“In the Blood”
Written by Joe Pokaski Directed by Ken Girotti The Story The Russians have been struggling so much because of the actions of the masked man (Matt) that they up their game. They succeed in kidnapping Claire and try to beat information about Matt out of her. Matt rescues her before they can get anything out of her, and he beats all of her captors to pulps. Elsewhere in town, Wilson Fisk asks out the nice lady who sold him the weird painting, and they hit it off fairly well—until one of the Russians barges in to tell him in person that he accepts his deal. Though this was meant to be a gesture of submission and willingness to cooperate, Fisk responds by bludgeoning the man’s head with a car door until it’s a blood and brain matter smoothie. There will be serious consequences for this, but Fisk is confident he can frame the masked man. Matt, Foggy, and Ben in particular all seem to share this mentality of “is what I’m doing even worth it?” in this one. Matt isn’t sure he’s really making a difference beating up thugs. Foggy isn’t sure Nelson & Murdock is making a difference, and Ben isn’t sure his career has been worth it if nobody appreciates his work and it might have cost him some quality time with his wife before she got sick. In each case, the positives seem outweighed by the negatives, but the positives are still significant. Karen is still alive because of Nelson & Murdock, because of Matt’s vigilantism, and because of Ben’s article on Union Allied, and the little boy is back with his dad because of Matt. There may still be miles to go before they sleep, but just because the difference they’re making is small compared to what they still have to face, it doesn’t mean it’s negligible. Another parallel is Matt and Fisk both saying they just want to make Hell’s Kitchen a better place. Fisk is doing that by trying to control it, and Matt is doing that by trying to personally hospitalize all the bad guys. Top down and bottom up approaches, respectively. Things I Liked
Things I Didn’t
The Characters Matt wondering if he’s even making a difference because the bad guys keep coming and he might be putting people he cares about in harm’s way—that’s almost exactly the same crisis Angel was in. Matt even has it a little harder. Most of the time, Angel is free to use lethal force because he’s fighting literal monsters. Matt is fighting men, and all he can do is hospitalize them. Which means they can get back out and keep hurting people. Karen is so full of idealism and determination, but she’s not awesome at subterfuge. Foggy seems to have only learned a temporary lesson from representing the psycho hitman in the previous episode. He’s back to not being sure it’s worth it to only help the clients least likely to be able to pay them. Which lines up nicely with Matt’s own questions and doubts about his vigilante work. Are all veteran reporters ninjas like Ben is? Because that’s awesome. It’s also awesome how he pretended to blow Karen off when he was really just trying to get her to give up so she’d be safe. He’s got an excellent poker face. But it’s sad that he blames at least some of his remarkable skill for not being as good of a husband as he could’ve been. How is it that I’ve seen this season twice already, but this is the first time I’ve noticed that Claire has that shaved side of the head haircut going on? We got to see the best side of Fisk and the most terrifying. He’s actually quite charming on a date. Very considerate and respectful, but also honest. You can tell that he’s a little uncomfortable because he doesn’t do this often. And then there’s him completely losing it with Anatoly. Poor guy. And he was the more reasonable of the Russian bros. Vanessa is kind of hard to figure out. She likes super weird art that looks like a blank canvas, but she also likes Hell’s Kitchen, warts and all, and she currently seems to expect good things from a romantic partner. The first time I watched the show, I fully expected Vanessa to reject Fisk after she found out the truth about his business. Knowing how it actually plays out this time, maybe I’ll be better equipped to analyze her. Overall Rating 5/5
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
The Watcher's Diary
In this blog, I'll be reviewing, analyzing, and generally fangirling over excellent television. Exhibit A: the Whedonverse. Archives
March 2018
Categories
All
|