DDV matt shows helmet to karen

At long last we have reached the finale of ‘Daredevil’ Season 2, and as expected, the show managed to tie up most of its plot points, which means a lot happened at the end. Let’s get into it:

The episode opens with Nobu besides the giant vat with the strange symbols on it, as a red-haired woman gives him a file with 20 potential targets. After re-iterating his point about how the Hand needs to destroy Daredevil in order to move forward, Nobu is asked by the woman which one they should go for, and Nobu demands that they hit all 20. Ominous indeed.

Back at Matt’s apartment, Matt finishes tying Stick to a chair to keep him out of trouble, with Stick wondering why Matt still trusts Elektra, and Matt pointing out that Elektra spared both of their lives. He then goes up to the roof where Elektra is brooding, maybe even thinking about killing herself so the Hand cannot capture her, but Matt reminds her that no matter what, she is her own person, and can always choose not to help the Hand. They instead decide to go to war with the Hand, to take down Nobu, who is the head of the group, and throw him in jail, where he will be revealed to be nothing more than a petty criminal to his zealot followers.

Matt takes Elektra to Melvin, who is rush designing armor for her using designs he was going to give to his wife, Matt clearly wanting to make sure Elektra has as much armor and protection as possible to give them the upper Hand (ba-dum-bum). Melvin also presents Matt with a new billy club that finally is able to do everything Daredevil’s billy club can do in the comics, including working as a grappling hook so Matt can swing through the buildings of Hell’s Kitchen. Elektra is understandably jealous, but she does have those awesome sais, so she cannot complain.

DDV jeri hogarth offers foggy a jobFoggy meanwhile has a meeting with Jeri Hogarth (clearly having recovered from the events of ‘Jessica Jones’), who confirms that her firm is impressed with Foggy’s skills. She makes him a job offer, with a salary that Foggy agrees is more than generous, and she tells him how they are looking for a lawyer who can think outside of the box, and who can help them with cases involving vigilantes. Following the interview, Foggy calls Matt to let him know that Detective Sergeant Mahoney was recently roughed up and that he needs to speak to Daredevil. Matt initially does not want to go as he about to go to war with the Hand, but Foggy reminds him that Mahoney has been there for both Murdock and Daredevil, and truly does need help.

Leaving Elektra and Stick behind for the moment, Matt suits up as Daredevil and heads down to the precinct to meet up with Mahoney, who appears very bruised and battered indeed. He claims some powerful people (and not just muscles) came for him, demanding case files of everyone the Daredevil had ever saved. Matt realizes it was most likely the Hand, and that they are going after innocent people he has helped over the years, including Karen Page. He immediately goes to Karen’s apartment, but finds the place ransacked, and Karen missing.

DDV punisher blows up old houseAs for Frank Castle, he returns to his family home and begins looking around, reminding himself of his family even as he prepares to fully head into the next chapter of his life. He has a newspaper article with a picture of his skull X-Ray, which inspires him, and he heads to the garage with a can of spray paint to finally create his iconic image on his new body armor. I know some will say it is excessive and he does not need to be in “costume” to be the Punisher, and I do agree with that, but it is nice to see him wearing the clothes that made him iconic, and it does in a way complete his transformation into the Punisher we know from the comics. Anyways, while he paints his shirt, he has the police radio on, listening for another opportunity to hand out some Punisher justice.

We next see Karen on a run-down bus (looking to be on loan from the Joker crime museum), sitting next to about 20 other people that we assume Daredevil has saved, being presided over by the red-haired woman from the opening scene and a group of Hand ninjas. Karen is sitting next to a small-time criminal named Turk, who was supposed to be on house-arrest, but managed to turn off his ankle monitor so he could go outside. Karen encourages him to turn the monitor back on so the police can find them and then watches as another victim tries to stand up to the Hand, and is shot in the head. Turk immediately turns on his monitor, and prays the Hand does not see it.

The police follow Turk’s monitor to an abandoned warehouse (could we even have superhero plots without abandoned warehouses? Do villains struggle to find hide-outs when the economy is up and those warehouses are actually put to their real use?), where they are attacked by Hand ninjas with bows and arrows, who shoot the officers down. Fortunately, before the second man fell he managed to radio in his location and situation, which alerts Daredevil to the location of the hostages, Matt having struggled to use his hearing to find them earlier. Matt and Elektra find the warehouse, but Elektra warns Matt not to go in this way, as he is walking into Nobu’s trap. The 20 lives he might save are but a drop in the bucket next to the millions he would save by taking down Nobu when the time is right. Matt agrees, but he cannot just let 20 civilians die, especially not when one of them is Karen Page. He tells Elektra to stay behind and he heads toward the warehouse.

