ScreenCrush: The Podcast! - Daredevil: Born Again Episode 9 BREAKDOWN - Marvel Easter Eggs You Missed!

Episode Date: April 16, 2025

Daredevil: Born Again's season finale sets up a team up with Spider-Man, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, and the return of other heroes from the MCU. Wilson Fisk declares martial law in New York, just as the Multiverse saga is coming to a head. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Agent Nate Russo returns in Oracle 3, Murder at the Grandview, the latest installment of the gripping Audible Original series. When a reunion at an abandoned island hotel turns deadly, Russo must untangle accident from murder. But beware, something sinister lurks in the Grandview's shadows. Joshua Jackson delivers a bone-chilling performance in this supernatural thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Don't let your fears take hold of you as you dive into this addictive series.

Love thrillers with a paranormal twist? The entire Oracle trilogy is available on Audible. Listen now on Audible. Never forget. I love New York. Hey, welcome back to Screen Crush. I'm Ryan Erie. And this is all of the Easter eggs references

and little things you might have missed in the final episode of Season 1 of Daredevil Born Again. Now, we've got a lot to go over, but first, as always, check out our Daredevil parody merch for sale at our merch store. And, guys, I have a big announcement to make. We are doing a one-night-only

encore of our live show at the Super Jersey Comic Expo on April 26. I'll be there all weekend to sell merch, meet up, and host panels, and at the show, we're going to have special surprise guests. You can meet me and Doug, and we'll have a night of comedy, nerding out, and we'll all become better people. Links for everything are below. So we pick up right where the last episode left off, but now we see the attempted assassination of the kingpin from the point of view of Bullseye. Notice that the scene is completely blue, and as we talked about last week, this blue tent shows us bull's-eye's worldview. We saw it used four times in episode eight, while all of his other scenes also had this very cold color palette. And also, notice the droning almost like flies

buzzing. In the original series, Dex would always hear this sound whenever he wouldn't get his own way. But remember, Fisk actually helped him to cut through this noise as he began to manipulate and control him. I find that when this rage cannot stay buried in me, that a primal scream is the only satisfying release. Bullseye's literal bullseye looms large in the scope as we cut to a wallpaper of deer. Now, there's a subconscious connection here, like he is hunting and has a deer in his sights. But then we see that this is the hospital where Decks recovered after the kingpin broke his spawn.

in season three. And here we see that it's Vanessa who is doing the hunting. Like her husband, she wants to recruit and control Dex to do her bidding. Now notice this sign in the background, do more of what makes you happy. So this is a nod to how Fisk set Dex free in Daredevil season three. While other FBI agents were blackmailed into helping Fisk, Dex worked for the kingpin because, well, he made him feel more like himself. Dex loves killing and he did it with a smile on his face. I feel more myself than I have in my whole life. Now, Vanessa fills in some blanks for us about what exactly happened in the aftermath of season three. That season ended with Matt making a deal with Wilson.

If he went to prison, then Matt would make sure that Vanessa was not charged with any crimes. Now, throughout season three, we saw Fisk was able to manipulate the FBI through intimidation and blackmail. One agent, Ray Nadine was a whistleblower who was going to help bring Fisk down. But now Vanessa tells us that that same FBI corruption scandal meant that none of the charges would actually stick against her husband. And so that means Poindexter was also able to be released. So this also makes me wonder if Matt was blipped by Thanos's snap. So imagine if Wilson and Vanessa had those five years after Thanos's snap to rebuild their empire. But it kind of seems like the MCU is done mentioning the blip after it pretty much dominated every story in phases four and five.

Now, I think this is a really sad scene because we see Vanessa using Poindexter and taking his meds away from him. She's making it clear that if he is released, he will have to be her personal assassin. But it is also important to note here that Dex still hates Wilson Fisk. Your history with my husband isn't part of this. He's always part of this. Yeah, but why's he hate him so much? Well, in season three, Wilson ordered a hit on Julie, a woman that Dex, let's just say, loved from afar.

