Daredevil: Born Again Episode 1 doesn’t pull any punches. Its opening sequence is incredibly brutal, kicking off Matt Murdock’s next story with a death that “crosses a line.”
At the end of Daredevil Season 3 on Netflix, everything seemed… sort of right with the world. Matt, Foggy, and Karen were back together again, Wilson Fisk was arrested, and Benjamin Poindexter became Bullseye after his back was broken (okay that bit isn’t ideal).
Seven years later, the Man Without Fear is back – and as Disney Plus’ revival begins, Hell’s Kitchen remains in a state of peace. The ‘holy trinity’ are happy, working through a never-ending case load and serving the community, and they head out for a drink to mark a hard day’s work.
It all goes very, very wrong in an instant. Three becomes two, and Matt’s fury forces him to leave Daredevil behind.
Daredevil: Born Again Episode 1 opens with temporary peace in Hell’s Kitchen
The episode opens on Matt, Karen, and Foggy leaving the office and heading to Josie’s bar for a drink (they chat about Hell’s Kitchen and how Cherry – a new character in the series – is retiring from the police; according to Karen, 30% of the force have left in the last two years). “Still, the city finds other ways to protect itself,” Matt jokes.
It’s a busy night at the bar. Matt and Karen flirt at their own table, and Angie Kim speaks to Cherry about his retirement plans. He thinks Daredevil and vigilantes like White Tiger – remember this for later – have made the police obsolete. “Some are stand-up human beings worthy of the gig, others are just power-tripping assh*les,” she says.
Along the bar, Foggy tells Kirsten McDuffie (another new character whose importance becomes clear… shortly) about his time at Hogarth, Chao & Benowitz. She also asks him about “dumb Benny”, who ripped off a bonded warehouse. Foggy says he’ll get away with it, she isn’t so sure – and their disagreement paves the way for him to buy her a drink.
Bullseye kills Foggy, Daredevil tries to kill Bullseye
And this is when the good times stop. Matt tunes into Foggy’s conversation on the phone, and his client is panicking about someone in his apartment. We get a few shots of someone sneaking in and impaling a fly with a paper clip, and seconds later, Benny’s phone cuts out as he begs someone to stop. Matt races off to find out what’s happened, and Foggy tells him, “Sorry, maybe I just didn’t want to give you an excuse.”
Matt suits up, swings up to the rooftops and starts running – but something is wrong. Benny calls Foggy again and says, “He just wanted to know where you were… I’m sorry.”
Meanwhile, Bullseye lines up his shot – and he never misses. Seconds later, Foggy is on the ground bleeding out and Josie’s is filled with gas. “Hello, Karen,” Bullseye says as he raises his gun, but Daredevil arrives just in time to tackle him through the window, and they duke it out.
It’s an intense fight; Bullseye throws a lot of knives at Matt (and some pool balls at random people – owch), all while he hears Foggy’s heartbeat slowing down and Karen’s speeding up as she feels her friend slip away. They take it to the rooftop, with Matt battering Bullseye as Foggy dies beneath him.
“Jesus Christ,” Karen screams, and Matt shouts, “Why?” in Bullseye’s face. He smiles back at him, so Matt throws him off the roof onto the road. Karen hears the impact, but she barely feels any relief when she sees Matt is still alive. Cherry makes it to the roof, where Matt has already taken off his mask – so that’s someone else who knows his secret identity!
But wait, Bullseye somehow survived the fall! Matt cries as he drops his cowl from the ledge; Daredevil no more.
One year later
Disney+Episode 1 jumps ahead one year. Matt gets ready for work as a news anchor on his TV show and speaks about the race for mayor of New York – this is about to become very important – and “provocative murals” appearing around the city.
Elsewhere, Wilson Fisk sits down to an atypical meal: a chicken breast with a single piece of asparagus (he’s looking especially trim). Vanessa, who’s since taken over Fisk’s criminal enterprise, handles a disagreement between the Five Families; specifically, someone called Luca demands payment for coming into an area called Red Hook, even though it’s exempt from anything like that.
In short, she tells them to settle down, and they listen. As she tells them about their monthly revenue, Fisk appears, twitching his fingers as the shutter is raised. “Vanessa,” he softly says, making it clear this is the first time they’ve seen each other since the events of Season 3.
Fisk can see they’re loyal to Vanessa (after all, she made the business “bulletproof”), and he doesn’t want to get in the way. He’s been trying to put himself back together, and he’s recognized two absolute things about him: he loves her and he thinks they could do wonders for New York. How? He wants to run for mayor. “It’s time,” he says.
The episode then introduces its first ‘The BB Report’ segment. BB Urich (the niece of Ben Urich, who was killed by Fisk) interviews people on the streets of New York and asks them about issues in the city. They don’t have any impact on the plot, so don’t expect to see them in these recaps. All you need to know is that Daredevil hasn’t returned since Foggy’s death.
Matt faces off with Bullseye one more time
Disney+Matt arrives at his new firm: Murdock and McDuffie, and Kirsten hands him a coffee. She asks him how he’s feeling for tomorrow, and he says he’s fine.
What’s tomorrow? Well, it’s only Bullseye’s sentencing for the murder of his best friend!
Matt takes the stand, telling everyone in attendance that “justice will not be served today… it won’t be served because whatever sentence is passed, Foggy Nelson – only his mother called him Franklin – will still be dead.”
He stumbles on his words as he hears Karen’s heels walk into the courtroom, before he composes himself. “It won’t be served because I don’t get to see him again. We don’t get to see Foggy again today or tomorrow or ever, because my friend is dead. Killed on the whim of a violent and disturbed man. A self-styled assassin with a grudge, out to murder his perceived enemies,” he continues.
