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| Image Courtesy www.comicbook.com |
Daredevil season
1, episode 5, “World on Fire,” picks up right where the previous episode left
off after Matt’s battle against the Russians to rescue Claire. You will remember that the Russians
discovered Claire’s identity and captured her to get information on Matt. He tracked them down and rescued her, though
she was savagely beaten before he arrived.
Afterwards, he brought her back to his apartment. The episode also continues Vladimir’s story
arc from the previous episode. In so
doing, the episode demonstrates one of the benefits of Netflix TV over
movies: it can take the time to allow a
story arc to build.
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| Image Courtesy www.comicbook.com |
The first shot we see
is of Claire in Matt’s bathroom examining her injuries before going out to the
main area where he is cooking breakfast.
Over breakfast, the two of them engage in one of the more fun and
enlightening conversations of the series.
It starts with her asking if he has a real job, or if he is one of those
“billionaire playboys” she’s heard so much about (an obvious reference to Tony
Stark, though Oliver Queen (Green Arrow) and Bruce Wayne (Batman, obviously)
also fit that description). When he
comments that he’s a lawyer and has his own firm, she jokingly expresses
disappointment. In the process, she
opens a cut on her back—something Matt picks up on immediately. Not only can he move around by hearing, but
he can taste the copper in the air from the reopened cut and he can hear bones
shifting when she breathes, indicating that a couple of her ribs have hairline
fractures. This leads Claire to ask him
to describe what he sees: more than five
senses, an impressionistic painting, “the world on fire.” I find the description and imagery to be
fascinating. I don’t think they will use
the same reds and yellows palette next time, but it is appropriate this time
because Matt’s world of Hell’s Kitchen really is on fire. I think his perception of things actually
colors the way he sees: the reds and
yellows could be fire, but if you look at it from another angle you see warmth
and joy. Ultimately, the “world on fire”
is a foreshadowing of what will happen at the end of the episode, starting in
the very next scene.
From Matt and Claire
in the apartment the scene shifts to Vladimir calling around to find his
brother Anatoly (the decapitated body from the last episode). His questions are answered very quickly when
one of his men finds Anatoly’s body nearby, along with a black mask—leading
Vladimir to believe that Matt is responsible.
We as the audience know that Fisk personally killed Anatoly and is
manipulating Vladimir into going after Matt.
This of course sets up the conflict for the episode: Vladimir is hunting for Matt, who needs to
prove his innocence. Meanwhile, Fisk has
his own plan in motion to deal with Vladimir.
I like how this show can fit in all of these crosses and double crosses
when a movie would not be able to. We
get to see just how cold and calculating Fisk is in his actions. I think Fisk has as good a shot as anyone at
making the jump to the movies, but he character needs this small-screen
introduction for us to fully appreciate how manipulative he is.
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| Image Courtesy www.comicbook.com |
Vladimir may not know
that Fisk is responsible, but Fisk makes sure that the rest of his
co-conspirators are aware by showing them his SUV while the blood and brain
matter are being washed away. This gives
us another glimpse into the minds of the villains, each of whom gets a chance
in the spotlight throughout the series.
Gao is the smartest of the group and expresses concern that they are
eliminating the Russians from their group, because one of them could be next. Nobu and Owlsley are only concerned about the
money involved; they want their fair share of the profits. Ultimately, this whole exchange highlights
one of the problems with dealing with criminals: What they have is never enough; they always
want more. This makes infighting all but
inevitable. For now, they all agree to
allow Fisk to put his plan into motion and take out Vladimir before he becomes
a problem. As part of this he feeds
Vladimir misinformation through Turk Barrett until he has all the pieces in
place, at which point he lets Vladimir find out that he is responsible.
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| Image Courtesy www.comicbook.com |
Meanwhile, Foggy and
Matt receive a new client, Mrs. Cardenas, who was referred to them by Brett’s
(their police buddy) mother. She is
involved in a tenement case, which will occupy Matt and Foggy for the rest of
the series. The landlord is trying to
force them out, but most of the residents refuse to leave. Foggy and Karen go to confront the opposing
counsel (who happens to be Foggy’s ex-girlfriend) with the facts of the
case. I really like how confidently
Foggy comes across in that particular scene.
