The show continues to do its world building. It's slow and methodical, allowing for more immersion, which I love. The fact that Daredevil doesn't play on a network allows it to do pretty much anything within limits. Three episodes in and there isn't a set format. "Into The Ring" mostly played as a standard procedural that set up the world that Daredevil inhabits. "Cut Man" established the backstory of Matt Murdock, along with advancing other plots.





Initially, this episode appeared too dense to get into. More new characters are introduced, which means more people and subplots to keep track. Eventually, it becomes taxing on the brain. Unless there is interest drawn into the narrative. With a superhero show, that usually means that the danger quotient is increased. I had mentioned earlier that Matt was stepping into a larger world when he decided to fight the crime that was steadily invading Hell's Kitchen. He is now getting a taste of the kind of criminality that might not go down with the use of force and violence. It's going to take a combination of the physical and mental in order to beat this.




The episode takes its time to flesh out the criminal elements here. That wasn't really done in "Cut Man." There was brief mention of how the Russian part of the organization operates independent of the Kingpin. Any foot soldier that gets killed would just get replaced by another thug. In that way, it's not unlike a big corporate entity, where the employees are always replaceable cogs in a giant machine. Here, there is the depiction of both the thugs on the lower rung, represented by the calm Mr. Healy, and the protected types on the upper rung, such as Leland Owlsley and the corporate lawyer who subtly intimidates Karen.



There is more exploration into what was going on at Union Allied Construction, and it goes beyond the pension fund scam that got Danny Fisher killed and Karen almost along with him. Due to their interference with the company's affairs, the plan has changed. Union Allied has apparently completely dissolved and/or changed its name so as to disassociate itself from any impending scandal. The scene where Karen is talking to the corporate lawyer was really something else. The way the lawyer spoke, with this calm, cold, steady cadence was disturbing and at the same time quite real.





The company has protected itself from any and all contingencies so as to render practically any action Karen might take against them pointless. They are so intimidating that Danny's widow, the one person who should be outraged that her husband was murdered by the company he worked for, quickly signed the gag order and ran with the money. It should be interesting to see if Karen's last ditch tactic of going to the metro reporter Ben Urich (who didn't get as great an introduction as other characters have on this series) with the information she has on Union Allied will work. It's not just Matt taking on the big, bad, corrupt system on his own. Other characters are seeing that there's something fishy going on in the city.




As for Mr. Healy, he proves to consistently be more than he initially seems. He straight out murders Mr. Prohaszka in the teaser, and knows he's going to do it along with go down for it. The whole thing has the feel of the Kingpin brutally taking out one of his competitors, or perhaps taking out a competitor as a favor for the Russians. That part isn't all too clear, but Healy's case is a keen demonstration into how the Kingpin operates and how his cohorts manipulate the US legal system to suit their various needs. 




Initially, it looked like Wesley was at Murdock and Nelson to do some scouting of the Masked Man, perhaps with the suspicion that Matt was the man who's been giving them some trouble lately. No, Wesley subtly moves both of our heroes to take on the case, though he could have been less obvious with the creepiness and intimidating sell tactics. Both Foggy and Matt's (and Karen's) radars are up from the moment Wesley knocked on their door and yet, this gives Matt a way to study how the opposition operates. He knows there's something bigger going on, and while Karen's case was just a small taste of that, this all but confirms it. Healy knows that he's going to get indicted, practically wants to get indicted, and yet, the ultimate result in the courtroom means that Healy got away scot free.






The subsequent fight between the two men ends with the revelation that Wesley is working for Wilson Fisk, aka the Kingpin, and the fact that Healy reveals his name to Matt here means that he's put a death sentence on himself. Fisk is pulling all the strings in Hell's Kitchen. It feels doubtful right now that one man can even stop that, which is why Matt freaks out a bit when Fisk's name is out in the open. Could he perhaps connect the shooting death of his father to the Kingpin? This slow, simmering build is exactly the kind of approach more television series need to do. Fisk isn't even revealed in person until the third episode! 




Most shows don't have that kind of patience. They're looking for shock value in order to garner more viewers. This show even takes time to assess the errors the criminals have been making. Wesley acknowledges that the organization is too out in the open, dropping too many bodies, which raises suspicion and puts a spotlight where Fisk doesn't want it to be. They don't know that the Masked Man and the"clean" lawyers they just hired are the same man. In the same way, Matt doesn't really know the extent of Fisk's organization. He and Karen are trying to fight them one small piece at a time. That's all they can really do at this point.