Are he stalked her? Worse than the Terminator. Now, this also explains why Dex targets the kingpin and not Vanessa. He still wants his old boss dead. So Vanessa acknowledges that Poindexter still wants her wants her husband dead and maybe that's another reason she enlists him. In case she ever needs to double cross her man, she's got the world's greatest assassin in her back pocket. And as he signs, the paper turns blue and we are back at the moment of the assassination. But notice how, even with this blue tent, Vanessa's dress is still red, like Dex is keeping her out of his sight. In fact, maybe he spares her

life since she freed him in the first place. And then we go to Matt in the hospital. Now I should note that in the mayor fist run in the comics, Matt was hurt by a car and was laid up in the hospital near death for a long time. He even has a fever dream for several issues where he brings down Mayor Fisk. Now, they're obviously not adapting that part of the story, but in this episode, we do see a slightly weakened daredevil who is more vulnerable to attack. When Matt wakes up, the first person he asked for is Karen. Now, he wants Karen's help to pull the dumb Benny case file, but this also shows that he is still not over her, and you can actually see the look on Heather's face. She already knew that Matt was haunted by his old life and his old love. This is yet another wedge

driven between them that makes me wonder are they even still going to be together in season two. Meanwhile, Fisk is safe up in his penthouse and notice how the bloodstained on his chest looks exactly like the red paint on Mewes' chest. Now, in the case of Mews, this was symbolic of how he believed his art was the center of who he was. His art was, of course, tied to the blood of his victims, and he saw this artwork as an expression of his own emotions, you know, close to his heart. But in the case of Wilson Fisk, the bloody chest is literally showing us that Wilson's clean

facade is actually stained with blood, just like the painting rabbit in a snowstorm. So in the hospital room, Heather stands up for her clients. Did you realize they were the ones getting shot at? Yeah, I didn't get that. Why is she on the bad guy's side? Well, remember, Heather doesn't know anything about the personal history between Matt and Fisk. His firm helped bring Kingpin down in season one, but like from her perspective, that was a legal case more than 10 years ago. And there's no reason she knows of why Matt would have a personal investment in Wilson Fisk. The look on her face here, I think, is actually foreshadowing how she ends the episode. Wilson tells Vanessa that everything he's been doing this season has led to using Red Hook as a means to channel billions of

dollars into their organization. As they explain in this episode, Red Hook is technically a free port, meaning that the laws of New York City and state don't apply here. And now we see what his plan was all about. He weakened the police force to drive up crime and then blackmailed Gallo to keep him quiet while he formed his own private police force. And the gangs were free to operate anywhere except Red Hook because Fisk did not want any attention paid to this area at all. Otherwise, the city council might have discovered that Freeport Charter and revoked it. This is the same reason Vanessa had Foggy killed. Afterwards, Wilson is back in his office, and I love that now he just chooses to wear his white suit. This is, of course, how he dresses in the comics,

and it took him three seasons of the original show to embrace his full iconic comic book villain uniform. And all through this season, we've seen him wear these bland gray suits. Like he's hiding the real villain inside. But now, he's just declared that the kingpin of crime is running the mayor's office. Now, like we predicted last episode, he uses the assassination attempt as an excuse to take full control of the city. And this is what the show has actually been building up toward thematically all season long. A few episodes ago, Matt saw firsthand that the system wasn't working for ordinary people. And that's why he decided to put on a mask. So he could then use his own morality as a shortcut around the red tape. But there's a fine line here. Both

vigilantes and criminals wear masks, and masks also free you from the consequences of your actions. So if everyone wore a mask, then that's not vigilante justice. That's mob rule. Now, we saw this portrayed very well in the final act of Joker, and we see the cops taking advantage of this idea later in the episode. A mask has an effect of dehumanizing a person and making it easier to shoot them in the street. Or, in the case of Wilson Fiske's government, it makes it easier for the task force to see their citizens as enemies instead of as people they're hired to protect. Now, we have seen similar scenes before in this show where Fisk wants to bend the rules, but Sheila disagrees. But this time, it's way more threatening because the task force looms

