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!
If you do not know Daredevil (Charlie Cox), he is a blind vigilante whose other senses were heightened after he lost his vision as a child, and he poorly practices law to make a living. After three seasons on Netflix, “Daredevil” moved to Disney+ for his fourth season, which, for all intents and purposes, was the first of two seasons on Disney+. Now we are back for the second season of “Daredevil: Born Again” after the first ended on a cliffhanger showing a dystopian Manhattan with Mayor Fisk and Punisher PD, officially known as the Anti-Vigilante Task Force (AVTF), ruling the city with an iron fist (no, not him), and Daredevil, the Punisher and others forming a resistance based on fists and vibes, but nothing concrete or sustainable. If you are watching in a vacuum assuming that you can catch up, you’re a fool and will be lost. Go to my review of Season 1 Episode 1 or the overall review then do your homework.
Season 2 Episode 11 of “Daredevil: Born Again” is fifty-one minutes long, which is the maximum runtime for three out of eight episodes. Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson are back in the directing chairs. Good news: their action scenes no longer look like CGI crap, and they start out with a bang, but the bad news is that there are still plenty of cuts and editing so fans are not getting the feel of a thorough fight, and they rush through it like a kid reciting a text that they memorized for class. If they go slower, they know that they will screw up, and they want to get it right. At least there are more fights with better quality. They do seem to want to keep the length of each scene to a minimum and do not feel comfortable in the genre yet, but it does feel like the action is back. Also, the pacing is fair. Plus, they kept emphasizing Daredevil’s hearing powers, and that was always a winner, so it is a good sign that they are learning what works and what does not then making creative choices accordingly. I kind of gave up on them after seeing “Moon Knight” and am pleasantly surprised. I’m glad that they only directed one episode because action is not their strong suit. Not every creative can thrive in the MCU, and it is disappointing that they are not in that class. After Ryan Coogler, I had faith in those two, but now I’m just happy if they do their job and no longer expect any transcendent work from them. Get money!
Writer and showrunner Dario Scardapane scaled back on the overt dystopian vibes to something sustainable and more realistic in depicting a fascist takeover. It would have been nice if he showed that restraint last year, but better late than never. Basically, Team Fisk has embraced gutting due process and turned crime into government policy, which is of course, completely fiction, thank God! Can you imagine what a nightmare it would be to live with criminals in charge of government! The AVTF is disappearing, torturing and killing people with impunity, which does not sound like any real-world equivalent. Daredevil and Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll) are respectively enemy number 1 and 2. Fisk’s leveling up on the municipal level has attracted some bigger forces, which is great because it makes Fisk more indomitable, but is bad because Fisk likes to be the big man in the room, and he is not anymore. So, while everyone is enjoying being their worst selves, Fisk may be the only person who does not get to enjoy his success.
A day without D’Onofrio is a day without sunshine so I felt like I did not get enough of him, but Fisk is wearing white, close with Vanessa (Ayelet Zurer) and not getting his hands dirty, so it is an establishment/maintenance episode for him and his team though the show opens on him having a bad day. Team Fisk consists of Buck Cashman (Arty Froushan), who continues to reveal flexibility in his ability to transition between two worlds (crime and government), Sheila Rivera (Zabryna Guevara), who only appears firmly on the mayor side, Commissioner of Mental Health (the German Democratic Republic if you’re nasty) Heather Glenn (Margarita Levieva), who has room for redemption since her dark side is visually depicted like a sinking ship because of her trauma, Deputy Mayor of Communications Daniel Blake (Michael Gandolfini), who sleeps well at night and can look in the mirror despite the unsavoriness around him, AVTF member Powell (Hamish Allan-Headley), who loves his job, and DA Ben Hochberg (John Benjamin Hickey), who bought the best black hat he could find and loves wearing it. After the Fisks, Sheila and Heather are the most interesting with Buck coming in third. It feels as if the series is just reminding us of who they are and what they are like, which is good because I did not rewatch anything.
