Recap / Daredevil (2015) S3E11 "Reunion"

Dex tries to run his prey to ground, Nadeem's conscience kicks in, and Fisk looks to recover a gift from Vanessa seized during his incarceration.

Tropes

• Actually Pretty Funny: Matt has to laugh at Foggy's not-even-a-plan for dealing with Fisk.
  Foggy Nelson: Step 1: We work together. Step 2: We come up with a plan. Step 3: We execute that plan.
  Matt Murdock: That's genius. Come up with that by yourself?
  Foggy Nelson: [shrugs] So? I'm still working out the details.
• After Action Patch Up: Matt bandages Karen's wrist while they hide in the crypt.
• All for Nothing: Fisk is once again free, but still under FBI protection, because a higher court has reversed his conviction. Foggy however persuades his friends that they should try building a state case against Fisk, as opposed to just trying to kill him.
• Armor-Piercing Question:
  • Maggie figures out that Dex was the fake Daredevil she saw leaving the church earlier, and notices that Nadeem doesn't seem happy about the situation. She asks him "Do you consider yourself a moral person?", and when he responds that he tries to be, she notes that her good friend (Father Lantom) died protecting Karen from evil (Dex), and asks Nadeem that, if he truly is moral, is he really willing to help that evil find her? Maggie's questions clearly guilt-trip Nadeem, and he ends up agreeing to let Brett "arrest" Karen to get her out of the church safely, and then turn on Fisk and Dex soon after.
  • After hearing Mrs. Falb's story Fisk tells her that after everything she's been through Vanessa would want her to keep "Rabbit in a Snowstorm". Mrs. Falb simply asks "Is that supposed to matter to me?". In a rare moment of deference Fisk says "no" and admits it only matters to him.
• The Atoner: Averted by Karen who says that you can't atone after having taken a life. It's for this reason alone that she doesn't want Matt to break his Thou Shalt Not Kill rule.
• Be as Unhelpful as Possible: Sister Maggie pretends she can't unlock the gate to the crypt where Matt and Karen are hiding. Unfortunately the FBI have breaching tools that they use to cut open the lock. Later however she's able to divert their attention by showing them the door to the roof, and then has a novitiate claim she saw Daredevil entering the orphanage when tracker dogs are brought in.
• Big Damn Heroes:
  • Maggie manages to use her body to hide a blood stain that would've tipped Dex off to the fact that Matt and Karen are hiding in a sarcophagus.
  • Matt shows up to rescue Nadeem and his family when the former is in the middle of a shootout with assassins sent to kill them.
• Both Sides Have a Point: There's a bit of this when Theo is trying to get Foggy to read the prepared "apology" Fisk's people want him to read. Theo has a point that Foggy was the one to piss off Fisk and dragged the family into this, while Foggy counters that Theo knowingly signed a loan he knew was fraudulent without consulting a lawyer first.
• Call-Back:
  • Fisk once again calls a press conference where he spins the Devil of Hell's Kitchen as a terrorist.
  • Matt changes into a new shirt in front of Karen, much like she once changed into one of his dress shirts in front of him when he took her back to his apartment.
• Calling the Cops on the FBI: Karen openly surrenders to Brett Mahoney to stop herself being killed by Fisk's corrupted FBI agents.
• The Cameo: Captain Strieber, who had previously been Misty's boss at the 29th during The Defenders (2017), is now at the 15th.
• Cramming the Coffin: Matt and Karen hide from Dex when the FBI search the crypt by squeezing into a sarcophagus.
• Crucified Hero Shot: Father Lantom lying with his arms spread on the church floor at the episode's opening.
• Didn't Think This Through: Framing Karen as an accomplice to Daredevil really wasn't the smartest move by Dex, considering that a whole congregation of witnesses saw him trying to murder her.
• Dramatic Unmask: As a token of trust, Matt unmasks before Nadeem after saving his family from Fisk's assassins.
  Matt Murdock: If we're gonna get your family someplace safe, you're gonna have to trust me.
  Ray Nadeem: I can't trust anybody.
  Matt Murdock: Well, I trust you. You saved Karen Page's life tonight. [takes off his mask] So I owe you one.
• Dramatically Missing the Point: Fisk doesn't understand at first that Mrs. Falb is referring to the Nazis when she says the government took "Rabbit in a Snowstorm" from them.
