Daredevil - S1E6 - Condemned

Previously on Daredevil, ‘World on Fire‘

“World’s a shitty place.You can quote me on that.”

“Condemned” picks up immediately after the previous episode with Matt and a wounded Vladimir cornered by the police, who are, unsurprisingly, working for Wilson Fisk. The two escape on foot while the outstandingly corrupt Officers Blake and Hoffman lead the charge to hunt the pair down and kill them.

Murphy’s Law is in full effect for Matt and Vladimir throughout this episode. Everything and everything that could go wrong pretty much does. Fisk frames the slaughter of police, some innocent and some under his employ, on The Vigilante. Matt even has to resort to cauterizing Vladimir’s wound with a flare while being directed by Claire via cellphone. The Russian screams in agony as Matt treats his gunshot wound, much to Claire’s delight. Yet though they’ve spent most of their time together exchanging coarse words and a few blows here and there, Vladimir comes to the solemn realization that Matt is his only hope for striking back at Fisk, thus avenging Anatoly’s murder. In the end, he helps Matt escape the police by making one final stand like a cowboy in a Spaghetti Western. Before Vladimir goes out guns blazin’ however, he imparts Matt with the name of Leland Owlsley in the hopes that he uses it bring down Fisk, his allies, and their criminal empire.

“I want to save this city like you… Only on a scale that matters”

The best moment of “Condemned” is undoubtedly when Matt Murdoch and Wilson Fisk finally interact. The two exchange words through a walkie-talkie which only heightens the sense of mystery they have for one another. To Fisk, Matt is just an elusive figure dressed in black, who he has seen on footage throughout the city. In Matt’s mind, Wilson Fisk is just a name attached to a mysterious organization that manipulates Hell’s Kitchen from the shadows.

Both men reveal they view themselves as the savior of their city and are on the quest for the greater good of its citizens. Their conversation is very much like something straight out of a comic book: a charismatic villain bringing up the fact that, despite their diametrically opposed methods, perhaps they’re not so different from one another. And while Matt runs off to fight another day, he at least has the name of the man behind the money funding Fisk’s criminal enterprise: Leland Owlsley. Although it’s just a name, it’s a start.

Side Notes

• Vladimir has such a way with words.
• Ben Urich using a deck of cards to represent the criminal structure of Hell’s Kitchen seemed cheesy and heavy-handed.
• Who is Madame Gao? Fisk is most intent on not disappointing her out of all of his colleagues.
• Foggy and Karen meet Claire when they rush a wounded Mrs. Cardenas into the nearest hospital. All three are unaware of their mutual friend at this point, whose safety they are all concerned for throughout the episode.