ScreenCrush: The Podcast! - Daredevil: Born Again Episodes 5 + 6 BREAKDOWN - Marvel Easter Eggs You Missed!

Episode Date: March 26, 2025

Daredevil episodes 5 and 6 finally bring Martt Murdock back into the red, as he takes down the serial killer Muse. We also got teases of the Young Avengers/Champions, with Kamala Khn, Cassie Lang, the new White Tiger, and Kate Bishop being teased as well.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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Love thrillers with a paranormal twist? The entire Oracle trilogy is available on Audible. Listen now on Audible. Exactly what kind of a lawyer are you? Hey, a really good one. 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 Daredevil, Born Again,

Episodes 5 and 6. Now, if you've only seen episode 5, don't worry. We're going to be spoiler-free for the first half of this video, and then you can come back and watch the episode 6 section later on. Chapters are marked below. Now, before we get really, rolling, don't forget that you can listen to Screencrush on all of your favorite podcast platforms. We are liquidating a lot of our old stuff, plus we have Daredevil parody merch and this new

The Thing shirt in the style of John Carpenter's The Thing. Links are below. Now, like past episodes, we begin with shots of the streets of New York, but this time celebrating Irish culture to celebrate St. Patty's Day. We even see the St. Patty's Day parade, which causes the traffic problems that Detective Kim mentions later in the episode. Side note, after they reshuffled and refilmed much of the series' first four episodes, there was some speculation that Episode one was actually now mostly reshoots, which would mean that this episode was originally meant to stream the day after St. Patrick's Day. So this episode was one of my favorites of the seasons so far,

because it's just a classic self-contained episode of television. It's also a bottle episode, referring to an episode of TV that takes place in one location, usually to save money. Tell your disappointment to suck it. I'm doing a bottle episode. In this case, it uses a classic format, The Bank Robbery. Now, they had a lot of fun taking the structure of great films like Dog Day Afternoon, but asking, how would Matt Murdoch handle this if he were in this situation?

Eidaca! The episode starts with him using his senses to sweep the bank, and we get small moments with the hostages to kind of humanize them. Come on, at St. Patrick's Day. What do you mean? You don't want to come up for drinks with us? Watch the game? Rangers took the house to the woodshed last night. One of the few connections to the ongoing story is Matt still fidgeting with his broken Daredevil horn,

setting up how this episode proves that the city still needs Daredevil to protect the people. And then Yusef Khan is revealed to be the assistant bank manager. Now, in case you didn't know, he is the father of Kamala Khan, aka Ms. Marvel. Oh, I didn't know that. You didn't? Well, luckily, he brings her up just a few times in this episode. My daughter, Kamala. Crack it open like it's a piggy bank I gave Kamala. And my daughter.

Ah, the famous Kamala. Yes. And notice how he has a mug that reads World's Okaest Dad, which is definitely the kind of mug that Kamala would buy for him. Kamala, who's that? Oh, that's his daughter, Kamala Khan. She's Ms. Marvel. All right. So I like this detail that he makes noise with the candy.

So Matt knows where to reach for it. And of course, this sets up that Matt knows exactly where to hide the gemstone later in the episode. Now, while Yusef is talking about his daughter, Kamala, he says... She's in California visiting some friends there. Now, I love this tiny detail. He could be talking about her visiting Bruno, who went to Caltech. But notice, he says, friends in California. So remember, the last time we saw Kamala, she was actually recruiting Kate Bishop and said,

Did you know Amin had a daughter? So it makes sense that while she was in the Golden State, maybe she and Kate swung up to San Francisco to meet Cassie Lang to ask her to join the Young Avengers. Yousef even shows off the custom Ms. Marvel Funko Pop, and I bet you that superfan Kamala Khan made that specifically for her dad. So Matt is having trouble getting a bank loan, which is kind of a superhero tradition. We saw it with Peter Parker. You do not have the assets to justify this loan.

The Falcon. I know your family has banked with us for generations, but we cannot approve you. And of course, the Human Torch. The Human Torch is denied a bank loan. But when he describes his law office, he says, We serve a vital function in a city that desperately needs us. And our co-writer Ethan Ink pointed out that in the past, this is exactly how he would have described his identity as Daredevil.

