherryh is arrested and perp walked out of his office.

As night falls, Vanessa watches the news reports on the arrests with fear as Fisk frantically makes arrangements to get her out of the country, as it's only a matter of time before they're found. Fisk calms her down enough to give her directions on what to do. As the police and FBI prepare to kick down the door, Fisk pulls out a wedding ring from his coat pocket and proposes to Vanessa, hoping to get her protected by spousal privilege. Touched by the gesture, Vanessa accepts just as the FBI agents walk in and handcuff Fisk. They escort him to an armored truck to transport him to jail.

While Matt, Karen and Foggy sit around Karen's desk and toast to their victory, and to all the people whose lives were lost along the way, Fisk begins musing to himself in the truck about what kind of person he is. He recounts the parable of the Good Samaritan, and comes to the conclusion that he's not the Samaritan who selflessly helped the wounded traveler, or the priest or the Levite that both ignored the traveler, or even the "men of ill intent" who wounded the traveler, but the "ill intent" itself. Fisk then reveals that he had just one last trick up his sleeve, for at that moment, the convoy is suddenly blocked by two moving trucks packed with armed mercenaries. The mercenaries engage the police in a shootout, killing the cops and FBI agents in the convoy (while taking a few casualties themselves), before surrounding the truck. As they knock on the truck, one of the FBI SWAT agents guarding Fisk in the back of the truck reveals that he's corrupt, and shoots his non-corrupt partner in the head. He then undoes Fisk's handcuffs and sets him free. Fisk emerges from the truck, and is escorted to one of the moving trucks that was used to block the road.

Matt visits Melvin Potter's workshop, where he's finished designing the body armor that Matt requested that he make. He's designed a full red body suit for Matt, complete with a helmet that has red devil's horns. Matt thanks Melvin for the outfit, puts it on, and begins focusing to try to find Fisk's location.

Meanwhile, Fisk's mercenaries take the trucks to an empty garage, where they transfer Fisk to another truck. One of the mercenaries gives Fisk a phone to contact Vanessa as they escort him to the helipad where he's to meet with her. He tells her to leave on the helicopter without him if he's not there in 20 minutes. The truck never makes it there, as Matt ambushes the truck by lobbing an escrima stick through the windshield, causing the driver to lose control and crash. Fisk makes a run for it as the mercenaries engage Matt, but Matt takes them all out, then corners Fisk as he tries to cut through an alley. Fisk, furious at all his hard work going to waste, engages Matt in an all-out brawl. Unlike their last encounter, Matt is able to match Fisk on even footing thanks to the armor. After several minutes, Matt ends the fight with a flying kick to Fisk's head, and Fisk falls to the ground unconscious, just as Brett pulls into the alley in his patrol car. Matt persuades Brett to let him go, and leaves once Brett has secured the handcuffs on Fisk.

At the helipad, Vanessa is informed that Fisk has been recaptured. She solemnly gets on the helicopter and flies away.

Matt's actions make the front page of the newspaper, with the press now lauding him as "Daredevil", as that's the name Brett used to describe him in his arrest report. Things are almost back to normal for the trio, something Foggy emphasizes by putting the Nelson & Murdock placard back in place. Foggy then leaves to go meet with Marci and help her find new employment in the wake of Landman & Zack being shuttered, as Matt and Karen muse about the uncertainty the future brings for them and head into the office.

In a prison cell, Fisk stares intently at a white wall not unlike that which his father made him stare at as a child.

As another night falls on New York City, Matt stands on a rooftop in Hell's Kitchen in his new costume. At the sound of a woman screaming, he leaps into action.

