"Condemned" is the sixth episode of Marvel's Daredevil.
Picking up from where the last episode left off, a group of three police officers, led by Officer Corbin, have cornered Matt as he's beating down on Vladimir and Sergei. Pistols drawn, Corbin's partners advance on Matt and handcuff him. As they're about to take him away, Corbin orders the others to execute the two Russians. Realizing these three are more corrupt cops working for Fisk, Matt attacks the officers and beats them all unconscious. During the struggle, one of the officers hits Vladimir in the leg while trying to shoot Matt. Matt then grabs Vladimir and runs off. Moments later, Officer Corbin regains consciousness, and sees Sergei still breathing. Regaining his footing, he picks up his pistol and shoots Sergei in the head, killing him instantly, then calls in a "shots fired" call over the air.
At the Bulletin, Ben Urich is busy putting together a map tying the recent criminal activities together. He's interrupted by a commotion going on outside. Ellison informs the writing staff about the explosions and begins assigning reporters to cover the story. Ben realizes what's really going on when Ellison reports the locations of the explosions, as he knows that those are where the Russians maintain their various bases of operations.
Word of the masked man and Vladimir's escape gets back to Fisk as he and Wesley are driven through the area. They posit that the Devil is trying to get Vladimir to talk to him about Fisk. Wesley also remarks that Detective Blake is a liability, due to the masked man beating him senseless and getting the addresses for the sweep off Blake's phone. Fisk tells him that they'll hold off on that matter, and expresses hope that the police sweeps will pick up the masked man and Vladimir.
Blake and Hoffman lead the sweep of one of the explosion sites, looking for survivors. They find one trapped under a pile of rubble. Blake tortures the man for information on Vladimir's whereabouts by applying pressure to the cinder blocks pinning his leg down. The henchman begs for Blake to kill him. Blake sighs, raises his pistol, and shoots the henchman in the head. He then gives orders to the other corrupt cops to do the same thing to any other survivors.
Matt, meanwhile, takes the wounded Vladimir to the second floor of an abandoned building at 47th and 12th, narrowly avoiding the police. Vladimir is still mad at Matt (thinking that he killed Anatoly on Fisk's orders), as Matt tries to reason with him that Fisk wants him dead. He quickly fades out of consciousness.
Meanwhile, Foggy and Karen have brought the wounded Mrs. Cardenas to the hospital, with Karen using a towel to stifle bleeding from Mrs. Cardenas' scalp. They hand her off to Claire Temple, who begins administering treatment. Only as Foggy is about to call Matt to check in on him does he realize that he took some shrapnel from the blast and has bled significantly (the bleeding hidden by his suit jacket). As Claire is stitching up Mrs. Cardenas, she receives a cell phone call from Matt. Matt assures her that the bombings were Fisk's work, not his. He asks her to guide him through stabilizing Vladimir. She warns him that it's not as easy as it looks in the movies. Claire is more outraged that she's being asked to help him save one of the men who ordered her kidnapping.
Matt looks around the floor, looking for something to use. He notices an old roadside emergency kit with flares. Claire instructs him to put a flare directly to the bullet wound to cauterize it. Matt lights the flare and directly applies it to Vladimir's skin. Vladimir recovers and begins screaming in agonizing pain. Matt attempts to silence him by covering his mouth with his right hand while holding the flare in his left.
Unfortunately for Matt, Vladimir's screams are heard by a rookie patrol officer, Officer Sullivan, as he walks past the building on foot patrol. Sullivan enters the building, and notices the glow of the road flare coming from the second floor. Realizing that someone is coming, Matt hastily hangs up on Claire. Now knowing that he might be walking into something, Sullivan calls in a 10-10 (potential criminal activity) to dispatch, draws his gun and flashlight, and heads upstairs to investigate.
Reaching the second floor, Sullivan enters the area where Matt had been. He finds nothing there but an unconscious Vladimir lying on the ground. He raises his gun and orders Vladimir to show his hands. Matt emerges from hiding and overpowers Sullivan. After disarming Sullivan of his gun, Matt asks him who he works for. Sullivan admits that he's only been on the job for two months. Having firmly established that this cop is not one who works for Fisk, Matt tells him to call the dispatcher and report a false alarm. Sullivan asks if Matt will let him leave, to which Matt replies, "Eventually." Sullivan takes his radio and reports in, and promptly shouts his location into the speaker. Matt quickly knocks Sullivan out, but it's too late to prevent the dispatcher from sending out a 10-13 (officer needs assistance) to other units...including Blake and Hoffman.