And to underscore this, we hear the theme in the background after he compares their fight to David and Goliath. So yeah, we may be over leverage for now. And it's telling that Matt chose a biblical reference to frame himself here, because, after After David defeated Goliath, he became King of Judea. And in the comics, there was a point where Matt Murdoch defeated the kingpin and then declared that he would be the new kingpin of crime in the city. Now, we've talked about how the opening sequence is representative of how everything breaking apart and reforming as Daredevil symbolizes how each of these things is a piece of Matt. The theme playing as Matt talks about being a defense attorney demonstrates that even without Daredevil, defending the innocent is always what he'll do, just like we see in this episode. It's interesting how Matt's relationship with his Daredevil identity also

keeps filtering into his speech in different ways. Then the episode's plot kicks into gear. The Irish mob is robbing the bank to steal one single rink. And Devlin says, Not fat bastards off Luke his bike. So the gang stuff in this show gets a little confusing, so let me run through it for you. Wilson Fiske was the kingpin of crime

until, in the show, Hawkeye, his protege Maya shot him in the head. His recovery was very long and he was temporarily blinded. Then he went to Oklahoma to find Maya. And Vanessa took over his business, you know, because she had to. When Wilson returned, he seemed to have no interest and running the mob. Except he wanted to leave this one part of New York redhook off limits. This is because he wants to renovate it with huge new buildings. But then the Irish

muscled in on another mob. So Wilson told Vanessa to leave it alone and let them fight it out. But instead she insisted that the leader of the Irish, Luca, pay Vincent restitution of 1.8 million. But she let them think that this was coming from Wilson. I don't work for the man. I work for the man. Outside, Matt hears the bank robbery and tells Kirsta to call 911, but he doesn't actually say why. And when he re-enters, he listens to everyone's heartbeats. And notice how the woman in the blue jacket has a steady heartbeat. So this let Matt know immediately that she was in on the bank job.

So they call Matt a solicitor, which is what lawyers are called in the UK and Ireland. Now, you probably notice that this episode also had a similar structure to the movie Die Hard. The robbers show up, they take hostages, they break into a vault, while a lone hero hiding a secret picks them off one at a time. And just like in Die Hard, we also follow the copy. on the outside. This is Detective Angie Kim, who is Cherry's partner who we met in the first episode at Josie's bar. Just like in Dog Day afternoon, the robbers offered to release a few hostages as a show of good faith. Now, last week, the episode was all about showing us how the system is broken and doesn't serve ordinary people. And in this episode, we see that the cops are largely powerless.

Angie says, And the half of force is faced down the pool of Guinness by now. And the traffic caused by St. Patty's Day has clogged the streets. So, in a way, both Fisk and Daredevil are offering a way to cut through this inefficient system. Daredevil with vigilante justice and Fisk by demanding the road workers fix this hole. She calls him Jesse James, the famous outlaw who was killed by Robert Ford as dramatized here. Sorry, that was Boo Boo Killing Yogi Bear. Devlin says that he doesn't like the way lawyers twist the truth and he doesn't even know how

right he is. Matt is somebody who is constantly telling lies because he's hiding his double identity. He says he doesn't know which part of Ireland his people are from because he grew up an orphanage. Not 100% true though, since he wasn't orphaned until he was around 10 years old. And then they call him, a regular we Charles Dickens character, aren't you? A not to Dickens novel Oliver Twist. And there's another Dickens Easter egg here with this hostage, that's your mom. So I should also note that this episode is a classic superhero conundrum. The hero is trapped and has to reveal their secret identity to help out others, just like in Spider-Man 2 when Peter needed a distraction to change into Spider-Man.

Peter? Don't plead me. One of the hostages, Johnny Santini, mentions that there are only safety deposit boxes in the vault, saying, I got a 1994 Mark Messier signed puck. Now, Messier is hockey royalty in New York because, in the 1994 Stanley Cup, he not only promised the people of New York a championship, but he scored a hat trick in Game 6 to push them to a Game 7 victory. And earlier, Matt actually heard this guy talking about his Rangers.

