"Daredevil" Recap: "Into the Ring"

Written by Scotty

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

Trying to do the right thing can be costly to yourself and those around you.  Even though the laws we are all supposed to abide by are to keep us safe, there are plenty of people above them who will never be punished for their crimes.  It may seem far fetched, but it is something that happens every day and if the law will not take care of the problem, who will?  Vigilante justice is a way to go, but know this, if you are caught enforcing it, you will be branded the same as the actual criminal that has been taken off of the street.  It is a thin line to straddle and if there is a person hurting someone for their own benefits, who says that you should not be able to step in and help.

Matt Murdock and his partner Foggy Nelson are in the market for an office for their new law practice.  Matt does have a standard to who he will be defending at this practice, while Foggy is, quite simply, foggy about who they should stand up for.  Being lawyers, the end goal is to defend the innocent while making a ton of money, but not all of the innocents that need help can afford to pay.  Jumping at their first case and first client Karen Page, the two will be diving into something much more dangerous than they could imagine. 

Karen Page wakes up holding a bloody knife over a former co-worker, but does not know what has happened.  Working at Union Allied Construction as a secretary, Karen has uncovered something that the company does not what her to know, something that would compromise the integrity of the office.  Trying to be persuaded to not go forward with her concern, Karen does not give up and tries to tell one of her friends about what she has found, but he ends up dead and she is the only suspect.  Being attacked in her cell by a guard, Matt and Foggy are able to get her released and take her back to Matt’s apartment.  Knowing that she has lied about what she knows, Matt uses Karen as bait to gather the information she has taken and find out what is really happening behind the scenes at Union Allied Construction and discover exactly who is trying to kill her.

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Jumping into Matt’s youth, you are able to see where he got his ethics from, his father.  Learning so much from the old man and admiring him for everything that he has done, Matt knows what kind of man he wants to be.  While putting on a black suit and mask over his face at night, Matt is able to combat the people that are looking to harm the innocent, despite the fact he has been blinded from a chemical spill.  His latest bout of vigilante justice has taken place at the dock where young woman were being trafficked in a storage container and Matt was able to free them.  But little does he know that the new top man working behind the scenes will be seeking him out, not only for his loss of money, but to end the fear of vigilante justice while he tries to conduct his own business in Hell’s Kitchen. 

A new boss has landed in Hell’s Kitchen and it has everybody wondering who he is.  With his right hand man, Wesley attending all of his meetings, the lack of face time is disconcerting to his associates, but the mystery is keeping the fear of God in them if they do not comply.  Wesley is the current face of the new regime that is taking over the city and knows everything that is happening on the streets.  Trying to set up the first hit on Karen, using the debt owed by the guard, he hears about a masked man running around the streets at night who is costing his employer money.  Wanting to know more about this vigilante, Wesley is also very keen in making sure that nothing else will be disturbed when it comes to his business.  Working with his older counterpart, Leland, another hit is placed on Karen when she returns home to collect the jump drive she downloaded from work, but there is someone else following her.  As the masked man is able to take out a professional hitman, the crime syndicate in Hell’s Kitchen has to take notice of what they will be in for if they continue their evil ways.

Not a bad series opener at all.  You get a ton of background on Matt Murdock, his roots and what he is striving to be.  You also get a feeling of what the tone of the series is going to be, as you have a little bit of light hearted banter, along with plenty of dark images of the future.  I must say that I am intrigued by the villains in this series already as they seem to have people everywhere around the city and are able to have someone killed at a moment’s notice.  This shows the power of whomever is in charge of the crime syndicate and what he is able to do and that makes it out to be a very dangerous situation for anyone that dares cross him.  Looking forward to the second episode, and since it is on Netflix, I am more than happy to start my binge watching.  Keep watching and let's see what unfolds.

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