Just when you thought Foggy discovering Matt’s secret identity was the best cliffhanger pulled off by Marvel’s Daredevil, “The Path Of The Righteous” comes along and knocks it straight out of the ballpark. When Wesley kidnaps Karen following a phone call with Wilson Fisk’s mum, I knew that there was no way there could ever be a happy ending. But in no way did I suspect that Wesley was the one who would end up with a bullet to the chest. Yep, throwing film and TV conventions straight out the window, the damsel in distress character of this series is now a cold-blooded killer. Let’s just hope a certain boss never finds out about the conversation his assistant had with sweet old mummy dearest.
“The Path Of The Righteous” served largely as a set up for the next few episodes, as the final pieces were laid out for confrontations between a number of the characters. Perhaps the biggest of these was the mystery of who was behind the poisoning at the benefit, with Fisk dismissing Daredevil’s involvement and instead casting his suspicions on Madame Gao. Wesley instructs Leland Owsley to go talk to her, largely as a means to get him out of the hospital. Owsley seems more concerned with letting everyone around him know that he nearly drank the wine as well, so sending him off on this mission is a ploy to get him out of Fisk’s hair. The ensuing chat between him and Gao isn’t played out onscreen, though he assures Wesley it went well.
The episode also gets us that one step closer to seeing Matt don the classic Daredevil costume, as he pays the villainous tailor Melvin Potter a visit. But it turns out Potter isn’t quite the clear cut villain he was in the comics in Marvel’s Daredevil, rather he is a simple minded ex-con working for Fisk out of fear of what he will do to his friend and carer Betsy. Matt finds out this information after a brief fight with Potter, and quickly promises that if he helps him he will make it his mission to make sure Fisk can never harm Betsy or Potter again. There is still no sight of the red suit by the end of “The Path Of The Righteous”, but assumedly it will make an appearance by the end of the season following the events of this season. I’m excited.
Claire Temple also makes a brief return in this episode, to check on Matt’s wounds from his fight with Nobu and also to say her farewells. I like that this show has given its villain the romance subplot rather than its hero, though I would have loved to see Claire as more of a key player. It seems a bit of a waste that they cast Rosario Dawson for what has essentially turned out to be a very small role, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed she will return in one of the other Netflix shows. Many Marvel fan boys have speculated that she could end up being the Nick Fury of Netflix, and I really hope this one theory turns out to be true.
Elsewhere, Foggy gets a little bit of loving after shacking up with his ex Marci Stahl (Amy Rutberg), who was seen a few episodes back when Foggy and Karen paid a visit to Landman and Zack. It is unclear if this was simply a drunken booty call following Foggy’s anger at Matt or not, but it will most likely have repercussions in terms of his feelings for Karen.
Episode Highlights:
— In the comics, Melvin Potter (in his alias as Gladiator) used wrist blades as his weapon of choice. This was alluded to spectacularly in the show with his use of small circular saw blades. Blueprints for his costume can also be briefly seen in his workshop
— If you look closely in Potter’s workshop you can also see the early stages of Stilt-Man’s costume, another prominent rogue from the Daredevil comics
— The conversation between Karen and Wesley gave a number of hints about Karen’s past, which has yet to be explored. Before Wesley’s death I thought the idea she had previously shot someone was a massive bluff, but now I’m not so sure
REVIEW SCORE: FOUR STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Read the rest of Simon’s Marvel’s Daredevil reviews here.
Marvel’s Daredevil is available to stream all 13 episodes from Season One on Netflix Australia.
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