TV Recap: Things Get Off to an Intense Start in "Daredevil: Born Again" Season 2 Premiere

Wilson Fisk is the Mayor of New York. He's leveraging his political power to further his wealth and the wealth of his criminal friends. He also has a small army at his disposal. Things look bleak for the city, but Daredevil is putting together a resistance to stand up to the Kingpin. That's where we ended things with the conclusion of season one of Daredevil: Born Again. Now, we're back for a tense and action-packed round two.

The second season kicks off with a BB Report, only now it seems to be overly positive regarding Fisk. Citizens talk about how New York is better than ever. It seems pretty clear that Fisk and his team are pulling the strings there.

Daredevil jumps aboard a ship making its way to Fisk's Red Hook port and begins systematically taking out guards. That signature ultra-violent Daredevil action is right back in the spotlight early on. We do see that Daredevil is now sporting his black costume, which we've seen in several comic runs over the years.

The ship's captain and first mate see that Daredevil has boarded the ship on security cameras and the captain brings the ship to a halt. Meanwhile, Daredevil opens some of the cargo aboard the ship and fins military grade weapons. The captain and first mate discuss what their orders were if they were boarded, which was apparently to sink the ship.

As the ship begins to flood, Daredevil grabs a watch off of a guard's wrist and puts it into one of the cases of guns so he can find it later, using his heightened senses to follow the ticking noise. The ship sinks in seconds and it appears only Daredevil is able to swim to shore.

After the title sequence, Daredevil returns to the long-shuttered Josie's, where he and Karen Page have apparently been hiding out as they are both fugitives of sorts in Fisk's New York. He enters to find Karen training as Stick once trained him.

The two briefly celebrate their small win against Fisk. Matt wonders aloud who Fisk was smuggling those weapons for and Karen says she knows who could find out, teasing an ally we've been waiting to see. Matt explains the game plan of proving to the public that Fisk is running guns. He and Karen kiss to let us know that they have once again rekindled their romantic relationship.

Fisk and his team arrive at the wreckage of the Northern Star, the ship that sank, and Fisk declares it a terrorist attack orchestrated by Daredevil. He gives orders to his team before asking Buck who knew what was on the ship. When Buck informs him only the captain and first mate were in the know, Fisk orders him to find them.

We then see a man sitting at a bar watching the news of the Northern Star on TV before he answers a phone call. We eventually see that this man is portrayed by Matthew Lillard and that he is in Washington DC. Clearly whoever called him is concerned about the situation and he says he will go to New York himself to take care of it. He then destroys his phone by dunking it in what appears to be a fairly expensive glass of whiskey.

In another BB report, citizens explain that Fisk is going to quickly clean up the wreckage of the Northern Star and express their disdain for vigilantes.

Matt and Karen have yet another discussion about trusting the justice system to do the right thing when it comes to Fisk as opposed to taking matters into their own hands, the latter of which Karen seems eager to do. They're interrupted though when Karen gets a text from "Jess." Clearly, that ally was none other than Jessica Jones, who we knew would be appearing in this season. Karen explains that Jones wasn't able to find out who the weapons were being smuggled for, but she did get the names of the captain and the first mate, who would clearly become targets for Fisk.

Fisk meets with Lt. Governor Gomez and New York Attorney General Steverud in his office. The pair begin to question Fisk's recent actions as Mayor and Steverud threatens with government oversight before the conversation is interrupted by Lillard's character, who we soon learn goes by Mr. Charles. He is very casual about the whole meeting and informs the group he is from Langley, implying that he works for the CIA. Steverud gets a phone call and we hear him thank "Ms. De Fontaine," of course referencing Val, who we have seen in various MCU projects, most recently Thunderbolts. After hanging up, Steverud completely changes his tone and informs Fisk that he has their full support. So now we know who Fisk was running those guns for. But what exactly is Val planning?

Jacques Duquesne, who we last saw being kept in a cage by Fisk at the end of season one, receives a psych evaluation from Dr. Glenn, who accepted Fisk's offer to run the city's department of mental health. Duquesne is awaiting trial for his crimes as the vigilante known as the Swordsman and he is reluctant to answer Glenn's questions. Glenn looks past Duquesne and sees a hallucination of Muse, the serial killer who attacked her in her office. When she snaps out of is, she informs Duquesne that he is being held under Fisk's Safer Streets Act, and basically that no real laws apply to his situation, which of course makes him a bit more willing to cooperate.

