Luke Owen reviews the third episode of Daredevil…
One question on the mind of anyone watching Daredevil by this point is where is Wilson Fisk? Vincent D’Onofrio’s name has been in the credits, but there has been no sign of Wesley’s “employer” up until this point. It’s a testament to using the television format to tell Daredevil‘s story as it allows us time to get into this world without a villain being thrown at the screen in the opening five minutes, and the fact Kingpin has been kept off our screens for this whole time only builds on the suspense and mystique of his character.
Also in keeping with the previous episode, “Rabbit in a Snowstorm” takes another tonal shift from the previous two episodes and also introduces us to a new player in this pocket of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and a key element to the Daredevil mythos: Ben Urich.
The episode follows two strains of story, with equal focus split across Ben attempting to adjust his journalistic views in the world of Internet bloggers who don’t care about political stories and Nelson and Murdock getting their first client. This new client of theirs though isn’t exactly above board, as Wesley comes in to the offices of Nelson and Murdock to put them on retainer, in order to get their clients off by any means necessary.
And while those two plot threads are the key focus of the episode, the aim of “Rabbit in a Snowstorm” is to show just how corrupt Hell’s Kitchen has become since Fisk took over. There are obvious hints to the city being a bit dodgy prior to Fisk, but Kingpin’s actions are much more devious and harmful than the previous owners. A scene with Ben Urich and a now retired mafia-type boss tells us that Fisk’s mentality is much different, “it used to be when you whack a guy, you sent his wife flowers – now you send her with him”. This is carried over into the court case with Murdock’s clearly guilty client and the paid-off juror who is being held hostage over a sex tape she doesn’t want released (ominous foreshadowing, perhaps?). In fact as the episode comes to a incredibly dramatic close, we see the full extent of Fisk’s reign of terror when it comes to giving away information.
“Rabbit in a Snowstorm” is once again a brilliantly written and crafted episode. The balance on Murdock in court against Urich’s journalistic work together with Daredevil’s crime fighting is spot on, with the lawyer parts perhaps being the most captivating. The episode is much darker than the previous two, and its violence is turned up a few notches with the wicked John Healy opening up the episode by smashing a man’s face in with a bowling ball being just the tipping point. When in court, “Rabbit in a Snowstorm” can stand toe-to-toe with even the most established of law-based dramas and it makes you want to see even more of it. It would have been great to see the prosecution’s side of the argument, but Matt’s closing speech where he attempts to get his client acquitted while still pointing out the jury that he is guilty as sin is sublime. Have we mentioned in the past few episodes that Charlie Cox is great in this role?
The second side of the story with Ben Urich coming to terms with his new lot in journalistic life certainly isn’t as interesting as the court case, but it still works well within the episode. Ben is clearly going to be a major part of this series and has a similar vibe to Kate Mara in House of Cards as the writer who wants to buck the trends of the newspaper. Only in this case he’s the old-timer who wants things to go back to the way they were, as opposed to writing about new tube lines and what colour they should be on the map. This all ties in with Karen’s story, noting that she has been attempted to be bought out by Fisk’s people for her silence. Together, the two will now work on exposing the Kingpin of Crime. This will not turn out well…
On a side note, the Easter Eggs to the MCU are really fun to look out for. Urich’s office has two newspaper front pages noting the alien attack from The Avengers and a story about The Incredible Hulk in Harlem – something Banner mentioned in The Avengers.
Three episodes into Daredevil and the show is on a roll. “Rabbit in a Snowstorm” is the weakest of the three so far, but that says a lot when it’s this damn good. Cox is great, Elden Henson is getting better and Deborah Ann Woll is superb – and of course so is the TREMENDOUS Toby Leonard Moore. But now we have the biggest missing piece of the Daredevil puzzle, and things are about to get serious – Wilson Fisk is here.
Luke Owen is the Deputy Editor of Flickering Myth and the host of the Flickering Myth Podcast. You can follow him on Twitter @LukeWritesStuff.
