Netflix Retrospective: Daredevil Season 2 episodes 9-10 - Seven Minutes in Heaven/The Man in the Box

We’re back with Daredevil season 2 and it seems to be strong thus far, I remember hating this second half the first time around, could I have been wrong? Let’s continue and find out

Seven Minutes in Heaven

We open with Wilson Fisk being sent to Prison, disposing all his personal items and getting into prison garb. They do take their time with Fisk undressing, for reasons unclear new inmates wear white. He stays in his tiny cell, staring at the white wall which you might remember he did often last season. We hear a conversation with his attorney, he’s secured some of his assets somehow but a lot has been seized, Vanessa is safe for the time being but given the bulletproof case against him, it could take years to secure his release and he’s advised to avoid trouble.

Unfortunately, one of the inmates wants a word with him, a Mr Dutton. Mr Dutton warns him that he’s in charge in this prison, and will shoot him down. He is enjoying his lunch when a black guy comes and sits with him. I’ll let you know if I remember his name. He was a mortgage analyst but crossed paths with the wrong people and ended up in prison. Fisk talks to his lawyer, arranging some assistance for him and some of his friends, hoping to win them over, which he does successfully. One of them brings Fisk a newspaper with stuff about the Punisher, Fisk starts to piece together connections between the 3 gangs and Dutton and with the last of his funds, he arranges for the Punisher to be brought to him.

Matt’s wounds are being healed by Elektra as she arranges a clean up crew to deal with the mess and blood in his apartment. Time for the inevitable break up scene between Matt and Elektra. I’m just gonna skip over the boring details.

Fisk offers the Punisher an arrangement, Dutton may have been partially responsible for setting up the deal which lead to the shootout. He wants the Punisher to gun him down or kill Dutton for answers. There’s a shift change happening today that could provide the Punisher with a 7-minute window to get what he needs. Fisk provides him with a knife and can arrange him safe passage to Dutton’s cell block.

Foggy comes to visit Matt, and after everything Matt continues to push him away, leading to the idea of them shutting the office down for good. Quick question: what is Matt doing for money? I know his rent is cheap but he’s not independently wealthy, where is he getting the money. Nelson and Murdock haven’t made any profit in… well, ever really so…

Foggy and Karen share a scene, Karen’s still obsessed with the case and oh for goodness sake, BECOME A JOURNALIST ALREADY! Foggy tells her to consider rebuilding her life outside of Nelson and Murdock and Karen is sick of being lied to.

Meanwhile, Daredevil takes out some people around a car, an accountant, named Stan, is Daredevil’s target. The Hand have his son so he refuses to talk, since he’s not technically a criminal, Daredevil refrains from injuring him, which is nice. He’s being held at a drug operation known as The Farm, an impregnable fortress

Karen is convinced to continue investigating the case regarding the shootout, particularly a missing John Doe. Meanwhile, the Punisher makes it to cellblock A, and is given the 7 minute window. He walks though, slits the throat of Dutton’s assailant and proceeds to Dutton. Daredevil drops Stan off, promising to rescue Dan, meanwhile Karen and Mitchell (sorry, I will to-and-fro between his name and surname) confront the medical examiner, who confirms that photo they had is of the John Doe, he didn’t have any distinctive markings but did have a police call sign, he was an undercover cop.

Dutton says he was a broker of a deal for a massive shipment of heroin for a criminal named the Blacksmith, but he’d got word of an undercover cop and didn’t show, which lead to the shootout. Frank kills Dutton but Fisk locks him in the cell block and releases all the inmates. Frank goes on a killing spree, killing all the inmates with plenty of gory blood, you know, bring the kids. Police arrive with riot shields and knock him out with tear gas.

Daredevil confronts one of the guys from the far, and is able to hear blood bubbling underneath. Mitchell offers Karen Ben’s office and presumably a job that pays actual money, maybe? Castle is in solitary for his actions and Fisk confronts him. Telling him, that he’s skilled and useful and he gives him a way to escape, and kill well, keeping criminal empires from rising so he can return to dominance easily. No-one’s told him about the hand, have they?

