Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 Episodes 2-3 Review: A Strategic and Religiously Ominous Build-Up

Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 Episode 1 “The Northern Star” was a bit of a rough introduction as it handled too many things. However, the dual release of Season 2 Episode 2 and Episode 3 does a solid job in making the current stakes feel important.

“The Northern Star” felt like a narrative and tonal diversion from Daredevil: Born Again Season 1 in its entirety. The establishing problem of Season 2 involved Daredevil taking down one of Fisk’s secret military shipments, which led to its own public controversy.

Not only did it introduce us to Fisk’s federal accomplice, Mr. Charles, but it did much more, like cementing Matt and Karen’s relationship.

However, the episode’s ending with Matt’s identity as Daredevil nearly being exposed created an important question going into Season 2. Why is Bullseye siding with Daredevil now?

This is seemingly answered within the first opening moments of Season 2 Episode 2 “Shoot the Moon”, where Bullseye goes to the same church that Matt was raised in. Here, he wonders if he can seek some form of forgiveness for his murderous crimes.

Seeing Bullseye this vulnerable is something that was never really seen in Daredevil: Born Again Season 1. The previous season had somewhat muted the religious element that made the original Daredevil series special. Surprisingly, this episode does a 180 and puts Bullseye in a position to be a neutral character.

It’s as if he’s somewhat restrained his violent tendencies, which is seen when Bullseye spies on Vanessa when she’s at an important dinner. He acts as a shroud who seemingly wants to do good as those familiar blue hues and blue roses haunt every scene in these episodes.

However, he’s still capable of showing his darker side as seen when he takes down the Task Force agents where Cherry’s being held. This moral conflict that’s brewing inside of Bullseye and his growing urge to make good almost feels relatable.

There are obviously some people who believe that doing simple acts of good can make up for a lifetime of bad. However, there’s also a lot of complexity within that school of thought that can harden those that hold doubt.

That’s exactly what Matt and Karen think when they try to figure out why Bullseye saved Matt’s life. That opening conversation in Season 2 Episode 3 “The Scales & the Sword” the two share emphasizes this belief quite well. Plus, it also gives Karen space to further root herself into that Punisher mindset.

Ever since the explosive finale of Daredevil: Born Again Season 1, Karen’s been acting hesitant to believe in holding back. Unlike Matt, she’s begun to believe that there’s another way of making an impact, but that involves more physically permanent action.

As Matt and Karen do recon and spy on the Task Force’s dealings at Red Hook, every action that the duo take makes you wonder if Karen’s will actually do whatever it takes. She’s already begun that process, by disguising and arming herself, but it doesn’t feel enough.

This is further emphasized when Angela del Toro’s aunt gets arrested by the Task Force for interfering with an “arrest.” Although Angela tries to take solace with Kirsten and, some time later, Karen, you can’t help but slightly agree with Karen’s mindset.

Karen puts her thoughts on full display when she manages to capture one of the Task Force agents who wants to switch sides. It’s almost a bit funny to see how Karen both takes from Daredevil and Punisher respectively, but she’s conflicted on how to make it ethically work.

Yet, Matt also makes a good point in that there’s a difference between going too far and playing it safe. In fact, it all comes around when the trial of the Swordsman comes and goes in “The Scales & the Sword”, leaving Matt and Karen in a tough spot.

They know that their actions have serious consequences that Fisk instantly uses to his advantage as it puts everyone they know at risk. When the duo inevitably raid the Red Hook docks and save everyone, this almost proves true when Karen finds Angela in her White Tiger outfit.

Every character on Daredevil’s side wants to do good and help, but there’s also this psychological barometer of what’s good and what’s not. The fact that Fisk is able to manipulate all of this with the explosive ending and possibly connect it to Matt and Karen shouldn’t feel shocking, but it does so amazingly.

Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 Episodes 2 and 3 ramp up the intensity significantly with its renewed focus on Bullseye and Karen’s mixed philosophy. As this shadow war between Daredevil and Fisk gets bigger, it’s left me excited to see how Bullseye fits into the larger picture.

Stray Thoughts:

• So Heather decided to keep Muse’s mask as a reminder of what happened? It definitely seems like the memories are haunting her for a particular reason.
• The reveal that BB Urich is behind the Fisk/Max Headroom-inspired protest videos felt obvious. However, it’s also good that Season 2 is finally putting her on the right track.
• When Vanessa asked Fisk how many worlds he needed to conquer, I couldn’t help but be reminded of Kang the Conqueror. The Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 team definitely knows about the multiversal consequences.
• Are they actually setting up Heather and Buck to get together? You can’t tell me that they didn’t flirt with each other on Episode 3.

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New episodes of Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 release every Tuesday at 9 PM EST.

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