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Tropes:

• Abandoned Area: Hoffman is being guarded in a derelict concert hall.
• And the Adventure Continues: The episode ends with Matt standing on a rooftop, hearing a woman scream and leaping into action.
• Answer Cut: As Brett takes custody of Fisk and lets Matt go, he asks Matt what name he should put in his police report. Cut to our heroes looking at a newspaper article on Daredevil.
• Arbitrary Skepticism: Fisk asks if Matt thinks "one man in a silly little costume" can really make a difference in the world. He apparently didn't collect any Captain America trading cards. In all seriousness, Fisk gained his foothold in Hell's Kitchen in part because of the damage from the Chitauri invasion. From his perspective, while heroes might save the world, they haven't done anything about crime, corruption, greed, poverty, and urban decay. That is... until now.
• Artistic License – History: Fisk describes a Samaritan as simply someone who is "from Samaria." This is technically correct, but fails to prove the lesson of the parable due to lacking a lot of context about Samaria's history. "Samaritans" were a separate branch of Judaism, or more accurately of the Israelite religion, dating back from the split between the Kingdom of Judah and the Kingdom of Israel, and the enmity between them was quite bitter. The original point of "The Good Samaritan" (emphasis added) was that a Samarian, who Jewish audiences would have thought the least likely to be kind to a Jew, was being nicer to the hurt man than the people of his own nation. Then again, Fisk admits to not knowing much about religion.
• Bait-and-Switch Comment: While talking with Matt at the office, Karen looks like she's about to tell Matt that she killed Wesley, but then switches to instead say she fears Fisk will learn about her having been with Ben at the nursing home. It happens again at the end of the episode when Matt tells her that he's sensed something different about her.
• Battle Discretion Shot: Hoffman closes his eyes as his fellow corrupt police prepare to shoot him. He cringes as a volley of shots ring out, then opens his eyes to see Matt taking down the last of them.
• Bittersweet Ending: Fisk is arrested, his empire brought down, and the city is safe. But, as Karen pointed out, it won't undo the damage Fisk has done, bring back the good people killed, or erase the things they had to go through at this point.
• Bookends: The first and last episode of the season both end with a child screaming for help and the Daredevil rushing off to provide it.
• Bulletproof Vest: Matt gets a new armored suit from Melvin Potter. Melvin says that the "process" isn't complete, though, and that only the black portions of the suit will give the most protection and that the red portions (most of the suit) will only stop a knife coming in at certain angles.
• Call-Back: A few, what with this being the season finale.
  • With Karen freaking out and fearing Fisk will find out that she killed Wesley, Matt has to remind her what he promised her about keeping her safe.
  • Fisk finds himself in a prison cell, looking at a roughly painted wall, like the wall his father told him to stare at to "become a man".
  • Matt ends the season standing on a rooftop, and hears a child screaming for help, like the end of the first episode.
• Comic-Book Shows Don't Use Codenames: Finally averted at the close of the episode, as the media christen Matt's new red suited persona as "Daredevil". Karen says it seems a bit much, but grows on you, which Matt seems to agree with.
• Chekhov's Gunman:
  • Hoffman is revealed to be a bargaining chip for Owlsley to leverage Fisk, on account of the things that Hoffman knows about Fisk's enterprise. Tracking him down forms the crux of the first part of the episode.
  • Karen is furious that Ellison had the gall to turn up at Ben's funeral after having betrayed him to his death. But notice that Caldwell is standing next to Ellison, looking upset as she places flowers on his grave. On a rewatch of the previous episode, there was a quick shot of Caldwell listening in on Ben and Ellison arguing, around when Ben mentioned speaking to Fisk's mother. She's arrested as Fisk's inside man later in the episode.
• Cop Killer: Multiple FBI agents and NYPD cops are gunned down by the paramilitary team that are hired to free Fisk from the prison van after he is arrested.
• Dirty Cop:
  • Officer Corbin is sent to kill Hoffman and anyone else with him.
  • One of the FBI SWAT cops is on Fisk's payroll and kills the other cop inside their armored van to break Fisk out of custody.
