Main cast: Charlie Cox (Matt Murdock/Daredevil) and Mohan Kapur (Yusuf Khan)
Director: Jeffrey Nachmanoff

Apologies for the delay, dear reader. One wishes they could claim the lapse in punctuality was due to some harrowing personal tragedy, or perhaps an intense rooftop brawl with a ninja clan. But alas, the truth is far sadder: your reviewer simply forgot this show existed. Like an old Tamagotchi buried in a sock drawer, Daredevil: Born Again faded from memory until someone asked, “Hey, did you watch the new episodes yet?” Cue mild panic and the hasty removal of cobwebs from one’s Disney+ tab.

So, what’s new in Hell’s Kitchen this week? Well, apparently, Disney+ released two episodes back-to-back, which is the streaming equivalent of putting your leftovers in Tupperware and leaving them at a neighbor’s house because you don’t want to deal with them anymore. The once-hyped return of Daredevil has become the thing that must be aired quickly, quietly, and preferably when nobody’s looking.

This week’s plot: Matt Murdock, Patron Saint of Accidentally Ruining the Lives of POC Characters Just by Walking into Their Vicinity™, strolls into a bank. A nice, wholesome, community-focused bank that’s apparently staffed by people of color, including Yusuf Khan from Ms. Marvel. And just like Jessica Fletcher in Murder, She Wrote, his very presence heralds doom: shortly after Matt shows up, white bank robbers burst in with all the subtlety of a Kool-Aid Man crash entrance.

What follows is an episode that finally—finally!—remembers this show is supposed to be set in the Marvel universe and not the Lifetime one. There’s action! Punches! Violence! Huzzah! Matt gets to do Daredevil things… sort of. He punches bad guys while very clearly trying not to punch bad guys too Daredevil-ly, because this show is still deeply committed to the bit of “superhero show that’s trying not to be a superhero show.”

Now, don’t get me wrong: this is more entertaining than the last few episodes, which felt like a group therapy session sponsored by LinkedIn. But there’s still a fundamental problem: Matt Murdock is basically an OP ninja bat-god, and these robbers are, at best, interns on break from Law & Order: Criminally Incompetent Unit. There is zero suspense. Matt can hear your heartbeat, your texts, your unresolved daddy issues. What tension is there in watching a man with echolocation beat up guys with bad posture?

It’s like watching John Wick go full beast-mode on the Wiggles. Sure, it’s visually dynamic, but narratively, it’s a slaughterhouse without stakes.

Meanwhile, the thematic elephant in the room tiptoes around, wearing a “DEI Consultant” badge. This is now the fifth episode where Matt shows up and accidentally becomes the reluctant white savior of POCs in distress. It’s like The Help, but with more punching and less pie. And again, all this penned by white writers, under the watchful eye of white executives, with the moral compass of someone who thinks quoting The Wire counts as lived experience. Bless.

Oh, and Fisk is nowhere to be seen. Probably off getting his chakras aligned while his enemies plan to bulldoze his metaphorical empire with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer. Honestly, his scenes were starting to feel like Real Housewives of Rikers Island, so we’re not missing much.

In short: this episode is a slight improvement over previous episodes, mostly because something actually happens, but still wrapped in layers of narrative shame and Marvel malaise. At least Charlie Cox remains pretty. That’s all that matters now.