• Even Evil Has Standards: When Fisk visits Mrs. Falb, the woman who owns the "Rabbit in a Snowstorm" painting that Vanessa gave him, he hopes to convince her to sell it back to him. However, when he hears how much suffering she and her family went through from The Gestapo, who stole many possessions from them (including the painting) and transported them to a work camp, he is clearly disturbed and sympathetic, and decides to drop the matter and allow her to keep it.
• Evil-Detecting Dog: Somewhat implied, possibly metaphorically; when the FBI bring in the dogs to smoke Matt and Karen out, one of them initially comes up to Dex, whose scent is all over the place from his earlier attack on the church.
  Benjamin "Dex" Poindexter: Not me, fellas. The bad guys.
• Forced into Evil: Fisk putting Nadeem front and center so soon after blackmailing him pays off. Nadeem pulls Brett Mahoney aside to tell him he's doing the right thing by playing Jurisdiction Friction and that Karen would be dead within minutes if the FBI got hold of her.
• Four-Philosophy Ensemble: Well, three of them, but Matt, Foggy, and Karen display this quite well during their meeting on the roof to decide what to do next: Matt is The Cynic who has lost faith in the system and thinks the only way to stop Fisk is to kill him; Foggy is the Idealist who insists that the law and the system can still work properly this time if they go about taking Fisk down the right way; and Karen's the Realist who acknowledges that Matt may be right, but asks him to hear Foggy out.
• Friend on the Force: Brett comes through and "arrests" Karen to save her from the corrupt FBI agents. He then simply cuts her loose once they're away from the church.
• Genocide Survivor: Mrs. Falb survived the Holocaust as a little girl, but lost nearly her entire family and all of their possessions in the process. She has spent decades hunting down the "Rabbit in a Snowstorm" painting, which used to belong to her family before it was stolen by the Nazis.
• Guilt Complex: Karen, again, going so far as to proclaiming that she should have died instead of Father Lantom.
• History Repeats: Sister Maggie gets Matt some new clothes and we see him strip off his blood soaked shirt in front of Karen so he can slip on a new t-shirt. It's a bit of a call back to the night Matt and Karen first met, when she changed her shirt in front of him in his apartment.
• Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: None of the assassins Fisk sent to kill Ray and his family manage to land a single shot on him.
• Internal Reveal:
  • Karen admits the truth about her role in the deaths of Wesley and her brother to Matt while they hide from Dex in the basement.
  • When Nadeem isn't sure whether Daredevil really came to his home to rescue him or to kill him himself as revenge for Nadeem selling him out to Fisk, Matt unmasks himself to convince Nadeem to trust him.
  • This is the first time Karen has seen Matt with his shirt off. She's shocked at his scars and bruises.
    Karen Page: Jesus, Matt...
  • Nadeem reveals to Brett that Fisk has subverted the FBI to let him understand the danger Karen is still in.
• I Owe You My Life: By proxy. Matt owes Nadeem a debt for saving Karen's life.
• Irony: Mrs. Falb asks Fisk whether he knows what it is like to see your father dying at your feet. He does - just in a vastly different context than her.
• It's All My Fault: Karen blames herself for Father Lantom's death, feeling that she put him in danger by being at the church at all when Fisk was hunting for her.
• Jerkass Realization: Matt finally realizes that he has been a huge asshole towards Karen and Foggy and apologizes.
• Jurisdiction Friction: To get Karen out of the church safely, Foggy invokes Karen's surrender to the NYPD, not to the FBI (because the murder in the church isn't a federal case). This results in back-and-forth between Brett and Dex. Nadeem, who has seen what Dex has done and also listened to Maggie's words of wisdom, takes Brett aside, quietly tells him that Karen will be dead before she gets to the FBI offices if the FBI takes her in, and instructs Brett to nod his head and say nothing. Dex is visibly fuming as Brett "arrests" Karen and escorts her out of the church.
• Kick the Dog:
  • Dex killing two random civilians simply because they saw him without a mask (and as a way to vent his anger over failing to kill Karen).
  • Fisk beats Agent Weller to death for informing him that Karen has been taken by the NYPD.
