Warning: Some spoilers ahead.
The third episode of Daredevil: Born Again reaches the show’s highest episode ranking so far on IMDB, strongly suggesting that audiences not only do not mind the occasional episode set mostly in court, they enjoy them. At least when they’re this well executed. I would personally rank the first two episodes above this one, but the competition is very tight at this point, and The Hollow of His Hand was another very strong episode.
The absolute star of the episode is Kamar de los Reyes as Hector Ayala who sadly passed away in December of 2023. The way his character’s story ends felt inevitable, yet still hit hard. Ending the episode not with a song playing over the credits this time, but the call of the little frog that Hector tells Matt about at the very start of the episode, was haunting and beautiful.
Speaking of that very first scene, I also couldn’t help but think about how Hector’s whistling created a very special moment for the two of them to share. Hector feels hopelessly far away from the beach he remembers, and Matt would never be able to appreciate the visual beauty Hector describes. But that sound was brought in to fill the emptiness of a stark holding cell and transport them both across space and time.
For his part, Matt makes some terrible decisions this episode that are also very true to his character. I’m of the opinion that making too much of the distinction between Daredevil on the one hand, and Matt the lawyer on the other, misses how the core of his character ties it all together. Matt Murdock’s full personality was on display this episode. The kick he gets out of knowing he holds power over Officer Powell, mocking him privately during their encounter in the restroom, and then publicly when Powell is on the stand. It doesn’t get more peak Matt Murdock than the following exchange:
“Officer Powell, good morning. I'm told you have a black eye. I hope everything is okay.”
“Yeah, don't worry about it.“
“You know, there's this thing they say in boxing. The best cure for a black eye is fast hands.”
Later in the episode, when Matt pulls his big stunt and outs Hector as the White Tiger, I was equal parts intrigued and horrified. I’m no lawyer, but I’m pretty sure that would be considered a major ethics violation if Hector had chosen to pursue it.
One ameliorating circumstance is that Hector himself had seemed unbothered by the prospect of his secret becoming public knowledge in the previous episode, but this is still a big and highly questionable gamble. He is not only violating the trust of his client, but also that of Kirsten in particular. I’m also sympathetic to the judge in this case who rightly didn’t appreciate the flagrant disrespect of the court.
I suspect that there’s also an undercurrent of “misery loves company” at play here. Matt has decided to stop being Daredevil, and so forces Hector’s hand to push him in the same direction, as if to convince himself he’s made the right decision.
All taken together, this behavior is both very, very bad - and very much the kind of thing we might expect from a character like Matt Murdock and his shocking disregard for the consequences of his actions. Though I can certainly understand if the members of the audience who are in the legal profession themselves had the same reaction to this trial (and its rapid pace, though that is typical of legal dramas in general) as I would have if Matt insisted he heard a mosquito sneeze in Brooklyn. 😉
There’s not a lot happening with Wilson and Vanessa this episode, though I find it interesting that Fisk’s right hand man Buck Cashman mentions that he’s not representing the mayor, but “the man,” when he goes to get the two warring crime families to fall back in line. Because, we’re also told that he wasn’t actually sent there by Wilson Fisk, but by Vanessa, which makes me wonder how he fits into all of this, and where his loyalties lie.
Overall, a very solid episode that whets my appetite for more. I can imagine that Matt is really going to feel this massive loss in the next episode, and with that ending I have a very strong suspicion it will be time for a visit with Frank.
As a former civil litigator who actually tried cases and a former appellate criminal defense lawyer who has read a lot of transcripts of criminal trials, I have to say the handling of the legal matters in the first three episodes has been far superior to the original Netflix series. I have a number of legal nitpicks, but none that rise to the level of my dislike of the Frank Castle trial in season two – nothing that makes me want to throw things at the TV screen, so far.
For example, the argument on the motion in limine was a condensed version of the argument that might be made on this issue in a real case. I also liked that Matt and Kirsten sounded like real lawyers when they were talking to each other in the office. (Caveat: in my old firm there would have been a lot more swearing!)
On the other hand, the timing and sequence of events before and during the trial was confusing; things were compressed and weren’t happening in the order in which they would typically happen in a real trial. Of course, the case went to trial unrealistically quickly, but that’s to be expected in a TV show.
That being said, Matt’s desperation tactic – or stunt, if you prefer – in outing his own client as the White Tiger, without even consulting the client, was totally over-the-top and something no lawyer in his right mind would even consider doing. So of course it was totally in character for Matt Murdock.
It was not only an ethical violation – disclosing confidential client communications without consent. It was also a violation of the court’s order – an order that Matt himself asked for – excluding evidence of Hector’s identity as the White Tiger. I was halfway expecting the judge to find him in contempt of court.
Matt will not only be in deep shit with the DA’s office. Judges talk to each other. In real life, every judge in that courthouse would hear about Matt’s stunt within 24 hours.
When Matt was telling Hector after the trial that he had to stop being the White Tiger, I was thinking, “Who are you trying to convince, Matt?”
RIP Kamar de los Reyes. You gave a wonderful final performance and will always be the White Tiger to me.
On a totally unrelated note, did anyone else notice the watch Matt was wearing in the cooking scene at the end of the episode? Very cool.
I wasn’t able to add a screenshot of Matt’s watch, but here’s a link to a page with photos and information about the type of watch he is wearing: https://microbrandwatchworld.com/reviews/eone-watches/
And another page about the watch: https://www.ablogtowatch.com/eone-bradley-watch-review/
I was surprised the judge didn’t hit Matt with a contempt of court. (From my limited TV legal knowledge.)
I’m a little worried about what the corrupt cop is going to do now that he knows Matt can fight.
I misunderstood the plan in the previous episodes. I thought Vanessa was going to continue to act as Kingpin behind the scenes while Fisk was in the spotlight as mayor. I was surprised in this episode to discover that he had asked her to step away from that completely (although she hadn’t entirely). She wasn’t wearing all white anymore, although I did find that a fun Easter egg in the first episode where she was kingpin in his place wearing a white dress.
I loved the toast to Foggy.
I don’t think the assassin was the Punisher, but maybe a fan misinterpreting his code of justice? There seemed to be quite a lot of graffiti, etc… with his symbol around.
Dear Christine,
first of all, wellcome back! I missed your spot-on analyses so much!
So far I am more than impressed with the television show. I had complete confidence that Chris Ord and Matt Corman would handle Matt well, I really liked the way Auggie Andersson was written in Covert Affairs and I hoped that they would pull off something like the excellent fourth season of Covert Affairs with Daredevil Born Again. So I was very disappointed when the showrunner changed and I am kind of dreading the later episodes of the season.
But so far there is no perceptable break in the change of showrunner and I really, really like the story, the pacing, die excellent dialogue and all the small details like how Matt cooked or how he used sound to find the bullet casing.