Wilson Fisk appears to be succeeding as Mayor of New York City. However, there’s a team of freedom fighters, led by Matt Murdock, who is fighting in the shadows trying to bring his duplicitous dealings to light.

Warning: Spoilers below.

Propaganda and Resistance

After season one ended with Mayor Fisk announcing martial law in the largest city in the United States, season two opens up with BB Urich serving as the mayor’s personal hype woman. She keeps interviewing people praising the mayor’s efforts and how much cleaner and safer the city seems to be. It all comes across like creepy propaganda because that’s what it is. There’s an eerie feeling underneath it that not everything is how it’s being presented.

Higher Power

Back at his office, it looks like politics will soon be catching up to Fisk. Several people join him in his office to discuss what’s happening and it appears like the state Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General are coming down on the mayor. A man named Mr. Charles, played by Matthew Lillard, walks in and tells them he’s from Langley. He then tells the AG to answer his phone. After a call from Ms. de Fontaine (nice callback to one of the shadier MCU characters), the AG pledges his support for Fisk’s policies.

Logistics

Mr. Charles seems to be from the CIA. He doesn’t confirm or deny it but his response that he’s from Langley certain makes the other characters infer that’s where he works. He’s here to help clean up the mess caused by the boat sinking. He joins Fisk and Vanessa for dinner where he tries to dance around what he does until he knows how much Vanessa knows about Fisk’s dealings. He doesn’t intend to offend them but Fisk lets him know he did. Mr. Charles doesn’t seem to care.

Mr. Charles goes into his work and talks about logistics. He says the bodies of the crew will be the easiest part of the clean up as they can just sink to the bottom of the river. It’s a cold and callous way to see someone speak about other humans. It’s clear he’s not a hero. While Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine is certainly no saint, she isn’t a true villain either. That’s where Mr. Charles seems to be at first until he talks about disposing of the crew who does the cleanup. He asks Fisk if he’s okay killing the men and Fisk balks saying “good help is hard to find.” It’s becoming clearer that Mr. Charles will cross lines that even the Kingpin won’t.

Investigations

Fisk’s Anti-Vigilante Task Force is attacking any place that may be part of a resistance. They find a place where the captain of the Northern Star is hiding as he tries to escape. He runs but they catch him and beat him up. Fisk’s fixer arrives and criticizes them for their methods saying treating the captain well would get him to cooperate. The fixer unties the captain before killing him.

Lawyers and Doctors

At the end of season one, Fisk had rounded up several suspected vigilantes, including Jack Duquesne, the Swordsman. Kirsten McDuffie, Matt’s legal partner, is representing Duquesne. Her former boss at the District Attorney’s office is trying to get her to come back, but she refuses. It’s clear they are on opposite sides as she believes in justice and not Fisk’s brand of it. The District Attorney’s office, however, has happily placed itself under Fisk’s thumb.

Also under Fisk’s thumb is Dr. Heather Glenn, Matt Murdock’s ex-girlfriend. She’s a psychiatrist evaluating Jack Duquesne prior to his trial. She seemed to have a decent moral compass until she was nearly killed by Muse before killing the masked man. The trauma from that attack led her to view any masked man as an attacker, making her anti-vigilante. She seems to understand legal repercussions and tries to follow the law even though the DA’s office is asking her to falsify Duquesne’s psychological evaluation. Her trauma causes her to see Muse and she breaks the law.

Helping Hand

Daredevil is getting the upper hand on the assailants when he hears Cherry start to have a heart attack. This takes him back to the night Foggy died as he could hear his friend’s heart stop. The attackers manage to get the upper hand on Daredevil and unmask him. They are all shocked to learn it’s the blind lawyer from Hell’s Kitchen. That’s when all of them are suddenly taken out and a knife arrives with a message etched in the handle saying “You’re Welcome.” It also has a bullseye on it.

What’s Next?

This is an excellent start to the second season. Season one was a bit uneven. That was due to the series getting a reboot and then having to scrap the majority of what they had shot at one point because it wasn’t working. This time, they knew where they planned to be headed and could build toward that and it shows.

Two big things that worked in this first episode are Matthew Lillard’s Mr. Charles and the Muse storyline. Lillard is clearly enjoying this character and it seems like he will be both a friend and a foe of Fisk at some point in this season. Meanwhile, Muse felt rushed in season one, so the memory of the trauma he caused affecting Dr. Glenn works to fill that story out.

The only thing I don’t want is a redemption arc for Bullseye. He killed Foggy. I want him to be villainous. However, villains can be on opposing sides of an issue, so Bullseye helping Daredevil because he’s opposed to Fisk works for one episode. I just want him to be an antagonist more than an ally. Keep him evil even when he opposes someone else evil.

Check out Daredevil: Born Again streaming exclusively on Disney Plus.