Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 Episode 6 Review – Requiem

This article contains spoilers for Daredevil: Born Again season two, episode six.

Every Daredevil story has the same fundamental moral. It doesn’t matter if we’re talking Charlie Cox or Ben Affleck, a goofy Silver Age story or a gritty Frank Miller tale. The lesson of every Daredevil tale is just that no one should ever, ever get involved with Matt Murdock. Yes, Matt’s charming and passionate and committed to doing the right thing. But he will always make the worst decision at the most inopportune time, and though he me be wracked with guilt as he does it, he’ll do it all the way.

Although the title “Requiem” suggests that we’re still in a period of mourning for Vanessa Fisk, much of the latest Daredevil: Born Again episode deals with people making destructive decisions. Mr. Charles makes his move, Daniel confronts BB, Powell kills a subordinate, and Heather tries to strangle Buck. And yet, none of these actions are as explosive as Matt’s attempt to forge a truce with Wilson.

Written by Devon Kliger & Jesse Wigutow and directed by Angela Barnes, “Requiem” picks up right after the previous episode “The Grand Design” with Vanessa’s doctor delivering news of her demise and then picking the worst possible time to hug it out with Wilson (you may have read about this scene earlier… sorry about that).

With Fisk overcome by grief, everyone else springs into action. Realizing that his deal with the Mayor has gone sour, Mr. Charles reaches out to the Governor, to make some new shady and indistinct deal, while the Governor, in turn, sets up Sheila Rivera to replace Fisk. Buck Cashman goes on the offensive, first forcing Daniel to confront BB over her City Without Fear reports, and then playing a choking game with Heather that sparks new visions of Muse. Soledad Ayala, Angela del Toro, and other insurgents launch a massive anti-Fisk stunt, which gives Powell the excuse he’s needed to openly strike back—after killing off Saunders, the resistance’s man inside the AVTF.

As has been the case all season long, the quality of these plot points vary. It’s nice to see Cashman be a little more openly malevolent, and the English charm does set him apart from his predecessor Wesley, but the script asks him to be subtle while also explaining in painful detail the mole test he wants Daniel to perform. His interplay with Heather is interesting, despite the painfully slow and obvious way she’s descending into madness. Worst of all is Mr. Charles, who did a whole lot of nothing with Fisk and now seems to be setting up some quasi-Thunderbolts that apparently ensnared Luke Cage. We love Matthew Lillard, but he seems to be involved in that old Marvel sin of promising something exciting next time, but delivering nothing exciting now.

Irritating as these elements are, “Requiem” does deliver some exciting stuff in the here and now. Obviously, we finally get Jessica Jones, back for the first time in the MCU proper. Marvel’s been teasing her arrival for months now, and letting her beat up AVTF cops while caring for her daughter is a fitting introduction. And Krysten Ritter hasn’t lost a step, playing Jessica with that spot-on blend of snark and vulnerability. Yet, it still feels a bit rote when she strolls up to Matt on a rooftop so they can do an action sequence together. The fight choreography remains effective, and we love watching superheroes beat up militarized police, but Fisk’s arms deal with Mr. Charles has never been compelling, so the stakes feel non-existent.

The better fight sequence comes at the end, the long-awaited throw-down between Daredevil and Fisk. As the series reminded us again and again, Fisk poses a formidable physical threat, even more so now that all of the mayoral pretense has fallen away, freeing him to be the Kingpin once again. We believe that he truly wants to batter Daredevil, in a way that hasn’t been completely true in the Disney series or the Netflix predecessor.

All of which makes Matt’s gambit all the more interesting. When Daredevil arrives in Fisk’s office, he comes not to fight, but to sue for peace. Further, he makes his appeal by trying to level with Fisk, trying to get his old enemy to see how much they’ve lost. Matt’s right, of course. The clashes between the two men have cost them both dearly, and have spread the madness to those around them. But this is the worst possible time for Matt to make that appeal, after Fisk has hurt so many people and has the ability to harm even more.

Matt’s attempt to redeem Fisk only proves the point that Karen has tried to make throughout season two. Disappointing as it is to see Karen reduced to the woman who complains about the male main character is doing, at least we understand her frustration. Bullseye has proven that he’s an unrepentant murder machine, who has tried to kill Karen, did kill Foggy, and exacerbated problems by killing Vanessa. So what does Matt do? Not only does he not turn him over to the authorities, he brings him to the secret hideout, he cares for him, and he chides Karen for wanting him dead.

Karen has every right to be furious with Matt. And though the episode ends with Powell capturing Karen (turns out, a wig wasn’t the full proof disguise that she hoped it would be), that’s Matt’s fault too, since he’s inside the Mayor’s office trying to appeal to Fisk’s better angels instead of protecting the protestors outside. Once again, Matt’s making the worst possible decision.

In that way, “Requiem” is classic Daredevil, even if it’s an uneven episode of TV.

Daredevil: Born Again releases new episodes every Tuesday at 9pm on Disney+.