The police swarm the area and set up a perimeter around the building, with Blake and Hoffman assuming command of the scene. That Sullivan has told dispatch that he's trapped with a masked man and wounded civilian leads Blake to be certain that Vladimir is inside. Hoffman is about to call Wesley to relay the information when Ben arrives. Ben is somewhat incredulous to see Blake and Hoffman on the street rather than on desk duty for killing Piotr earlier that day. The two detectives, though caught off guard, manage to provide enough vague answers to satisfy Ben, then Hoffman calls Wesley to inform him of the change in plans.
In the car, Wesley relays the news to Fisk. He warns that they need to be careful to make sure Ben doesn't see anything suspicious going on. Fisk agrees, and orders Wesley to reach out to their media contacts because he wants the public to see what happens next.
Inside the building, Matt handcuffs Sullivan to a column, binds his mouth with duct tape, and disassembles his gun. He tries to ask Vladimir for more info on Fisk. Vladimir chides Matt for thinking he's any different from Fisk. Matt warns Vladimir that with the number of cops in Fisk's pocket, he may not leave the building alive. Vladimir begins talking, mentioning Wesley's visit to him and Anatoly at the garage. He also mentions Fisk's connections to Madame Gao and the corrupt cops and politicians. He skirts around mentioning Owlsley as the accountant who handled the money, allowing Matt to lean in close enough for Vladimir to attack him by surprise. In the struggle, the two end up falling through the floorboards, temporarily knocking them out.
Outside, media vans begin to converge on the scene. As the reporter from WHiH prepares to go live, Blake and Hoffman make dry quips to Ben about him being an outdated relic.
Inside the building, Matt regains consciousness and immediately begins performing CPR trying to roust Vladimir. Vladimir is incredulous that Matt refuses to kill him, to which Matt replies that he just wants info on Fisk.
Elsewhere, Fisk's convoy stops at a precinct so that Wesley can pick up a police radio. As Wesley gets back in the car, he informs Fisk that the Emergency Service Unit team is en route, and Blake and Hoffman are clearing a channel for Fisk.
At the standoff, Ben's attention is drawn away as the ESU team arrives and takes up positions, preparing to raid the building. Blake gives an order to the officers on scene to change to another radio channel and maintain radio discipline.
Matt senses the ESU team's arrival. He begins seeking a way out, but is interrupted when he hears Fisk's voice asking to speak with him. Underneath some rubble, Matt finds Officer Sullivan's radio and starts a dialogue with Fisk. Fisk uses this time to express his admiration for what Matt is trying to do, even though it clashes with Fisk's own plans. Not that Matt believes a word that comes out of Fisk's mouth.
While the two are conversing, one ESU officer breaks away from the rest of the team, and goes to the rooftop of a building across the street from where Matt and Vladimir are holed up. He takes off the M4A1 rifle slung over his shoulder, and begins assembling a Nemesis Arms Vanquish rifle stashed in his backpack. When the sniper is given the go-ahead from Wesley, he sets his rifle down on the edge of the roof and scans the assembled cops, looking for an easy target.
On the street, Ben begins to think something's fishy as Blake and Hoffman don't seem to be engaged in any form of hostage negotiation. The exasperated Blake approaches Ben to tell him off, but Ben refuses to back down, demanding more answers. At that exact moment, the ESU sniper opens fire. His first bullet hits Blake in the chest, puncturing his right lung. As the cops and reporters run for cover, a uniformed officer, Officer Pinski, is shot in the neck, while another uniformed officer standing near the ESU truck is shot in the head. The sniper is then forced to retreat out of sight as a police helicopter passes overhead. Ben and Hoffman run to Blake's aid, with Ben being the unlucky one left to apply pressure to Blake's bullet wound in an attempt to stop the bleeding while Hoffman goes looking for a paramedic.
With the sniper retreating, Fisk tells Matt over the radio that they won't be speaking again, and ends the communication. He then has Wesley send a tape to the media outlets of Matt beating up the cops who killed Sergei.