Watched the game? Rangers took the house to Woodshed last night. So when Matt goes to the loo, we get our first fight at a lot. a long time. The fight starts when he collapses his cane. Now, in the comics, Daredevil's cane actually detaches to create his billy clubs, but here, it just disappears into hammer space until he and Yusef reenter the bank. Instead, Matt takes off his tie, symbolically saying that he is ditching his lawyer persona, and then he lifts it over his head, grabs the guy by the lapel, and uses the outstretched tie to knock away the gun. And this is where the score

stops, and all the sounds in the scene are now diagetic to place us in the moment. magically unpopps from shot to shot. Matt rests his foot on the gun to keep it from falling and discharging, and then he loops the tie around his neck to choke this guy out. The thug then pulls a knife to create distance between him and Matt. Now Matt needs to be in control of the other guy's movements to win the fight, so he spins him around, crashing his head onto the banister to disorient him, and then rolls him down the stairs so he can end up on top. Now there's a bit of a cheat cut here where suddenly they're both standing. Thought we wouldn't notice, but we did. He uses the knife to cut Matt's tie, and I love this. detail that Matt puts his foot on the stairs for leverage. Like the most

realistic part of this fight is that most fights are won just by staying on top. So the key here is for Matt to not get knocked down. It's the same fighting spirit that made his dad a competitive boxer. You never got knocked out my dad. I'm knocked down sure but he always got pick up. After trading punches Matt chokes him out and as he hears the gun teeter rolls their bodies using his momentum to tighten the choke hold and then catches the gun so it doesn't discharge and alert the others, bringing the fight full circle. Now, like I was saying, I...

Doug, what are all these boxes doing up here? Oh, that's all of our old merch. We ran out of room in the basement, so now it's got to be up here. Okay, well, we have a basement. I didn't know that. And also, we can't make videos with all of this stuff in the way. All right, then? Let's set it on fire. Uh, no, but I got an idea. Let's have a fire sale.

Guys, we have to get rid of all of our old designs in our merch store. So, for a limited time, we are selling these. items and then they will be gone forever. So this is the last chance to buy the top five, the hello there, the who I'm about to make a name for myself, and many, many more. We are also slashing prices on these shirts and merch. So smash the link below to get your discount today. And we have lots of fun Daredevil parody merch that's on sale right now. We have the no fear hallway fight. The Fisk will fix it shirt and yard sign. The Battle of New York newspaper, recreation of the New York bulletin cover from the original series. And of course the classic Nelson and Murdoch Tees. Shopping our merch store is the best way to directly support our channel. You can find find links for all of these sales down below. After reuniting with Yousef, he pulls off a decent Irish accent. I needed the bank manager to be sufficiently motivated to open the vault. And that made me smile because Charlie Cox's big break was playing an Irish enforcer named Owen Slater or boardwalk empire. Someone's going out of business. Now Matt uses his powers to open the vault. Just like we've seen throughout this season, he's getting more and more careless about

showing his powers in public. This is because I think he is desperate to embrace his daredevil identity. It's a compulsion and he just can't help himself. Now, as Matt picks the lock, I love the cutaways to the tumblers inside, similar to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer Stone when we see the intricate locks at Greengott's Vault. And look, this has to be one of the all-time clumsiest lines of dialogue I have ever heard. You can't just crack it open like it's a piggy bank I gave Kamala to instill another value of saving. What's so bad about that? It reminds me of a movie that I gave my friend Randolph to teach him about the value of friendship. Because people don't talk like that.

But I'm not people. I'm a little dog. But then, Yussef says, We just try to impart what we know to the next generation. And that really was the lesson that Youssef and Meneba learned in Ms. Marvel. They couldn't control Kamala, but they could help to guide her career as a superhero. And after cracking the safe, he asked, Exactly what kind of a lawyer are you? And his reply, Hey, a really good one.

Is a call back to when he showed Peter Parker his powers and no way home. How did you just do that? I'm a really good lawyer. When Devlin talks to Angie, he says, But you don't seem to know Jack Shite about the significance of St. Patty's Day for a Protestant. What does that mean? Well, look, I don't want to get too deep into this topic because I am not an authority on the troubles. That's the long period of violence between Ireland and Northern Ireland throughout the 60s to the 90s.

Now, during this time, St. Patrick's Day celebrations were largely held by Catholics, leading to the tragic 1976 Hillcrest bar bombing on St. Paddy's Day. So when Devlin says that St. Patrick's Day means nothing to him, that's what he's referring to. But when Angie hears that he's a Protestant, she uses this knowledge to tell an off-color joke at the expense of Catholics. Ah, blimey, he says, I just f*** a penguin. And downstairs, Matt says, I never knew my mother until much later in life. He's referring to his mother, the nun named Maggie,

who we met in season three of the original show. Now, just before Youssef opens the correct box, he says, Inshallah. Now, this is an Arabic term for the Isha, the fifth and final Islamic prayer of the day. In other words, he's saying, This is our last chance. Similar to when Kamala started her driving test by saying,

