Episode four of the first season of Marvel’s Daredevil is hugely important even if it seems like little really happens.
A few key events transpire though out the course of the episode and while I will do my best to remain spoiler free, I will allude to a number of different events that happen in this episode, so if you wish to not know anything about this episode before viewing then I suggest you go watch before reading.
For those of you who have either viewed the episode or do not care, here we go.
Until this point the only person hurt due to Matt Murdock’s actions have solely been himself.
This finally changes in this episode and it is because of this that “In the Blood” is a key turning point in the first season. This episode shows Matt that his actions no longer merely just affect him, but now can hurt those close to him. I won’t tell you how this is happens and how this is resolved, but I will say the scene gave me goosebumps. For the the first time this season that we see that Daredevil has finally become the menacing and terrifying individual that the criminals fear. It’s always fun seeing the bad guys cower and sweat. The scene is well done, but I can’t help but make a comparison to the Arkham scene in Batman Begins where Batman picks off Crane’s men one at a time. Both scenes are very similar in both style and execution, but both are also equally effectively establishing the fact that our hero truly is badass.
The second reason why this episode is important to the first season is because it finally begins to flesh out Fisk. Before, Fisk was a man in the shadows. The man in which you never spoke his name. Now he is out in the open, going on dates and establishing a little bit of his back ground and connection to New York and Hell’s Kitchen. We are also shown why he is a man to be respected and feared (I had no idea you could do that with a car door). D’Nofrio plays Fisk a bit differently then expected. He’s not the cold hearted individual I am accustomed to. There is something deeply off with him, more then just megalomania. I wonder if they’ll ever truly give us a glimpse into what caused him to become such a sorrowful and extremely violent individual. We shall see.
Finally, this episode further develops the budding relationship between Urich and Karen as they dig deeper into her former employer and the mounting coverups that I am certain will lead to Fisk. Truly lovely stuff.
All in a all, “In the Blood” is vastly important to the first season by finally showing us that there is no action without reaction and no matter how bad you think you are, there is always someone far worse waiting to step into the ring and show you who is boss. Fisk definitely is that man and I can’t wait to see what hell he brings to New York City, though I doubt it will be nearly as devastating as Loni and the Chitauri, but who knows with Marvel.
Next from Dupe, “World on Fire”.