“If anyone can kill anyone in this town, where does the insanity end?”
Daredevil attempts to answer this question in “Semper Fidelis”, but first, we must deal with an increasingly unlikeable protagonist.
Matt’s (Charlie Cox) not been looking too good for the past couple of episodes, and here he is painted as downright unflattering. His double life’s finally biting him in the ass, and frankly everyone in his life is starting to call him out on his bullshit.
Let’s start with Foggy (Elden Henson). After Matt fails to show up to deliver the opening statement at Frank’s (Jon Bernthal) trial, Foggy finally gets in Matt’s face about his continuous absence at the firm, and rightfully so. I mean, I was sweating bullets just watching the empty chair at the counsel’s bench, even though Foggy did a magnificent job covering for Matt. So finally, Matt has no choice but to come clean about Elektra (Elodie Yung).
While it was a relief to have everything out in the open, it still begs the question of why Matt felt like he had to keep her a secret in the first place. Worse, his confession was nothing but selfish. He got caught leading his double life, and instead of apologizing and owning up to his recklessness, he uses the lame excuse of “protecting the city” in order to justify his actions. I couldn’t help but cheer when Foggy yells, “Nobody made you to it!” And again, he’s right. Elektra never forced him to go on these missions with her. Maybe she would ask coyly, whine a little, but after some weak protests, Matt would always give in, and that’s on him.
Foggy was also right when he said that Karen (Deborah Ann Woll) deserved to know about Elektra (Foggy was really on fire this episode, wasn’t he?). But when Karen demanded to know the truth, Matt brushed her off after asking if she wanted to know as his co-worker, or as his girlfriend. Actually, Matt, she deserves to know because of both reasons? Because you’ve been flaking as her co-worker, and lying to her as her boyfriend?
That wasn’t the only reason Matt was frustrated with Karen this episode, because earlier she revealed in so many words that she actually believes in what the Punisher was doing, even going so far as to disagree with Matt’s “no killing” mantra. When Matt declared that vengeance isn’t the same thing as justice, Karen countered that the morality didn’t matter, as long as the method works.
This is actually a great moment for Karen’s character, because siding with the Punisher makes complete sense for her. When she questions whether it’s better to save people or prevent people from needing saving at all, we remember what she went through last season. She killed Wesley (Toby Leonard Moore), not out of immediate self-defense, but because he threatened to go after Matt and Foggy. Hence, she sees herself in the Punisher, and the reason she feels so strongly about this case is because by saving Frank from condemnation, she wants to be let off the hook for killing Wesley as well.
In addition to advocating for the Punisher, Karen also calls into question the necessity of Daredevil. “What do we do when the law fails us?” she asks. Isn’t Daredevil just another vigilante like the Punisher, with only a thinly justified “no kill” policy separating the two?
Elektra asked Matt the same question, forcing him to confront his hypocrisy. When Matt furiously scolds her for threatening his key witness, she brings up an excellent point: “When you don’t get what you want by day, you take it by force at night.” This is exactly the code that Daredevil has ascribed to ever since he first put on that black bandanna and went gallivanting throughout the city. He was only upset at Elektra because she wasn’t acting on his terms.
Like Matt said to Karen, who is he to decide who gets punished and who doesn’t? Only God, or a group of jurors, can deliver real justice. Unfortunately, Matt’s including himself in that select group of judge and jury, avoiding the executioner role for now. Foggy said that the trial wasn’t about vigilantes, but about the failure of the justice system. Matt needs to reassess his beliefs. If he really believes in the law, his goal should be to fix it, not subvert it. If he believes the system is beyond saving, then he really is no different from the Punisher.
Other Thoughts:
“My life doesn’t stop every time you call,” Matt says to Elektra, but actually, yes, it does.
The fight scenes are becoming kind of tedious, and that’s because there is no heart to them, no motivation. Daredevil and Elektra are just beating down faceless thugs, not in the name of anything, but just to satisfy Elektra’s whims.
The professor’s Asian fetish was gross, but it didn’t do the show any favors by calling to attention the fact that the writers are also treating the Asian characters pretty terribly. Every single Asian is a stereotype, a “ninja” without any depth or nuance. Even the Irish gangsters got to have more complexity than the Asian characters are given.