• Exposition Cut: Fisk starts to explain his exit strategy to Vanessa, cut to the cops closing in in slow motion, cut back to him asking if she understands everything he just told her.
• Five-Second Foreshadowing: Take a closer look at the FBI SWAT agents who guard Fisk in the van as he tells the Samaritan story. One clean-shaven cop has his gun pointed away from anything. The other one (with the stubble) has his gun pointed vaguely toward the first guy^note Visually. It's actually to the guy's side., with his finger near the trigger. He also says the clean agent should let Fisk talk, and seems oddly calm as a firefight erupts outside, unlike his buddy. When the clean agent gets ready to fight and warns the enemies^note who don't seem concerned about the armed cops in the van at all outside to back off, he has his gun pointed at Stubble.^note Visually. It's actually to the stubbled agent's side Then the dirty agent shoots his partner in the head. For bonus points, this is literally seconds after the honest agent says "I don't know who you assholes think you are, but if you don't back away, I swear to God, I'll put a bullet in this fat son of a bitch!"
• Heel Realization: After being exposed and arrested, Fisk recounts the parable of the Good Samaritan and realizes that he's not the Samaritan who selflessly helped the wounded traveler, or the priest or the Levite that both ignored him, or even the "men of ill intent" who wounded him in the first place, but rather the ill intent itself that made those men want to attack the traveller at all.
• Hesitation Equals Dishonesty: As Leland passes some ledgers over to Fisk, Fisk notices that Leland's hands are trembling. Leland tries to pass this off as shivering due to the cold, only for Fisk to point out that he's also sweating profusely.
• Hope Spot: Fisk and his cronies are arrested by the FBI and everyone's celebrating... halfway through the episode. Then the other shoe drops.
• If I Can't Have You…: Fisk decides that if he can't save NYC from crime and corruption, then he'll be the crime and corruption and let it drown in its filth.
• If I Do Not Return:
  • After he's been rescued, Fisk calls Vanessa, who is waiting by a helicopter, telling her to leave if he doesn't arrive. When she refuses, he assures her that if he doesn't arrive, it will only be a temporary inconvenience.
  • Leland reveals to Fisk that he's had Hoffman in protective custody since he vanished, and if Leland doesn't report in at regular intervals, Hoffman will go to the FBI and testify about everything he's done for Fisk. Fisk considers this...then throws Leland down an elevator shaft and sends out his corrupt cops to find Hoffman anyways.
• Improbable Aiming Skills: Matt gets some upgraded batons that finally let him showcase this skill. And unlike Captain America, he doesn't have a magnetic gauntlet to pull the batons back to his grip. It's all him.
• Improvised Weapon: Fisk uses a piece of rebar to attack Matt as they fight in the alleyway.
• In-Joke: "Nelson & Murdock: Avocados at Law." Karen is rightfully confused.
• Ironic Echo:
  • Fisk told Matt over Officer Sullivan's radio that "Not everyone deserves a happy ending". After intercepting Fisk's truck:
    Matt Murdock: You were right, what you told me over the radio that night. Not everyone deserves a happy ending.
  • As Matt fought Fisk for the first time, Fisk responded to Matt's death threat with the line: "Take your shot." Now the shoe's on the other foot:
    Wilson Fisk: YOU TOOK EVERYTHING! I'M GONNA KILL YOU!
    Matt Murdock: Take your shot.
• Like a Daughter to Me: Karen approaches Ben's wife at the funeral and reveals her guilt at having pressured Ben into writing the story that got him killed. She isn't having it, saying that no-one ever forced Ben to write a story, and he regarded Karen as the daughter they never had specifically because she never gave up.
• Mood Dissonance: The arrest montage is scored to Nessun Dorma.
• My God, What Have I Done?: As Caldwell is taken into custody, Ellison can only lower his head in guilt over the realization that while Ben was wrong about him being the mole, he was right to suspect that there was a traitor in the office.
• Mythology Gag:
  • The artist's rendering of Daredevil in full costume on the front page of the paper is almost identical to the cover art of Daredevil #60.
  • Fisk in his jail cell at the close of the episode is wearing an all white prison uniform (having worn black or grey all season), calling to mind his iconic white suit from the comics, and soon after he accepted his place as a villain, not a savior, no less.