Team Daredevil is trying to get proof that Fisk is bad because people will care about facts and then there will be consequences because the system works. Um, who is going to tell poor sweet summer child Matt? Instead of sex, Matt and Karen work out together so they have an excuse to touch each other, be breathless and glisten beautifully. Americans are never going to beat the allegations that we prefer violence over sex. For once, Matt and Fisk have strong relationships built on trust at the same time so how long before Fisk captures Karen so Matt can be miserable again? Um, where does She-Hulk fit into this dynamic? When did those two get back together after their one day? There are allusions to events that occurred between the end of last season and this episode so if you are confused and feel as if you missed something, you did not. I’m expecting at least one flashback episode that fills us in, but until then, Disney+ is pulling an HBO and just starting in the middle, which is fine.
There is no pretense that Matt is practicing law though he is amusingly described as “the lawyer from Hell’s Kitchen” while walking around with stubble, a hoodie and like a work from home, virtual lawyer, but the idea that people just recognize some random lawyer is absurd. In my heyday, everyone knew who I was in a couple of courthouses, and I still would not necessarily be recognized. His partner, Kirsten McDuffie (Nikki M. James, and the show finally decided to capitalize the D in her character’s name in the credits), has given up on being a financial success and is an overworked do-gooder because the resistance comes first. Totally credible though financially unsustainable. How are they affording that office space? Details. Cherry (Clark Johnson), their investigator, is back, and he is already playing a more interesting character in this go-round, which bodes well for the rest of the story (hopefully). He has a nice apartment. I’m not really invested in anyone on this sign other than fights and no stupidity.
Team Middleground are characters that do not occupy a firm position. AG General Steverud (Ty Jones) and Lt. Governor Juan Gomez (Lenny Platt) seems to be itching to put Fisk in his place, but not to the level of being insubordinate and risking their jobs. Ariana (Annie Parisse), a Greek restaurant owner, is clearly not Team Fisk, but she also does not work with Daredevil though bets are that she will. BB Urich (Genneya Walton) is back as a double agent who is Team Daredevil, but it is yet to be determined if she is making propaganda and the underground message that counters it. Achiello Kyriaco (Thomas Cokenias) and Christofi Saava (Yorgos Karamihos) start as Team Fisk, but circumstances are pushing them into a lethal middle ground if they do not find an ally. I’m invested in BB not hanging out with Daniel because I never bought it or Karen because even Karen thinks that she got BB’s uncle killed.
The most exciting addition to “Daredevil: Born Again” is Matthew Lillard as Mr. Charles. Lillard is a strong and welcome addition to the cast. He plays a sexist, micro aggressive, understated abrasive player who enjoys being casual and irreverent, so people realize how important he is. It also shines more of a light on the dog whistle politics engaged in the government in this fictional streaming series, but then casting needs to fix a couple of things.
The man on the street interviews in favor of Fisk consist entirely of Black people calling vigilantes “animals” and pro law and order. That rhetoric has not entered most of this demographic’s mouth since the era of President Bill Clinton once we realized that it would be turned on us even if we are upstanding citizens. Casting needs to find a way to up its diversity numbers without becoming a complete work of fiction. In television and films that depict suspected prejudice, American Black characters are usually given the explicit verbalization of whatever implicit prejudice exists in the story. I did not like it in “Concussion” (2015), and I don’t like it here, especially considering *waves hands generally*. At least use a Black recent immigrant because in the rush to become American, they can be found spouting talking points like that. (I’m a first generation born American of an immigrant on one side. I know about this.)
I’m looking forward to more Fisk and Vanessa, finding out more about Lillard’s character, figuring out if Daredevil will play nice with a former enemy, and more about Ariana’s operation. It sucks that Heather is clearly going to skate on becoming completely evil, but of well. How far will Sheila continue to go? Will the Punisher be back? It is a solid start with few flaws, and if the quality is consistent throughout the season, then we will have a great time ahead of us. Everyone did good to revise when they realized things were not going smoothly.