around them. It's similar to the book Animal Farm after Napoleon begins to use his dogs as enforcers. And I actually think this opaque window shot last episode was a call back to the end of Animal Farm. Yes, when the criminals and money makers are so obscured, you cannot tell who is man. pig. Well said, dude. Now, what really makes King Penn the perfect mastermind is how he's able to use any event to his advantage. Matt Murdoch saves his life, so then King Penn sees his value as a martyr. In this case, a dead hero is better than a live vigilante. So in death, this would be that Matt would be endorsing and promoting the vision of Wilson Fisk has for the city. And it would also be the ultimate insult to Matt Murdoch's memory. This is also a way of undermining Daredevil. Matt

Murdoch, the civilian is a hero, but Daredevil is a dangerous vigilante. Then we get a shot of the skyline with no Avengers Tower or Vowel Tower or Thunderbolts Tower, whatever they call it. It's a pet peeve of mine. Can they please just put the Avengers Tower in every skyline shot, please? Then Sheila and Fisk have an exchange where he tells her basically how he has always seen this office. When she cautions that he is overreaching, he says, In business, there's always a tipping point in a negotiation.

We are in that place with this city. It just needs a little push. And this is showing that his entire mayoral career hasn't been about serving people. It's been about getting ownership of the city by luring it to a tipping point. And then he orders a purge of everyone in government who is not loyal to him as he brings in a man from the power company to engineer the pressing disaster that will allow him to declare martial law. So then Gallo tries to form an ill-fated alliance with Sheila, where he tells her that he's going to Albany to talk to the gun.

So the governor of New York can remove the mayor of the city, and Gallo believes that the office of the mayor is bigger than just one person. He says, we'll get through this. The city always does. Now, this is a nice statement about the resilience of New Yorkers. The city made it through the 1970s, through 9-11, and also in the MCU, we made it through attacks from aliens, ninjas, and alternate universes. And sadly, though, he ends by saying, To the woman who ends up backstabbing him. So Buck goes to kill Matt in the hospital. but brings along a loud ticking wristwatch, which alerts Matt that he is coming.

In season one, this also allowed Matt to identify Wesley, Kingpin's right-hand man. Now notice when Matt sets up, the aspect ratio narrows slightly to show us that he is using his abilities to hone in on this sound. So all of this makes me think that Fisk never told Buck that Matt was Daredevil. So he knew that if Matt were unconscious, Buck would be able to kill him. But he knew that if Matt were awake, that he would escape and then go and dress up as Daredevil. And then that would give him the perfect excuse to send a task force out to arrest the man without fear. So as the power is shut off, Roberta Flacks

Killing Me Softly plays. So the song is about music that absolutely devastates the singer and creates like a wellspring of emotion. In the case of this show, it is Wilson Fisk who is playing this song and devastating New York. Now, New York has famously been through a few blackouts, most notably in the summer of 1977 when the city was already suffering through economic hardship and a rampant serial killer son of Sam. So that 77 blackout led to a lot of looting and riots and people venting their frustration, whereas the 2003 blackout was actually quite pleasant. I do wish that some of the people from those BB on the street interviews would have shown up during the blackout scene so it could have given us a human connection of some people on the ground,

but I like the sequence a lot, I think it works. Now, in both of those historical cases, and in this show, something unusual happens. You can actually see the stars above the city because there is no light pollution. Now, later on in the episode, this is used as a metaphor for the beauty of the city and its people, but I'll talk about that a little later in the video. When Matt arrives at his apartment, he finds Frank Castle all trimmed up for a fight and says, well, not everyone lives in a fallout shelter, Frank. Which is a dig at Frank's bunker that Matt visited a few episodes ago. And when he said,

This is that new costume, they call you now, nightgown man. This is also a dig at, you know, silly superhero names that reminded us of this. What's his name? Uh, it's, uh, night monkey. Night monkey? Yeah. Matt then teases Frank, saying, I have to shave in a haircut, that all for me?

