Daredevil: Born Again S02E07 Review: The Trial of Karen Page

Daredevil, Born Again, Season 2, Episode 7: The Hateful Darkness

So this episode is an... interesting one. The trial of Karen Page is an interesting one. Again, as I've emphasized throughout all the different Daredevil episodes, I don't have much in terms of knowledge or interest in courtroom drama, but the performances of the actors tend to be able to elevate it and make it interesting. And this episode has part of Karen's trial under the anti-vigilante laws, which is... all right. Kirsten McDuffie and mean DA Hochberg get to trade barbs, but it only really gets interesting when Matthew Murdock decides to enter the courtroom as a co-counsel. I don't know if this is a valid legal strategy, but it sure looks cool. Again, having the climax of the season be Wilson trying to bring down Karen Page and break her through the law system is an interesting one. We also start off with a rare scene in this series of Kingpin and Karen interacting with each other, leading to a brief choke-hold but otherwise a relatively civil one. 

The trial itself is... it's whatever. Presumably we'll get more excitement next episode. Apparently, the cameras rolling and it being public means that there's a proper jury of public opinion (but the Swordsman trial was also broadcasted live, so I dunno). Oh, and the AVTF -- in full uniform -- try to straight-up assassinate Matt, Kirsten and Cherry in the parking lot. That's gotta be dumb. 

A less... well-built-up story is the Daredevil/Bullseye connection. Daredevil ends up trying to forgive Bullseye and lets him go. Which... uh... there's a huge jump from not murdering him in cold blood and letting him loose, isn't there? He's still a murderer? Matt talks a bit about how there's a good thing that Bullseye can do, and in this episode it's protecting the Governor from Wilson Fisk's assassin. (His one lone ninja assassin... the governor didn't warrant Buck, apparently). While I did enjoy the other stuff in we had from previous episodes with Bullseye and Daredevil, this encounter felt muted. 

As the court trial is going on and Matt undoubtedly runs around to gather evidence and build a case, we get a bunch of side-plots going around. After being built up across the entire season, the Daniel Blake / BB Urich storyline finally gets a conclusion. Blake almost goes through with bringing BB to get killed mafia-style by Buck Cashman. His morals get in the way at the last minute, and he gives a USB to BB before telling her to disappear. He meets up with Buck anyway, and actually gets killed for his trouble. 

BB herself has been such a reactive character, which is the big problem with this plotline, really. But Daniel Blake's actor does manage to deliver quite a great performance in the last couple of episodes. It's just such a shame that this ultimately doesn't really connect emotionally with the Daredevil/Kingpin plot, but it's well-performed if nothing else. I'm quite happy that this is over, frankly. 

Jessica Jones also gets a couple of scenes. She confronts Mr. Charles about sending troops to her house, and Mr. Charles gets away unbroken because he's also Luke Cage's government handler. Thanks to the previous episode, though, Mr. Charles and the government has pulled out their support of Fisk and Jessica gives this message to Matt... before buggering away from the show. Again, I really wished that the episode 6 and 7 Jessica Jones cameos were wrapped up together cause this just feels so off and weird. 

Officer Brett Mahoney also gets a welcome cameo as the police officer protecting Karen. This is a much more subdued -- and honestly, sensible -- cameo than Jessica's, which really goes back and forth between her wanting to help and just buggering off every episode mid-point. 

Heather, who has been a bit of a nothingburger this episode other than the slow and obvious buildup that she's going to be Muse II, gets a face-to-face scene with Karen. Karen does ham it up quite a bit in this encounter, and I love that. I still think Karen needs a bit more focus than just arguing with Matt as the Frank Castle surrogate, but this conversation with Heather is a neat (if forced 'our original love interest is the better one' shipping bit) conversation that shows off why Karen's a major supporting character. 

Marvel Easter Eggs Corner:

• Recurring police officer Brett Mahoney was last seen in The Punisher, season 2. He's gotten a promotion since! 
• Again, the establishing shots of New York show off the Thunderbolts' Watchtower. 
• In addition to Foggy's murder, Father Lantom and Ray Nadeem's murders on Bullseye's hands on Daredevil Season 3 are brought up by Matt.
• In addition to bringing up Karen's killing of James Wesley, her flashback episode and Kevin was brought up by Heather.