"Daredevil" Recap: "Penny and Dime"

Written by Scotty

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

Coming back home to pay respects for his fallen boys, Finn is back in town and wants the man responsible for this disaster taken care of, but mostly because he lost a million dollars. Turning his crew loose on the streets of Hell’s Kitchen, they are able to piece together the description of the Punisher and find out where he is hiding out in town.  As Frank is making it back home, he sees that the Irish gang is just leaving his apartment and knows that there will be more blood on the streets soon. Taking care of his last batch of wounds in the back of his van, he is ready for whatever the gang can throw at him since he needs answers as well.
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After attending Grotto’s funeral, Nelson and Murdock are ready to start their day and finding out what Karen has been able to dig up on the Punisher, Matt is ready to spring into action once again. Seeing that a bullet went through his new foe’s head, there must be more to the story as to what exactly made the ex-marine snap. Before he is able to get any additional information, Karen is already on her way to find someone that knows who the mad man really is. Questioning the orderly that took Frank Castle home, Karen is able to find his home and goes snooping after dark. Finding pictures of Frank’s family with nobody in the house, she is starting to put the pieces together on her end.

While watching families having fun on the carousel, Frank finds himself surrounded by the Irish gang with no place to go.  Being able to take out a couple of the goons, he is overmatched by drugs and stun guns and taken to Finn's house of pain.  Only wanting to find out where his money is, Finn starts the torture with some common beatings, but when he sees that the Punisher will not give up his secret, he turns to a more sinister way of questioning with a power drill.  Even that does not affect the man that has killed half of his crew and he decided to try one more tactic, bringing his dog in and threatening to kill it as well.  This gets Frank’s attention and he gives the location of the money, but he has something special in the suitcase as the gang finds out.

Trolling the recent violence in the city, Matt is trying to figure out who is behind it this time since shop keepers are being taken out. The Irish gang has been pulling no punches in finding the Punisher and now the violence has escalated once again. Hearing that there are gun shots reported at the carousel, Matt gets there first and is able to question one of the survivors. Knowing that Frank will be murdered by the group if he does not help, Matt gets to the hideout and battles his way to the torture chamber.  Finding Frank is already working on his own escape, the two are able to neutralize the situation without killing too many people. Getting safely to the cemetery, Daredevil and the Punisher have a little heart felt conversation before the cops arrive to take him away.  Finding out what Frank’s little poem is about before he pulls the trigger, Matt gets the story about what happened to make Frank turn into the brutal assassin he has become.

A very powerful episode and while the last one was off the chain, you finally start to find out what is driving the Punisher to do his dastardly deeds. The story about his daughter, his foundation, would drive anyone to tears and was well played, you even see Daredevil get a little choked up. It appears that the District Attorney knows who the Punisher is and Karen has the crazy idea that he has been turned loose in the city to cover something bigger up. Although Foggy and Matt don’t seem to agree with this, Karen will not be deterred in her search for the truth. Daredevil has also just received a new suit from his old friend Melvin as the game has changed drastically and with the bigger guns coming out, more protection will be necessary.  Watching Matt as he is struggling with the loss of Grotto as he was not able to stop it and then being able to come back down to earth and enjoy the company of Karen might have made this episode extremely special. There is something sweet going on between these two, and hopefully it does not interfere with Matt’s night job. 

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