And as we find out, Frank did put on after shave. especially for someone, but it was Karen Page. Way back in Daredevil season two, the two of them formed a kind of connection. And as we find out, Karen has stayed in touch with Frank, and she actually called him to help out Matt while she hopped on the first flight back to New York. And then we get the first big melee fight of the episode, so let's break this baby down. As the task force enters, the aspect ratio narrows once again to show us that Matt has honed his senses on on these cops approaching up the stairs.

Now notice that they left the door open so the SWAT team wouldn't come storming in. This forces them to be quiet and enter slowly, which works to Matt's advantage because he can hear their heartbeats. As they enter, we get confirmation that Colnorth was the Punisher fanboy who killed Hector Ayala. Now, when the task force is fully inside the apartment, Daredevil smashes through the skylight. And this is because Matt keeps his gear on the roof, and also because it is vital that the cops not find Daredevil in Matt Murdoch's apartment. They were sent on a tip to find Daredevil, not Murdoch, so this preserves his secret identity. This does, though, make me wonder why they even bother fighting the cops. They could have just left the task force behind, and then Matt would have, you know, ended up saving some of their lives.

He cracks the first guy in the jaw, then controls the closest guy's weapon, pointing the gun away and then getting him in the abdomen. Then he uses his momentum to fling his corded billy club to hit the next two guys in the head, while from the balcony, Frank blows this guy's head off. Then, in a parallel to Matt's opening moves, he grabs the next guy's gun and shoots him in the abdomen. Then as Frank chokes out the cop, Matt headbutts the next guy and chokes him with his grappling hook. And throughout the fight, Matt also slightly favors his right arm, because, he was just shot in his left shoulder. Then Frank throws a guy into the counter, but notice, you can see this part where the actor dips his head below and then spits out fake blood as he ricochets his head backwards. It's some really nice stunt work. Matt offers up a week, which is like my big nitpick about this fight. In season two, Matt would have put everything he had into stopping Frank from murdering these people. But I did like the little techniques they used here, like not showing too much gore by showing the bullet hose go through the counter. North fires at Frank, so Frank shoots him in his shooting hand. Matt then catches the next guy's gun, breaks his arm, and then takes out his leg.

Then there's a whip pan where they out of the billy club in with CGI, but the stunt actor's fall really sells the illusion. As Frank slides across the room, he clocks where these cops are behind this wall, so he is able to shoot them without looking through the wall. And as he tackles a guy over the kitchen island, he murders two more people. Matt uses his grappling hook to pull in another cop, and then detects the guy getting up at his feet so he hits him without looking. North shoots at Matt while he does some cartwheels,

and Frank throws a knife into North's shooting hand to pin it, against the wall. Matt then takes down one last officer with his club while Frank shoots one more cop. It's a fun fight, but like I said, it's completely unnecessary, and it's out of character for Matt to allow Frank to kill so many people. But then again, maybe there's a reason why they wanted to show Matt with a more lax attitude about killing. When he sees that North killed Ayala, that North took the law into his own hands, it tempts Matt to do the same. So allowing Frank to shoot so many cops is a slippery moral slope, and we see that Matt is starting to slide. First, he remembers Hector and takes a step toward north like he's going to get his vengeance.

And Frank looms behind him like his id. But then Matt remembers how Foggy's death already pushed him over the edge when he tried to kill Bullseye. As we see in this episode, this is the line that Matt has to draw for himself. Not killing is the only thing that separates him from Fisk's fascist task force. No, Frank. No, no, no, please don't. It's not what I want.

And then the cops blow up Matt's apartment. And this is repeating a story beat from the Daredevil Bornigan comic book when the kingpin discovers Matt's secret identity and destroys his brownstone. And I love the choice here, by the way, to shoot this from the inside of the backseat of a car. Giving us a limited POV the action makes it feel more real and street level. Afterwards, they reunite with Karen. Like I said, she developed a strong empathetic bond with Frank back in season two. And in season one of the Punisher, she helped Frank discover the conspiracy behind the debts of his family.