Seeing the newscasts of the shooting, Claire calls Matt and demands answers. Matt is briefly distracted as he picks up the sound of police radios. Outside, the ESU team is assembled and are preparing to breach the building. Knowing he doesn't have much time, Matt makes a heartfelt goodbye to Claire before hanging up. Moments later, the ESU team breaches one entry point with a battering ram and begin searching the building. Matt begins pulling on a manhole cover, hoping to escape into the underground tunnels, but the cover fails to budge, at least, until Vladimir pitches in and helps him.
One group of ESU officers heads up to the second floor and enters the room where Officer Sullivan is tied up, and has regained consciousness. The lead ESU cop kneels down next to Officer Sullivan and reports into his radio, "Officer Sullivan is dead. I say again, Officer Sullivan is dead." Sullivan tries to scream, but the ESU officer promptly kills him by partially cutting his throat with a small knife.
Matt and Vladimir manage to escape down a ladder into access tunnels underneath the building. It isn't long before some of the ESU team stumble upon them, but Matt is able to overpower all of them. Vladimir grabs one of the officers' rifles, telling Matt that this is as far as he goes. Before Matt leaves, Vladimir gives him one crucial clue: Fisk's money launderer is Leland Owlsley. He then raises his acquired rifle and aims it in the direction of the approaching police reinforcements. As Matt escapes down another tunnel, the gunfire from Vladimir's last stand echoes in the distance.
Tropes
- Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene: Matt's entire conversation over the radio with Fisk.
- Anywhere but Their Lips: Foggy gets a forehead kiss from Karen as he's lying in a hospital bed.
- Bait-and-Switch Gunshot: The view through the sniper's scope gives every appearance he's about to shoot Ben, and at the last second, it's revealed he's aiming at Detective Blake.
- Belated Injury Realization: Foggy only realizes he's been injured by shrapnel from the bombing when Karen points out he's bleeding. "That explains the stabbing pain in my side."
- Beware the Nice Ones: Claire is outraged that she has to help Vladimir, and relishes instructing Matt to cauterize his wound with a road flare.
- The Big Board: Ben tries to plot out the criminal conspiracy on the wall of his office, using playing cards, with the unknown kingpin represented by the King of Diamonds.
- Bilingual Bonus: The song Vladimir is humming as he prepares for his last stand against Fisk's men will be recognizable to anyone who knows Russian as "We Will Be Raised From the Ashes (The Tanks Were Rumbling in the Field)".
- Blatant Lies: Claire put her injuries down to a car accident. Her shift supervisor points out that she doesn't have a car to drive.
- Boom, Headshot!:
- Upon recovering from being attacked by Matt, Officer Corbin shoots Sergei in the head.
- Blake executes the Russian he uncovers in one of their bases of operations with a bullet to the head, and orders the other cops with him and Hoffman to do the same to any other survivors.
- The two cops shot by the ESU sniper to cover up Blake's shooting. Officer Pinski is hit in the neck, while another officer standing by the ESU truck is shot in the head.
- Bolivian Army Ending: The episode ends with Matt walking towards the camera while the sound of Vladimir's last stand against the corrupt ESU team echoes in the background.
- By-the-Book Cop: Officer Sullivan, the young patrolman who stumbles upon Matt interrogating Vladimir, is one of the first cops besides Brett Mahoney to not be in Fisk's pay, to Matt's surprise. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of the ESU team sent in to "rescue" him.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: Blake tortures a henchman trapped under debris by applying pressure to a cinderblock pinning his leg.
- Continuity Nod: The first TV crew to set up at the scene of the hostage standoff is from WHiH-TV, the TV network that Christine Everhart works at.
- Cop Killer: Fisk decides that Detective Blake is a liability, so he pays an ESU sniper to shoot him. The sniper also kills two uniformed police officers to make it look like Blake was randomly targeted before being forced to retreat. The rest of the ESU team are also on his payroll, and murder Officer Sullivan before moving on to kill Vladimir.
- Early-Bird Cameo: The ESU sniper who takes out Blake is implied to be Daredevil's second arch-enemy Bullseye, from the fact that there appears to be an Ace of Spades in his backpack when he's assembling his rifle. However the character is introduced in season 3 as an FBI agent, so presumably this is either a Mythology Gag or a version of the character who was never developed by the writers.
- Enemy Mine: Matt and Vladimir are forced to work together while trying to escape the corrupt ESU team, though it takes a while for Vladimir to get on board with the idea.