which is always said before, reciting a daily prayer. daughter Kamala? Yes, that's her. And when they found the gym, did you notice this cartoon glimmer sound effect? It's very much the kind of stylistic flourish that we would have gotten in a show like Ms. Marvel. So it didn't feel too out of place in a grounded show like Born Again. After a brief standoff, the cops storm in, which, like they said at the start of the heist, was always the plan. Devlin was always going to sacrifice his men and dress in the blues to stroll outside. And we've seen this kind of bait and switch in movies before, like in the movie

quick change where the robbers pretended to be hostages. And this is when we find out that one of the hostages was an accomplice, which is why she tried to stoke fear earlier in the episode. I don't think the manager's here. Please don't shoot us. Matt tracks down Devlin and has a hard time taking him down. So I think we're going to see a few episodes where Matt is not in the best shape, just like in the comics when Elektra had to retrain him after he stopped being Daredevil for a while. In the fight, Devlin keeps throwing Matt against the railing to back him into a corner, which also prevents Matt from using his acrobatics. But Matt takes after his old man in a fight, and Badlin Jack Murdoch was never more dangerous than when he was backed into a corner and had nothing to lose.

Now, the high point of this fight was Matt breaking a bottle with this guy's face, which should have made him bleed like a stuck pig, by the way, and then he pulls off a finisher by forcing his leg to bend the wrong way. Afterwards, Matt checks back in on Yousef, who invites him to a family dinner. Now, that is a season-ending cookout with a young Avenger that I want to see. Ewe! He offers to serve fresh parathas, which we saw Aisha, eat and flashbacks in Ms. Marvel episode 5.

So, let's move on to what you're all been waiting for, episode 6. This is when Daredevil finally, finally returns, because Matt Murdoch just couldn't be bothered reading the comments anymore. The BB on the street interview opens with the graffiti artist who talks about misconceptions around their art. So this is all building up to the villain Muse, who is portraying a very anti-capitalist message like the artist Banksy, but uses the literal blood of the city to spread his message.

Muse sees himself as a vigilante like Daredevil, which is why his artwork celebrates vigilantes in the show and in the comics. So in this opening, we also see footage of a new vigilante called The Swordsman. So this is like a poor man's introduction to an actual superhero from the comics, The Swordsman, aka Jacques Duquesne. Now, we first saw this character in the show Hawkeye as Eleanor Bishop's boyfriend, where Tony Dalton used some of his character's skills. Now, I'll talk about his cameo a little bit later in the video,

but for now, it's just fun to see that he's actually putting on a mask and doing silly sword stuff around the city. We also hear... Keep doing the good work because our cops here, uh, they don't really do much, so. And I'll be honest, these BB interviews are kind of starting to annoy me. They're shortcuts for the writers to tell us how people feel, instead of like using character stories to show us things, like, you know, how the cops don't do much to help ordinary people.

And it's a shame because the entire show hinges on this concept. When the cops don't do anything to help ordinary people, vigilantes have to step up. But there's a fine line between vigilantes helping out and mob rule. Now, the movie Joker explored this connection between vigilantism and the mob role in its third act, and I really hope that Born Again is able to give us a little bit of a deeper analysis than a few man-on-the-street interviews. Then a sanitation worker finds Mews' victim that we saw him carrying onto the train line last episode. He is wrapped in a canvas, a way for Mews to say that he views his victims as artwork, and he carves out their eyes to make it seem like they're crying blood, just like on his mask.

And this is a reference to how Mews blinds Daredevil's Sidekick, Blind Spot, and the comics. But also, in the context of the show, Mews could be making a commentary on the state of the city. The citizens are blind to the truth about Fisk, and Fisk is blind to the suffering of ordinary people. So Mews' murals have mostly been in the background this season, but now they're getting larger and larger to taunt Fisk. In the comics, after Fisk forms his anti-vigilante task force, Muse paints an enormous mural of Daredevil reading, I am not a crook directly across from the mayor's office.