In her office, which is now chaotic and overrun with cases, Kirsten McDuffie asks Cherry, the former police officer and friend of Daredevil, to look into a stack of paperwork as the office's investigator. After some contention between the two, she asks him if he's heard anything about Matt. Cherry assures her he is going to be fine, but to the general public, Matt Murdock is still missing after taking a bullet for Mayor Fisk.

The conversation is interrupted by District Attorney Hochberg who offers Kirsten a deal on the Duquesne case. Kirsten declines his offer and Hochberg essentially tells her blatantly that she can't win the case because the evidence doesn't matter.

Cherry meets with Matt, who tells him all about the Northern Star and the guns onboard. Matt asks Cherry to look into the captain and first mate. The conversation shifts to Kirsten and Matt says he can't reach out to her and put her at risk.

Fisk's Anti Vigilante Task Force (AVTF) raids a restaurant looking for the captain and first mate. Powell, who seems to be in charge of the AVTF now, hits the owner of the restaurant and the captain takes off running. The AVTF catches him in an alley.

Another BB Report gets interrupted by someone wearing a Fisk mask, posing as the mayor in a way of attacking him and his policies. It appears this is the counter to the new BB Report, but we don't get to see who is behind it.

BB attends a house party in Daniel's fancy new apartment, which was given to him as Deputy Mayor of Communications. BB warns him not to be so involved with Fisk and Daniel assures her he is being smart, while also kind of brushing the warning off.

Matt visits the restaurant that was raided by the AVTF and speaks with the owner about the captain. She recognizes him and they sit down privately. She tells Matt the captain was taken by AVTF and that she doesn't know where the first mate is.

Powell tortures the captain in a warehouse somewhere and asks him where the first mate is. Buck interrupts and assures the captain he is going home. Instead, he shoots him in the head.

Fisk and Vanessa meet with Mr. Charles in their home, a meeting that quickly becomes tense. They discuss the problem of getting the guns from the bottom of the East River without anyone noticing. Fisk says his men can do it but Charles questions if he would be willing to have them killed after they learn about the guns. Fisk refuses and Charles offers to put together a crew to get the guns and then die in an "industrial accident," leaving no loose ends knowing about the weapons. Fisk agrees.

BB meets with Karen and tells her that Daniel is her inside guy without knowing it. They talk briefly about BB's uncle, Ben Urich, who helped Karen during the events of Netflix's Daredevil series before he was killed by Fisk. Karen warns BB to be careful before leaving.

Dr. Glenn listens to her recording of her meeting with Duquesne before taking a call from Hochberg. He asks her to alter her notes on the meeting, to make Duquesne look like a sociopath. Glenn sees Muse again, this time sitting right across from her. She snaps out of it again and agrees to make the requested changes. It's clear though that she is haunted by Muse and she is drinking to cope with her trauma.

Matt and Karen train at Josie's before discussing Matt missing his former life as a lawyer. Later, the first mate arrives at the restaurant and asks the owner to help him.

At his home, Cherry begins to go over the files Kirsten dumped on him when the AVTF knocks on his door. He refuses to open the door and they break it down. They threaten him and ask why he and some other cops are looking for the missing sailors. They hit Cherry multiple times before putting a gun to his head. Daredevil arrives just in time and takes out the two task force agents before hearing that Cherry is on the verge of a heart attack.

More agents come in and attack Daredevil, who handles them easily before becoming distracted when Cherry does in fact have a heart attack. Matt has flashbacks of Foggy's death and the agents take advantage, dropping Daredevil to the floor. They remove his mask and realize that he is Matt Murdock. A moment later though, two knives fly in through the window, killing the remaining agents. Another one follows, bouncing off multiple surfaces before plunging into the ground near Matt's head. We can see a note on the knife that reads "you're welcome," with a bullseye drawn in the middle. It looks like Poindexter is back and, for some reason, willing to help Daredevil.

This series picks up right where it left off in terms of the intensity and brutality. It's a great re-introduction to this gritty story and dark corner of the MCU. While things are looking up just a bit for Matt and Karen, it's clear Fisk still has a lot of power and there are still other threats on the board.

Daredevil: Born Again season two is now streaming on Disney+.