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 first episode of Season 2 in this review.

Season 2 Episode 12 of “Daredevil: Born Again” is forty-six minutes long so the second to last shortest runtime of the episodes this season. For a second time in a row, Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson are still in the directing chairs. Showrunner Dario Scardapane is still writing, and if he can continue taking his time with world building and character development, he will do better than last year which got shaky as it reached the finish line. Moorhead and Benson only have one fight scene, but it is another improvement and captures a nice flip. Also instead of bees buzzing, a scene’s lighting suddenly turns blue symbolizes Benjamin “Dex” Poindexter or Bullseye (Wilson Bethel). I’ve never been interested in Bullseye except when he fights so I’m not excited, but I am intrigued because he is shaking things up, including himself. We love a wild card! I don’t remember that color creative choice before, but it works, especially as a visual contrast to Daredevil, who gets red. It is not a big detail, but it is a nice touch that led to a decent oneiric scene that could have been longer. If the dream is revisited, it will be a great world to explore: the subconscious of Vanessa Fisk (Ayelet Zurer).

Zurer has always killed it as Vanessa, and while I prefer her to be an understated, indomitable mover and shaker, I don’t mind her being shaken, especially since she has been around a sea of rough characters and is married to the roughest one. She does not scare easily. There have not been enough scenes with Buck (Arty Froushan) and Vanessa, so it was nice to see them together. They both seem more civilized and less dangerous than anyone around them, but game recognizes game. Buck is still too much of a blank slate. Vanessa also gets a scene with Heather Glenn (Margarita Levieva), and therapists, please feel free to write in, but Heather’s relationship with her former patients seems so unethical. Vanessa is trying to get her paired up, but I always read the Fisks as possibly attracted to Heather as well as colleagues and professional friendships.

In contrast, Fisk seems more comfortable with Powell (Hamish Allan-Headley), who is really mellow compared to Season 1 because he gets to rough up anyone with no consequences, whereas Buck still treads lightly. Also, Fisk wants to get his hands dirty, and why anyone would agree to be his trainer (Jay Hieron) is beyond me. Do fascists believe in workmen’s comp or are you just out of luck? Like any smart leader, Fisk is circling the wagons and making sure that his staff is doing their job with threatening disloyalty or reinforcing good behavior. Either is unsettling regardless of which category they fall in. It provides an excuse to lay some character development for Daniel (Michael Gandolfini) and Sheila (Zabryna Guevara) though more for the prior.

The AVTF is busy but never individuated beyond Powell. They are more like a functional narrative device that allows the story to checkup on or reintroduce a lot of supporting characters organically without feeling stylized or random. Cherry (Clark Johnson) is in the hospital after his heart attack in the first episode and has a ton of visitors, which means Angie Kim (Ruibo Qian) is back along with a bunch of old colleagues that never had a story line or got called a name so maybe they will play a bigger role in Season 2? A vigilante storyline is back from Season 1. While the actual scene is evocative of what is happening around the country and quite effective, especially since the characters visually look like a lot of people’s idea of undocumented immigrants, and they are not. I always said that I never wanted this particular vigilante story to pick up, but it makes sense. If you read my reviews from last season, you will know which character it is, but if you do not, you will either have to wait until next week to find out because it is a big spoiler or reread all my reviews from Season 1. That person swings around the law office, and of course, Kirsten McDuffie (Nikki M. James) is working, dressed casually in her Stanford sweatshirt, but is not given much else to do. Where is Carrie-Anne Moss when you need her? McDuffie is so drained of any potential interest. I’d like to see what James can do, and they are giving her nothing to work with.

Finally, Josie’s Bar clearly went through some things between seasons, and it is the flashback that I am waiting for. Karen (Deborah Ann Woll) and Matt (Charlie Cox) use it as their secret lair to stay off the ATVF’s radar. Their storyline seems naïve and dumb compared to everyone else, but if the fight scenes are good, I don’t mind. They want the federal government to intervene, so they clearly do not know about Mr. Charles (Matthew Lillard) who sadly does not make an appearance in this episode. Again, for no reason they always talk to each other as if they are breathless, which is annoying, but I actually do not mind that they are together because last season, Matt did not have anyone who knew him, so it is nice to see two functional and happy relationships. They are not as interesting as the Fisks who are discussing their future and seem to have conflicting visions but are totally chill about it. Heather is a great therapist when she is not traumatized! The Fisks are so back. Bad news: Fisk is getting more ambitious.

There is a big reveal about who is responsible for the guerilla transmissions against Fisk, and if you are surprised, I envy your youth and health. Ariana appears, but her character’s future is uncertain. At some point, she probably should have left the city instead of smuggling people out. I’m getting bored of the BB Report. In real life, average New Yorkers literally and spontaneously stopped frozen water from grabbing people off the street. The BB Report is supposed to be propaganda, but it feels like filler though the subtext is that they are transplants, not born and bred New Yorkers, so let’s allow it based on that premise.

For episode 12, I want more Mr. Charles, Daredevil and Bullseye or Matt and Dex to finally meet, more Fisks, Wilson and Powell chilling though unlikely, see how far Daniel and Sheila will go to keep their position without dying, see Jon Bernthal’s hot self not necessarily as the Punisher, find out which AVTF agent is the most embarrassed, and watch Kirsten get a real storyline. I do not want this episode’s reintroduction of a vigilante to come to fruition, BB (Genneya Walton) to keep being stupid and hang out with Daniel, or see Heather on a date. Overall, the episode was another pace setting story that advanced the story slightly by heating things up and putting various characters into corners to see how they will fight out of it. Also, people have patterns, but some are being subverted with unclear results, which has deepened the story’s mystery.