Now, Mews doesn't know this, but Fisk already has this ironic association, with art. He met Vanessa when he bought the painting, Rabbit and a Snowstorm. The white palette made him feel clean, like how he was trying to remake the city into something clean. We even see this in his model for Red Hook. It's all white buildings that to him embodies this clean look he wants to give the city. But in season three, the painting is tainted red with his blood. Just as Fisk is building his new city through the blood of his victims. In the comics, Muse believes that his victims are giving their lives for a greater calling to be a part of his art, and that this artwork is now immortalizing them. So it's appropriate that the blood actually does make his art immortal and impossible

to clean off the walls. So Muse, like Fisk, is an artist who uses blood to create his art. One works with paint, the other with buildings. Now Johnny Santini, the hostage from last episode, leads the cleanup crew working on the giant mural. It shows Fisk kissing the ass of the Wall Street blue, which is made up of a dollar bill. Now, the Wall Street bull is a famous statue near Wall Street, often held up as a symbol of a bull market, you know, when the stock market is thriving. However, the statue, like Muse's art, was actually created as a protest and initially was placed illegally before they moved it over to Bowling Green. Fisk kissing its ass represents how he's a shill to the wealthy of the city. And indeed, later this episode, we see him kissing the asses of New York's wealthy elites. But the crown

above him, unlike Fisk, is also a part of this dollar bill and includes a question mark. This is showing that Fisk wants to be king of the city, but he's not part of their elite club. And coincidentally, the sun symbol that Maya wears on her jacket is behind the bull, perhaps hinting that something else Fisk wanted but lost, the love of his protege, Maya, from the show Echo. Meanwhile, Matt recites a prayer. Do thou make us? Why is in a session steadfast in the pursuit of justice? So this prayer is called the litany of St. Ives, who was the patron saint of lawyers. He was an advocate of the poor and a protector of widows and orphans,

and the prayer is calling for St. Ives to protect people. In this instance, I think this is Matt asking for the strength to help. to help his city as a lawyer and not as a vigilante. He's trying to honor Foggy's memory by not putting on that mask again. But then he says... Lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit. A common ending to a Catholic prayer as he remembers all of the recent acts of violence that he has committed. Now you can take this to mean that his time as simply a solicitor is ending and his time as Daredevil is about to begin.

As he prays, he remembers the last time he saw Foggy, the faces of the innocent hostages at the bank who were also praying. And he also remembers two other symbols of recent injustice. Hector, who was punished for doing good, and Fisk, who is rewarded for doing evil. This is all building up to his final decision to put on the mask at the end of the episode. And when Heather is surprised to hear that he prays, he says, Yeah, I've stopped a few times over the years, but I'm coming back to it. And this also reads as a metaphor for him being daredevil. It's a part of him that he always returns to to feel better about the world around him.

Now, at the mayor's office, Fisk gets a visit from Luca, who sent his men to steal the gym in episode five. Now, he is not a leftover member of the track suit mafia, like I said a few episodes ago. I just think he's a guy who likes cozy leisure wear. So this opening, like the ending of the episode, intercuts between Fisk and Matt, as each of them have to walk a delicate balance between their two lives. For Fisk, he has to appear as the legit mayor while ordering around a mobster. But for Matt, he's trying to hide his abilities from Heather. I know I was going to be okay.

I can't really explain it just like... Faith. Something like that. But then she starts to press Matt for help with her new book. Vigilantes, why we revere the mask. You know that she talked about at her book signing a few episodes ago. Both Fisk and Matt are getting pushed to reveal their true selves. But Fisk responds with strength, demanding more money for himself

while placing the mayor's pen on Luca, a way of symbolically branding him as his own property. While Heather is challenging Matt to think about why he chooses to wear a mask. Does a mask allow us to be our true selves, or does it strip away our identity and allow us to act like animals? So this is the question that has always bothered Matt. Is Daredevil a burden for him or is it a release? Now, Kingpin is also wearing a mask, pretending to be a legit politician.

And he really wants to take that mask off while Matt secretly wants to put his mask back on. And Bluka and Heather both want to use Wilson and Matt for financial gain. Heather wants to use Matt's connection of vigilantes for her book. She mentions Frank Castle, who Matt represented in season two. And then she says, How about Daredevil? You've worked to them, right? Remember, as far as the rest of the world knows, Nelson and Murdoch did work with Daredevil to bring down Kingpin in season one.

And also remember, he argued a case against Sheehawk in episode 8 of that show. So he's got a few known connections to vigilantes. So this opening establishes that both Matt and Wilson Fisk are projecting successful personas, but their inner selves, their ids, are suffering to continue this false identity. So in this episode, we see that Wilson is trying to live two lives, and neither of them are working out for him very well. This also happens to him when he becomes mayor in the comics. Without a kingpin to control the mobs, they descend into a gang war.