Frank even compared Karen to his family. Sarah's my wife. Sarah's my family. Listen, listen. And Punisher season two, they finally acknowledge their connection. Karen, I can't tell you how much it means to me that you came here. You sat with me. So make it meet something. But Frank would never let himself be in a relationship because he knows that his war will always put people in danger.

Also, if he were to say, remarry and start a new family, then that would mean moving on from his dead family, which would make Frank actually stop his war, and I think he's far too psychotic to let this go. When we see her, notice that we hear the original Daredevil theme. And she stitches Matt up, which probably reminded Matt of how he used to stitch up his father after his fights. For Matt, pain and pleasure have always been mixed like this. Slap on top of that, he can take an unbelievable amount of punishment without one damn complaint. Last part's the Catholicism. Then there's another rack focus as the camera pulls onto Frank in the background stitching himself up. So this highlights Frank's loneliness, but it's also a cost.

call back to the rack focus from Wilson and Vanessa to Adam's dead body. In each case, we have two lovers, framing an interloper in their relationship. And when Karen explains why she called Frank first, he says, Couldn't call me. And she replies, I need someone to look out for you. And this shows how well she knows Matt. He would rather push through the pain and guilt and take on every battle alone.

And we also see that Frank, unlike Point Dexter, is willing to take his meds, because he's a killer, but he's trying to get better. behind Matt here is the emblem of the Marine Raiders, a special ops infantry force in the Marine Corps that Frank Castle was a member of. As we see this resistance starting to form, we interact with Fisk, seizing control, as he's demanding loyalty and creating his enemies list. He threatens the city council with blackmail, and Daniel says that he has dirt on all of them. Notice how now Daniel's top button is undone. He is no longer that prim and proper kid. Now, he's in the inner circle so he feels like he can cut loose. And then we go to the BB report,

actually showing us things that are happening around the city, which is the first time. the BB report's been useful in a while. Cops are arresting people, riots are breaking out. This is mob rule, exactly like Fisk wanted. In fact, he's been hinting at this since season one. But this city isn't a caterpillar. It doesn't spin a cocoon and wake up a butterfly. And then we see why Fisk wanted mob rule.

It enables the task force to kill anyone they want and then ride it off. In fact, with the hat pulled down, this does even look like Matt's first suit that he wore in seasons one and three. Back at the storage facility, Karen tells Matt, that it's not fair that he can hear heartbeats and that he knows when she is attracted to people. In fact, Foggy said as much to Matt when he discovered his abilities.

Are you telling me that since I've known you any time I wasn't telling the truth, you knew? And what? It's just played along. Now, when Matt acts a little jealous of Frank, Karen points out, You hear of mine when I saw you? Yeah.

Yeah. Adrenaline, I'm sure. Now, this is Karen admitting that she loves Matt. And after all, he did say her name first when he woke up in the hospital. So I actually think these two will finally end up together in season two. And let's face it, that may not work out well for Karen, because Matt's got a bad history of what happens to people he loves. They find the avocados at law plaque embossed so Matt can read it.

And this avocados title is a callback to this joke from their law school days. Wait, how do you say lawyers in Spanish? Lawyers? Avogales. El Grande avocados. Now, when they find out about Red Hook being a free report, Matt points out that Vanessa stored her art there. So it's interesting that Fisk also stored Adam in that same chamber. It's like Adam was a piece of his collection. Or maybe this was

ironic because all of Vanessa's favorite things were stored in this vault. So the kingpin stashed Adam there as well. So Frank learns about the Red Hook hideout over the radio and he storms in stealth mode, first taking out an outside guard. But then we see that this was all a setup. The cops wanted Frank to find them so they could try to recruit him. Frank, stay calm. You just want to Now, the fight is over pretty quickly, but there are some nice, gory details. Like when Frank lowers this guy's riot shield so he can shoot at it from an angle from behind. Or like when he slits this guy's groin. Oh, God, we don't ever, ever want to watch that again.

