Monique Ocampo Writes
The episode begins in Utkin Prison, Siberia 8 years prior to the story’s beginning. Anatoly gets dragged into a prison cell with his brother Vladimir. Anatoly pickpockets a dead Alexei (their cellmate) and breaks off one of his ribs. The brothers plan to break out of prison and move on to America.
Cut to the present day, where Anatoly escapes from a tousle with Daredevil, who throws a dead body onto his getaway vehicle (a cab). Daredevil gets his wounds treated by Claire in a motel room. The guy he threw off the roof in the previous episode is in a coma.Daredevil tells her that he wants to make sure the Russians aren’t looking for her before she can come out of hiding. Claire advises Daredevil to get some kind of body armor. The two share a ship tease moment in which he asks for her number for emergency purposes. She’s still calling him Mike. They also talk about who Wilson Fisk is, but Claire doesn’t know.
Down in a taxi repo garage, the brothers discuss payment with Wesley. Daredevil has been asking about Wilson Fisk and Wesley tells the two of them to take care of Daredevil and sees them as weak. The two brothers discuss what to do because they’re sick of being under Fisk’s thumb and getting their butts kicked by Daredevil. They decide to go meet a man named Semyon.
Karen meets up with Ben Ulrich at the diner to try and bring Union Allied down once and for all. Ulrich asks her about the man in the mask. He also points out that the people who did Union Allied’s dirty work have ended up dead. She begs him to look into it. He tells her that he needs reliable sources and implies that she has a sketchy past. She brings up the fact that he used to write big stories, but Ulrich says he’s getting old and less stupid.
Over in a hospital, the Russian Brothers visit their friend Semyon, who turns out to be the man Daredevil threw off the roof last episode. They unplug him from the monitoring devices and prepare a serum to inject into Semyon’s body. They inject epinephrine straight into Semyon’s heart and he wakes up, asking him about the man who attacked him. Semyon calls him “the devil.” He also points out that there was a woman and whispers something, probably relating to Claire. The brothers’ minions search Claire’s now-empty apartment. They are greeted by Santino.
In a limo, Wesley and Fisk discuss what to do with the brothers and the “timeline.” The limo pulls up to the gallery from last episode and Fisk insists to get out alone. Inside the gallery, Fisk looks around for Vanessa. They have a conversation and Fisk asks her out on a date. And even though he’s the main Big Bad, he’s not gonna buy every painting just so that she can close up early. They finally exchange names. It’s a little weird seeing villains in love, but it’s better than Harley and Joker.
Claire feeds her friends’ cat and hears someone stumbling nearby. She gets her phone ready and looks out the door, not noticing someone peering into her window.
Nelson and Murdock are leaving the police station after helping out their latest client of the week. They wonder how they’re gonna make any money. Murdock gets a call from Claire who is getting kidnapped and makes a run for it, throwing his blind stick into the trash and using some major ninja skills to make his way to the apartment, but it’s too late. Using his super hearing, he hones in on men conversing in Russian, who are stuffing Claire into the trunk of a cab. Unfortunately, actually finding them is another problem.
Karen attends an auction and sketches out people who bid on United Allied’s assets. Ulrich shows up and points out that other people are already suspicious of her. He tells her to auction for something so she doesn’t look suspicious.
Back at the taxi repo, the Russian Brothers’s mooks get a kicking and screaming Claire out of the trunk. Over in Claire’s apartment, Murdock asks Santino about where Claire is. He gives Murdock a clue: the name of the cab company.
Fisk and Vanessa are out on their first date at an Italian restaurant. Fisk tells her that he doesn’t have much of a dating life. Unlike Fisk, Vanessa turns out to be a non-native New Yorker. He talks about how he grew up in the city and longed to make it a better place. Of course, given how the mooks are beating Claire up to a pulp, we know that his vision comes at a cost.
Daredevil shuts down the lights in the taxi repo place and Claire finally gains a small amount of courage, enough to laugh and warn the mooks that he’s in the room. The men start firing like a bunch of Stormtroopers while Daredevil takes them out one by one. Claire gets herself out of her restraints to the best of her abilities, but she gets held hostage. Daredevil gets the mook away and Claire actually whacks the mook in the head with a baseball bat. Daredevil comforts a crying Claire and I’m almost tempted to say “NOW KISS!”
Karen meets up with Ulrich again at the diner. She bid and won some old office equipment and charged it to the Murdock and Nelson law offices. Ulrich points out that the people who made the headlines of the stories he wrote all paid a price for trying to bring down the big guys. He tells her that they will work together, but to keep their meetings secret. He also tells her to sign the nondisclosure agreement.
The Russian Brothers find the beat up mooks. Anatoly decides to go to Fisk and ask for help while Vladimir is too proud to do so. Unfortunately, Anatoly interrupts Fisk’s date and Fisk is righteously pissed.
Karen shows off the old fax machine she got to Foggy and he’s happy that they have some kind of office equipment, even if they’re old models.
Meanwhile, Matt patches up Claire and he shares a bit of his backstory with her. Matt apologizes for getting her involved and Claire wants to know what he’s fighting for. All Matt wants, though, is to make the city a better place. Although he’s helped a lot of people, he’s also hurt a lot as well. Claire tells Matt to feel her heart. Matt knows that she’s scared and she admits to it and tells him that he can help her. It’s then that Matt tells Claire his real name.
Fisk drops Vanessa off at home and really wants to see her again. She’s not sure and he’s sadly inexperienced. I’ll give him points for being honorable, saying that he’ll back off if she’s not interested. But again, she’s uncertain of how she feels, which is basically the worst answer you can give anyone, especially a bad guy.
Over in the limo, Anatoly talks things over with Wesley. Wesley tells Anatoly that the past can never be completely erased. Fisk arrives and fights Anatoly, who came armed with a knife. However, Fisk is a lot stronger and eventually crushes Anatoly’s head with the car door while Wesley waits like he’s been put on hold. Fisk tells Wesley that he needs to get a new suit and to send Anatoly’s body to his brother.
This episode centers on people building relationships. Karen finds an ally in Ulrich, Matt and Claire grow closer together, and we even see the Big Bad trying his hand at romance. It’s almost sweet to see Fisk being like a little boy with a crush, but the ending reminds us why he’s the Big Bad. But it also focused a lot on the Russian brothers and their bond.
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