“But, in the absence of justice, the court can punish this man, and I urge you to do so to the fullest extent the law allows, because that punishment is the closest any of us will ever get to justice.”
Bullseye declines to respond, and the judge notes his lack of remorse the night of Foggy’s death and since. For 11 counts of murder, she sentences him to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Outside the courtroom, Matt and Karen briefly catch up. She’s moved to San Francisco, but she hasn’t been replying to Matt’s calls or messages. “My friend died too, Matt… and I lost you. You didn’t talk to me for weeks. I was halfway in and halfway out,” she says.
She apologizes for not responding to him and for “ending it”, and she says she’s glad he’s doing so well. “I refuse to believe a tragedy had to destroy everything,” he says, and she replies: “It did.”
Karen asks Matt what he’s going to do about Daredevil. “I made a promise to myself that I’d let the system handle it… all of it. Besides, I’m not him anymore, and I won’t let myself be,” he says.
As Karen gets up to leave, Matt almost whimpers as he begs her to stay. She hands him something she found at Josie’s after Foggy died: one of the horns from his cowl. She walks away, leaving him alone.
Fisk announces he’s running for mayor
Disney+That night, Matt is cooking himself dinner in the dark when he overhears Fisk addressing the people of New York. He turns on the TV to listen to what he’s saying.
“Vigilantes, they run rampant. Good cops are afraid. Bad cops, well, they just don’t care. The city, the streets, it’s no longer safe for decent people. Tonight I’m making a commitment to fix the system, to fix our city. Tonight I’m declaring my candidacy for mayor of New York,” he says, and Matt is so surprised that his food burns behind him.
Over at Fisk’s base, his campaign manager Sheila tries to steer him towards less unorthodox behavior, but one of her aides – Daniel Blake – says he shouldn’t change a thing, because his singular approach is what’s made him so popular so quickly.
Fisk asks him why he’d vote for him. “You get sh*t done, you made things happen for yourself, now you’ll make things happen for New York. I mean… Mayor Fisk? That’s the coolest f**king thing on the planet,” he says. Fisk stays pretty icy – but he clearly likes him.
Matt meets Heather
Disney+The next day, Matt meets Heather, a prospective client – or so he thought. It was actually an elaborately planned date, quietly organized by Kirsten. Neither of them is happy about it, but they decide to make the best of an awkward situation.
They talk about their upbringings in Hell’s Kitchen and Queens, and as the music swells, it seems like it may have been a happy accident. Matt tries to confront Kirsten, but he can’t hide the fact that the date went well.
Matt meets with Cherry, who’s been digging into Fisk’s campaign – and, to his surprise, it’s clean. “If I didn’t know better, know him better, I’d say he sounds sincere, like he maybe actually wants to do something for the city… if this city actually elects him, then maybe New York’s getting the mayor it deserves.”
Later that night, Matt listens to Fisk’s debate and how he’s “endured vigilante violence, and I can assure you there’s nothing nuanced about getting shot.”
He steamrolls his opponent, who wants to register the vigilantes in New York. “That’s like making a grocery list of cancers. I propose treatment,” Fisk says.
Matt and Fisk… go for coffee
Disney+Matt finds Fisk as he emerges from a crowd and asks to go for a coffee. They sit down together, and Matt tells him his step is lighter – Fisk thinks it’s a jab, but Matt meant it earnestly. “Well, I’ll admit, it’s not entirely unpleasant to see you again,” he says.
Fisk tells Matt about how he tried to mentor someone (Echo), but she shot him in the face. “Younger generation, what can we do?” he laughs.
It’s unsettlingly genial, but Fisk can tell that Matt is keeping tabs on him. “You’re a man of the people now,” Matt says. “A rich man, by his nature, is self-serving. A mayor serves his city,” Fisk tells him.
Fisk swears to Matt he wasn’t at all responsible for Foggy’s death and that he wants to go the straight and narrow – but Matt can’t shake the feeling he’s gaming the system.
Fisk asks why Matt stopped being a vigilante. “My best friend was killed. A line was crossed, and I felt like I lost the privilege. Despite the good I was doing, I was causing damage,” he explains.
“It’s hard to come to terms with the violent nature, hating the power it has over us,” Fisk says, but Matt tells him: “I was raised to believe in grace, that we can be touched by the divine and transformed into a better person. So if you say to me you’re a new man, I say fine. But you should know, I was also raised to believe in retribution. So if you step out of line, I will be there.”
Fisk vows there will be consequences if Matt ever takes up the Daredevil mantle again. “I will not tolerate people running around in silly costumes,” he says. Matt leaves, and though it’s a tense note, it is still one of understanding.
Fisk becomes Mayor of New York
Disney+Matt goes on a second date with Heather, but he’s distracted by the news of Fisk’s win blaring from the car radios around him. Heather asks about their history, and Matt says their paths have crossed a few times. “He’s selling New York a savior, underneath he’s a monster,” he tells her as crowds start celebrating on the streets.
Fisk and Vanessa share a glance at one another back at his base, before they head up to the roof. He reveals he “knows about Adam” (who that is and what happened remains unclear). “Do not kill him,” she asks, but he promises he’s not that sort of man anymore.
“My fellow citizens, tonight you have ushered in a new dawn, a time of prosperity and more importantly, peace on the streets. A time of hope. I promise you I will live up to that hope as your mayor. We have a long road ahead of us, much to do. But I want you to know, tonight, and every night – I love New York,” he tells the city in his victory address.
Back on the street, Heather tells Matt to try and relax, and they kiss. As he walks through the cheering crowds, he hears screams of fear and terror beneath the celebrations; welcome to Fisk’s New York.
Make sure you know when the next episode drops with our Daredevil: Born Again release schedule, find out more about when Born Again takes place in the MCU timeline, and check out our ranking of every Marvel TV show.
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