Daredevil Month: Shadows in the Glass

Daredevil Month: Shadows in the Glass April 25, 2015

The episode opens with Fisk waking up from a nightmare, unseen by the audience. He stares up at the painting he bought. Yo Yo Ma’s Unaccompanied Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major plays as he cooks himself breakfast. He picks out a suit (they all honestly look the same to me) and a shirt to wear. As he gets dressed, he looks in the mirror and sees a young boy whose face is covered in blood, his younger self.

Murdock’s apartment is still a huge mess after what happened last episode. An alarm goes off, telling him that it’s 7AM. Over at the offices, Foggy and Karen discuss whether or not they should share their investigation with Matt. Of course, Matt walks in and Karen decides to fess up. Matt tells them to stay out of it, but they’re already too far in to back out. Matt decides to use the law to their advantage.

Over in a warehouse by the docks, Nobu gets in an argument with Wesley and Fisk. Nobu is pissed that Black Sky is dead. Wilson said he’ll work something out and Nobu walks off, threatening Fisk. Wesley asks what Nobu contributes to the group. Fisk says that even though things seem to be going so well, he’ll have to be more caution than ever.

We flash back to Fisk’s childhood, where he’s cutting cup wood and listening to records with his father. His mother is paying bills. His father, Bill, is running for city council. Wilson overhears his parents talking about how he got a loan from the Italian mob boss Rigoletto. Flashing forward, Fisk is on the phone making conversation with Vanessa when he gets interrupted by Wesley. Blake, one of the cops that got shot a few episodes ago, has gotten out of his coma. Although Blake is unable to talk, Fisk tells Wesley to take care of him. However, Blake is surrounded by security. They decide to acquire the help of Blake’s partner, Hoffman.

Karen, Foggy, and Matt are researching, in spite of Foggy wanting to be more hands-on. Karen gets the news of Blake getting out of his coma.

Fisk and Wesley talk to Hoffman about trying to keep Blake silent. Hoffman knows that Fisk is the real reason Blake got shot, but Fisk is that Blake will continue to give information to the wrong people like he did before. Hoffman is loyal to his partner because they are childhood friends. Fisk plans to buy Hoffman out.

At the hospital, Hoffman appears with a very guilty expression in his eyes. He signs in with the security and smuggles a syringe in through a sandwich. After Hoffman syringes Blake, the patient in question wakes up and Daredevil attacks Hoffman, knocking him out. Blake has trouble breathing. Daredevil asks Blake for information, but it’s too late. The cops come in as Daredevil disappears.

Leland gets fitted with a new vest and laments not being able to see his grandson. He asks Fisk about where he can hide from Daredevil. Wesley tells the two of them that Blake talked with Daredevil before he died, but that Daredevil continues to be framed for Blake’s death.

Back in Fisk’s childhood, Fisk shares a cake with his mother. He’s distraught with a bloodied lip. A kid from his school knocked down his father’s signs, called him a loser, and beat him up. Bill meets up with the bully, who’s practicing his baseball swing on a few empty glass bottles. The bully says that he was just repeating what his father said. Bill assaults the bully and kicks him down. Fisk tells his dad to stop, but his dad insists that this is the right thing to do, telling him to kick the bully as he’s down.

Fisk wakes up again and makes breakfast. As he gets dressed his phone rings. Wesley tells Fisk that Madame Gao is coming to visit him and that Wesley’s on his way to help out. The three of them share tea and we find out that Madame Gao is good with her English and knows that Fisk can speak and understand Mandarin. She asks in Japanese about whether or not Nobu knows Fisk also speaks and understands Japanese and asks Wesley to leave them. Madame Gao and Fisk discuss about Nobu and Leland. She tells Fisk that he’s getting sloppy and emotional, comparing him to the Russians. She tells him to get his act together or she’ll just work with Nobu and Leland without his help. Fisk flips over the table as he loses his temper and orders Wesley to get out.

Back in Fisk’s childhood, his father tells him to stare at the wall and think about the man he wants to be. We see that the wall is very similar to the painting Fisk bought as an adult, all white. Bill prepares for a meeting with Rigoletto. His wife, Marlene, doesn’t want him to go. The two have an argument that escalated with Bill beating up Marlene with his fists and his belt.

Wesley comes back to Fisk’s apartment, wanting to help. He brings Vanessa in and leaves. Fisk tells Vanessa to go, but she also wants to help Fisk get back on track. Fisk confides in her.

Flashing back to Fisk’s childhood, Fisk tells his father to stop, grabbing a hammer. He attacks his father with the hammer, beating him to death. His mother tells him to get the saw. She undresses her husband and gives the cufflinks to the young Fisk before sawing the body so that it’s easier to hide.

Fisk continues to tell Vanessa about the night he killed his father and how he and his mother hid the body. He still carries the guilt of killing his father. He wears the cufflinks to remind him that he’s not a monster. Vanessa tells him that he’s not a monster. Of course, we know otherwise.

Lightning strikes and a thunderstorm pours down over the city as Urich heads to his car. He’s on his phone and drops his keys. Daredevil appears, saying “We need to talk.” Urich, of course, is unsure what to think about him. Daredevil tells him to expose Wilson Fisk. The two of them have a discussion and Urich asks for more information, reliable sources. Daredevil tells him just to drag Fisk into the light.

Fisk wakes up again after a night of passion with Vanessa. He looks at the painting and then curls up with her. She’s there to greet him at breakfast. Ben narrates about the haves and the have-nots as Vanessa picks out the clothes and new cufflinks for Fisk to wear. When Fisk looks at himself in the mirror, he finally sees himself, and not the boy he used to be. Urich is at his office, writing his expose on Fisk, only for Fisk to appear on the news as a “mysterious philantropist,” cementing his place as a Villain With Good Publicity.  President Lex Luthor has nothing on this guy.

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