‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Episode Four Recap: “Sic Semper Systema”

*Warning: the following article contains major spoilers for the fourth episode of Daredevil: Born Again*

This week’s episode of Daredevil: Born Again proposes another action-less, exposition-heavy entry that feeds the audience with crucial information for the coming weeks. Those who are clamoring for Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) to suit up in every episode are missing the point of what “Born Again” means. He won’t magically take up the mantle again just because he wants to. This will take time, and there must be a compelling reason for him to resume donning his suit. However, from how this episode ended, this reason – and his eventual return to fighting crime away from the rule of law – is coming very soon. 

Titled “Sic Semper Systema,” director Jeffrey Nachmanoff and writers David Feige and Jesse Wigutow examine Murdock grappling with the senseless killing of Hector Ayala (Kamar de los Reyes). He accuses the corrupt police officer Powell (Hamish Allan-Headley) of having committed the crime. However, he denies any wrongdoing and threatens to expose his “secret” identity to the public after their altercation during the final scene of the second episode. Matt comforts Ayala’s nice, Angela del Toro (Camila Rodriguez), and promises her that somebody will bring his killer to justice. Whether or not this “justice” means the rule of law or Daredevil’s law remains to be seen, but it’s now 100% clear that Angela will soon pick up the mantle of the White Tiger left by his uncle. 

In fact, Nachmanoff explained in a recent interview that a scene in which Hector’s amulet lit up next to Angela was cut from the show, which only means that Marvel has plans for a future White Tiger to make an appearance, either in a subsequent season of Daredevil or in another title entirely. After this relatively poignant scene, the rest of the episode is divided into two storylines, with Murdock further investigating what happened concerning Hector’s death and Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) still getting used to working within the political system. 

His therapy sessions with Dr. Heather Glenn (Margarita Levieva) and Vanessa (Ayelet Zurer) are going much deeper than they did earlier in the series, only because the couple revealed that, while Wilson was away (presumably after the events of Echo), Vanessa had an affair with a man named Adam (Lou Taylor Pucci). While this has caused tensions in their marriage, Wilson assures Dr. Glenn that, irrespective of his “methods,” he had talked to Adam about his relationship with Vanessa, and the two had a “constructive” conversation about the future of their affair. We will eventually discover that this is not true during the episode’s final scene, where Fisk, as he eats his food, is revealed to have imprisoned Adam. No one will take his Vanessa from his hands – and this moment further reaffirms that he has never truly changed and will never be able to hide his violent nature within the prism of politics. 

Fisk wants to be positioned as a rule-breaker, a man who unconventionally approaches problems New York City has and would instead act without any red tape or political establishment breathing down his neck to truly get things done. Does that remind you of a current politician? Of course, it does, but D’Onofrio’s performance continues to root the character away from current tyrannical politicians and follows the same throughline he established with Fisk ten years ago. 

Even if he has a team of staffers, the by-the-book Sheila Rivera (Zabryna Guevara) and the loyalist Daniel Blake (Michael Gandolfini), supporting him at his side, Fisk will always be Fisk, no matter what. And when Blake accidentally leaks critical information to BB Urich (Genneya Walton) while drunk at a nightclub, Fisk warns him that if he ever pulls a stunt like this again, “it’ll be the last thing you do.” Fisk may have left his life of crime in the rearview mirror while entering municipal politics, but it has never left him. Once a Kingpin, always a Kingpin. 

As Fisk is bound to crack and reveal his true self again eventually, so is Matt slowly approaching becoming the Devil again. While he investigates Hector’s death, he finds a bullet casing with The Punisher’s symbol on him, prompting him to visit a secluded Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal) inside an abandoned building. A drunk and pill-popping Castle confronts “Red” and directly asks him if he feels in any way guilty for Foggy Nelson’s (Elden Henson) death despite having locked up Benjamin Poindexter (Wilson Bethel) for life. This is arguably the best scene of the entire episode and a towering return for Bernthal’s Punisher. Even these years later, Frank is still unable to cope with the tragic loss of his family and knows that Foggy’s killing is eating Matt whole, just in how he tries desperately not to say his name, while Frank compels him to do it. 

When Matt eventually says his name, he breaks down in a puddle of tears and says that Foggy “was the kindest, purest soul I ever met.” This specific part contains some of the best acting Cox has ever done as Murdock, still reeling from the guilt of being unable to save his best friend while attempting to suppress any mention of him from his mind so as not to remember what happened. His face, riddled with intense emotion, says it all. He has never moved on from Foggy, and he likely never will. 

However, this conversation prompts him to start training with his Daredevil gear again, practicing with his billy clubs on the rooftop for the first time in a very long time. Of course, he’s still got it. The question now is not “if” he returns as Daredevil, it’s “when.” And with Muse kidnapping people and draining their blood to use as “paint” for his “art,” (which is how the episode opens and ends), the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen will return to the fold much sooner than later. 

The fourth episode of Daredevil: Born Again is now available to stream on Disney+.