And by the way, he did that before he sliced the guy's throat. So he could have just sliced the guy's throat, but he trod to put him in intense physical pain before he died. And as Frank walks into another trap, Sheila sets a trap for Gallo, revealing his betrayal to Curry favor with the mayor. Now, in the car, there's a really sad moment here. Gallo knows this officer, Luke, from his first year on the force. I see you in a long time, not since you were a rookie, huh? But at some point over the years, life as a cop turned Luke violent.

And now, like he says, trying to survive. This is showing how the force kind of outgrew Gallo without him realizing what was happening. In a way, it's like Hydra growing inside of Shield. The upper command didn't see that the troops on the ground were unsatisfied and were being led astray. Now, Gallo knows that it's over when he sees the Punisher tattoo. It's fresh ink. You part of the task force?

And this reminded me of the godfather, when they discovered that Tesio was the traitor, and he knows that there is no point in even fighting against it. Don't Mike, it was only business. I always liked him. Meanwhile, Frank wakes up face-to-face with his fan club, led by Powell. It's an honor to meet you, Castle. I'm a big admire your work. Even back in season two, the force was always divided on the Punisher.

Half of them thought he was a murderer and should be put away, and the other half thought he was doing them a favor. And I have to note that I think there is some real-life symbolism in here. a subculture of men, even cops that idolize the Punisher and really think that we should be executing criminals like this without trial. Now, in the comics, Frank encounters a group of Punisher fanboys and he tells them, I am not a role model. You want a role model, look at Captain America. And as we'll talk about in a second, Frank sees his war as his own personal burden. And he believes that he is damned for waging this war to begin with. Now notice that these guys all have extremely

shitty imitation Punisher logos, like they're the We Have Punisher at Home Action Figures. And there's also a parallel here with Mews, someone else who merged together artwork and murder, and Mews also idolized the Punisher in his graffiti. So Powell says, And this is what would really piss off Frank, who has always honored his fellow soldiers and veterans. Back in episode four, he told Matt, be a service, huh? Are you a service, red? Did you serve? And in the original show, he told Daredevil, never been to war? Don't talk about it.

And he would not allow Nelson and Murdoch to claim that he had PTSD in his defense because it would dishonor his fellow soldiers who were actually suffering from that condition. So they take Gallo into the Dexter room covered in plastic so it will be easier to clean up the DNA and evidence. This is how Fiske killed Julie in season three and when he killed Maya's translator in the show Echo. As always, Fisk uses this moment to his advantage, spinning lies for his audience. But you were never really there for the rank and file, were you? And we know that's not true. In episode two, Gallo fought for more.

police funding, which Fisk denied so he could make Gallo look bad. So Frank gives the cops an answer. They're getting on my pain. They're getting on my loss. Just like in the comics, Frank does not believe that what he's doing is right. He believes that it is necessary. And when he sees these men who have decent lives and families pretending to be him, he just sees it as a waste of their own good fortune.

A bunch of clouds, you know that? And this scene closely intercuts with Gallo's execution, which dialogue actually overlapping each scene. Now, this is usually done when two scenes closely mirror one another or are very different to display irony. In this case, it's showing us a parallel between two extremes of law enforcement. Gallo is dying a bunch of new task force recruits after he was right about Fisk, while Frank is beaten up for being wrong about his life choices. His one man war on crime inspired these idiots who are now hurting him. And I don't know what's more disturbing here, what Fisk does to Gallo's head, or this little smile on his face while he does it.

Not a good time to lose one's head. Now, this scene is also reminiscent of Fiske killing the Russian in season one when he decapitated him with the car door. It's the hard not fly for us. So, this is it. This is Wilson Fisk at the peak of his power. He has shown that he could walk into the middle of the street and shoot somebody and get away with it. Afterwards, he uses his bloody hand to gently dab the blood off his face,

which is a perfect metaphor for the man. His hands are dirty, but he still wants to maintain his appearance. Back at Red Hook, Matt and Karen are a close. across the water from Manhattan as fires and smoke burn across the city. Now Karen tells him that if he leaves, it'll be just like Josie's in episode one. And you go in there, you will die or you will kill. And as she talks to him, the camera pulls focus from them to across the East River so we can see the lights of the city and we understand that Matt can actually hear these people.

