Daredevil: Review: Series 1 Episode 5: World on Fire

Matt is caught between the Russians and Fisk as Foggy and Karen get heavily involved in a case…

The best part of this episode for me was the proper take on Foggy, at long last – he’s been a bit too much of the comic relief up to now, and it was great to see him take on a former lover who has sold out to the big corporation, giving her a piece of his mind (and going up massively in Karen’s estimation too). The scenes may still have been used to a degree as light relief – until we are forcibly reminded of how small Hell’s Kitchen is in the final scenes – but they cemented both Foggy and Karen as characters (even if it seems as if Karen is still more interested in Matt than his partner).

Up there among the other good elements was the expansion of explanation of Matt’s powers, and the first proper view of how he sees the world. The moment at the station house when he reacts to the gunshot but then freezes in place as everyone else moves around him was nicely shot.

Elsewhere, things weren’t quite as well put together as they have been. I thought that the whole Russians vs. Masked Man vs. Fisk would go on a lot longer than it did – Fisk’s plans seemed to be delayed almost so that he could provide Vanessa with a ringside seat for the bombs’ detonation (which of course may well have been the case)…

Verdict: Characterisation wins out over plot this time around. 7/10

Paul Simpson