“You don’t get to break into my apartment and talk to me about trust” – Matt Murdock
The past comes back to haunt Matt Murdock as a face from the past returns. Elektra Natchios (Elodie Yung) makes her debut in this episode and the chemistry between her and Matt (Charlie Cox) is evident from the very beginning. Their relationship is told across two timelines. The present, in which Elektra has returned to ask for Murdock’s legal consul in some dealings with her father’s bad investments with the Roxxon Corporation, and 10 years ago, during Foggy and Matt’s law school days. Whatever happened in that absence has not left Matt thrilled to see his ex-paramour, especially now that a relationship is burgeoning with Karen, having almost kissed at the end of the last episode.
Karen (Deborah Ann Woll) is currently attempting to figure out what happened to Frank Castle’s family since the New York press have him painted as a psychopathic loner with no mention of his family or military history. Visiting Ben Urichs’ old job, the New York Bulletin. With the help of Mitchell Ellison, Karen tracks down an old article reporting a gang shootout between the three gangs that Castle had been targeting, and the dots are connected. Castle’s family was caught in the crossfire, leaving him the only survivor.
Foggy (Elden Henson) gets involved as well, dealing with the ADA’s office, who will be handling the prosecution of The Punisher. Getting a visit from ADA Tower, asking for their files on the now dead eyewitness to the Kitchen Irish massacre. Not relenting and sending Tower off empty handed, Foggy meets with his antagonistic but attracted to colleague Marci. Marci has left her previous position and is now at Hogarth, Chao, and Benowitz. One of a number of easter eggs sprinkled throughout the episode, Marci lets Foggy know that the DA wants to make an example of those operating outside the law, so that puts people like Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and now Frank Castle in the cross hairs.
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Matt’s previous relationship with Elektra and his now current kind of relationship with Karen are polar opposites. Elektra knows of the darkness inside and prods him to embrace it, even going so far as to track down Roscoe Sweeney, the man who murdered his father, and pushing Matt to take his revenge. In Karen, Matt sees the good in the world that he believes in, but doesn’t experience all that much, and wants to hold on to it as fiercely as he can.
Ending on a tense note, Matt goes to confront Elektra about her purpose in returning to NYC and she reveals she infiltrated Roxxon’s computer systems under the guise of a business meeting. It appears the Yakuza are coming to address that intrusion. She also hasn’t forgotten Matthew’s dark side…opening a bag revealing his Daredevil gear as the episode ends.
Light on the action and heavy on plot movement and character development shows the strength this show has. After 2 episodes of heavy action, ‘Kinbaku’ gives all three of the leads something to chew on. You see Matt’s vulnerability, Karen’s tenacity, and Foggy’s understated confidence at being the smartest guy in the room. There are also plenty of easter eggs with the mentions of HB& C, Jessica Jones, and the Roxxon Corporation (a fictional multi-national in the Marvel Universe).
Daredevil is currently available on Netflix
