Episode Review: Daredevil: Born Again 1x9 - "Straight to Hell"

Welcome back to the blog readers. I was nervous about Daredevil: Born Again (2025-) because I had no idea if it would be able to live up to the standards of the original Netflix series. Not only has it done that, but it has become my favorite new series of the year so far. And now, I am so upset that this is the end of the road for now. Would this finale, titled "Straight to Hell," written by Heather Bellson and Dario Scardapane, and directed by Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, be worthy of being on the same level of WandaVision (2021) and Ms. Marvel for me? 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.

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Whenever a show that I love ends, I get very upset because of two reasons. The first is that I do not want it to end because I love it so much. The second is because I admittedly nervous that it will not stick the landing. And this is something that has happened with a lot of Disney+ shows whether it be Marvel or Star Wars. But thankfully that did not happen with this finale. In fact, I am still shocked over what I witnessed. It was bloody, violent, dark as hell, and all too relevant now in our current political climate.

I want to start this review off by talking about the performances of two individuals. The first of these individuals is Vincent D'Onofrio as Wilson Fisk / Kingpin. Over the last few weeks, he has stood out but not that much for me to notice compared to other players. But he absolutely wrestles back control of the narrative with some of the best work I have seen from him so far. Kingpin has finally made his move, and getting to see D'Onofrio play in this sandbox of chaos is something to behold. There are the subtle moments that really stand out, like him smiling at Vanessa or his speech to the city afterwards, or even his big "WTF" moment of the episode (in an episode full of them). I cannot wait to see what madness he has in store for us going in to the second season.

The next person I want to bring up in this finale review is the performance of someone who we have not seen much of this season but kicked all sorts of ass when they showed up. That person is...Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle / Punisher. He only showed up for a brief, yet powerful, scene in the fourth episode in which he gave Charlie Cox's Matt Murdock some hard truths. This week, he gets to dish out some hard justice and it is oh so satisfying to see. Bernthal gives a powerhouse performance that gets to see him let out some of that rage and anger he has, and it culminates in one of the most shocking character moments of the show thus far. I really hope we see Bernthal for the second season, but this is more likely setting up his own Disney+ special due out in 2026.

Now we have to talk about the story of this episode, because this is going to have major ramifications for what happens in the MCU going forward. We start the episode with a flashback to a year prior, in which Vanessa has orchestrated the removal of Benjamin "Dex" Poindexter / Bullseye from prison because she has a job for him. She wants him to kill Foggy Nelson because he is getting close to exposing her criminal activities at Red Hook and wants him silenced. Hesitant at first, he later agrees and carries out the murder. Back in the present, Dex has escaped the ball and Matt Murdock has been sent to a hospital to recover, where he is greeted by Kirsten and Heather. He tells them Vanessa was responsible for Foggy's death as Heather leaves the room. Kirsten tells Matt to take it easy since he is injured as Wilson begins to put his plan into motion. He reveals he knew Vanessa orchestrated Foggy's death, infiltrates the city's power grid and cuts power to all five boroughs, and orders Buck to assassinate Matt. By the time Buck gets to his hospital room, Matt has already escaped to his apartment. Meanwhile, Gallo attempts to get Sheila to turn on Fisk, while Daniel and Buck bring Fisk's Safer Streets proposal to the city council and threaten them into accepting.

Matt gets to his apartment to find Frank Castle, who was called by Karen when she learned of Dex's escape. The two reconcile and learn the Anti-Vigilante Task Force (AVTF) is coming for them. The two defend the apartment from the task force, with Matt knocking them out and Frank killing them. The only one who is not taken out is Cole North, who is revealed to be Hector Ayala's killer, and against Frank's urges, Matt refuses to kill him. A grenade is thrown into the apartment and the two jump out the window to avoid the explosion. And just when it appears that they are going to get ambushed by more AVTF, it is revealed to be Karen who has returned from San Francisco to help them and escort them to Frank's safehouse. The AVTF causes chaos around the city, including murdering a looter in cold blood. Frank and Karen have a moment as she and Matt reconnect while researching Foggy's case. The two learn that he was investigating a truck robbery that happened at Red Hook and that there is also a charter that classifies Red Hook as a freeport, meaning it is out of the jurisdiction of the state of New York and the United States as a whole. The two realize the Fisks' plan: transform the Red Hook port into a city-state where they can legally smuggle billions of dollars into New York. In defense of what Karen aid to him, Frank goes to Red Hook and attempts to take on the entire AVTF himself, but he is quickly outnumbered and kidnapped.

Powell tries to get Frank to join the AVTF by tempting him that all of them are inspired by him (they are wearing his insignia on their tactical gear) and he calls them all clowns and he is taken into "custody." Matt and Karen make it to Red Hook and realize just how large the AVTF is, and Karen is able to talk to Matt and get him to live on to fight another day. Meanwhile, Sheila is revealed to have sold Gallo out by playing Fisk a recording of their conversation and Fisk has him taken to Red Hook, where he brutally kills him by crushing his skull. In the aftermath, the power is restored at dawn and Fisk prepares a speech. In the speech, he admits the attack on his life was due to a vigilante, claims Gallo has resigned amidst all the chaos, blames the blackout and the looting on vigilantes and looters, initiates his Safer Streets program which bans all vigilantism in New York and places a curfew on the people, and puts the city under martial law. He also reveals vigilantes that have been taken captive that involve Swordsman Jack Duquesne and Frank. Meanwhile, Matt has assembled an "army" of his own that includes Karen, Cherry, detective Angie Kim, and other cops that are not loyal to Fisk and vows to take his city back. And in a mid-credits scene, Frank tricks a member of the AVTF named Anthony into putting his hand into Frank's cell. He brutally breaks Anthony's arm and begins his escape.

I definitely think we were thrown a red herring with this finale, because while we all thought this episode would be dark, we did not expect it to get as dark as it did. Fisk has basically turned New York into his personal playground where he can basically do whatever he wants. This dynamic is setting Fisk up to be untouchable with all the power, and Matt as the unsung hero who is going to have to save the city from Fisk. We clearly are setting up some sort of war for control of the city, and I am here for it. And before I go, I want to talk about how this episode ties in very closely to the current political climate we are in right now. This obviously was not intended, but I find it funny how Fisk is basically a version of the man in charge right now. Untouchable, defiant of any pushback, and has an army at his disposal that will terrorize the people in the city.

Daredevil: Born Again ends on a shocking level that features the best of the Devil from Hell's Kitchen with some gory violence and the darkest material ever seen in the MCU. Thank you all for reading, and I will see you for the next post.