In episode 1 of Daredevil: Born Again Season 2, Matt infiltrated a barge called the Northern Star that was headed to Fisk’s Red Hook Freeport. To keep the cargo (weapons, explosives, and ammunition) from falling into the hands of the authorities, the captain and the first mate, Achilleo and Christofi, sank the barge and bailed. Since the half-sunken barge was stuck in the middle of the river, entry and exit from Red Hook was put on hold, thereby ruining Fisk’s business plans. So, he ramped up the search for Matt and Karen, and he ordered Buck to nab Achilleo and Christofi. Powell got a hold of Achilleo when he was hiding at Ariana’s restaurant, waiting to be smuggled to Toronto, and delivered him to Buck, who put a bullet in Achilleo’s head because he was a loose end. As for Christofi, he managed to avoid arrest and reach Ariana’s restaurant too, right after Matt had gotten in touch with Ariana and requested that she notify him as soon as either Achilleo or Christofi reached her doorstep. Now, since Cherry was looking for Achilleo and Christofi, the AVTF barged into his home and tortured him in order to get him to reveal why he was looking for the Northern Star’s captain and first mate. Cherry began going into cardiac arrest, which was when Matt showed up. However, Matt was unable to handle all those AVTF officers, and if it wasn’t for Bullseye’s timely intervention, the AVTF would have exposed his true identity to the public. Well, what happened after that? Let’s find out.
Spoiler Alert
Cherry Is Alive and Breathing
Episode 2 reveals that Cherry is alive, but maybe not very well, because he did suffer a cardiac arrest, and he is being wheeled to the ER of the nearest hospital. This might sound like a nitpick, but did anyone notice that the mask on Cherry’s face wasn’t connected to anything? My knowledge about medical measures comes from The Pitt, but I think that there should be a bag or an oxygen tank that the mask should be connected to. Or else what’s the point of putting it on your patient’s face? I don’t know. Maybe this is some kind of April Fool’s joke. Anyway, Matt watches Cherry being taken to the hospital from afar while running his hands over Benjamin’s knife to understand what he means by the message that he has etched onto it. Speaking of Benjamin, he shows up at the Clinton Church looking for Sister Maggie.
I am assuming it’s the Clinton Church because that’s where Maggie used to work; in case she has switched churches, then maybe my assumption is wrong. No, we don’t get a Sister Maggie cameo, because she has gone on a sabbatical. That said, why is Benjamin looking for her? Well, Benjamin knows that Matt is Daredevil. Hence, he is looking for his insurance in case Matt is unwilling to work with him on whatever mission he is on currently. If I have to take a guess, I’ll say that he intends to hurt both Fisk and Vanessa for manipulating him. What’s Fisk up to, by the way? He is practicing for some kind of an exhibition boxing match, because it’s not enough that he is the mayor of New York; he has to show that he is a strong man. And I’m pretty sure he has chosen boxing because the sport has a connection to Matt’s past. Fisk has to take a break from practice after Buck arrives to inform him about Matt, Cherry, Benjamin, and the dead AVTF officers, which sends him into a fit of fury, and he kills his trainer.
Fisk Flips the Script On Matt
At the mayor’s office, Buck can be seen suggesting that Fisk tell the people of his city that Matt is Daredevil. Fisk points out the issue with that: they can paint Daredevil as a villain of New York, but the same can’t be done to Matt, who is the hero who not only fights for the innocent but almost gave his life to save Fisk. If Fisk says that Matt is Daredevil, the public consensus can go either way; they might see Matt as a villain and demand the unmasking of every vigilante, or they might come to their senses and hail vigilantes as the heroes they need to keep the streets safe. Hence, he comes up with a third route by peddling the narrative that Matt is a victim of vigilante violence (because technically, he was shot by Bullseye, who is a vigilante now) and that the city needs to find him before he gets hurt, or worse, turns up dead. In doing so, Fisk maligns vigilantes more than they already have been, and he also makes it impossible for Matt to walk around the streets of New York, because if anybody recognizes him, his jig is up.
