Daredevil Season 3 Episode 9 Review: Revelations

This article comes from Den of Geek UK.

This Daredevil review contains spoilers.

Daredevil Season 3 Episode 9

Unsurprisingly, Matt learning the truth about Sister Maggie has not gone down well as Matt realizes that every parental figure he’s ever had – Father Lantom, Sister Maggie, and his father – have all lied to him about his place in the world. Understandably, he’s angry. And that anger translates into another cool little sequence where Matt argues with his dad (and later Fisk) inside his own head. As I said before, I’m impressed by the ambition of this show.

Seeing Maggie’s backstory gave a welcome bit of texture to the character, and I feel like we could be sympathetic to her plight. Luckily they kept things truncated, showing just enough to make us go “yeah, it’s not so simple as her being a bad person.” Matt, of course, had none of it – but everyone only did to him what he repeatedly does to Foggy and Karen, so maybe this’ll give him a little self-awareness moving forward.

I also enjoyed the return of two more things from the past: Fogwell’s Gym (an iconic Daredevil location) and the debate over whether killing Kingpin is something Matt should do. This sort of matter speaks to the heart of Matt/Daredevil as a character – once you’ve decided to take the law into your own hands, how far do you take it?

further reading: Complete Guide to Marvel Easter Eggs in Daredevil Season 3

Of course, Matt has decided to kill Fisk, and under the circumstances it seems sort of a given. Fisk has murdered with impunity even as his power grows, and will do so again. The law would surely put him to death. I love the way this Kingpin is a sort of Moriarty figure for Matt, and I can totally see Matt going full Reichenbach on him were it not for the fact that it would be kind of unsatisfying to end two consecutive seasons of his story with Matt dying.

As it is, Matt proves he isn’t completely gone by racing out to rescue Karen instead of taking out Fisk. Nadeem being compromised wasn’t what I’d call unpredictable, but pairing him up with Dex and letting him (and us) see just how deep the corruption goes is actually sort of thrilling. I’ve grown to like this guy and seeing him this far in over his head… I hope he gets out fine. I suspect he might not, but then I think I’ve said that about everyone so far.

further reading: Daredevil Season 3 Ending Explained

And Fisk finally earns the title of Kingpin by proving that not only has he got the whole FBI in his pocket, he’s been marking people for manipulation for years, from denying Nadeem’s relatives their healthcare to getting the Nelsons’ business on the skids so that he can get them in his thrall. For most of this season I wondered what Fisk’s plan actually was, and now we see just how grand a scope he’s working on. (Good to see Rosalie Carbone back, last seen in Luke Cage season 2)

Oh and finally, I just want to say: at the moment where I thought Matt’s black costume couldn’t be any cooler, augmenting his forearms with rope from the gym makes gives him the black and white appearance of Frank Miller at his best. I’m a total sucker for it.

Read and download the Den of Geek NYCC 2018 Special Edition Magazine right here!