Daredevil: Born Again Season 2, Episode 2 Review – “Shoot the Moon”

Throughout its mostly enjoyable season premiere, it was clear season two of Daredevil: Born Again had a lot of work to do in order to streamline its many sprawling narratives a little bit. “Shoot the Moon” unfortunately feels the lumbering weight of the revival’s many, many stories and subplots, an overstuffed episode of marginal plot developments tied together with a thematic current almost strong enough to hold it all together, as characters reflect on the influence they hold, or is being imposed upon them). More importantly, how that lever of power can be used to achieve any sort of noble, nefarious, or simply self-serving ends provides the most interesting moments of “Shoot the Moon” – though that doesn’t excuse the fact that Daredevil: Born Again‘s second season is clearly biting off more than it can chew for eight episodes, which the episode undeniably suffers from as it tries to pile on more and more and more stories, often at the expense of the characters inhabiting them.

“Shoot the Moon” begins on the heels of “The Northern Star”, as Cherry goes to the hospital, Daredevil broods – and Bullseye, continuing his supposed path of finding absolution by first seeking refuge with Matt’s mother at Clinton Church (she’s on sabbatical in Rome for the year, conveniently), who then shows up at Cherry’s hospital to murder two AVTF officers and…. then we don’t see him again for the rest of the episode. There’s a lot of the latter type of story in “Shoot the Moon” – which probably explains why this episode was paired with “The Scales and the Sword” in a double-episode drop this week.

From there, the second act of “Shoot the Moon” bounces around New York, beginning first with one of season two’s quietly intriguing storylines, as Vanessa considers how her and Fisk might be able to finally move away from the noise and lights of being mayor and crime lord, and into something more influential, generational – and peaceful, though the gun shopping she does with Buck later in the episode clearly suggests she doesn’t think a life of peace is coming her way at any time. Though her and Fisk’s relationship remains more intriguing on paper than it does in action, her conversations with Fisk continue to illuminate some of the deeper thoughts underneath the sneering, domineering veneer of the white-suited Mayor Fisk: when she asks him how many worlds he needs to conquer, his response – “how many are there?” – is one that suggests Fisk’s thirst for money and influence outweighs anything, and may finally force Vanessa to come to terms with the limitations of her influence over Fisk, and the existential black hole she could fall if she continues to be a feckless supporter of his unquenchable hunger for power.

Less impactful is the revitalization of the White Tiger plotline, which sees Angela return to the forefront for the first time since Hector’s death in season one, setting up the obvious origin story for her to assume the role of White Tiger after her aunt gets arrested and vanished by the AVTF (even though he’s been dead for months, the box with his suit in it is riiiiight there next to Kristen). Some of this comes from awkward construction; while I appreciate Daredevil: Born Again nodding towards the surveillance state and over-uniformed idiot gestapo running rampant around America right now, the conflict, both for Angela and the general faceless populace of New York City protesting the AVTF, gives it that neutered Disney feel that works against the brutalist tone it’s often trying to achieve. But it’s also a byproduct of trying to shove Angela’s story, which needs its own space to breathe, inside a handful of other running subplots, most of which feel like relics of the kind of show Born Again is trying to leave behind in season two.

When “Shoot the Moon” does shift its focus back to the larger stories at play, it attempts to pull a bunch of these disparate threads together to draw out the deeper thematic ideas of the episode, to mixed effect. The first set of these revolves around Sheila’s remaining guilt over Commissioner Gallo’s untimely death and Daniel’s friendship with BB – and to its credit, the overlapping, disjointed bits of dialogue pulling these scenes together, as Sheila considers her place in the world and Daniel tries to save it by pleading with BB (to not leak the footage he’s clearly been feeding her), gives both scenes a bit of palpable tension. As Fisk quietly puffs out his chest in front of Shiela, and Daniel finds himself doing the exact opposite to secure his position within the Fisk administration (and possibly, save his own life in the process… seems clear he’s going to use Sheila as a scapegoat, but there’s obviously a lot being left open for the next six episodes to develop), it makes for an interesting dichotomy, especially following another scene where Fisk’s use of fear to mentor Daniel appears to be backfiring a bit.