While the wealthy power brokers of the city never do accept Wilson as one of their own, as we'll see later on this episode. And then we see a larger version of the Fisk mural that we saw in episode one that depicted two Wilson Fisks, the mayor and the kingpin. Note how their colors are inverted, with each of them displaying the dollar bill that Muse uses for a symbol of government finance and the law, showing how the system only exists to help the rich get richer or to help the mobs get more power. And then, Mr. Santini reveals that.

like in the comics, Mews is making murals from human blood, making them impossible to wash clean. I think there's also an element here of Macbeth in all of this. See, after her pursuit of power leads to bloodshed, Lady Macbeth says, Here's the smell of the blood still. All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little heaven. And in the same way, Mews is saying that the crimes of the kingpin cannot be washed away. There is too much blood on his hands. Back at Matt's law office, he too is dealing with spilled blood that can't be washed away.

death of Hector Ialla. His niece Angela shows up wanting to carry on her uncle's legacy. This is what he would have wanted. Someone finishing his work. Now in the comics, she does continue this legacy wearing the magical amulet and becoming the white tiger. Maybe the inclusion of Yousef Khan last episode is hinting that she could become a superhero and part of the Young Avengers. She's looking for someone to finish her uncle's work and she condemns Matt for... Here to help the little guy, right? Only on your terms. In other words, he's not willing to do everything to help.

He's not willing to become Daredevil. And notice how here we catch just a little bit of the Daredevil light motif in the background. What do you want me to do about it? Because when Angela says this, the music is reflecting that Matt is thinking about becoming Daredevil once again. Matt does admit,

Therapy talk, was I doing that? Straight up, and I hate that shit. Sure, I hate it too. Which is probably because he still feels uncomfortable about the talk he had with his therapist, girlfriend that morning. Vigilantes. You've represented a few. How about a daredevil? You've worked with them, right? Then we get a look at more Muse murals. Now, I'm not going to explain the ones that we've seen in previous episodes. Just go back and watch our old breakdowns if you

haven't seen them already. But this one shows the skyline of New York created from the outline of a stock market graph, with the symbolism being that the city is shaped and ruled by financial interests. But in the center, we see the Statue of Liberty, painted white, and holding a gun. And as we'll see later, this is Musa's self-portrait. He is saying the corruption of the city shaped him, but he's willing to fight against it. And the text, Upward Mobility is ironic. Upward mobility is usually a term that represents job advancement or a good economic state. But notice that the first part of mobility is in black to spell out mob, which calls out Fisk for receiving this job advancement through his ties to his crime boss days. After learning there is a serial killer in the city, Fisk decides to keep it quiet, which actually leads to the death of Mew's next two victims, these two superfans. this scene is a reference to the comics, but in the comics, the women ask for a selfie. Mews grants their request, but then leaves them alone. Now, as the people suffer, Fisk is preparing to entertain the 1%. He puts on his cufflinks, which must make him think of his father and how his father had

his own failed political ambitions. In fact, I think half the reason he became mayor was to show up his old man who lost a raise for public office in the 70s. Now, for Fisk and Vanessa, this is like old times. He was holding a fundraiser for Public Works in season one when Vanessa was poisoned. And this is actually where the two of them start to re-bond together. He tells her that he understands what the wealthy actually want, not influence, but vanity.

In other words, they just want Fisk to kowt to them to show that he is actually beneath them. Now, this is adapted from the comics by Charles Sol when Fisk came to court the favor of a family called the Stormwinds. They were rich political operatives who basically run the country. Instead, though, they look down on Fisk for losing his temper and murdering one of their inner circle. And overall, they just treat him like a child and not a legitimate threat. And then we get the return of Tony Dalton's Jacques Duques Ducane in an ultimately pointless cameo. But notice he is wearing an ascot. And remember back in season one, Vanessa talked about an ex-boyfriend she had.