But how willing are the people of New York to gobble up whatever Fisk is selling? Well, according to the carefully curated BB Report, he has the people’s support. However, based on the random AVTF arrests, the rebel uprising, and the reactions to the individual who wears a Fisk mask and hypes vigilante justice (using footage that was only available to Fisk and his office), things aren’t looking good for Fisk or his brand of politics. Sheila thinks that Blake should keep Fisk updated regarding these issues, but Blake thinks they shouldn’t give it any more attention that it’s getting already, because it’s all irrelevant. The truth of the matter is that Blake doesn’t want to talk about this topic with Fisk, because the CCTV footage from the Northern Star was on his laptop, which means that somebody accessed his device and sent it to the Fisk-mask person. If Fisk learns about that, he’s not just going to fire Blake; he might kill the kid.
Matt And Karen Find Diapers In Astoria
At Josie’s, Matt and Karen have a discussion about everything that has unfolded so far. Karen wants Benjamin dead for killing Foggy, but it seems like Matt wants to know why he saved him from those AVTF officers. When he senses that Karen is a bit too adamant about Benjamin being 6 feet under, he switches the topic to the Fisk and the AVTF’s attack on Cherry. Matt says that they have to focus on proving that Fisk is moving guns through the city, and to do that, they have to find Christofi. Yeah, Matt seemingly knows that Achilleo is dead. So, one of them has to go to Ariana, and the other has to go to the port in Astoria, because maybe that’s used to smuggle undocumented immigrants out of the USA. Matt advises that they shouldn’t split up this time because Fisk has intensified the search for them, and Karen agrees that that’s a good idea, so they hit the streets.
However, when they learn about how Fisk has tasked the entire city with searching for him, they return to Josie’s and start brainstorming, because they have to come up with a way to navigate the city without getting caught by the AVTF or the general public. Well, when they do reach Astoria, we see that they are using the usual wig or hoodie method to disguise themselves; if it was that easy to hide in plain sight, then what was the point of panicking after seeing Fisk’s call-to-arms speech? I don’t know. What do they find in Astoria? Diapers. Matt surmises that that’s obviously a distraction, and it’s the only thing that’ll be shown in the headlines because it won’t set off any alarm bells in the minds of the public; in the meantime, they’ll smuggle the weapons and take them to Red Hook. Matt and Karen wait till nightfall, and his theory turns out to be true. Matt says that he needs to get into the port, because it’s the only way to shed some light on this scam that’s happening underneath everybody’s noses.
Powell Is Reunited With Cole
Due to the attack on the AVTF officers, which has proven that Benjamin is out there, Powell says that he has increased the security around Fisk and Vanessa. Powell also discusses what he intends to do to Cherry, Matt, and Daredevil, all of which is like music to Fisk’s ears. While exiting Fisk’s office, Powell runs into Cole. Cole was one of the AVTF officers who infiltrated Matt’s apartment in order to get ahold of Daredevil and Punisher, and he got severely injured when another AVTF officer set off a grenade in the apartment. I suppose Cole has learned nothing from that altercation, and he desperately wants to become a part of the AVTF again so that he can hunt down vigilantes. Powell is hesitant about accepting Cole’s candidacy, because he’s not in the best shape, but he appreciates Cole’s enthusiasm and bloodlust, so he welcomes him back into the task force. As per Powell’s plan, some of the AVTF officers reach Metro General to “check in” on Cherry, but since Cherry’s police friends are in there, they have no choice but to leave.
I think Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 is trying to make a distinction between the police and AVTF, which just goes to show how the writers desperately want to make an edgy, relevant political statement, but they don’t want to take things too far, because it might irk their viewer base and investors. Anyway, while exiting the hospital through the elevator, the AVTF officers are killed by Bullseye. When Powell arrives at the hospital, he sees that Cherry and all his friends are missing. So, he calls up Fisk and tries to understand which side Bullseye is batting for, and the truth of the matter is that Fisk has no idea. Hence, he changes the topic to Vanessa and her dinner party, and Powell assures him that there’ll be enough security to protect her from any kind of harm. In addition to that, we see Buck arming Vanessa with the finest guns in town (even though they know all that’ll be pretty useless against Poindexter).
