Stream-And-Run: Daredevil, "World on Fire"

            Episode 5...

            Matt Murdock is kind of a dick. He's got a good heart, and he's a true hero through and through, but there's always a part of him that is an unapologetic cad when it comes to the women in his life. We get to see a little bit of that here, as Matt summarily leads Claire on and then dumps her at the drop of a hat, seemingly for "her own good," as being Daredevil's girlfriend can lead to nothing but trouble, but one has to wonder how much of that is Matt being too afraid to let anyone get close rather than any kind of fear for their well-being. By contrast, his greatest enemy seems totally devoted to his new lady love, as Wilson Fisk continues his awkward (but sweet) courtship of Vanessa. I sense a thematic through-line here: both men are at an arrested child-like state, where they've both dealt with trauma in their early years that they've never quite gotten over. We've seen a fair amount of Matt's backstory, so I look forward to seeing more of Fisk's and seeing what other thematic connections can be made. On the legal side of things, Matt and Foggy take on a client who's being forced out of her home, which puts Foggy and Karen together again after their wonderful scenes together in the second episode. I've liked Woll in the role up to this point, but after two episodes of her "serious" side, I think it's safe to say that her scenes with Hanson's Foggy bring out the best in both of them. We see the beginnings of a romantic relationship here; something of a subversion from the source material, as Karen was traditionally the love of Matt's life. I can already see the romantic tension forming between the three, and can only hope the showrunners avoid all the eye-rolling circumstances such a story-line typically falls prey to.

            As far as Fisk's violent outburst last episode, we see the ripples it creates through the crime base he's attempting to establish, as the Kingpin wipes the Russians off the map whilst tearing down the old world to make way for the new. In his own way, Fisk is just as obsessed with saving his city as Murdock is... he's just willing to go to very dark places to do it. It all culminates in a pretty exciting cliffhanger, which no doubt leaves us all thankful that the Netflix model allows us to go right into the next one and see how it all gets resolved. Stay tuned...