• Laser-Guided Karma: A positive version for Nadeem. After seeing what Dex has done and having been guilt-tripped further by Maggie's words, Nadeem decides to do the right thing and helps Brett save Karen's life by getting her away from Dex. Matt overhears this and realizes that Nadeem is ultimately a trustworthy man despite the mistakes he's made, and as a result, comes to save him and his family from being killed by corrupt FBI agents.
• Leave No Witnesses: After fleeing the church and ducking into a alley while suffering a Villainous Breakdown, Dex kills two more men who enter the alley and see him dressed as Daredevil with his mask off.
• Meaningful Echo: As happened in the latter half of the first season, Fisk is losing control more and more as his plans come unraveled.
• Missing Steps Plan: Foggy's plan to stop Fisk: "Step one, we work together. Step two, we come up with a plan. And step three, we execute that plan."
  Matt Murdock: That's genius. Come up with that by yourself?
  Foggy Nelson: [shrugs] So? I'm still working out the details.
• Mythology Gag: Matt's remark to Karen about having to give up his one shot at Fisk to come save her, seems to be a shoutout to a remark in Daredevil Yellow, Book 6.
• A Nazi by Any Other Name: Invoked by Mrs. Falb who says that Fisk isn't so different from the 'wolves' who came to her door as a child and destroyed her family. The remark actually seems to hit home.
• Nerves of Steel:
  • Despite knowing who he is, Mrs. Falb doesn't show any kind of fear towards Fisk.
  • Brett doesn't flinch in the face of Dex, and takes Karen into custody.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Fisk is upset to hear himself compared to the Nazis by Mrs. Falb, and is convinced by this to cease trying to reacquire "Rabbit in a Snowstorm".
• Not What I Signed Up For: Nadeem's reaction to seeing that Dex killed Father Lantom in the course of his attempt to kill Karen.
  Ray Nadeem: I did not sign up for this shit!
  Benjamin "Dex" Poindexter: Yes you did...
• Oblivious Guilt Slinging: When Dex realizes that Sister Maggie hid the bloodstain where Karen and Matt were hiding, he makes a beeline towards her with hostile intent, only to change his mind on hearing a couple of cops asking what kind of psycho would kill a priest.
• Pet the Dog: Fisk visits the woman who bought the "Rabbit in a Snowstorm" painting that Vanessa gave him in an attempt to convince her to let him buy it back from her. However, once he discovers that the painting was stolen from her family by the Nazis, all the suffering that she and her family went through, and the painting's personal meaning to her, he decides that Vanessa would want her to keep the painting, and graciously accepts her refusal to sell it to him.
• Properly Paranoid: Nadeem is right to be terrified that Fisk will come after him and his family after letting the NYPD take Karen. Shortly after he gets home, hitmen arrive to kill them all.
• Pulling the Thread: Mahoney notices that the witness statements don't match the official story the FBI is selling, and he's going after the truth.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Esther Falb delivers one to Fisk to make it clear she won't give up "Rabbit in a Snowstorm" no matter how hard he pushes.
  Esther Falb: I know who you are, Mr. Fisk. You are a wolf too. Men like you took away my family, took my ability to love and almost took my life. You will take nothing more.
• Sadistic Choice:
  • Foggy has to decide between retracting his statement and thus supporting Fisk, or not doing it and endangering his family. Before he makes the choice, however, he gets called to the church by Matt.
  • Same goes for Nadeem, who is torn between his moral compass and the safety of his wife and son. He finally chooses the former to save Karen's life, and he and his family are almost killed for it until Matt shows up to save them.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: Foggy talks his way into the active crime scene of the church thanks to having pull with Brett.
• Shoot the Messenger: Fisk kills the lackey who told him about Ray letting Karen get away, simply because he happened to relay a phone call from Nadeem. He then sends men to kill Nadeem.
• Sincerity Mode: Matt genuinely apologizes for pushing Foggy and Karen away and doesn't try to justify it.
  Foggy Nelson: Okay, it's insanely hard to fight with you if you keep agreeing with me.
  Matt Murdock: Good. I don't want to fight with you.
• Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism: Foggy still believes in the system of justice, wanting to put Fisk back behind bars again, while Matt thinks the only way to stop him now is to kill him.
• Spotting the Thread: Brett realizes something's off because the statements the eyewitnesses are giving to the police don't exactly gel with what the corrupt FBI agents on the case are claiming.
  Ray Nadeem: We'll share what we've got ASAP. I promise.
