Perhaps the most resonantly spiritual conversation in this incredibly spiritual season takes place in “Karen,” in a church. Karen Paige, intrepid journalist and Matt’s on-again, off-again girlfriend, is dealing with demons of her own: Wilson Fisk wants her dead, and Dex is determined to be the guy to do it. She suffers from long-festering guilt, too, of how her brother died.
As she waits in the basement of a Catholic church, trusting that it will help her find some sanctuary from Fisk somewhere, she has a conversation with Father Lantom, Matt’s longtime friend. Lantom, too, is hurting: Matt now blames Lantom for his whole stormy, tortured childhood, which became his tortured adulthood. The priest uses his own personal pain as a teaching moment for Karen—an illustration of being able to pick up, move on and have hope even in the worst of moments.
“I had a choice of evils,” he says. “He blames me for the ones I chose, for how his life turned out. I can’t argue with him. I just have to find a way to live with that.”
Karen wipes away a tear. “Yeah, but how do you live with that? Knowing that you hurt someone like that?”
“Whatever it is that you’ve done, or haven’t done, it can still be redeemed,” Lantom tells her.
“Yeah, that’s nice, but I’m not that sure that I believe that.”
“Everything will be OK in the end. If it’s not OK, it’s not the end,” Lantom says. “John Lennon said that. Who are we to argue with a Beatle?”
Before the episode ends, Dex—dressed as Daredevil—walks into the Church to kill Karen. Father Lantom stands before the faithful, offering a homily in a sanctuary bathed in red. And as Dex unleashes what he assumes will be a killing blow to Karen, Lantom steps in front of Karen, saving her. Sacrificing himself for her. It may be the most critical moment of the season, even though Daredevil isn’t involved at all.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In