For some, the first four episodes of Daredevil: Born Again fell short of expectations. Others, it turned out, enjoyed the lighter tone and lighter tones. Wherever your tastes fell on that spectrum, with Episode 6, “Excessive Force”, the series pivoted aggressively, starting down a far darker path. Episode 5, “With Interest”, bridged the gap between light and dark, allowing Charlie Cox to collect some serious aura farming, slinging and swinging swag instead of billyclubs but by the time Angela del Toro goes missing, the devil that Matt Murdock let out for a brief romp in the daylight just can’t be out back in the bottle.
Simply enough, “Excessive Force” IS the episode fans of the Netflix series have been waiting for: the renaissance of The Devil of Hell’s Kitchen. Complicating the matter, however, is that the rebirth of Daredevil coincides with the rebirth of the Kingpin. With his fractured relationship with Vanessa healing quickly, Wilson Fisk finally lets his darker half resurface. Complicating things for both men is the revelation that the City’s most popular street artist, Muse, is a sadistic serial killer with a body count of at least 60 bodies.
The series has consisted of a series of parallels and the creators allowed those to play out without rushing the inevitable right turn those paths would take, putting the two on an inevitable collision course. As it’s played out, Muse catalyzes collision by becoming something neither man can ignore and neither man can stop without resorting to the depths of their own darkness they had both sworn to leave behind.
In Matt’s case, Muse’s abduction of Angela del Toro forces him back into his armored suit. The result is a violent confrontation with the killer in his lair which Matt clearly enjoys…perhaps a bit too much. For Fisk, Muse’s spree gives him reason enough to pull together a goon squad of corrupt cops, far more akin to the type of people he “worked” with as the Kingpin than NYC’s finest. And, of course, the episode wouldn’t be complete without Fisk resorting to his own use of “excessive force”, reminding the audience of the brutality of the Fat Man…who is getting fat again. It’s taken some time but through the work of an artist with his own distinct style, Daredevil and Kingpin each experience a renaissance that will certainly put them as odds.
