After its abysmal premiere, Daredevil Born Again Episode 3 makes a promising case for its existence before a bleak and upsetting end. It’s enough to remind us that any promise here is baked into our pre-existing love for Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) and Vincent D’Onofrio’s performance as big bad Wilson Fisk. Because there’s nothing here to tether us beyond them, with half-baked characters left to try and fill the shoes of supporting players on the original Netflix series. Cox has undeniable megawatt charisma, but it’s not enough to miss the obvious flaws.

Perhaps the best decision of Daredevil Born Again Episode 3 is keeping it largely contained to the courtroom drama. Matt is working defense for Hector’s (Kamar de los Reyes) case, where he’s being charged with the murder of a member of the NYPD. Members of the NYPD appear in court, where Hector stands on trial. They are supportive of Officer Powell, who lies through his teeth about Hector’s involvement, saying that it was a deliberate killing and trying to play to the sympathies of the jury.

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One of the smartest, most daring elements of Daredevil Born Again is how it depicts police corruption. It’s not just that they’re seeking vengeance for the death of one of their own. It’s much more insidious. We see that when a key witness is introduced in the hearing, a cop leans over to another to say that said witness, Torres, can’t be brought to trial. Even more notable is that he dons a tattoo of the Punisher skull emblem.

Daredevil Born Again Episode 3 is a narrative step in the right direction.

It’s a vital series element that carries over from the original show. The rot of the city is borne from corrupt law enforcement and nefarious politicians who seek to eviscerate anyone deemed lesser than them. The Punisher’s emblem shows up multiple times throughout the episode. First, on the side of a building where the word “triggered” is spray painted on it, then on the cop’s neck, and, later, in a pivotal moment, on an assailant’s back. Punisher’s mission is being repurposed by those in power who believe their power is threatened.

The courtroom drama also allows Matt to be light on his feet, baring his fangs as he goes toe-to-toe with Powell, who knows of Matt’s fighting prowess but can’t say anything lest it reveal his tampering with evidence in Episode 2. Cox is wonderful in these sequences, a reminder of the character’s intellect and scrappiness that happens outside of the alleyways and underbelly of Hell’s Kitchen.

That scrappiness is necessary when Torres refuses to name names, and Matt must succumb to a big swing moment. He reveals that Hector is the White Tiger without Hector’s consent. It brings him greater sympathy from the jury because now Matt can talk openly about Hector’s heroism and his desire to do the right thing and save lives. But it also puts a bigger target on Hector’s back, which is made more apparent when Matt warns him that if he is to be acquitted, he’ll never be able to be the White Tiger again.

While we understand Matt’s motive, it also seems to be at war with who this character is. Sure, he can lie to himself that he’s found peace without the mask and doesn’t miss his vigilantism, but there’s no doubt he’d be furious if the same were to happen to him. It almost feels cruel, even though it is what, in the end, gets Hector acquitted. Even before we see him don the disguise once more, we know he won’t be separated from his life as a vigilante.

The ending fumbles a key part of the series’ potential. 

The scenes between Matt and Hector are the strongest of Daredevil Born Again Episode 3. Cox and Kamar De los Reyes work well together, and De los Reyes, in particular, is superb in conveying the emotions that brew beneath the surface. He adopts an air of melancholy as he talks about his wife and the dream he had for them. His opening monologue to Matt about the coquí who populated beaches in Puerto Rico is particularly moving. Hector’s longing for that peaceful beach where soulmates call for one another is apparent in De los Reyes’s delivery.

It’s what makes the ending so tragic and brutally nonsensical. Because even though halfway through the episode, it feels inevitable (and major spoilers ahead), the eventual death of Hector bruises and not just because of our connection to the character. He’s our only real connection we have to any character outside of Matt himself . Instead, it stings because what, ultimately, was the point of including the White Tiger character beyond likely moving Matt’s story and his return to vigilantism?

Daredevil Born Again Episode 3 makes White Tiger a martyr whose desire to do good and help people led to his death. It makes an impact, but the emotional response is twinged with undeniable frustration that this is the path the series chose to take. Aside from Matt, Hector is the only character we care about. No matter how hard the series tries to make us like Kirsten (Nikki M. James), Cherry (Clark Johnson), and Heather (Margarita Levieva), the show isn’t invested in them because they’re not ingrained in the series as their own characters. Rather than get their own stories, they exist simply to orbit Matt’s storylines (or Fisk’s).

While the quality of the writing and pacing improves, Daredevil Born Again Episode 3 still doesn’t justify its existence. Kamar de los Reyes is tremendous, but the treatment of his character leaves a sour taste as we try to reckon with what it means for the show and the titular character moving forward.

Daredevil Born Again Episode 3 is streaming now exclusively on Disney+.

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• 6.5/10 Rating - 6.5/10

6.5/10

TL;DR

While the quality of the writing and pacing improves, Daredevil Born Again Episode 3 still doesn’t justify its existence. Kamar de los Reyes is tremendous, but the treatment of his character leaves a sour taste as we try to reckon with what it means for the show and the titular character moving forward.

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