1x11 The Path of the Righteous

I was going to rate this episode a 7.5, mainly since it's between good and great. There are alot of wheels turning in this episode. We get the set up for Matt's Daredevil costume, also get Matt going to confession where he lets us see into his constant battle of right and rightenous (and how much his own rage, darkness and pushing moral limits scare him). Then there is Fisk, who we found has two week spots: his love for Vanessa, which makes her a target, and his mother, which is evidence of his past. Karen's investigation is hitting a point of no return as she finds Fisk's mother, but also the team (matt and foggy) is falling apart, leaving her alone to face the darkness. And darkness she faces as Fisk's assistant catches up to her invesigation, kidnapping her in order to force her hand and undo "the damage she has caused Mr Fisk", but there is much more to Karen than we had ever imagined. She faces the darkness with rage and courage (and adrenaline) finding an opening to get the upper, and she does what no one of thought possible, she takes on the darkness and wins (she kills Fisk's assistant and his only friend), shooting it at first with a plan to save herself, but then she empties a clip into his chest, showing she has fired a gun before. There is so much more to Karen, and I'm sure none of us were prepared for what was once a lonely, scared woman had it in her to like into the darkness and find strenght.

The final scene with Karen is what pushes this episode toward great, mainly because we never see this side of Karen coming, yet once we are face to face with her violence, rage and unflinching agency, we can no longer see her as a damsel in distress, but rather someone who can be as veneous as our villians, and as violent as martyr/hero

Another enjoyable episode. Regarding Matt, things are still pretty shit for him after Foggy discovered the truth, with there relationship now completely fucked and now it's starting to affect Karen's relationships with them both, with Karen fully aware they aren't being honest with her and feeling like Nelson and Murdock aren't focused on the mission to expose Fisk, with both of them feeling completely dejected after failing over and over again to expose Fisk and after tarnishing their friendship. Also, regarding Fisk, its clear he's completely broken after the accident involving Vanessa, especially after promising her the safest place she could be is next to him. Vanessa was the first person he truly loved and could confide himself in, and now that he' s losing her, he's going to become incapable to recover from that. Now Fisk is driven to expose whoever would commit this act against Vanessa, willing to do anything to find out the criminal. And now Leland, and even Wesley are worried that Fisk won't be able to run his business and take charge as a boss after this situation, especially given that her death would destroy Fisk emotionally and make him unstable. I wonder what's going to happen now that Matt, and now many of his colleagues are fully aware of Fisk's weak-spot, Vanessa. Looks like Madame Gao was right, if he doesn't have a clear path for him ambitions fate will choose for him, and man was fate brutal. Also, unluckily for Nelson Murdock, Ben and Karen, Wesley found out that Fisk's mom (another person Fisk cherishes/weak-spot of Fisk) talked to Karen and Ben. Wesley was always a loyal and good friend for Fisk, constantly doing everything he could to help out Fisk, and becoming of of the few people Fisk could trust. And man, that confrontation between Wesley and Karen was intense, and man that proposition he gave her, saying Karen needs to become a pro-Fisk puppet for him otherwise everyone else she loves then she will die, man was Wesley ruthless. I was wondering how Karen how would ever escape this situation, but luckily Wesley was distracted long enough for Karen to take his gun and kill him. I wonder how murdering someone is going to affect Karen, i mean the show clearly spelled out that killing someone is crossing a line you could never take back, though from what Karen said it seems like this isnt the first time she's killed a person. And man, I'm wondering how Fisk is going to react when he learns that Wesley is dead. Also, back to Matt, I enjoyed the "last" interaction between him and Claire, with Claire again reinforcing how dangerous and unending the path Matt is going on to change Hell's Kitchen and stop Fisk, and saying it'll be a bloody lonely path for Matt. Also, it looks like Matt's figured out whose made Fisk's body armor, and he's about to get an armor upgrade. And regarding Ben Urich, looks like he's still on the Fisk story-line, with him researching more about Bill Fisk, man its just like Ben's wife said, being a reporter is who he is, not just some career. Also, I really enjoyed the brief conversation between Matt and his pastor, with Matt dealing with this existential struggle of why he was born the was he was, with these powers and this seemingly devil like force put into him, wondering what purpose does he truly have; and with Matt struggling about the path he's going on, and if he's truly doing what's right or if he's becoming a monster. And I'm glad the preacher, who was well aware that Matt is Daredevil, reassured Matt about why he's here, that this "devil" inside him is a constant reminder for him to follow a righteous path, rather than to accept and embrace it.