Tall man in a white suit and ascot. An ascot? That's a bit much. So maybe the swordsman, like Adam, has a lot in common with Fisk. Now, he warns Fisk. One phone call to the right person and, well, by by Gracie Mansion. That's a threat. No. It's a warning.

but is he talking as a wealthy elitist or is his alter ego the vigilante of the swordsman by the way i really hope we see more of the swordsman after this and the comics it gets super weird he marries mantis so she can give birth to like the the space jesus it's really really weird and i love tony dalton and i hope he's in this universe a lot more and after this woman dresses him down but the people in this room still decide who gets to eat i suggest you don't have sign of that she follows up with an even bigger insult tell your wife the flowers are exquisite tonight, if you would. Now, Vanessa is already a better mobster than Wilson, and now she's also moving around in high society better than him. Afterwards, his jacket riffs, literally showing us that

he is not a good fit for this kind of world. And then we see Mewes' new mural. Now, we see the dollar bill and flames repeated again, which represent the two sides of Fisk, the mayor and the mobster. But now, they're inverted from one another. Now, to accentuate this, the two victims' wardrobes are also inverted colors, one wearing a white jacket over dark, the other wearing a dark jacket over white. And Muse frames himself as the hero vigilante. He is the Statue of Liberty in the center with the eyes running down into the red chest. And the statue is also holding open handcuffs because Muse sees himself as a liberator. And the other hand is holding a torch that actually looks like a microphone because he sees himself as sending a message to the people. Also notice how

this is all overlaid by Wilson's reflection, as if he is seen himself reflected in Muse's work. But the message is lost on fist and he only sees a way to use this to create his own private vigilante task force. Now, Fisk knows a thing or two about how to curry favor from police officers. Half the force was on his payroll in episode one. But now he's able to use his skills as a politician. He finds a group of men who feel disaffected by the system, men who feel like they are suddenly out of power. So he is empowering them with this total fascist authority. Now, when he shows their file to gallo, he says, officers have a subculture amongst them. People like to use the word gang. I prefer motivated individuals. And that subculture is likely the

Punisher fanboys. We've seen officers with Punisher tattoos, and a crooked cop probably killed Hector at the end of episode 3. Now, the files we see are Officer Powell, who accidentally ran it to Matt's fist in episode 2. There's also Jared Polis, who must be named after the governor of Colorado, who happens to be a huge geek and a Marvel fan, even making appearances at Comic-Con. And finally, there's Cole North, who is a key part of this story in the comics. Just like in the show, he was a Chicago cop who transferred to the NYPD. His first case was hunting down Daredevil after he accidentally killed someone. Now North came to New York with a hatred for vigilante. So while other cops revered Daredevil, he actually captured him. But

after Daredevil escaped, North was assigned to hunt down Spider-Man. And eventually he does become an ally of Daredevil's against Fisk. And I just got to shout out. After Fisk tells Gallo he will personally oversee the task force, look at this subtle twitch DeNafrio gives. Like you're not sure if he's containing rage or joy at this moment. Brilliant piece of acting. So when he meets with his new task force, Wilson follows the action. that he told Vanessa earlier. He knows what the men want and he gives it to them. You are New York's finest. The city is yours. And you're not going to let some mask criminals take it away from you. And this touches on another reason they fanboy over

the Punisher. He doesn't wear a mask. In fact, the vests may already have the Punisher logo painted on them. Then we go to the train tunnel. Notice the steam vent above to give the indication that Angela is venturing into hell. She walks past this Punisher graffiti. And then we come to Matt who is researching the tunnel because he just can't let this go. After Soledad calls, Matt tries to do the right thing and call the cops. But he's been in this situation before. He only ever put on the mask to begin with after the police failed to stop a child molester who lived in his building. And when she asked him to do something, we hear the light motif from the old show.

So on that, it's okay. Just stay where you are. But when he suits up, we get the new theme by the Newton brothers, which points to a new era of Daredevil as he is born again. So he leaves the horn on Foggy's memory card like he's apologizing to his friend, or like he's making him a promise to always serve the will of justice. And then we get a sequence straight out of the comics with Matt swinging by and running across rooftops. Now, the CGI is a little uncanny valley, but it's good to be back. Now, Muse takes Angela and notice how his costume is canvas stapled together

because he considers himself a literal work of art. In his layer, he has victims hanging from meat hooks, just like he does in the comics. And this entire final fight is intercut with Wilson confronting Adam. Just like in episode 4, Wilson stands at the top of the stairs, like he's descending from heaven into hell. He tells Adam... A simple tool, it can be a great equalizer. And the tool he's probably referring to is the hammer that he used to murder his dad.

He tosses Adam the axe to give him a fighting chance, but there's a lot to unpack here. Now, one, this is straight from the comics. Kingpin is always fighting a lot of dudes all at once to prove how strong he is. But also, by giving Adam the hatchet, he knows exactly how Adam will attack him with wide, violent swings, and this makes it easier for Kingpin to counter him later in the fight. So, let's break down these fights. Now, they are intercut together as Wilson and Matt are using similar fighting moves.

