I think like "Stick," the series elects to once again slow down and take a breath in the wake of big events within the plot. Yes, killing Nobu and Matt almost getting killed by Fisk in the process isn't as big as leveling some of Hell's Kitchen, but the pause seemed necessary. Just take one look at Matt's battered body and you'd be convinced that there wasn't going to be anything real big going on here. Judging just by the episode title, I would have thought that Matt and Foggy were facing off in a case that involved their day jobs as lawyers (even the episode description from Netflix above reads like that!). That was far from the truth in actuality.  






By now, deep into the first season, the episode-long conversation the two friends have functions as a mirror opposite of the soul-wrenching debate Matt had with Father Lantom before he took on Fisk and Nobu. Instead of talking about the possibility of his eternal damnation, Matt has to defend himself to Foggy and draw justification for his actions as the Masked Man so far. This is a debate that isn't focused on guilt or asking for future compensation in taking a human life from God; it's built on heightened emotion, of betrayal and secrecy from one long-time friend to another. And like the sage advice that Father Lantom gave Matt, Foggy does make all salient points. 



What Matt is doing is operating outside of the law, above the law, and is inches away from looking exactly like what Fisk is doing. We, the audience, know that Matt's the good guy. The Masked Man only helps people that he knows are innocent. He alone makes that determination, and I think that's the main reason why Foggy is upset with Matt (outside of keeping his superhero alter ego a secret from him). Foggy is thinking exactly like a lawyer would, and that means outlawing the Masked Man from beating people senseless. Just because he hasn't killed, and Fisk's organization does so with impunity, gives him no justification in taking the law into his own hands. 



This hurts the both of them, and you can hear it in Matt's voice. There may come a point where he's tired of all of this. Trying in vain to save the city, keeping power figures like Fisk from taking it over. It's something that, as I have said, looks and feels like a futile task. Taking on something this large, alone, with reluctant assistance from people like Claire (whose presence and gentility have been dearly missed) will wear him down. He needs people like Foggy in his corner, even if he had to lie in order to get him there. 







I'd argue that the backstory presented in the flashbacks were unnecessary for this episode, but it's actually a great contrast between then and now. Back then, Foggy and Matt were two small fish ready to take on the big pond. The world was theirs for the taking, even if it meant doing it from a smaller stage. But that stage was their own, and they wouldn't submit to the forces operating above them. All of Matt's clandestine activities as the Masked Man have undermined all that work. 



The episode is asking if all this sneaking around is really worth the payoff. Matt was nearly killed for all of it. Karen and Ben go on a mysterious wild goose chase under the guise of looking for a nursing home to put Ben's terminally ill wife in, and they find Wilson Fisk's long-thought-to-be-dead mother. What can they do about this new and surprising piece of information? Judging by how swiftly Fisk and his organization can make loose threads disappear, probably not much. 







They've started to poke at the sleeping giant. Things are slightly unraveling for Fisk, though. After spending much of the season in complete power and control, a crisis pops up that could potentially take Vanessa's life. It's good to see the normally powerful and always-in-command Fisk in a position that renders him powerless. Even trying to force his way past the nurse proves ineffective. This may be the work of the still-unmentioned-by-name Hand, a secret band of ninjas that figure heavily in the Daredevil mythos. It may be revenge for Fisk's power play in having the Masked Man eliminate Nobu. 



Now, I'm aware this piece of pure conjecture doesn't fit all of the facts, like if the Hand knew it was the Masked Man who killed Nobu, why not go after him? Well, there's a chance the Hand doesn't know who the Masked Man really is. But they are aware of Fisk and Leland's growing dissatisfaction with how Nobu operated. So I think the the theory is sound; It makes the most sense to me. But I wouldn't be up in arms if the show proved me wrong about that. Right as Matt is recuperating from his injuries, a crack in the armor opens up to be exploited. This little corner of the Marvel world still proves to be continually interesting and provocative. How many shows can you name right now that give off the same feeling?