Daredevil: Born Again Finale Watchalong: I'm Talking Matt And Karen, The Punisher's Brutal Return And More - Live Blog

Thanks For Joining Me, Daredevil Fans!

I think we’re all in for a good pummeling tonight, both from Daredevil’s fists and, you know, from like, emotions and shit. But before any of the good stuff goes down, let me throw a few hopes out there into the ethers:

• Foggy returns from the dead, or just returns not dead
• Karen returns, but also not dead
• The Punisher clones himself
• Matt and Heather split up in a big, juicy, dramatic way
• Fisk's entire Task Force become target practice for Pointdexter's lethal spitballs

It's So Close I Can Taste It Even Without Super-Senses

A final toast to the first eight Season 1 episodes before we slam our faces down violently into this finale!

Starting Off With A Flashback

I can't say I would have predicted Daredevil: Born Again's swan song kicking off with a reference to Jay Ali's Ran Nadeem, but I'll take it, I suppose.

I'm not sure how much we should be reading into Vanessa touching Pointdexter's hands so much while convincing him to sign that paperwork, but it seemed to work like a charm. Well maybe not a charm, since it led to Foggy and Matt getting shot.

Worked like a 'harm. There it is.

I cannot believe they just faked me out with a Karen hallucination, and then it turned out to be Heather. WHY, TV SHOW, WHY?!?

Fisk Kinda-Sorta Puts A Hit Out

Wilson Fisk namechecking Gallo in an optimistic way feels destined to blow up in his face. And yelling at his staff (even if it's justified) doesn't exactly help.

And then he's gonna follow all that up by threatening Matt's life?!? By sending that dork Cashman?!? (I know the character has a comic history, but this live-action version is a nerve-grating dingus.)

For all of his own problems, I can appreciate anytime someone in any position of power can say a statement like this with confidence, even if it's just acting:

Which of course then leads to complete chaos across the city.

But look who failed to get his target: Cashman.

Hell Yeah, Frank Is Here Baby!

Nobody else can just jump into an MCU property and say a line like this that makes one feel both threatened and empathetic to Frank's plight:

A guy like that needs his caffeine, you know?

Epic Fight #1

Oh. My. Red. Horned. Devil. God. That was one hell of an action sequence in every good way possible.

So many faces smashed. So many bones broken. So many bullets put just through that one guy's face and that desk. So many squelching noises as Frank went blade-crazy on that other guy.

In most cases, I'd be bothered that Matt didn't knock the radio out of that Task Force agent before he alerted others about Frank's presence, but at this point, I want them to come and get their asses ripped apart and fed to them, or whatever Frank has cooked up.

Karen Karen Bo Baren!

It would have been baffling if Deborah Ann Woll had returned only to film that one fakeout scene. But no, she's back! And in the same room with both Frank and Matt! It's the dream team!

Of course this show IMMEDIATELY split up the dream team, and then Frank reminded her that he paid his favor back, making it sound like he had no plans on seeing her again in the near future. So, kind of a net-negative, but still! Karen!

Even though Daniel Blake as a character doesn't excite me very much, I do love the way that Michael Gandolfini is able to appear completely warm and cuddly in one second, and like a possessed psychopath in the next. I gotta hope his pops would be proud.

Now We Know What The Fisks Are Up To

Karen and Matt just can't let things like feelings and happiness to see each other stop them from fulfilling the mission. So it's good that Karen was able to immediately figure out the big secret behind the Fisks' plan.

Red Hook' charter makes it a free port, which Vanessa has taken advantage of with her stored art. They want to make Red Hook a city/stage, at least that's how Matt sees it.

The Punisher Gets Punished

Kudos to Frank for trying to enact some justice by taking out some of the Task Force members that were showing zero discretion about their murderous patterns. And he certainly did take down some of them.

But sadly not everyone, and it was more depressing than I thought to watch him get whooped up on before having to sit tied up in front of a bunch of poseur shitbags in skull-emblazoned garb.

I wish we'd have the chance to see all of those cops on fire to test whether or not Frank would piss on them or not.

This Franchise's First Jaw-Ripping Murder

I don't know if it's poetic exactly that we've gone from Vincent D'Onofrio's Kingpin slamming someone's head into a pulp with a car door to the point where he's ripping faces off of police commissioners in full view of others as a Mayor of a metropolis. But it has certainly been fun to watch this evolution in brutality all the same.

I thought he was going to squeeze Gallo's head until it popped or something, but no, he was just loosining the man's head bones until it was all malleable enough to just rip that sucker off of the rest of his skull.

His post-face-destroying etiquette is on point, at the very least.

Martial Law In New York City, Because Fisk Said So

This is all going to go very well for everyone. That's my prediction. Foolproof.

Josie's Is Back! But Fisk Is Keeping His Enemies In Cages...

I thought I was ready to get hyped about Josie's actually looking like it will be open again in the foreseeable future, and that it already had quite a few friendly customers to help a city's vigilante in need.

But then the episode went and took us into the Fisks' underground lair, where a bunch of their opposers like the Swordsman and...sadly, Frank. It sucked to see Punisher all chained up like that.

Especially after seeing quick shots of all the other main characters in Daredevil: Born Again that 100% deserve to be caged for a while.

Post-Credits Punisher Goodness

Thankfully, we didn't have to wait very long to get a reassuring resolution for Frank Castle's state of confined plight. Because he clearly got paired up with the biggest dipshit of all the guards who could have been keeping an eye on everyone. Like, he should have had some pride in front of all the other prisoners by feeding right into Frank's plan.

Which is all to say, I don't feel sorry for that guy or any of his shattered bones.

Also, I know this is Daredevil: Born Again and all, but I could not be happier that this first season full-on embraced the fact that this corner of the Marvel-verse is where fans first met Jon Bernthal's Punisher and first heard Frank Castle''s hauntingly primal screams.

Final Thoughts

On a scale of 1-10 Batons To The Throat, where 10 is the more positive score, I'd give "Straight to Hell" an A for Absolute Visceral Joy. Wait, that score doesn't sound right at all. Maybe I got hit in the head during one of those fight scenes.

In hindsight, though, it was about as dour and downbeat an ending as it gets for a superhero series, with the bad guys coming out on top and most of the good guys left to heal up in the dark before setting up for a renewed attempt to take the city back from its corrupted mayor and his growing army of sycophants. Of course he gave Heather a promotion. Ugh. How did anyone ever trust her with their inner thoughts?

It says something that the final shot we get of Daredevil himself isnt' in any kind of an intimidating hero pose, but through a torn hole in one of Josie's papered-up windows. The only spot of brightness to be found is the blue in Karen's eyes. Otherwise, it's a sad, sad day for Lady Justice.

Except for when Frank made it clear he was about to escape Fisk's secret prison.

We Did It!

Thanks to everyone who read along with me live while the episode aired, and an equal thanks to those who are reading after the fact. I think we can all agree there's no wrong time to watch Frank Castle break someone's face open on the edge of a table.

And now we wait for Season 2, and to find out who Matthew Lillard will be playing for his MCU debut.

One last round for the night to share this thank you post from Daredevil: Born Again showrunner Darjo Scardapane. Congrats on a job well done.