{"id":589461,"date":"2026-04-08T04:01:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T04:01:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/589461\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T04:01:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T04:01:07","slug":"daredevil-born-again-recap-season-2-episode-4-gloves-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/589461\/","title":{"rendered":"Daredevil: Born Again recap – season 2, episode 4, “Gloves Off”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Following last week\u2019s explosive cliff-hanger<\/a>, it makes a sick kind of sense that the next chaotic episode of Daredevil: Born Again opens on a moment of zen with none other than Benjamin Poindexter, a.k.a. Bullseye (Wilson Bethel). These superhero shows typically reserve the calm morning routines for the hero, not their enemies. Yet here\u2019s Ben, stretching, making eggs for himself and his neighbor\u2019s cat (aw!), and whistling as he greets the day in New York City, a chipper sequence that establishes Bullseye\u2019s new state of mind (in case that Billy Joel needle drop didn\u2019t make it clear). Has Ben really gone good? He seems to think so, but just like the lethal marksman himself, the real answer is more complicated.<\/p>\n

The first sign that something\u2019s off about Ben\u2019s sunny morning comes when he ducks into a diner and washes down those eggs with a banana milkshake. (The stomach roils.) The second hits when Ben dials 911 to report a Frank Castle sighting and hangs up with an unsettling grin. Before I dig into the ensuing havoc like a grand-slam breakfast, here\u2019s a quick inventory of the items lying within his reach: knives, forks, spoons, plates, napkin dispensers, toothpicks\u2014that straw! The endless permutations of mayhem set a wicked tone for \u201cGloves Off,\u201d a showy, unpredictable episode that sets axis-shifting events in motion and shatters the sense of invincibility that New York\u2019s mayor once took as an iron-clad given. As awesome a sequence as it is, however, Bullseye dispatching the arriving Anti-Vigilante Task Force with cutlery is just a preview for this week\u2019s deadly main event.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bullseye, the series\u2019 resident wild card, last appeared just as Daredevil (Charlie Cox)l hit a new low during the premiere.<\/a> This week, he strikes as Kingpin (Vincent D\u2019Onofrio) hits a new apex, fresh off a lopsided victory at Fogwell\u2019s Gym in a televised farce called \u201cScrappin\u2019 In The Kitchen.\u201d In retrospect, it all seems inevitable. Fisk\u2019s showboating in the boxing ring contrasts with a vulnerable moment earlier on, when he sends Vanessa (Ayalet Zurer) to Albany to hang with Governor McCaffrey (Lili Taylor) instead of joining the night\u2019s festivities. \u201cToo much could go wrong,\u201d he says. Every tyrant has their weakness, and Fisk\u2019s is especially easy to target. Even though she does as she\u2019s told, Vanessa doesn\u2019t buy his reasoning. Surely, the Fisks are stronger united? \u201cWe\u2019re a match pair,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Before I unpack the night\u2019s big twist, let\u2019s check in on the star of this sordid melodrama: Daredevil, who assists the freed prisoners of Red Hook in recording video testimony for Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll) and guerrilla rabble-rouser BB Urich (Genneya Walton). As Karen talks to Soledad (Ashley Marie Ortiz), aunt to Angela del Toro (Camila Rodriguez), Daredevil compares notes with Swordsman (Tony Dalton) in one of the most underwhelming MCU team-ups to date. Duquesne does his head-tilting, grinning thing, calling Hornhead a symbol of hope and leaving an account number for the resistance in case they ever need some cash. With a handshake, he saunters off\u2014to some future Disney+ show, presumably\u2014leaving Angela to share a quick heart-to-heart with Daredevil. Using a growly Batman voice to hide his identity, he asks if she truly understands the burden of carrying her late uncle\u2019s standard. She says she does.<\/p>\n

Responsibility looms large this week. Angela takes on resistance duties as the city\u2019s newest vigilante, ready or not (she should be fine); Fisk foists the latest Red Hook disaster onto Daredevil, though Mr. Charles (Matthew Lillard) knows who\u2019s really to blame; and then there\u2019s Bullseye and his \u201cone good deed,\u201d which I\u2019ll get to shortly. With Kingpin dominating Murdock\u2019s attention, the lingering matter of Bullseye walking free after putting a bullet in his chest last season<\/a> finally lands on his to-do list. So Murdock throws on fascist cosplay, slips into the diner crime scene, sniffs some ketchup, and finds a token that leads him to the steps of a nearby church. There, the season\u2019s core theme of redemption is broached: Murdock has a chat with the same seminarian (played by Bartley Booz) who dealt with Bullseye at knife-point last week, and his hesitation to turn Ben over to the AVTF prompts Murdock to cut the sermon short: \u201cI\u2019m not gonna debate with you about whether or not he deserves grace,\u201d he says. \u201cI need to find him.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

