"Daredevil" Recap: "Nelson v. Murdock"

Written by Scotty

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

Trying to keep secrets from your friends can prove to be costly at times.  They are your friends and trust that you are treating the relationship with the upmost respect.  But if you have betrayed that trust and they find out, there can be hell to pay since what they have seen turns out to be a lie.  Sometimes it is the right thing to do to keep them in the dark on some things, but if it could be considered something big, you have got to let them in or they will never forgive you, much less trust you again.

Ben Urich is between a rock and a hard place.  With his wife slowly starting to recover in the hospital, she is still far from being in great shape and is going to be discharged to a different location.  With that on his desk, Ben is ready to hang up the investigation regarding Fisk and is ready to turn everything over to Karen so he can focus on what is most important in his life.  Although Karen is not ready to take the reins on her own yet, she is able to convince the reporter to go to a retirement home, to just give it the once over.  What she does not tell him is that she has located a woman that might keep his drive to bring down Fisk alive for another day.

Wilson Fisk is being called out by his remaining partner in crime Madame Gao as well. Even with the plan of eliminating Nobu coming to lite, Fisk is still not himself and is being pulled in two directions and the old woman knows it.  Trying to get his mind right for what is coming up next Madame Gao gives her partner an underlying threat to kick start his engines once again, but does not know if that will be enough.  Sending his money man, Leland Owlsley to reassure his partner that everything is well in hand, Fisk moves his focus to a fundraising dinner and is ready to start becoming the man in the public eye that he needs to be.  But someone has a different outlook on who Fisk is, as guests start to fall from their tables and a panic ensues.  

---

Now onto the main story of the episode, a friend’s trust betrayed.  After receiving a beating at Nobu’s hands, Matt is laid up in his apartment with nobody better than his good friend Foggy to take care of him.  With all that is happening around town, Foggy is shocked and upset that this masked man that is killing cops and gangsters is no one other than his best friend in the world.  Foggy tries to figure out what would possess his friend to do such horrendous acts while telling him and Karen to abide by the law at all times.  Matt is able to give the answers that he believes are right, but that is not working for his longtime friend since he has been lying about his abilities since the two met years ago in law school. 

This episode takes you back to Matt and Foggy’s law school days, when Foggy is happy to have this new friend in his life.  Getting fired up about becoming a lawyer, Foggy has plans for the two to open their own office and bring their city of Hell’s Kitchen out of the dark and into the light once again.  Even when getting a job offer from the firm that they interned at, Foggy listens to Matt’s opinions about what they are doing and it not being right.  Without hesitation, Foggy packs up and the two go into business on their own.  Since doing the right thing and playing by the rules is what they are all about, Foggy cannot believe what Matt is doing in his free time, putting on a black mask and beating up people that should have their days in court.  As the trust has gone out of the relationship, the law offices of Nelsen and Murdock may be closed from this day forward.

This has to be my favorite episode thus far in the series and it has nothing more to do than trust.  Each character has to deal with it their own way as Gao does not trust Fisk, Ben does not trust himself and now Foggy does not trust Matt.  There is only one way to insure their friendships will continue and that is proving that they are willing to do what must be done, if it is right or wrong.  I also like Karen’s little bit of deceit in this episode as she has found something in the city that no one else has been able to locate, Fisk’s mother.  What will happen in the next episode?  I do not know what to expect as there is possibly another player coming in that is trying to kill off the competition.  Can’t wait to see what happens on the flip side.

---