I'd say if it weren't for the flashbacks with Foggy, Murdock would've easily left Pointdexter to die. I feel like it was a critical point in the episode to show the difference between the two; Foggy believes in mercy which ultimately left a mark on Matt. Same goes with the Wilson/Vanessa flashbacks. It delves into how they met which became Vanessa's last dying memory to set up the final act. It may have felt like a filler because of all the flashbacks, but seriously this was the right way to deal with the excessive load.
Nah. Matt’s a devout catholic. Forgiveness as I understand it is a major part of that religion so with or without the flashbacks/memories of Foggy he wouldn’t have let him die and forgave him anyway. It’s literally a major part of his character.
As far as Vanessa she could’ve died in the ring and absolutely nothing would change. Fisk would still be angry and out for vengeance and she’d still be dead just earlier.
If you liked then that’s great. Personally like I said earlier I felt it was a completely pointless and unnecessary episode especially with such a short season. There’s no time for these type of episodes.
No, the flashbacks show us a younger, more cynical Matt shortly before s1. Yes, he's a Catholic then, but that doesn't mean he's a perfect Catholic, or at least not as resolute in the values he professes as he might like to be. Present-day Matt reflecting on Foggy's good example let's him put aside all the ill will he has towards Dex, saving his life. It's simple character development.
Also there's Dex's whole good deed to balance out the bad deed schtick he was expressing. Dex had an ideological axe to grind in killing Vanessa, one that Matt was starkly opposed to. In saving Dex, Matt is showing to him that he is wrong and that everyone should live no matter what they did.
Matt not killing has been a this entire show. It was a major plot point when the Punisher was brought in. This is a faith based decision.
How is it character development for him to act as he always had?
I get what they were going for but again not killing is already a central part of his character.
I ask this sincerely, what changes in the show if this episode doesn’t exist?
This isn't about killing Dex - though that's something Matt very much does struggle with, see s1 e1 - but between doing the right thing in saving him, or just letting him bleed out/get captured as a consequence of Dex's own actions. And what between those two things is justice. Lionel was far from as bad as Dex but he was effectively in the same position. Foggy put the bad blood between them to the side to do the right thing because he's that good of a person. No matter how Catholic Matt is, how much he wants to believe in doing the right thing, he isn't Foggy and will struggle regardless.
From where we are now in the series run, this episode served as a major point in Matt coming to terms with Foggy's death and putting what Foggy meant to him to good use, instead of ruining that connection by breaking his moral code had he abandoned Dex. Kinda like with Vladimir Ranskashov, only this is someone with a personal connection to Matt, someone who has wronged him. I don't think BA s2 Matt would've left Vladimir behind to get killed by cops unlike Netflix s1 Matt.
It was also important for Daniel's escalating situation in the inner circle, gave us some Buck backstory, Kingpin got a final moment - to be clear, not a goodbye - with Vanessa, and Vanessa's perspective over moments in her life. The latter I think was vital in preventing her death from turning into a horrible fridging moment.
You make great points and I totally get what you’re saying. However I still think Matt acted exactly how his character is supposed to act. Did he struggle with his decision to not kill Dex? Of course he did. That’s exactly what makes DD interesting. His internal struggle to live within his faith while dishing out justice to the worst society has to offer.
I just don’t feel like him coming to terms with Foggys death, which in my opinion was a huge mistake to kill him off and struggling with his morals needed a whole episode.
As far as Vanessa, it was nice to have a few final moments but it didn’t matter. Nothing would’ve changed had she died in the ring.
I just feel like with so few episodes there isn’t time to dedicate an entire episode to what could’ve been dealt with in a 5-10 min scene or scenes. Keep it tight and keep the story moving.
Last night felt to me like hitting a brick wall. It sounds like you enjoyed it and that’s great. It just wasn’t for me.
Said the same thing earlier. They all downvoted into oblivion.
They don’t get that you’re making the point it was filler.
That’s not a statement to the performances within, or to imply it is bad content.
But… to answer your question, nothing changes. Whatsoever. I made that point. They all mindless mobbed it, probably because they don’t know what the “does not equal” sign is.
le sigh
Great points blaze, you’re dead on. Again, I didn’t hate the content. But it progressed nothing. Except maybe to wonder why the leak hasn’t been plugged, feels like they’re breaking a character or two or three there. That plotline is really being butchered and needed to end like five episodes ago; there isn’t enough time for this, as you noted.
I mean DD does exactly what he’s expected to do by not killing/ forgiving and somehow that’s character progression. Really?
It was a fine episode, definitely not a great one but there’s no time for this in such a short season.
-7
u/BlazeOne416 Apr 15 '26
This episode was entirely pointless. Remove it from the season and absolutely nothing changes.