• Nothing Is the Same Anymore: Downplayed when Matt and Foggy acknowledge they can't go back to the way things were between them, but are willing to move on together.
• Overly-Nervous Flop Sweat: Fisk notices Leland sweating profusely and deduces that Leland is double-crossing him.
• Properly Paranoid: Ben took out an insurance policy years ago, knowing he was taking huge risks going after mafiosi and corrupt politicians. Averts What Happened to the Mouse?, we know his wife is going to be taken care of.
• Red Herring: Turns out Ellison is not Fisk's mole at the paper. It's Caldwell, his secretary.
• Revenge Before Reason: Fisk kills Owlsley for poisoning Vanessa, opening the possibility of Hoffman turning state's evidence against him. He almost manages to get Hoffman anyway, but by that point it was damage control.
• Secret Secret-Keeper: Turns out Foggy has known about Matt frequenting Fogwell's Gym for all this time, but just didn't know what Matt's connection to the place was beyond it being where his dad trained.
  Matt Murdock: How'd you know I was here?
  Foggy Nelson: Known about your outlet for a while. I didn't say anything because I thought it had something to do with your dad. Now I know better. Thought you'd be out punching people in the head, or whatever you do.
• Serial Killings, Specific Target: Leland says the poisoning at the benefit was targeted at Vanessa, with the other deaths only to obscure this fact.
• Ship Tease: Foggy leaves to help Marci find a new job, with the suggestion that they might be hooking up on a more permanent basis. There's then a close up shot of Karen taking Matt's hand as they enter Nelson & Murdock.
• Shout-Out: The sequence of Fisk's breakout and escape involving trucks, ambushes and mercenaries/corrupt cops disguised as SWAT are more than a little reminiscent of the Joker's capture in The Dark Knight.
  • Similarly, Fisk's halfway-through beat-down of Matt (involving carrying him aloft and bringing him down) is way too reminiscent of Bane's "breaking of the Bat", as well as its subsequent adaptation in The Dark Knight Rises, to be coincidental.
  • Furthermore, Fisk's realization that he is the "ill intent" comes across very much like Jules Winfield's realization that he is the "tyranny of evil men."
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: The police and FBI are prepared to deal with a response from random criminals, even well-organized criminals, they are not prepared for a military assault by a high-value black ops team.
• Taser Tag Weakness: Averted; Fisk screams in agony when Leland tries to zap him with his taser, but it only fuels his rage.
• Then Let Me Be Evil: After Fisk's Heel Realization above, he immediately decides that he's just fine with being a bad guy, because that's what Hell's Kitchen deserves after (from his perspective) it has actively resisted all of his attempts to "save" it.
• Title Drop: Matt's masked alter ego is christened "Daredevil" by the media, which is both the title of the episode and the show.
• True Companions: The team of Nelson, Murdock & Page are reunited, and take open pleasure in working together again.
• Unusually Uninteresting Sight: No one seems to notice that Hoffman is completely covered in blood when he walks into the station.
• Villainous Breakdown: Fisk abandons all pretense at being calm and affable when Daredevil stops his escape plan:
  Wilson Fisk: I wanted to make this city something better than it is, something beautiful. You took that away from me! You took everything! I'M GONNA KILL YOU!
  Matt Murdock: Take your shot.
  Wilson Fisk: This city doesn't deserve a better tomorrow! It deserves to drown in its filth! It deserves people like my father! People like you!
• With This Ring: Fisk hands an engagement ring to Vanessa just as they're dragged apart by FBI agents arresting him. When Vanessa gets the news that Fisk has been stopped from reaching her, Vanessa places the ring on her finger before leaving on the helicopter.
• Wrong Genre Savvy: Leland thinks he's dealing with a criminal organization and that being able to threaten to deprive Fisk of all of his money will be enough to protect him. Instead he's in a superhero story with an Ax-Crazy berserker.
• "You!" Exclamation:
  • Fisk on seeing Daredevil and realizing that he's the Masked Man in Black.
  • Brett's reaction upon pulling into the alley and seeing Matt standing over an unconscious Fisk.

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