  Brett Mahoney: Thanks. But between you and me, there's something off about all of this.
  Ray Nadeem: What's that?
  Brett Mahoney: Well, a number of witnesses claim Daredevil was trying to kill Karen Page. And your people are making her out to be his accomplice.
  Ray Nadeem: There's more to this story than you're aware of, Detective. Thanks for bringing it to my attention, but this is our crime scene. We'll let you know if we need anything.
• Swapped Roles: Foggy is the one trying to convince Matt to build a legal case against Fisk instead of doing the vigilante thing.
• Thou Shalt Not Kill: Discussed by Matt and Karen as they're hiding in the crypt. Karen thinks that no matter how bad Fisk is, Matt would never be able to come back from such an act, speaking from her own experience with her brother and Wesley, and her experiences with Frank Castle.
  Karen Page: Killing anyone, even Fisk... it will change everything that you—that you feel about yourself.
• Tragic Keepsake: Mrs. Falb's family used to own the "Rabbit in a Snowstorm" painting, until the Nazis stole it from them. She holds it dearly as a memento of her dead family.
• Tranquil Fury: Agent Weller gets a phone call from one of the FBI agents at the church reporting that the NYPD have taken Karen into custody per Nadeem's judgement call. Fisk processes the news, and then calmly asks Weller to hand over his jacket. Weller obliges...and then Fisk swiftly throws the jacket over his head and beats him to death.
  Wilson Fisk: [composing himself] Pull over. Get rid of the body.
  Fisk's Driver: [nervously] Yes, sir.
• Villain with Good Publicity: Downplayed. The crowd in front of Fisk's hotel jeer at him during much of his speech but when he explains that he was framed by Daredevil, they quiet down and listen to him. The public isn't quite on his side, but they're obviously willing to hear him out since, for all they know, Daredevil just killed his way through a church.
  Wilson Fisk: I know that most of you find this difficult to accept. That's only because you've been manipulated... poisoned into believing the news media's fake story... that I am evil, that I am a criminal! Quite the opposite is true. Because I challenge the system... because I've told the truth and tried to make this city a better place, the people in power decided to tear me down... to tear me down with false allegations. They sent someone to frame me. Daredevil. The killer who's now showing his true colors, who has tried to murder people in newspaper offices and churches... attacking our sacred institutions! Believe me! Daredevil is our true public enemy.
• Villainous Breakdown: Dex is having more and more trouble keeping it together. He's on the verge of trying to kill Karen in front of everyone in the church, consequences be damned, before Nadeem talks him down, and steps into a van to do another Cathartic Scream to vent his rage after Nadeem lets Brett take her away.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Foggy and Theo call each other out over the mess they're in because of Fisk. Foggy for pissing off the worst criminal in New York, Theo for committing fraud (that Fisk tricked him into) that could put him and their parents in prison.
• What Would X Do?: Fisk lets Mrs. Falb keep the painting because he thinks it's what Vanessa would want.
• You Have Failed Me:
  • None of the corrupt FBI agents are happy about the idea of having to tell Fisk that Dex failed to kill Karen, knowing exactly what kind of person Fisk is.
    Pryor Arinori: Dex, this is getting out of control. Someone needs to call Kingpin. [notices that Dex is zoning out] Dex? Hello?
    Benjamin "Dex" Poindexter: Yeah? What?
    Pryor Arinori: I'm saying we should get in front of this. Someone needs to call Kingpin.
    Benjamin "Dex" Poindexter: And say what? That we failed?!
    Pryor Arinori: "We"?
    Benjamin "Dex" Poindexter: There something that you want to say to me, Arinori?
    Ray Nadeem: Hey! This isn't helping. [waves Arinori away] Dex, they're in the wind. And we're not gonna find 'em tonight. I'm gonna release the ESU and open the scene to forensics.
    Benjamin "Dex" Poindexter: No. No way. You get the NYPD to go to every house in the neighborhood. Door to door! We do not stop until we find them!
    Ray Nadeem: Dex, they're gone.
    Benjamin "Dex" Poindexter: Fine, call it off. And you call Kingpin and tell him you're the reason that Karen Page is still breathing, that you gave up.
  • Upon learning that Nadeem has gone rogue, Fisk promptly has a team of assassins sent to his house to take him and his family out.

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