Up until this point he’s the forgotten member of the team and only there
for comic relief. I think this is really
where his character starts to turn: He
is actually good at what he does, and he can take on the big boys without
flinching. And at the same time he is
still the same lovable character: he
takes it on himself to help Mrs. Cardenas and her neighbors to fix up their
apartment building using his contacts.
Matt meanwhile goes to the local precinct to get information, and
instead learns that two detectives (Blake and Hoffman) are working for Fisk
when they execute a Russian for saying his name. This brings Matt back later in the episode to
confront Blake while wearing the mask.
In the confrontation he learns the locations of the Russians and goes to
finish his business with Vladimir. I
find it interesting that Matt doesn’t bother trying to convince people that he
did not kill Anatoly; I think he finds the reputation to be useful at this
point in the series. However, given his
Catholicism, I would expect him to try to distance himself from that accusation
as much as possible.
One of the more
enlightening subplots this episode is Fisk’s second date with Vanessa. This time he decides to buy out the entire
restaurant for the night to ensure they aren’t interrupted again. I find their entire conversation to be
extremely enlightening. She describes
one of her previous suitors (the description is a nod to the comic book depiction
of Kingpin), which makes him slightly jealous.
When she comments on the wine selection, Fisk tells her that it was
another recommendation from Wesley, calling him his “friend.” I love just how much they build up Fisk and
make us sympathize with him. His
greatest desire through the series is to rebuild his city—a city that he
loves. He is isolated by his business,
to the point that his only friend is his assistant. Vanessa seems to be the closest thing to a
personal attachment (beyond Wesley) that he has had since his mother. He desperately wants her to love him back and
stay, and what’s remarkable is that she does agree to stay, knowing full well
that he is a dangerous man. He knows
that he is dangerous, but he is convinced that she is safe at his side. I think the most shocking part of the
exchange is that she does not recoil and leave when Fisk sets the world on
fire. She is horrified by it at first,
but elects to remain because Fisk gives her a noble reason for what he did. I really hope that this dynamic will continue
to play a part in future seasons of Daredevil.
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| Image Courtesy www.comicbook.com |
The end of the episode
comes as a huge shock. Vladimir
“discovers” that Fisk was responsible for Anatoly’s death and goes on the
warpath, ordering all his men to gear up and take everything they’ve got to
attack Fisk. Meanwhile, Matt tracks
Vladimir down and prepares to assault one of the Russian hideouts. However, while Matt and the Russians are
preparing, Fisk uses Madame Gao’s blind heroin runners as suicide bombers to
take out all four Russian hideouts simultaneously. One of the bomb blasts is so close to Mrs.
Cardenas’ building that Foggy and Mrs. Cardenas are both injured by the
debris. Matt barely survives by using a
Russian as a human shield. Vladimir only
escapes alive by the skin of his teeth. And amazingly, Matt still manages to go after
Vladimir and subdue him. Matt is just
about to finish off Vladimir when the police pull up with drawn guns to arrest
him. This final act had a lot more
action to it than the second episode’s (“Cut Man”) when Matt took out 2 rooms
full of Russians to save a kid. However,
the two scenes have completely different focuses: “Cut Man” shows Matt’s limits; “World on
Fire” shows Matt’s strength. Likewise,
the twists and turns of Fisk’s plan in “World on Fire” stand in sharp contrast
to the straightforward plan that the Russians employed in “Cut Man.”
This episode is one of
the reasons I like Daredevil so much, and why I think it absolutely
deserved the quick pick-up for a second season.
We get to see so much character development with the villains. Fisk especially is an awesome villain, easily
the best-developed in the MCU by season’s end.
Foggy and Karen do a lot with very few scenes—they play off of each
other very well. Matt and Claire’s
romance is very short-lived, which is fine with me since I prefer subtle romances. I think their relationship—friends, some
romance, but nothing that they will act on—is very interesting, and I think
it’s what the characters need in this series.
At this point Matt really needs to learn what it means to be Daredevil
before he can try having close relationships that span both sides of his
character—Matt Murdock and Daredevil.
What was your favorite
part of this episode? What is your
opinion of Daredevil’s abilities as they are described in this series?
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