As we reach the penultimate episode of Daredevil’s third season, we should take a step back just to see how big the stakes truly are. On the day Netflix dropping this entire season onto their streaming service to binge, we already knew that both Iron Fist and Luke Cage had just been cancelled and while the more glass-half-full of you out there seemed to be hoping for a Heroes For Hire team-up show, it seemed that the writing was starting to be on the alley wall for Netflix’s Marvel stable. To be fair, the surprise wasn’t exactly huge as any attempt to merge the Netflix guys with their MCU counterparts hadn’t exactly been major, with vague references to “the event” (aka. an alien invasion of New York) and the odd newspaper headline being the only true connecting tissue. So not only are we hurtling toward the last episodes of season 3, there is a very good chance we could be heading into the final episodes of seeing Charlie Cox’s Daredevil, period – so the need for the man without fear to finish strong is paramount. No pressure then, guys.
After saving his life from a crack team of exterminators, Matt Murdock has finally managed to secure the testimony and trust of FBI Agent Nadeem by doing the unthinkable: revealing his identity to him. Now, with the former fed in full fightback mode against all the manipulations that got him under the thumb of Wilson Fisk in the first place, the team of Murdock, Page and Nelson put their plan into full effect regardless of the personal sacrifices they’ve made. Not only has Matt given up his secret identity to secure trust, but Foggy essentially torpedos his own shot at becoming District Attorney, when he offers to stand down from the race to get standing DA Blake Tower to meet with Nadeem to turn state evidence.
Considering that Fisk and his cohorts seemingly have a lot on their plates and the moment, it generally seems like they have a legitimate chance to catch the Kingpin unawares with their legal maneuvers – especially considering that Wilson’s love, Vanessa, has finally re-entered the chat. However, while Wilson is fawning over the return of his paramore, it means that he’s not paying attention to the needs of his attack dog and part-time Daredevil cosplayer, Poindexter, who resorts to random acts of murder to get back in his bosses good books like a scolded puppy. However, while Wilson attempts to once again wrap his love in metaphorical bubble wrap to keep her separate from his criminal enterprises, he’s stunned to find that Vanessa actually wants in and even wants to help make important decisions in order to feel closer to him.
However, while Murdock and Co. rush to get their stella witness to the courthouse to get him in front of a grand jury, Matt and Nadeem have to run a gauntlet of mercenaries, but upon arriving, they find that Wilson hasn’t been as distracted as they thought.
Just when you think the season can’t drive home just how frustrating trying to take down Wilson Fisk can be, the penultimate episode goes all out to show that even an all-or-nothing play from our heroic trio is now no longer enough to slow his villainous roll. However, while that kind of desperate legalese might have done the job way back in season 1, that was a Kingpin who was already at the stop of the heap and convinced of his superiority; season 3 Kingpin has been clawing his way back from the bottom and isn’t about to fall for this sort of shit again. The vast majority of the episode is literally Murdock, Nelson and Page taking risks, making sacrifices and plotting tirelessly to score that desperately needed killshot that would put Fisk back in cuffs and all of them all put major shit on the line in order to get the job done. Matt has already given up his identity to bring Nadeem over to the cause but also has the task of avoiding countless gunmen when they’re ambushed on the way to court. Elsewhere, Foggy, whose family is also in the hot seat thanks to Fisk’s bullshittery, offers up his swing at district attorney as leverage to get Nadeem heard by the relevant authorities and Karen, who has a sizable bounty on her head, takes a massive risk by breaking cover and rallying her newspaper contacts to hold a press conference of her own to spill yet more of Fisk’s tea. It’s all dizzyingly exciting and the sequence that sees Matt and Nadeem tag team their way through machine gun fire in order to ensure that justice be done feels awesomely reminiscent of the freeway shootout from Captain America: The Winter Soldier. It feels good because our heroes are working together again. It feels good because they’re taking the fight to a Fisk who has been on the offensive the entire time. It feels good because justice is about to dmfinally be served.
Only it isn’t.
Once again, our heroes are out maneuvered as it soon becomes clear that Fisk has managed to get to the jury to deflect yet another shot at his crown and of all the times the Kingpin has managed to get one over on the good guys, this one is by far the most cruel. Everyone had something tangible on the line, be it a family business, their secret identity, or their very lives and you can’t help especially bad for Nadeem who now literally has nowhere to turn despite risking it all. However, while the good guys all run into a brick wall of injustice, Fisk finally achieves his ultimate goal and gets Vanessa back in his life. However, what’s interesting is that the character (who hasn’t been seen since season 1) has something of a new agenda since returning and years of having no one to speak to other than bodyguards has left her horribly lonely. Her idea to remedy this is to involve herself fully in her lover’s world and is even the one who suggests that Nadeem should be killed due to his intimate knowledge of Wilson’s operation which proves to be an interesting switch from the comic version who usually vehemently rebelled against her fella’s unlawful line of work.
Also feeling the pinch is Poindexter who, now he’s not Fisk’s golden boy anymore, has taken to acting out in various, psychotic ways to suck up to his surrogate father figure. Remember that sweet old lady who had possession of the Rabbit In A Snowstorm after it has been taken from her family during the Holocaust? Well even though Fisk conceded that her claim was greater, that hasn’t stopped the painting showing up in Wilson’s penthouse with a telltale smudge of blood on the frame and it seems that Dex is rapidly losing control and is desperate for any guidance he can get as hid violent, childish urges are rapidly getting the better of him.
As it stands, after watching One Last Shot, I have absolutely no clue how any of this is going to work out. While Nadeem finally found that his plot thread has finally come to an end by drawing out Dex to his home and catching a bullet between the eyes, every other storyline could go anywhere. Matt continuing denial of both God and the law, Karen’s safety, Pointdexter’s mental health and Kingpin’s superiority all seem far away from getting resolved. Add to this the cancellation of two of his team mates with the fate of Jessica Jones and The Punisher still hanging in the balance, the final episode of the season (possibly the series) needs to make like Bullseye and simply not miss.
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