Daredevil is taken down and finds a bunch of children in cages, all giving blood to the machine. Daredevil sets them free but a knife wielding assassin confronts them. The Punisher is allowed exit by dressing as a guard and finds a car waiting for him outside. Meanwhile the assassin is beating the sh*t out of Daredevil. I think he’s Nobu. The casket is put in an elevator and Nobu soon joins its descent.

And this is one of the better episodes of the season, but it leads to a lot of sh*t and it starts with the next episode.

Rating 8.5/10

The Man in the Box

Brett and another officer discover all the children, and are understandably disturbed by it. Brett talks to Daredevil, who is not privy with all the details but tells him the Yakuza are mixed up with another group, and advises the kids be taken to be Metro General quietly. Yup, it’s been a few episodes but it’s time for another obligatory appearance from Claire Temple. Daredevil quietly limps away.

It’s pretty clear the kids are not in a great condition and the hospital hasn’t had the equipment thanks to all the gang violence of the previous weeks. They have bad vitals, high temperatures and Claire notices their fingerprints have been burnt off. Matt tells Claire privately that even if they do succeed, the Hand may still try to kill them. He keeps the name under wraps but mentions that Nobu has returned from the grave. She gives him some painkillers for his injuries before he hears on the police radio that Frank Castle has escaped. Fun times.

All crew at Nelson and Murdock have been summoned to the DA’s office following the Punisher’s escape. Security is so tight they had to be called in one at a time. They’re expecting to be grilled and they kinda are but Reyes is clearly in a desperate position, she’s not wearing her usual business suit, just a hoodie and she’s actually trying to be nice. She admits she was part of arranging the sting that got Castle’s family killed. They were tracking the Blacksmith, someone who was engulfing the drug trade, but was like a ghost and difficult to track, so she green-lit the operation which eventually lead to the massacre. Turns out the Punisher placed an x-ray of a skull in her daughter’s backpack and she suspects she may be a target now, that’s why she’s desperate and admitting all her mistakes. She’s not entirely right, the Punisher seemingly opens fire into the office, killing her, and only with Matt’s hearing do the others survive.

Foggy is hit in the shoulder. The building is soon stormed by police and evacuated, police choppers cover the scene looking for Frank. Tower admits she was altering the police and medical reports surrounding Castle’s Family, he says he’s leaving town and advises Karen and Foggy to do the same. Matt goes to visit Mr Fisk, signing some legal document that ultimately means he can’t get anything done here and this is a complete waste of his time. So, are you ready for all of Matt’s accomplishments from s1 to come undone in 1 scene. Here you go.

So Matt threatens to lock Vanessa out of the country, so Fisk gets his handcuffs off and beats the cr*p out of him. Yup… It was so essential for this scene to be here, it accomplished so much. We, as the audience, already knew this, and Matt already suspected this. Karen and Ellison head to the motel to warn the Doctor. They’re not sure it was Frank who arranged the shooting and they’re right.

Meanwhile, Elektra is about to board a private plane. She stops for a drink at the bar in the hangar and is greeted by a random guy who is almost certainly going to have something to do with the Hand, or the Chaste or something. But it’s too late, the examiner is also dead and the police are all over it. Karen has a list of other potential targets and Ellison assigns her police protection using the last string he can pull.

Meanwhile, again, looks like one of the kids, Daniel, is waking. Joyous bullsh*t here we go. Claire takes coffee to Daredevil and the talk about the kind of night they had, Claire’s trying to convince him to come visit Foggy but he refuses. Karen begins compiling her target list from files outside but her police protection is soon taken out with relative ease. They do just love putting Karen through hell. Frank arrives, telling her it wasn’t him, soon the place is riddled with bullets, which is enough to convince Karen. Fisk wants to re-examine Murdock’s files

In the subplot you almost forgot existed, Elektra and this guy fight, as soon as he draws sais, she uses them to kill him. Until it’s revealed that it wasn’t the Hand that sent them, it was Stick. Now for the awfulness to begin. The Hand begins ascending the building, an alarm sounds and the children are all awake, Daniel having killed his father. Foggy sees the hand climbing from his hospital bed.

And so it begins folks. Far too much is happening but it doesn’t feel like there’s an overall plot yet. It drags down s1 with the notion that everything Matt accomplished was pointless. The only way out is for there to be a sense of accomplishment in this series and… well, we’ll get there

Rating 6/10