Welcome back to the blog readers. I was a big fan of the first episode of Daredevil: Born Again (2025-), and I think it did a very effective job at setting the tone for the rest of this show. Charlie Cox showed me he could act and Vincent D'Onofrio showed me he can still act. So what would the second part of this premiere entail with this episode titled, "Optics," written by Matt Corman and Chris Ord, and directed by Michael Cuesta? Stick around to find out.
NOTE: I will be using spoilers for my thoughts, so DO NOT read ahead if you have not seen the episode.
Like I mentioned in the introductory paragraph, I was very satisfied with the first episode of the two-episode premiere, because it gave us great character work and a truly awesome opening scene filled with tense action, emotion and a whole bunch more. I am a bit surprised that we got barely any action in this episode, but I think it was for the better in all honesty. This is a more character-driven episode that highlights the performances (especially from the late great Kamar de los Reyes) and the story underneath it all.
I do want to start by talking about the performance of Kamar de los Reyes as Hector Ayala/White Tiger. In case you did not know, I am a big fan of the Call of Duty game series, with Black Ops II (2012) being my favorite installment of the series. I bring this up because de los Reyes voices the villain of the game, Raul Menendez. Hot take, I think he gave the best performance in a Call of Duty game ever. And while Hector Ayala may not be as complex and tortured a character as Raul Menendez, I think de los Reyes brings that same level of passion to this role. I really found this character to be engaging and one that I actually gave a damn about. I hope we see more of him in future episodes because it would be a shame for him to be one and done.
I next want to talk about the story of this episode because of the excellent story that it contains. The episode actually begins with newly elected mayor Wilson Fisk addressing the people of New York to wish them a happy New Year and to affirm to them his commitment to get things done for them and establish his hard anti-vigilantism agenda. Over the last two episodes, someone has been interviewing everyday New Yorkers getting their opinion on current events, and we learn the face behind this is BB Ulrich, someone from Wilson Fisk's past. She is able to interrupt a meeting he is having where he contemplates about New York mayors previous and grill him over his handling of things. He forces her out without answering any of her questions, but not before learning that police commissioner Gallo is resigning in protest over Fisk's election.
Meanwhile, Matt Murdock is continuing his relationship with Heather when he decides to take on the case of a man named Hector Ayala, who is accused of killing a police officer. In reality, these are two corrupt officers that were hassling a young man, and Ayala broke up the fight with that officer slipping on the train tracks and being run over by a train. At arraignment, Ayala is instantly railroaded by the system, and Matt is unable to get anything out. Cherry and his law firm partner believe that this case is unwinnable, and they gain information that his wife may be someone who can testify. At their apartment, Cherry learns that Ayala is masquerading as the vigilante White Tiger, who has been stepping up in the absence of Daredevil. Matt is upset that Ayala kept this information from him but continues with the case nonetheless, believing he has what he needs to prove his innocence.
Wilson had been told that he needs to improve his optics, and he decides to take matters into his own hands when he is stuck in traffic, forcing construction workers to fill a hole causing the traffic and improving his reputation with the people. He later visits commissioner Gallo at the cop's funeral, and Gallo knows what kind of person Fisk really is. Fisk threatens to expose Gallo's infidelity in order to prevent his resignation, and he reluctantly plays ball with Fisk. Meanwhile, Matt tries to track down the man Ayala saved in the subway, Nicky Torres, and he is able to identify him and make him aware of the evolving situation: the corrupt cops made him and they are trying to end him permanently. Matt is able to get Nicky to escape and fend off the corrupt cops to end the episode. I do like that the showrunners are giving each character their own arcs they have to go through in order to get to where I think they are going, which I think is a collision course with each other.
Daredevil: Born Again excels with more great character work in this second episode, and I am looking forward to seeing where we go next with them. Thank you all for reading, and I will see you for the next post.
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