Previously: Episodes 1 and 2 and 3 and 4...
In the next three episodes the tension really escalates as Fisk starts taking down his own accomplices and Matthew's life gets far more crowded with thorny alliances.
Great moments in set decoration. Check that anonymity pledge behind Daredevil's altar ego Matthew Murdock
1.5 "World on Fire"
An extremely busy and successful episode: Claire & Murdock get closer holed up in his apartment and then suddenly further apart. Fisk & Vanessa get closer on a second date. Daredevil realizes he's been framed for last episode's beheading. Nelson & Murdoch get a client asking them to fight their slum lord and Fisk moves against the Russians with things-go-boom devastation.
Major Characters Introduced: Elena Cardenes (Judith Delgado) the client in question. Marci Stahl (Ami Rutberg) Foggy's ex and a rival lawyer.
Crimes: Suicide Bombings, Mass Murder, Accidental Murder, Slum Lord Intimidation and Neglect, Police Brutality
Body Count: 5 blind Asians? 100 or so Russians? Guessing.
Cameo: Fun shout-out to superhero tropes: 'are you one of those billionaire playboys I've heard about'
More...
Murdock and Claire are so hot together. Rosario is in way too few episodes!
Foxiest Moment: The Matthew/Claire kiss. 'I was wondering if they were ever going to do that.'
Trouble Spot: No No No Show! Do Not Do This. Do not try to visualize Murdock's sonar & senses. It never turns out well. This wasn't as egregiously dumb as the CG visions of outlines in rain from Daredevil (2003) but it's... well, it's still dumb.
Best Moment: Murdoch eavesdropping at the police station (pictured above). A chilling moment of impotence. There's nothing he can do.
Funniest Moment: Foggy worrying about being "shark-attacked" at a big law firm they're up against.
Foggy: Look at me. I'm delicious!
Karen: I've never seen sharks feed up close.
Matthew: Try not to splash too much. It attracts them.
Foggy: You are both so funny.
Action Moment: The first fight scene with the Russians accidentally killing a blind man awith a gunshot through a cab window as they fight with Daredevil on the street.
Best Shot / Episode MVP: Ayelet Zurer is so quietly intriguing as Vanessa, the object of Fisk's affections. Her reaction to the explosions all over town is fascinating, a mix of awe, horror, and fluid superiority morality... "good"... in keeping with the show's own tortured make-it-up-as-we-go-along dangerous idealism from all sides.
Grade: B+ a good episode showcasing virtually everything that works about the show (carefully plotting, great chemistry between actors, occasional bursts of action).
1.6 "Condemned"
Do we call this a bottle episode? Not quite. But Daredevil, in an attempt to pull info from nearly dead Vladimir gets trapped and surrounded in an abandoned building as police and enemies and press all surround a burning building nearby where he's believed to be. Meanwhile his friends are all holed up in the hospital, watching the masked man (i.e. their friend though they don't know it yet) framed as the presumed bomber on TV. A switcher courtesy of criminal mastermind Wilson Fisk of course...
Major Characters Introduced: None
Crimes: Murder, Attempted Murder, Police Corruption, Performning Medical Procedures Without Proper Licensing
Body Count: 7-10 ???
Best Shot:
The dirtiest of cops.
Foxiest Moment: Karen's kiss on Foggy's forehead. Their relationship is so sweet and sometimes sweet is also foxy. Well it is when Deborah Ann Woll does it okay?
Action Moment: Daredevil's handcuffed flipping to take down three dirty cops.
Episode MVP: The writers of this tight tense pivotal episode. Plus Vincent D'Onofrio. His vocal affectations in the role prove far more affective with the filter of a speaker phone as his calm violence condemns Daredevil's righteous ideology. "Your part ends tonight" -- it's their first conversation and it's a doozy, largely because the show has been so smart about making our hero fallible and vulnerable rather than unrelatable and impervious to harm.
Grade: A-
1.7 "Stick"
Stick returns to Hell's Kitchen to Terminate "Black Sky" who turns out to be a little kid though we never learnwhat's so dangerous about him. The mission is interwoven with scenes from Matt's youth and his training with Stick which ends with painful emotional abandonment because Stick can't handle sentimentality in his young mentee.
Best Shot:
Great juxtaposition of Stick as soulless pragmatist, negotiating money to a nun in front of a cross as he agrees to help a blind orphan.
Major Characters Introduced: Stick (Scott Glenn), a father figure who doesn't want to be one. Shares Matthew's gifts of fearsome warrior who happens to be blind.
Cameo: FORESHADOWING. Some dude Stick reports too has a nonsensical conversation about Season 2.
Crimes: Maiming/Beheading (gross), Assault, Child Murder (offscreen), Destroying lots of perfectly good furniture in Matt's apartment.
Body Count: 2
Funniest: Foggy & Karen's awkward retaliation against thugs with Mace & Baseball Bat. "What are you doing here?" "What are you doing here?"
Foxiest: None. You always notice when Claire's not in an episode, don'cha?
Best Action Moment: Stick vs. Murdock at Murdock's so much grudge holding in the punches and kicks.
The show is really organically building the myth. He's gone from "Masked Man" without a name to press dubbed "The Devil of Hell's Kitchen". Still not Daredevil
The Battle for Hell's Kitchen's soul in visual shorthand
Best Moment: Ben Urich and his investigation board, pointing out to Foggy & Karen that the Masked Man/The Devil of Hell's Kitchen (not yet called Daredevil) and Wilson Fisk (Not yet called Kingpin) are enemies.
Episode MVP: Charlie Cox starts the episode as the levelheaded lawyer but by the end he's regressed back to childhood hurts. So damaged. Such a great spin on a troubled superhero without feeling like a paint-by-numbers anti-hero.
Grade: B
Have you been watching? I'm almost done since the show has proved quite addictive. It's particularly strong with the dismounts on each episode leaving you on mini-cliffhangers or with intriguing dangling carrots in view. Episode 7 would actually feel pretty smart as a mid-season finale if this were a normal once a week show... since the plot is coming together and the stakes are feeling higher and more soulful.