BB Is the Fisk Impostor
Fisk confronts Blake about his impersonator, and he reprimands the kid for not unmasking the individual who’s responsible for leaking insider information to that impersonator. Blake assures Fisk that he is already doing his best to get to the bottom of this fiasco and he won’t stop until he puts an end to this impersonator. Fisk then brings Sheila into his office to address her role in Gallo’s death, while softly warning her that she’s going to meet the same fate as Gallo if she steps out of line. After that, Fisk has a chat with Vanessa about focusing so much on the Northern Star, having an heir (as per the comics, Vanessa and Fisk have a son named Richard), and expanding their empire. Speaking of Fisk’s “empire,” Angela’s aunt is arrested by the AVTF when she tries to stop the officer from going after a kid who was stealing from the local store. This prompts Angela to go to McDuffie and inform her about what has transpired. Angela also goes through Hector’s belongings and picks up his White Tiger suit and necklace.
This is some not-so-subtle foreshadowing for Angela becoming the next White Tiger and taking matters into her own hands, because the whole city is imploding due to Fisk’s fascist tendencies. Well, if that’s the case, Angela will be joining the likes of BB, who is revealed to be the one wearing the Fisk mask to slander the madman (whilst using data that she has extracted from Blake’s laptop). All this is happening while Heather is giving some wack lecture about mental health at Vanessa’s party, which is being scoped out from afar by Poindexter; yes, Vanessa can somehow sense Bullseye’s presence. When Vanessa goes home, she has a nightmare where she’s getting killed by Poindexter for manipulating him. The blue-rose-red-rose motif for Bullseye from the first season is continued here; I think the rose is blue in Vanessa’s nightmare, even though its actual color is red, thereby denoting what’s real and what’s not. Yes, it’s a Matrix reference (BB uses red pills and blue pills in her videos too, to tell her viewers that they can choose to live the nightmare spun by Vanessa and Fisk or re-enter reality).
Karen Kidnaps an AVTF Officer
During the closing moments of the episode, Angie interrupts Josie’s drinking session with Matt and Karen to tell her that Cherry is doing fine, and that the rebel resistance is going strong; the message is not just for Josie, it’s also aimed at Matt and Karen, because Angie knows that they are hiding in her bar. Yeah, so, in case anybody was confused if Bullseye had kidnapped Cherry, there’s your answer. This is followed by a sick juxtaposition of the conversations that are happening between Karen and Matt, and the one taking place between Fisk and Vanessa. I say “sick,” because the showrunners underscore how casually Fisk and Vanessa are talking about the future while destroying whatever aspirations Matt and Karen had about their future as a couple. The cross-cutting between the two discussions also shows that no amount of fascism and oppression will dim the light that exists within “Dastardly Dogooders” like Matt and Karen. With that said, Matt and Karen’s “happy hour” is interrupted by the AVTF.
The officers apprehend Josie and are about to put her in the van, but that’s when Matt arrives, fully suited up, and knocks out the officers so that Josie can make a run for safety. Then he goes back into the attic where he was staying with Karen and beats the hell out of the AVTF officers in there. There’s a pretty sweet moment where Matt holds the officers at gunpoint and makes them feel the fear that they exude when they point the barrel at innocent citizens; and once that’s done, he knocks the officers out (because Daredevil doesn’t kill). In the ending of episode 2, Matt reunites with Karen, who reveals that she has apprehended an AVTF officer and stowed him in what looks like Frank Castle’s old headquarters. Why? Because Karen is of the opinion that if the AVTF is hunting them down, they should return the favor and hunt them down as well. Is that really a good idea? Well, if it bears fruit, then yes. If it agitates Powell and the AVTF and makes them even more reckless than they already are, then Karen is going to regret making this move.
