They call it Born Again, but the final two episodes of Disney+‘s new take on the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen only give us a glimpse of the show we were promised. The gloves come off, the stakes get personal, and it still feels like a setup for something bigger. Like the whole season did.
What’s up, my know-it-alls. Episodes 8 and 9 are supposed to wrap up everything Season 1 has been setting in motion, and look, I’ve been rooting for this show. I wanted it to rise from the ashes and give us the gritty, grounded Daredevil that fans have been begging for. With these two episodes we finally get flashes of that. Flashes, and that’s all they are, but let’s not jump ahead.
Episode 8 lays the groundwork and finally gets Matt Murdock back into the moral, internal struggle we expect from a Daredevil story. He’s caught between the law and the streets, and the lines are starting to blur. The pacing tightens, and for once we’re not just waiting for something to happen. Things actually start happening.
Then Episode 9 hits, and it tries hard to be the explosive payoff. It’s called “Straight to Hell,” and while it flirts with the intensity and scale you want from a season finale, it still feels like a setup. Characters return, fists fly, blood spills, but there’s a tension in the air that makes you feel like the show is holding back.
The Performances Are Not the Problem
The performances are most definitely not the problem. Charlie Cox is Daredevil, period. The man understands Matt Murdock inside and out. Whether he’s cross-examining a witness or dodging blows in a brawl, he brings the tortured soul of the character to life.
Vincent D’Onofrio’s Kingpin is still a monster. I don’t care what anybody says, even if this version is a bit more Disney polish than the one we saw break skulls on Netflix. There’s a moment in Episode 9 where he finally lets loose, and yeah, it’s satisfying. But we had to wait a really long time for that moment, and it makes me wonder if we’ll ever get the full, terrifying Fisk again.
There is that one scene with Fisk. He kills the commissioner, and it’s brutal and grotesque. I think that’s what everybody was trying to say when they were talking about how this goes places the Netflix show didn’t. Did it, though? The prosthetic face they used to make him sort of crush the head, which by the way is right out of the comics, felt fake. At the same time, it was put together well enough that it was very visceral. I was kind of grossed out by it, to be honest.
Bullseye Shows Up Late and Leaves Early
Now, Bullseye. His return is exciting, I guess, no doubt, but it sort of feels late. Like, why didn’t we see this earlier late. He shows up, wreaks some havoc, tries to kill Vanessa, and then he’s gone.
The action scene he’s in is excellent. I don’t want to say visceral, because he doesn’t really fight much, but what he’s doing is really good. The rest of the episode has some real bite too, especially when it comes to the choreography. There’s one sequence that almost touches the greatness of the Netflix hallway fight. I want to say rooftop, but it’s actually in Matt’s apartment, and it focuses on the Punisher being back.
The Daredevil I Came to See
What I did appreciate is that Matt is dealing with more than just physical conflict. His choices in these episodes actually seem to have consequences. He’s questioning his methods, his mission, what kind of legacy he’s leaving. That’s the Daredevil I came to see. There’s emotional weight here.
Especially, spoilers, when Karen Page returns. I don’t know why, but for me, in that exact moment, the entire series clicked into place. Her scenes hit hard. But we don’t get enough of her. We didn’t have Foggy either, or really anyone outside of the core trio. The supporting cast feels underused, like the writers knew they were fan favorites but didn’t know what to do with them.
A Show That Doesn’t Know What It Wants to Be
That leads into my big issue with the whole thing, which is ultimately tone and pacing. The show doesn’t quite know what it wants to be. It teeters between gritty street drama and the classic MCU crowd-pleaser, and those two flavors don’t blend cleanly here.
The stakes are high, don’t get me wrong. Truthfully, I don’t know that they’ve ever felt quite so high. But I don’t ever really feel urgency. Literally, the city’s burning. People are taking over. Fisk’s new police group, his new enforcers, are ransacking and just brutally slaying people in the streets in the name of keeping justice. It gets close to something raw and real, and then it just kind of doesn’t fully go there.
Look, anyone can argue with me that they actually did see these things throughout the show. I didn’t feel it. I really didn’t.
Half Earned
The final two episodes are definitely an improvement. That’s for sure. They’re way more focused, they’re more intense, and they finally put Matt at the very center of the narrative. But they still don’t go far enough.
I know everyone’s going to say this Kingpin has done this and that. Whatever. Bullseye’s wasted potential, Kingpin feels nerfed, and ultimately the emotional payoffs are kind of half earned. It’s like the show’s building a foundation it hopes to use later. As a finale, it doesn’t really land with the impact it should. In fact, it kind of just stopped, or lost gas.
That being said, there’s a lot of potential here. The performances are definitely strong, the visuals are improving, and the last 20 minutes of that final episode? That’s the show I want more of. So if this is the starting point for Season 2, I’m in. I know it comes out in March. Cautiously, but I’m in.
So there you go. Now you know. And if knowing is half the battle, you’re halfway to being a know-it-all yourself.
The Verdict
The final two episodes of Daredevil: Born Again Season 1 land at a 7 out of 10 on the Know-It-All Index. That’s a consolidated score for the two of them together.
It’s a strong finish compared to the middle of the season, but it’s still a little too safe for a character built on risk. Let’s hope Season 2 goes for the jugular.
Now it’s your turn. Were you satisfied with how it all wrapped up? Are you hyped for what’s next, or are you feeling like we’re still sort of in the Daredevil waiting room? I want to hear what the Nation has to say, and the conversation lives in the comments on the video above. Until next time, never forget, everyone loves a know-it-all.
