Episode Title: A Cold Day in Hell’s Kitchen
Originally Aired: March 18th 2016
The final episode of season two is pretty much everything you could have asked for. It may not have been the best episode of the season but it was not a slouch. It answered all of my questions and provided a few more that unfortunately, we will have to wait an undetermined amount of time to have answered. As long as your name is not Claire, we at least have an idea of what will happen to you next.
Frank may have finally come to terms with the death of his family. He will never be the same from the day they died until the day he dies he will always be the Punisher.
A CD labeled micro is the first clue to who will be the next target of his revenge. I guess that an avid reader of the Punisher comics may know what micro refers to but sadly, that is not me. It is an Easter egg that will not be found for a long time at least not by me anyway. Frank does not have much to do in this episode a few moments of catharsis and repaying a debt to Matt is all we see of him in this final episode.
Foggy is on the come up, he is the next big thing in the world of lawyering. From a partner in a three person firm to a partner candidate in one of the biggest law firms in the world. Nelson and Murdock is officially no more when he accepts the job offered to him by Hogarth, who last seen in season 1 of Jessica Jones.
We did not get to see the salary offer but it must have been a good one as he was finally able to settle on a long-standing tab at Josie’s bar. I do not know if that was just him trying to do right by Josie and paying her the money she is owed or if it is another nail in the coffin of his former life. Will he continue to frequent his favorite watering hole just paying as he goes or will this be the last time he visits a place that holds so many memories for the lawyers three. As always, the role of Foggy was well acted in this episode with us seeing many facets of his personality. He was nervous when dealing with Hogarth because he still does not see himself in her class. He still cares for Matt but becomes easily frustrated and angry with the subject of Daredevil comes up. We also saw a friendlier and more compassionate side when he tries to comfort Karen. He did not seem to be caught up when she mentioned Matt with in an obvious reference to her relationship with Matt. Foggy may have gotten better at hiding it or maybe now that he will be working with Marci he will see if anything will come of their on and off again relationship.
Karen in my least favorite person in this episode. Her mixture of terror and obstinance in the face of danger even when it results in other being harmed is infuriating. She is a very smart woman she should be able to tell the difference between the time to be and act tough and the time to go along with a situation that you have no control over. In addition, the shots of her pondering over an empty screen are the most generic scenes in the episode, it was as if the director could not have cared less about them and it influenced the way they were acted.
They were the same, lean in close let the screen light wash over your face now lean back and frustratedly brush your hair aside. Karen’s moment of importance comes when she finally learns the big secret that I expected her to find out a few episodes ago. She had to be shown it was the truth, but I am not sure how she did not figure it out on her own after an earlier scene. I hope that next season there is not a cliché statement like; somehow, I guess I always knew. She probably should have known and may have figured it out; all of her interactions with Daredevil were in highly stressful situations so she can be forgiven for not recognizing his chin.
The other issue I have with Karen this episode is in the content of her first newspaper article. After an extended scene about how to cure her writers block and what she should be writing about that, the resulting article has nothing to do with that conversation. She did not write about the truth surrounding Frank and his family or her involvement in it from the minute that the firm began investigating him to last week’s conclusion. Instead, the piece they have her read is a generic thing that we have all heard a dozen or more times, about how we all can be heroes and we are all survivors. It was not a bad speech but I definitely expected more for the closing remarks of the season.
Stick has a few scenes in this episode but they all take place at the beginning and end of it. He showed us that it is possible to kill one of the Hand ninjas that can come back to life like Nobu. Apparently, you just treat them like zombies and destroy the brain or remove the head. Stick’s arc this season is interesting to the point I cannot really call it an arc because he has such little screen time the it is more of a point a to point B thing with the two points far apart. When he was training the young Elektra, it was clear that he loved the girl and wanted to protect her, going as far as killing other people on his side of the war to protect her. Here in the final episode all he wants is for Matt or someone to kill her before she falls in to the clutches of the Hand. Why did he turn on her, was it something he saw in her or was it how close they were to capturing her that made him see it as the only option? He claimed that he tried to train her to control over herself and the nature of the black sky and that it was impossible. I wonder if that is just guilt, talking over a failed task because if he left her with the rich family when she was a young girl how much training did she receive she spent more of her life without him than with him.
Elektra received an upgrade to her outfit by Melvin that is made from the same material as Matt’s. It still leaves more skin exposed than you want when fighting ninjas with poisoned swords, but you don’t want to get to far away from the comics. One thing I noticed during is this episode is that right before a battle she always pulls up a piece of cloth over the bottom half of her face. This is great when you are fighting somewhere you could be seen and you need to protect your identity, but when you are fighting in an isolated space against an opponent who knows who you are; all she is doing is inhibiting her ability to breath. Her best moment in the episode is when she finally gets to do something she considers could and her happiness because it was something she thought she was incapable of. The fight choreography for Elektra in this episode was truly great and the best of the season. Her mixture of acrobatic grace and brutality is site to behold. I imagine watching her fight is a lot of Black Widow would fight is she used sias and still tried to kill everyone. Daredevil has many good fights but he lacks her grace that makes her fights a true spectacle, but he will always be kind of the barrel-roll kick. There is a 15 minute action set piece in the middle of this just over 50 minute episode and they definitely save the best for last.
Matt also got an upgrade from Melvin, finally getting his iconic baton from the comics. The weapon and all of its functionality is as far-fetched as it is awesome.
Matt experiences some growth in this episode; he admits that he needs to be Daredevil to feel alive. So it is not just a sense of justice that drives him it is the also the thirst of an extreme adrenaline junky. I think he also realizes that while he needs to be daredevil he also needs to be Matt Murdock and have people to fight for so he is not just fighting for the sake of fighting. I think in the third season he will trying to renew his friendships with Foggy and Karen, hopefully he will be successful but with all that is to come with his own adventures and the Defenders team upcoming he may not have much luck.
Thank you for spending the season with me, there will be one more post where I talk about the highs and lows of the season and I would love to hear from you in the comments about things to loved or disliked about this season.
Channel: Superhero 