After another fake PR video from the masked “Mayor Kingpin” (who turns out to be BB, quite obviously), “Shoot the Moon” then shifts into its second set of parallel scenes, which begins with Vanessa’s allusive dream sequence (The Sopranos this is not), and slowly morphs into a scene paralleling her and Fisk’s relationship with Karen and Matt, as Vanessa tries to plead with Fisk to consider a life beyond their current situation, while Karen and Matt try to enjoy the one brief moment of quiet they have together, dancing to music just as the AVTF shows up to try and infiltrate Josie’s Bar.

It makes for an odd mix, the intriguing dream sequence and Vanessa’s growing trepidation cut against the more informal, almost infatuation-esque exchange between Matt and Karen. While one lives within the “trappings” of wealth and influence, Matt and Karen get to live the lives of hot vigilantes, sweating and fucking and dancing in candlelight, while Vanessa tries to pull her hulking companion away from the all-consuming darkness that him (and Matt) have been fighting since the opening episodes of the original series. They make for an odd companion; one can see the parallels being drawn between their relationships and current status – but those metaphors are not exactly congruent with the characters and their actions throughout the series, something Born Again doesn’t even try to answer before the AVTF breaks in and its time for another violent Daredevil encounter.

(speaking of that Daredevil fight scene: how much is Daredevil going to try and purport itself as a graphic, intense series, when it continuously cuts away from the moments affecting actual violence on its characters – or in the case of Daredevil himself, constantly cutting in the middle of fight, lessening the impact of his punches and injuries with constant cuts and weightless fighting. It hasn’t ruined the fight scenes, but the disparity between the OG series and Born Again continues to be stark and underwhelming.)

By paralleling all of these different scenes with each other in the third act, Born Again betrays itself a bit, showing which secondary characters bring richness to their scenes and surroundings (Vanessa, especially when she’s talking to Heather or Fisk) and those whose thin characters are betrayed a bit when contrasted with others (I’m looking at you, Daniel, with your smirky vagueries and thin allusions). To its credit, these jarring creative choices set the stage for the surprising onslaught of the assault on Josie’s Bar – but it does reveal that Born Again still has a long way to go for the thematic harmonies between stories to really sing and shine the way they are intended in “Shoot the Moon”.

Grade: C+

Other thoughts/observations:

• One moment, Matt is yelling out for Karen in their sieged hideout…. and then four seconds later, him and Karen are reuniting on the street. Sometimes this show cuts the oddest narrative corners.
  
• Matt clams up when Karen mentions Bullseye killing Foggy… which again rings my Spidey-senses they might pull the rug on this and bring him back, one comic book plot I really hope they aren’t adapting as a two-season long con here.
  
• the cadre former police guarding Cherry at the hospital is led by Angie Kim, who we haven’t seen much of since she was front and center in Born Again‘s strange standlone episode, “With Interest”. Almost forgot she had joined Daredevil’s fledgling little ‘resistance’ at the end of season one.
  
• The elevators opening and closing on the dead bodies seems to be an explicit The Departed reference, which is … random? No Martin Sheen flying outside the window, though.
  
• Vanessa has been in the room with Bullseye… and thinks buying a gun is a smart solution?
  
• Love the phrase “a goose walking over your grave”. It’s not quite the philosophic religious ponderings of the original series, but a little fun wordplay helps with this show’s general lack of texture.
  
• Daniel can follow a recipe without any experience; however, imitating Julia Child seems a bit easier, and less morally bankrupt, than trying to do the same with Fisk.
  
• “What about a city’s mental health?” *rolls eyes*
  
• the woman who owns the Greek restaurant gets arrested…. which, is another thing that happens in this episode. Too many minor characters that Born Again is trying to give narrative thrust and/or emotional impact to this season!