Episode Review: Daredevil: Born Again 1x4 - "Sic Semper Systema"

Welcome back to the blog readers. In case you have not been paying attention over the last two weeks, I have become hooked on Daredevil: Born Again (2025-). Everything from the characters to the drama has been at an A+ level right now, and I cannot believe how great last week's episode was. While I may miss seeing Kamar de los Reyes kill it as Hector Ayala, I can look forward to more ass-kicking and name-taking with this episode, titled "Sic Semper Systema," written by David Feige and Jesse Wigutow, and directed by Jeffrey Nachmanoff. Would I like it as much? Stick around to find out.

NOTE: I will be using spoilers for my thoughts, so DO NOT read ahead if you have not seen the episode.

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I was absolutely looking forward to seeing the aftermath of the brutal execution of Hector Ayala and what that would do to the psyche of Matt Murdock. I was also looking forward to seeing what dastardly deeds Wilson Fisk would be up to this week. Thank goodness that I watched this episode because holy fucking shit. This has to be an early entry for episode of the year contender. Charlie Cox gives a career-best performance and the story is getting deeper and richer than ever. And not a single punch was thrown this episode (well, there technically was one but not in the sense that you are thinking).

I want to start by talking about what Charlie Cox has been able to pull off, especially in this episode. Over the first three episodes of this show, we have gotten hints of the acting chops that this guy had, like in the first episode when we see Matt Murdock's emotion when Foggy Nelson is killed. But I seriously think he puts on an acting clinic in this episode. Cox is able to portray Matt's denial and eventual breakdown absolutely perfectly, and his scene with Jon Bernthal's Frank Castle is some of the best writing I have seen all year thus far. I will talk about that scene separately but it is some of the best acting I have seen all year as well. My heart felt broken for Matt and this is only going to strengthen my campaign for his nomination for Best Actor in a Drama Series at the Emmys this year.

I want to next talk about the story of this episode, because we are definitely getting somewhere and seeing both men break out of the walls they have built to surround themselves is going to be epic. The episode starts at the morgue where Matt is assessing the damage done to his deceased client Hector Ayala and being confronted by his niece Angela Del Toro. Angela believes that the police are directly responsible for her uncle's death and swears vengeance on them; Matt comforts the girl and assures her that justice will be served for his killer(s). He eventually learns of his next case, a man named Leroy Bradford, who is accused of stealing snacks from a bodega store. Leroy begs Matt to give him probation, to which he attempts it but is only able to get 10 days in prison. It is here that we also learn Leroy has a rap sheet at least 10 pages long. Matt brings this information to Leroy but he loudly rebukes him and tells him the system has been against him for his entire life. He leaves with the understanding that he is right and begins to question if the system really is working.

Meanwhile, Wilson Fisk and his wife Vanessa are still undergoing marriage counseling with Heather (in which her affair with Adam is brought up), and Heather asks Vanessa if she feels safe in her marriage. Vanessa rebukes her by saying while Wilson is capable of a lot of extreme things, violence against her is not one of them. He then tries to renovate a port but is told of the many layers of logistics that have to pass in order for this to happen. He does not like the layers in front of him but understands what he has to do. He also has to deal with obstacles such as the gang in-fighting since he left the criminal underworld and a drunken Daniel leaking information that he is a union buster. He decides to keep Daniel around when he expresses his deep loyalty to Wilson, something Fisk craves. But he threatens to hurt him bad if he does it again. Later on, when Wilson and Vanessa are having dinner, Wilson is able to gather that Heather asked her about whether she feels safe with him and admits his father made him into the monster he is today, and that he was never taught forgiveness and is working on that.

Meanwhile, Matt tries to locate the bullet casing that Hector's assailant used to execute him, and finds it after some experimentation. He finds that the bullet casing has the Punisher's logo on it, so he proceeds to track his old friend Frank Castle down to determine if it was indeed him. Castle attacks Matt, not recognizing him, and vehemently tells him that there are copycats of him. Matt urges Frank to go after these people for using and misrepresenting his symbol, but Frank rebukes him by telling him he should have killed Bullseye for Foggy's death. When Matt rebukes back that Dex got life, Frank asks Matt if Foggy got life. He leaves in tears over being in denial over his friend's death. Later that night, Matt reunites with Heather and has sex with her for the first time before leaving his bed to practice with his billy clubs, Wilson eats dinner next to an imprisoned Adam that begs for his life (revealing he kidnapped him), and the serial killer Muse drains blood from one of his victims.

I want to make mention of the scene between Matt and Frank for a minute, because I think it is very significant for many reasons. One of those reasons is because we learn that Matt has been in denial over Foggy's death all this time and Frank is allowing for Matt to process his emotions. Another reason has to do with their respective ideals. Since Foggy died and Matt gave up being Daredevil, he has put all of his faith into the justice system that we have seen over the last three episodes fail, so he is wrestling with his inner guilt and the knowledge that the system is a lot more flawed than he thought it was. Scenes like this really make you wonder when Matt is going to crack and let that darker side that Frank taps in to will kick in.

Daredevil: Born Again submits an early contender for episode of the year with a drama-filled thrill ride that gives us the best (and worst) of Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk. Thank you all for reading, and I will see you for the next post.