Posted in: Disney+, Marvel, TV | Tagged: charlie cox, Daredevi: Born Again, jon bernthal, vincent d'onofrio

Daredevil: Born Again S01E04 Review: Guess Who's Back… Back Again?

Daredevil: Born Again brings back a familiar face in Jon Bernthal's Frank Castle, delivering the goods as he did in the Netflix series.

This week's episode of Daredevil: Born Again "Sic Semper Systema" deals with the direct aftermath of the shocking events of "The Hollow of His Hand" that saw Matt Murdock's (Charlie Cox) recently exonerated client Hector Ayala, aka White Tiger (Kamar de los Reyes), gunned down at point blank range as he was patrolling the streets. Determined, Matt tries to launch his own investigation into Hector's murder but runs into a few dead ends along the way, including who he feels is his primary suspect. The following contains minor spoilers.

Daredevil: Born Again: Matt Faces Uphill Battle on Two Fronts

On top of investigating Hector's murder, Matt is also tasked as a public defender to help Leroy (Charlie Hudson III), who is caught in a vicious cycle between an unforgiving system and poverty. In between dealing with Leroy's inherent apprehension of his perpetual legal problems and struggles, Matt is forced to dig deep so his client doesn't suffer any more interruptions from a jail sentence. It's a dramatically different case from the previous episode, but one that isn't any less thought-provoking about the justice system often disproportionally punishing the poor.

On the other side, we get a deeper dive into the martial problems of Wilson Fisk (Vincent D'Onofrio) and Vanessa Fisk (Ayelet Zurer). It's a careful chess game where both understand each other while exhibiting their poker faces in front of their counselor as both are entrenched into Fisk's life as New York City mayor, keeping Wilson's Kingpin criminal enterprise a secret and laying low.

As the series is mainly about Cox's Matt/Daredevil and D'Onofrio's Fisk/Kingpin, we've peeled another layer off as far as it becomes more of an exercise in futility hiding their alter egos. In Matt's case, running into his dead ends has him seek out a lead that has him tracking down Frank Castle/The Punisher (Jon Bernthal). As per their previous interactions on the Drew Goddard Netflix series, the two pick up where they left off on the Dario Scardapane sequel series. It's just as well that Scardapane did such a phenomenal job on Bernthal's Netflix series. Frank's intensity and lack of subtlety allow him to have that difficult conversation about trauma and loss.

Bernthal brings such range in his performance, especially when he rages. Not only is he a physical force in his fight scenes, but he also employs empathy in such a blunt and visceral way when he gets Cox's Matt to evoke his dead best friend's name. Bernthal's lack of screen time obviously leaves you wanting more, but if he doesn't factor further into the plot for the rest of the season, then that's okay. He delivered every which way to help build Cox's character and advance the story.

With D'Onofrio, we also see his Fisk uncomfortable keeping his mask off as he unveils a new ambitious redevelopment plan. The presence of red tape and the involved process only infuriates him more even when his job calls for him to be calm and patient. Like Bernthal and Cox, D'Onofrio always delivers the goods, whether they go from 0-60 at a moment's notice or slowly build up to lose that control. His role in the new series forces him to be colder and more calculating than before as he tries to enact policy while trying to win others, who continue to sour on him due to his criminal "past."

We also see Michael Gandolfini's Daniel Blake far more involved in this episode than in previous ones. He and D'Onofrio share a memorable scene where the eager-to-please assistant gets a chance to prove his meddling to his boss. Directed by Jeffrey Nachmanoff and written by David Feige and Jesse Wigutow, "Sic Semper Systema" delivers heavy-on performances even as the series up to this point has been lighter on the action than expected up to this point. I'm perfectly okay with that because the build-up along the way feels more earned when it pays off. Daredevil: Born Again streams on Tuesdays on Disney+.

Daredevil: Born Again: Season 1 Episode 4: "Sic Semper Systema"

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Review by Tom Chang

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8.5/10

Charlie Cox's Matt Murdock and Vincent D'Onofrio's Wilson Fisk are finding out how difficult it is to live without their alter egos of Dardevil and Kingpin in this week's Daredevil: Born Again episode "Sic Semper Systema." In the case of Matt, it takes the welcome return of Jon Bernthal's Frank Castle to confront his traumatic past, delivering a heavy dose of truth to the series in the most blunt and visceral way as possible in a way that only Bernthal can.

Credits

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Director

Jeffrey Nachmanoff

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