- Faceless Goons: The ESU team sent into the building to kill Officer Sullivan, including the sniper who guns down Blake. All of them have their helmets on and goggles lowered.
- He Knows Too Much: The ESU team kills Officer Sullivan because they suspect he overheard Matt's conversation with Vladimir; ironically that's not the case.
- Hero with Bad Publicity: Fisk has successfully planted evidence to suggest "the Devil of Hell's Kitchen" is behind the bombings, as well as the shootings of several cops.
- Hollywood CB: Matt and Fisk speak to each other using standard 2-way police radios - call and response. You never see or hear them actuate the call buttons. They speak as if they are talking on a phone.
- Killer Cop:
- Blake, Hoffman, and Corbin are shown executing Russian goons who survived the bombings.
- The ESU team is so dirty they are willing to murder fellow officers who aren't on the take. One of their snipers goes to a rooftop and guns down Blake (for becoming a liability) and two other cops (to make it look random). After that, the team storms the building to mount a "rescue" attempt on Officer Sullivan, but when they find him, they kill him by partially cutting his throat". Matt however speculates they might not actually be cops.
- Major Injury Underreaction: Foggy helps carry Elena all the way to the hospital and only reacts to his own chest wound when Karen points it out to him.
- Mercy Kill: The Russian that Blake kills in the warehouse is trapped under rubble, and based on his injuries, probably would've bled out before any real emergency workers could arrive.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Well, Claire kinda is responsible for the entire second half of the episode since the light from the road flare and the sound of Vladimir's scream are what draw Officer Sullivan into that building.
- Non-Action Big Bad: Fisk and Wesley call all the shots from his car, with Wesley relaying orders from Fisk to the cops in their pocket.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Fisk unsurprisingly sees himself as similar to Matt, a lone man driven to save his city by whatever means necessary. Even Vladimir thinks he's heading down the same road.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Matt's reaction when he hears Detective Blake's voice responding to Officer Sullivan's distress call, as he knows that this means more of Fisk's dirty cops will be arriving shortly.
- Blake mutters "Oh, Christ," under his breath when Ben Urich shows up at the scene.
- Officer Sullivan when he realizes that the ESU guys have actually come to kill him.
- Pet the Dog: Despite all Matt has done to hinder his business, Fisk shows him respect and offers him a way to save himself (granted he asks Matt to murder someone in return, but it is pretty amazing he'd be willing to just forgive everything).
- Pre-emptive Declaration: The corrupt members of the ESU team enter the room where Officer Sullivan is tied to a column and gagged.
- Serial Killings, Specific Target: The ESU sniper who fires on the cops shoots Blake and two other uniforms. As implied by "Shadows in the Glass," Blake is the only one of the three being targeted for death. The other two were shot as set decoration. If just Blake got shot, it would be clear that he was the target and an investigation would eventually uncover his ties to Fisk; but if Blake is just one of a few cops to get shot, it looks like someone with an anti-NYPD vendetta is responsible.
- Schmuck Bait: Vladimir pretends to be on the verge of passing out, then attacks Matt when he leans close to hear what he's whispering. They end up going through three floors.
- Villain Respect: Fisk sees Daredevil as a kindred spirit to whom he's only opposed out of necessity.
- We Have to Get the Bullet Out!: Lampshaded and Defied. When Matt suggests this, Claire helpfully informs him that digging around for a bullet is the surest way to make someone bleed out.
- You Have Failed Me: Fisk has Blake shot because he let Matt get his phone, the phone with the Russians' addresses on it. The sniper also shoots two patrol cops to hide this fact.
- You Just Told Me: When Fisk tries to goad Matt into killing Vladimir, Matt responds that Fisk is firmly establishing that Vladimir has dirt on him he doesn't want Matt to know, inadvertently tipping off Fisk that Vladimir hasn't told him anything yet.Wilson Fisk: The Russian... is he alive?
Vladimir Ranskahov: I'm still here, you fat shit!
Matt Murdock: Does that answer your question?
Wilson Fisk: It's a one-time offer. You kill the Russian, and we'll call the night a push. You know what he's done... to women... to children... To the people of this city that you claim to care about. But do you know how much he enjoyed it?
Matt Murdock: Well you just confirmed how important he is. That must worry you, what he might tell me.
Wilson Fisk: Which means he hasn't told you anything yet.