This is highlighting how these characters really are mirror images of each other. They both grew up in Hell's Kitchen, they were raised by violent fathers, and they both work outside of the law to make the city a better place. Their dichotomy was also showed in Muses' artwork, The flames of the Daredevil and the Dollar Bill of Fisk are always mirror opposites of one another. Now, Matt begins the fight by using his grappling hook to whip himself forward to hit Mews, which frankly should have knocked him out right away, but he comes up punching. Now, Matt continuously tunes in to Angela's heartbeat.

Just like in the season opening fight against Bullseye, where Matt stayed focused on Foggy's heartbeat, Matt is staying focused on Angela so he can focus on saving her life. Wilson dodges the axe as Matt dodges the knife, and then they trade blows and grapple. Now, Fisk's hands are twitching, but moments like this are why his hands are always twitching. When he's in the mayor world and is told he can't do something, his hands twitch, because this is what he actually wants to be doing, committing violence, channeling his rage into hurting others.

Now, I love the intercutting here between their headbutts, underscoring the theme of this episode. The fight lets Matt and Wilson rip away their masks and show their true selves. Matt is Daredevil and Wilson is the kingpin. Matt takes Mews's legs out from under him, and the camera shows Mews and on the ground, like how Kingpin was introduced in episode one. But then the camera rotates with him, making his movement seem almost alien and otherworldly. Now, in the comics, Mews does have supernatural powers. And this kind of movement also makes us feel uneasy, like Mews is a supernatural force that can't be stopped.

Matt easily dodges his next blow, but the momentum lets Mews kick him away, and then we see Mews' true motivation. He doesn't want to escape, he wants to make sure that Angela dies. Because, remember, Mews sees her death as a work of art unto its sense. That's messed up. Yes, it is. Now, my favorite part of this fight is when he keeps punching Matt, but he just takes every hit, just like his old man who wasn't the best fighter, but he knew how to take a punch. Matt lets out this primal scream, just like after his fight in episode two.

Now, remember, Matt opened the original series talking about his family's reputation. She used to say, be careful of the Murdoch boys, they got the devil in. And here, like Fisk, he's finally able to let the devil out. They both pick up their opponents and toss them down, but Fisk throws Adam onto the dinner table like he's about to carve him up for a meal. And then he yells... Mize! Then he yells his own primal scream. Which is just perfect.

Vincent Dinoffrio famously described Wilson Fisk in two words, Monster and Child. And here we see how he really views Vanessa as a toy, an object that only he gets to play with. So they both toss their opponents against the wall as Mews tries to run, and Matt blocks off his escape with his billy club. And then he hangs him with the cable. Just like in his fight with Bullseye, he hears the victim's heartbeat get fainter.

And now he has a choice. choice. He could kill Mews and save countless lives, or he could let him go and save one life. Angela. It's similar to his fight with Bullseye, but this time Matt chooses life. Then Matt performs CPR on Angela like he's trying to perform a miracle and breathe life back into her. Now that established St. Ives as a judge in the midst of his brethren making him a friend and advocate of the poor. And then we hear his prayer from earlier to St. Ives, the patron saint of attorneys as he

pleads for justice. Now, this is intercut with Fisk, performing his own kind of justice, imprisoning Adam. But Fisk's idea of justice is a perversion of this idea because it's actually vengeance. And that is what separates Matt from people like the Punisher or the crooked cops on the task force. They are all out for revenge for themselves, while Matt is trying to bring justice to the poor and downtrodden. He brings Angela back, and I just, I want to note that if this were the comics, he probably would have brought her back with the amulet and this whole thing would be her origin story as the new white tiger. Next time, baby.

Fisk ends the episode in a jail cell, bathed in light as a choir plays. So I love this dichotomy. On the one hand, he is in a prison cell, and he should feel trapped. Earlier in the episode, the wealthy elites made him feel like that he didn't belong with them. But in this tiny room, he knows he belongs. He knows who he is, and he likes it. Now, Muse gets away, maybe hinting that he does have powers like in the comics. And then Matt tells Angela and the world. The devil is back in the kitchen. Well, guys, big shout out to Ethan Ink, who co-wrote this video with me.

You can find his social links below. And we want to know what you think on our free-to-join Discord server. And if it's your first time here, please subscribe, smash that bell for alerts. For Screen Crush, I'm Ryan Erie.