"Daredevil" Recap: "Cut Man"

Written by Scotty

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

Trying to help a stranger can lead to two things.  One, they will be grateful and give you praise and thanks for all of your efforts.  Two, they could be the person that you should not have saved and make turn your life onto its side and try to hurt you for your efforts.  Either way, it is always a good practice to help someone in need, if you do or do not know them.  It is in our nature to want to help those in need, but you may want to think twice about how far you are willing to go to make sure they are going to be ok. 

The masked Matt Murdock lies bleeding in a dumpster when he gets a good samaritan’s help.  Not knowing who the man in back is, nurse Claire Temple wants to help bring him back to health, but Matt is not willing to allow it.  Not wanting to tell her who he is and not allowing her to call the hospital for help, Matt does divulge the information that landed him in the dumpster.  When trying to locate a boy that has been kidnapped, a trap had been set up for him by the Russian syndicate to get him out of the way.  Using his senses, Matt is able to tell that he is far from out of trouble when one of the henchmen is going from door to door, trying to find the masked vigilante. 

Karen has decided to work as Matt and Foggy’s secretary in their emerging law firm.  Since they have done so much to help her, it is the least that she can do, but she is still not comfortable walking around the city, even though they think that she is in the clear. Being a friend, Foggy offers to take the young woman out for a drink at his favorite watering hole and breaks down what is actually happening with his first client.  Karen is afraid to go home, even afraid to walk around the city any more since all she can see now is the blood from a friend on the floor of her apartment and the darkness around every corner in the city.  Knowing that she needs to calm down and enjoy the city once again, drinking is Foggy’s plan to get Karen to lower her guard, if even for the night.  The two converse and get stinking drunk and come up with a plan to get Matt involved with the fun, but when he is not home, they have plenty of time to kill before their next exciting venture takes place, the fish market.

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While Claire is unsure about the man she is taking care of and keeping out of the lime light, she wants to know more and comes clean about the reason she is helping him.  There have been stories coming into the ER where she works about a man in a mask helping the needy out when being attacked by criminals around the city.  Knowing what her masked stranger is capable of, she may be able to help the cause, especially if he is to fall back into a dumpster, bleeding and in need of medical care.  When Matt interrogates one of the Russian henchmen that was sent out to find him, Claire jumps in and tells him exactly where to cut.  Not believing that Matt really enjoys hurting the wicked, Claire knows that he is the man that Hell’s Kitchen has been waiting for to help clean up the streets from the vermin that have been scurrying around for so many years. 

While being tended to on the couch in Claire’s apartment, Matt thinks back to the early days of being with his dad.  Matt was very good at patch work for his boxing father, but when he lost the ability to see, he had to help his father in other ways.  Jack Murdock was a very proud man, proud of himself and even more so of his son for being able to combat the loss of sight.  When Jack gets word that he will be able to fight against one of the top names in the boxing game, he has to wait and hear the catch.  Being told to take a dive for more money, Jack agrees so he can get enough money to help his son in the future, but he gets a change of heart when talking to his boy the night before the fight and is ready to turn things around. Wanting to have his son hear the praises of the fans, Jack bets on himself to win and will have all of the money put into the bank under his son’s name, since he has a notion of what will happen to him after the fight.

Still getting to know your characters at this point in the series, but you still get a couple great action sequences and a taste of torture.  Only battling a small part of the Russian syndicate, you get to see and hear what they have planned for the masked vigilante that is making their lives difficult.  I did enjoy meeting Claire in this episode, she seemed to be holding back early on in the episode, but then when she found out who the masked man was, she started to let her guard down, along with trying to help him with his cause.  Looking at the flashback sequences, I fear this might be the last one with Matt’s father since they have decided to show his death already, but I am far from a story teller and might be surprised to see what other aspects of his life can be shown to help unlock the secrets behind Matt’s devotion to the cause.  Keep watching and let's see what unfolds.

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