Daredevil – S2E10 – The Man in the Box

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Previously on Daredevil, “Seven Minutes in Heaven”

“Yeah, this whole case has been a disaster.”

How do you follow a near-perfect episode like “Seven Minutes in Heaven?” That’s essentially the conundrum of this episode. I wouldn’t condemn “The Man in the Box” for falling short of high expectations: it was a good episode of what seems to be a very different season of Daredevil. Much like the one before this episode continues to split the story between the Frank Castle/Wilson Fisk plot line and The Hand/Elektra plot line, but with Matt spending equal amount of airtime between the two.

Guess which plot was the better?

“Frank Castle’s on the loose. I wouldn’t take any chances either.”

For an episode that dedicated half of its airtime to Frank Castle, he was suspiciously absent in the episode. Instead it’s his presence and the mystery of his whereabouts that looms over Matt, Karen, and Foggy. The Punisher-centric half of the episode picks up with Matt and the gang catching wind of Frank’s escape. A very worried and dressed-down DA Reyes summons them to her offices where she claims that threats have been made against her daughter, possibly by Frank Castle himself. When pressed further as to why Frank would have any motive to threaten her family, Reyes attempts to come clean about her involvement in the cover-up of the murder of Frank’s wife and kids. But before she can finish, and in the dramatic fashion of classics like The Goodfellas and Scarface, a hail of bullets kills her dead. Goodbye, Camille Reyes. We barely knew you. Though you were so cartoonish I doubt we even cared. But we probably weren’t supposed be deeply affected in her death. We (along with the rest of New York City) are instead supposed to think that Frank Castle murdered her. But anyone who recalls Karen’s heartfelt tete-a-tete with him knows that threatening the innocent isn’t his modus operandi.

“I’ll chop both the heads off of that snake.”

It doesn’t take Matt long to realize Fisk’s involvement in Frank’s escape. And in a scene that we’ve all been waiting for since the season began, Matt and Wilson sit down and have a little talk. The confrontation is tense and thrilling especially because Wilson still doesn’t know that Matt is Daredevil. In a move that proves disastrous, Matt uses Vanessa as leverage to threaten Fisk leading to an explosive beat down that nobody saw coming. Fisk, despite being in chains, virtually smashes away the smug look off of Matt’s handsome face. The guards don’t make a move to stop Fisk because it’s become very clear that he’s got the entire prison in his employ. Of course Matt doesn’t make an attempt to fight back lest he display any evidence that would link him to his alter ego.

Blood and Gore

Following the aftermath of her break-up with Matt, Elektra dispatches an assassin sent by her beloved sensei Stick. The plot thickens.

Elsewhere, the mysteries surrounding what The Hand has done to these people from “the Farm” continues to remain unclear. And while the show continues to paint this aura of otherworldliness about what the details of their nefarious plans are, it continues to lack compelling elements that want us to be invested in this story—I mean, other than being ghoulish and creepy. If there’s one thing that this half of the episode executed splendidly it’s the action sequences.

Nevertheless, Matt decides to drop a horde of blood-drained, creepy teenagers into the hands of Claire Temple. And as pragmatic as it would seem to leave these children in the care of Metro General Hospital, Claire and her co-workers aren’t equipped to deal with strange maladies. Unsurprisingly, the consequences of Matt’s decision are disastrous and Metro General Hospital braces itself for an onslaught of mystical ninjas.

Side Notes and Memorable Quotes

• “I’ll spend more than $6 postage to bring you down.”-Wilson Fisk
• ”Holy shit, she’s got no prints.”
• “Tequila. Mezcal if you have it.”-Elektra. You drink the heavy stuff, honey.
• As cheesy as this sounds, I yelped out loud when Elektra busted out her iconic sai.
• Six bodies inside a trunk of a Maserati? There’s the material for Nicki Minaj’s new single.
• The final shot of the episode would be an amazing level in Marvel Ultimate Alliance.

Quote of the Week

This delightful exchange…

Elektra: “Are you going to kill me?”

Jacques: “Something like that.”

Elektra: “Well, you ought to know: it’s rude to keep a girl waiting.”