And then he explains his blindness to Karen. It's not dark. It's like a thousand suns. So that makes this visual metaphor hit home. To Fisk, the city is its buildings, its institutions, but to Matt, the city is its people. And every light on the other side of the river is not a building, it's a person.

Driving their car, holding a flashlight, trying to get home. When the city is at its darkest, we can only see the people of New York. It's a great visual way to show how they're going to win the fight against Fisk, with people and not institutions. And also this explanation that he gives Karen

is similar to how he described his abilities to Claire back in season one. What do you actually see? The world on fire. So, Matt replies with, Yeah, you're right, but we can beat him. But he's not talking about he and Karen. He is talking about the people of the city.

So this sets up the ending of the episode when Matt creates a small network of people to fight Fisk. And by the way, this could lead to a return of the defenders. Characters like Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, Moon Knight, and maybe, dear God, maybe we'll find a way to get Spider-Man into this show. Now, in the Mayor Fisk run of the comics, this is exactly what happened. Various vigilantes banded together to face off with Fisk's anti-vigilante task force. The next morning, the power comes back on, but in the crisis, Avengers Tower was destroyed and removed from the skyline, very sad.

But now, in the light of day, Fisk is able to use this chaos to make himself seem reasonable. He gathers more public support to him, as symbolized by him recruiting Heather. I would like for you to be my administration's commissioner of mental health. Now, this is not a real office in New York City government, so Fisk probably created this just for her. And like Matt warned her, he is only doing this to get to Matt. It would delight Fiske to know that Matt's ex-girlfriend is now allied with his worst enemy. And now, as a way to show the city is falling in line, the BB on the street interviews are empty. No one would dare speak out against the kingpin, and instead, they're watching his address on TV.

Side note. Last episode, Gallo said that he would get BB Yurik files on her uncle's death. So do we think that he delivered those files before he got the mountain facial? Let me know down in the comments. Now, during Mayor Fisk's address, he is now wearing his full white suit to show the audience that he is now, just the kingpin, and he has done pretending to be a legitimate mayor. He uses Gallo's death as a scapego to implement martial law. Again, something that a New York City mayor can't do, but we'll cover that in a future video. Notice how during the speech he doesn't sit calmly behind a desk. He looms above the camera, as if he is on high, giving his decrees down to the people below.

After his address, we cut to Matt, giving his own quiet counter speech. I thought God had taken my sight. Came to believe in an exchange, giving me a special destiny. So we begin on a shot of young Matt in an orphanage looking out the window, just like we have seen both Matt and Fisk look outside of windows all season long. But Fisk was only ever looking at buildings while Matt was listening to the people. Now this is a clever shot. Showing the sunset reflected in the window makes it look like the city is the world on fire, the way that Matt's radar sense allow him to perceive the world.

He talks about how at first he believed he was cursed by his abilities, but later he came to believe that his abilities happened for a reason, that God chose him to use his powers for good. So this is rooted in Matt's Catholicism. God often chose saints to do his bidding on earth, and then they were often punished, martyred, or ridiculed for doing God's work. In the same way, Matt's career as Daredevil has ruined his life.

He has lost people he loves. He has sacrificed his legal career, and he always feels like Sisyphus, like he said earlier this season. You never feel like you're pushing a rock up a hill? And there's a bunch of people on the other side pushing it back. But this belief that he was a divine instrument also created his downfall. I let the dark power me. As soon as Matt started to believe that God chose him, he started to think that he could use God's power absolutely, which is why he tried to kill Bullseye.

