Welcome, everybody! Every week, I’ll release a review corresponding to the available episode(s) of the eight-episode, second season of “Daredevil: Born Again” (2026). After the last episode airs, there will be an overall review of the season with spoilers at the end if necessary. I’ve only done an episodic review two times before with disaster striking the second time and was honestly tempted to not bother trying again so thank you for coming along for my experiment! There will be spoilers for the prior episodes of Season 2 in this review.
Season 2 Episode 13 of “Daredevil: Born Again” is fifty-one minutes long, which is the maximum runtime for three out of eight episodes. The creative team up changed. Welcome newcomer Chantele M. Wells wrote this episode. The gifted Solvan “Slick” Naim stayed in the director’s chair. Do writers and directors get to choose their pairing in television series? How does it work? This episode had a bit more sizzle than steak but was still a strong entry that moved the story forward with huge strides. I got some things off my check list and some things that I did not want, but them’s the breaks. Some truly terrific fight scenes because Bullseye, Bejamin “Dex” Poindexter (Wilson Bethel) is back. We get three great ones, which is a season record.
Dex only had to feed and pet a cat under his alias, Tony, and not kill a small dog for me to like him. I can’t be trusted because I had a crush on Cillian Murphy in “Red Eye” (2005). Bar is in hell! Also, he has me rethinking how much olive oil I use to make eggs and maybe that is why they stick to the pan. He is still a complete psycho, but now he is doing his best to do an impression of a nice guy, and he just is not, which is why Wells has my heart. A lesser writer would really have him turn a page, but she stays faithful to the character and psychology. He feels very evil, laconic Deadpool. Bethel does a great job in this role. In my dream world, Daredevil (Charlie Cox) and Bullseye meet in a church and talk don’t fight, but this is “Daredevil: Born Again” so who was I kidding? A girl can dream. It is the best storyline of Bullseye to date! (Disclaimer: I have not rewatched the Netflix series, and my memory cannot be trusted. I just do not remember being this interested in Bullseye’s story.) Other than the Marvel logo turning blue, the blue lighting got abandoned.
Mr. Charles (Matthew Lillard) is back, but it is too brief. If he survives this season, I want a spinoff show. By now, you know that Mr. Charles is a CIA agent running guns around the world through Red Hook because of the charter, which the New York Governor Marge McCaffrey (Lili Taylor!) can revoke, and has an uneasy partnership with Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio), who really wants to kill him. This episode establishes whether Charles is as good as his job as he thinks but ends on an ambiguous note regarding how he feels about the encounter. After the dust settles, Lillard’s performance could be read two ways, and it is a spoiler. I actually rewound it a couple of times and find the turning point in his character’s demeanor fascination.
If “Daredevil: Born Again” has a problem, it may have made Fisk too immune to problems. He has a charity boxing match and after spending so much time revamping his image, it felt as if this moment should have been a PR nightmare because it would remind everyone of Kingpin, not the image that he cultivated. The compulsion for adoration and blood is a great twist, but the reaction feels too convenient and rushed over for a better plotline, which is fair. It is an issue that maybe Wells thought was already covered in McCaffrey’s critique of the mayor. I really paid attention to her talk, and I can’t wait for everyone to see it because who is Cooper? I don’t remember. It is not Muse (Hunter Doohan). It does not make sense in the context of that conversation. I like boring things, and Fisk Industries does not get discussed a lot. I’m not sure what the world believes that Fisk Industries legitimately does, and this information is important because if McCaffrey is a straight arrow, why does she admire such a shady enterprise. It could just be a flaw in the writing hoping that no one is taking notes and throw some gobbledygook into a scene.
Back to the boxing match: Daniel is trying to date BB (Genneya Walton). In the first episode, BB will not even let him touch her at the party when he goes in for a hug. She goes to a dinner at his place. When he mentions that they are on a date in this episode, she explicitly shoots it down. By now, you know that she makes the underground videos under “City Without Fear,” and Daniel either knows or suspects, which puts him in danger. He must choose between his crush and his hero and lifestyle. Men have screwed over their childhood sweetheart wives and mothers of their children for less, and Daniel has literally never been a good guy. It makes for great television, but I hate it because BB is in danger, especially since spurned guys get mean. Also Sheila (Zabryna Guevara) hangs out with them after work, and suddenly Daniel and BB make sense. Daniel is that awful guy who holds horrific beliefs and does horrible things, but because on an individual basis, he does top shelf things, everyone, including Buck, glitches and forgets that he is a soulless imp from hell. A soulless imp from hell! Think about it: he throws parties, invites people places, feeds people, etc., and he is also dumb enough in certain situations that he gets underestimated. I’m betting that he sells her out, but I want to be wrong.
Karen (Deborah Ann Woll) lowkey shaded Matt’s lawyering, and he agreed. Hot off their mini “One Battle After Another” (2025) impression, Karen says, “We need an attorney to take a statement.” Matt agrees and tells her to get Kirsten (Nikki M. James). Kirsten needs better friends because between Heather (Margarita Levieva), who does not appear in this episode, and Karen, one of these people are going to get her killed and make her death about how it made her sad. So excited that Kirsten got another storyline, but I do not love that “Daredevil: Born Again” seems to be setting her up with an AVTF agent Cole North (Jeremy Isaiah Earl) with him constantly assigned to her and threatening her while she is working. It is the second time now. She did get a decent line though not an out of context banger, “Talk like that is how I do my fucking job.”
Shout to Johnnie Mae for a great brief appearance. She acted tired before the proverbial shit hit the fan, and if they can throw her into the mix again, please do. I love when an ordinary person becomes a regular character just to exist. The boxing scene was not it. No offense to D’onofrio or Bobby Hernandez who plays professional boxer Matt “the Matterhorn” Melendez, but that was not a good boxing scene. I’m a sports atheist but I appreciate the strategy behind it. No offense intended but why is “Daredevil: Born Again” only including seminarians, not priests. Is it to appeal to a younger demographic?
I want more Charles preferably journaling out loud and seeing who he was talking to on the phone during the first episode of Season Two. Still no Punisher, but if they say his name three times in an episode, will he appear? I want to see Bullseye and Daredevil talk without fighting so Matt can realize how sane he is and how batshit Dex is. Is Heather offscreen still treating herself with exposure therapy and hanging up the Muse’s mask like art? That wall crack was not subtle. Does Daniel have a moral core? When will BB’s Black preservation gene kick in or is that what makes her an Urich? Hey, who is taking care of her Aunt Doris (Adriane Lenox)? I want BB to visit her. I want Teen White Tiger (Camila Rodriguez) just to run errands, not be a child soldier. What will the Governor do in response to fight night? Does Sheila have no friends to give her good advice? Who will Buck kill next? I want Kirsten to make new friends. I do not want Heather to date Buck because he is like a shark. I want no fighting between Matt and Karen, but more lowkey shade where she calls him dumb and incompetent to his face, and he agrees. (I know that Matt can’t do it because he is supposed to be in hiding. Let me have this if I cannot have Vigilante Bible Study.)