And find him Daredevil does, in Ben\u2019s cozy bachelor\u2019s pad, where, over some light hostage taking, Bullseye begs for vindication for killing Foggy Nelson<\/a> (Elden Henson) at Vanessa\u2019s behest. \u201cOne good deed,\u201d Ben pleads, suggesting he kill Fisk, which, naturally, Daredevil gets all righteous about: \u201cI can\u2019t let you make a martyr out of him!\u201d Okay, Matt, fair. But then what? Why doesn\u2019t he pull some slick superhero moves and KO Bullseye right then and there? There is a gnarly psychopathy to Murdock\u2019s ongoing failure to stop Bullseye from killing again. The more Matt delays dealing with the monsters in his city once and for all, the more he bears responsibility for the carnage they cause. But will Born Again do anything interesting with this?\u00a0<\/p>\n

This brings us back to \u201cScrappin\u2019 In The Kitchen.\u201d With the Northern Star\u2019s only witness (Yorgos Karamihos) knocked off by Buck (Arty Froushan) and the outcome of his ridiculous fight all but decided, Fisk rides a dangerous high. Yet vanity brings chaos to his doorstep. He staged this brawl at Fogwell\u2019s to piss off Daredevil, only for Bullseye to crash the party. His people stock the venue with glass merch stamped with his face, which Bullseye uses as a weapon. And he tempts fate by claiming the Matterhorn will never hit him\u2014only for Vanessa, dressed in Fiskian white, to distract him long enough for the tyrant-mayor to take a bop. Notice the complexity of Bullseye\u2019s attack that follows: how the mayor suddenly loses all control, how he can\u2019t deflect inevitability even with that absurd championship belt. Despite all his power and glory, Wilson Fisk can\u2019t save Vanessa.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Stray observations<\/p>\n

\u2022 Who is Mike \u201cMatterhorn\u201d Melendez and why did he agree to fight Kingpin on TV? Fisk\u2019s bloody victory suggests the details don\u2019t matter. I\u2019d argue that it would have been interesting to meet Mike and learn why he chose (or was chosen) to fight. Perhaps it\u2019d give Daniel Blake (Michael Gandolfini) more to do and also let this season add in more character work.\u00a0
\n\u2022 Bullseye went bonkers in the Bel Aire Diner in Astoria, not to be confused with the Square Diner in Tribeca, where Daredevil drama usually occurs. Fun fact: Bel Aire was also the subject of a Kitchen Nightmares episode.\u00a0
\n\u2022 Powell lays on the tough-guy act so thick that I hope he gargles with lemon between scenes.\u00a0
\n\u2022 Nice use of symbolism: Karen and her wig help clean up Kirsten McDuffie\u2019s (Nikki M. James) trashed office after a visit from the AVTF, representing how her resistance will restore justice to the city.\u00a0
\n\u2022 Matt prays to St. Lucia to ask for spiritual clarity\u2014and to protect eyesight.\u00a0
\n\u2022 I didn\u2019t know that about wombats and I\u2019m sure I didn\u2019t want to. One useful bit of info from Fisk\u2019s latest exchange with Mr. Charles: The governor is set to revoke the charter that gives protection to Fisk\u2019s dealings at the freeport. Could be significant.\u00a0
\n\u2022 Maybe it\u2019s the validation Vanessa feels after her chat with the governor or perhaps it\u2019s loyalty or even the defiance of standing by him at the pinnacle of his infamy. It doesn\u2019t matter why she comes to fight night against her better judgment, only that she does.\u00a0
\n\u2022 Vanessa\u2019s pistol, provided by Buck last week, gave her a chance to hit the target that haunts her dreams, but not quickly enough to prevent him from hitting his.\u00a0
\n\u2022 Josie\u2019s jukebox: Billy Joel\u2019s \u201cNew York State Of Mind,\u201d Slick Naim\u2019s \u201cOn Me,\u201d Mega Rev\u2019s \u201cSomething\u2019s Coming.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jarrod Jones is a contributor to The A.V. Club.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Following last week\u2019s explosive cliff-hanger, it makes a sick kind of sense that the next chaotic episode of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":589462,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[49,48,75,348],"class_list":["post-589461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/589461","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=589461"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/589461\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/589462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=589461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=589461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=589461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}