So this, again, is a parallel with Fisk and his new control of the city. Fisk believes that his office and his wealth mean that he can do whatever he wants. And now he has spread that belief in absolute power to the police, who believe that they are each a judge, jury, and executioner. And then Matt finally comes to terms with his darkest sin of wanting to kill Bullseye. The scene is almost framed as if he is in a confessional booth with Ken. Although confessionals are usually framed in an anonymity, with the pastor and sinner facing in the same direction with the wall between them. I think this scene is meant to show that with Karen, he feels as if he is in his own personal place of worship. This is further emphasized by the two of them being backlit by the windows of this back room, reminiscent of stained glass windows found in many churches.

And then as they enter Josie's, we intercut with the Red Hook dungeon, where we see that Fisk is holding the elite and powerful and Jack Duquesne the Swordsman in cages. Again, this facility is a metaphor for hell. The devil, Fisk, has taken control of heaven, and now the righteous are captured in the dungeons of hell. While he and Vanessa descend even further to have a nice dinner in front of the painting that drew them together to begin with, rabbit and a snowstorm. So this moment is what their entire arc has been building towards. They are ruling the city together in front of a painting that has been marred with violence, a painting that is literally painted with the blood of their family.

And then during this montage, we see Daniel, Buck, and Sheila in the mayor's office bathed in white light. And this is hammering home how Fisk and his side represent the elite who are up in heaven. We also see a lot of the same people from the BB on the street interviews now going on about their regular lives. Of course, this is Angela del Toro, who's probably going to become the new white tiger next season. And we also see Kirsten reading the Red Hook Charter. So maybe Matt has recruited her to his side. And this is all teasing next season where Daredevil can rally regular citizens to his side against Wilson Fisk. We see Point Dexter straightening this photo in his room, expressing his OCD that we saw in season three of the original show.

and then we see him through a broken pain of glass. But there's an awesome bit of symbolism here because it parallels the final shot of Daredevil through an unbroken pain of glass. Again, we are showing how these two men are two sides of the same coin. Matt has people in his life, people to help him while Point Dexter is shattered and alone. Now, as the finale closes out,

Radiohead's everything in its right place plays, setting up that everyone is exactly where they need to be for season two. Now, while the lyrics say everything is in its right place, the song itself means just the opposite. Nothing is in the right place. The lyrics, there are two colors in my head, express the tear between good and evil, how our black and white thinking,

or red and white in this instance, have been swapped. Now, in Frank Sell, we see that he's wearing the same marine patch on his sleeve that we mentioned earlier. And then, through Josie's window, we see several newspaper headlines. Fisk and his mayoral task force take to the streets, Wilson Fis campaign gains momentum, the return of the devil of hell's kitchen,

mass serial killer, muse, on a killing spree, and I think the symbolism here is that Fisk doesn't have any real power. He is a paper tiger. Back to what Gallo said earlier, the mayor's office is bigger than just one man, and the city is more than a mayor. The city is its people. And then there is a brief flash where Daredevil's suit is bright red. And this is, I think, the most vibrant flash of color we've seen all season. The original series was very dark, but also very saturated, whereas this season, the colors have been kind of bled out of the mix. I wonder if this was intentional, leading up to this moment, when Daredevil finally remembers who he is, and he is truly

born again. And then we have the post-credit scene where Frank sweet talks to a fan boy. Yeah, I appreciate you. Give me a minute like this. It's an honor to meet you. And then he breaks his arm. So we think this is setting up the Punisher one-shot special that's coming out this fall, which could be about Frank escaping the Red Hook facility. We know that John Bernthal is producing it, and he promises that the show is not going to hold back, so Frank might lead some kind of prison break against Fisk. And after the credits, we get a guarantee that Daredevil will return in season two. Guys, thank you so much for watching our coverage of Daredevil all season and for shopping our merch store and please check out NorthVPN to get a special offer. But I especially want to thank our incredible crew of staff and interns who made these videos happen for you guys,

especially Ethan Inc. who researched and co-wrote every video. You can find his social links and mine below and let us know what you thought of the episode down in the comments or at me on Twitter. And if it's your first time here, please subscribe and smash that bell for alerts. For Screen Crush, I'm Ryan Erie. I'm going to be. Thank you.