Karen and Turk work to keep his monitor a secret but the Hand know they are somehow being tracked, and they find the monitor on Turk’s leg. Instead of trying to deactivate it, however, they decide the better course of action is to cut off Turk’s foot, and they begin slicing as Karen and Turk start screaming at them to stop. Luckily in that moment Daredevil crashes through the room’s window, taking out Hand agents and urging the hostages to flee out the front door. Meanwhile, the rest of the police have arrived outside the warehouse, but they are held back by the Ninja archers on the roof. The police keep their distance but make sure to grab and pull the hostages back into safety after they flee the building. Foggy arrives for no apparent reason and greets Karen, grateful for her safety, and asking what is going on. In what was probably meant to be a powerful moment, Karen comments that what is happening in that warehouse “might be the end of vigilantes in New York,” but the line falls flat because… well, how the hell would she know? Plus the only vigilante she knows is in there is Daredevil, and there is more than just Daredevil being heroic in New York unless somehow they have forgotten about Captain America and Iron Man, who also live in the Big Apple.

DDV mat and elektra plan for futureAnyway, Elektra shows up to help Matt find the ninjas, claiming she got bored outside, and the pair soon find themselves trapped, with Ninjas coming from below and an army of ninjas waiting for them on the roof. They discuss their future if they survive, with Matt basically telling Elektra that he only truly feels free with her, and would gladly give up his life in New York to be with her, to travel the world and stay in hiding with her. She reluctantly agrees, though she knows how much Matt loves New York, and at this point it seems painfully and disappointingly obvious to me that Elektra is going to die, and I’m a little disappointed the writers made it so obvious. So they charge out onto the roof where they face hundreds of ninjas and Nobu, even as the NYPD and a crowd watches from below (kind of, as they cannot really see everything on the roof from down below). Daredevil and Elektra hold their own, but eventually Nobu gets a killing shot at Daredevil (after having knocked off his helmet), but Elektra throws herself in front of her lover, and she takes the mortal injury instead. And then in typical superhero trope, everyone stops to watch Matt say goodbye to Elektra, and it makes no sense why these trained killers are waiting for Matt to have final words with Elektra before killing him. I hate when this happens in movies and shows, and it completely takes me out of the moment. So Elektra says her goodbye, commenting on how strange it feels to do good, and how this is not the end. Then she dies, and Matt gets up, and the fighting is back on.

DDV stick takes down NobuOnly now, as Matt approaches Nobu to get his revenge, he is not totally alone. The Punisher has set up his sniper rifle on a nearby rooftop (having overheard of the confrontation on the police radio), and Frank is taking down ninjas left and right, leaving a clear path for Matt to take on Nobu. After a fast a furious fight, Matt uses his new billy club to send Nobu flying off the roof to his “death” below (apparently Matt’s “no kill” creed does not extend to immortal ninjas  who just murdered his girlfriend), and then nods in thanks to Frank, who whispers back that he will see him around. I believe that this also means Frank knows Matt is the Daredevil now, since his helmet was off, which buys Frank some insurance, as Daredevil cannot go after him without Frank revealing his secret identity. Matt returns to Elektra’s body and holds her, as down below Nobu picks himself up from his fall, his immortality having saved him again. However, he is faced by a new attacker, who jams a sword through his heart. It is revealed to be Stick, who comments that this time Nobu needs to stay dead, as he swings the sword and lobs off the immortal gangster’s head. (it was a great moment)

DDV matt and stick at funeralIn the episode aftermath, Stick and Matt have a small funeral for Elektra, burying her in a cemetery in New York. Karen and Foggy meet at Josie’s one last time, as Foggy closes the Nelson and Murdock tab for good (the dream is dead). Karen struggles to write her article about Castle, but Ellison encourages her to instead write what she knows, and as she writes about the hero inside all of us. As she types and speaks about her article, a montage begins, where we see Matt walking down the street with a  strange package, and Frank Castle burning down his family home, cutting ties to his past. Before he goes through, he breaks a picture of him and his army buddies, and pulls ouDDV elektra corpse in Hand vatt a CD inside labeled “MICRO,” but what exactly that means will have to wait for another Netflix series (Maybe even Punisher’s series if that happens?). At the end, we see Karen meet with Matt in the old Nelson and Murdock offices, potentially the last time we will visit those hallowed grounds. He opens the package and pulls out the Daredevil helmet, informing Karen that he is Daredevil.

And in the final moment of the season, we see Elektra’s grave has been dug up, with a dead groundskeeper next to it. Next, in another warehouse, the Hand opens the vat with the strange symbols, and they have placed Elektra’s body inside, clearly intent on bringing her back to life as they did Nobu.

DDV foggy closes tab at JosiesThey definitely did not tie up every loose end, but that was alright because it was a pretty solid season finale nonetheless, even if some of the plot points were a little predictable. Definitely looking forward to where they go next with the characters, and to see if there is any chance of resurrecting Nelson and Murdock’s the same way they are going to save Elektra, and to see what role Wilson Fisk will play in the future of the series. Thanks for sticking with the recaps, and we’ll see you back here for the next Marvel Netflix Series, ‘Luke Cage,’ when it comes out in September!