Recap “The Hollow Of His Hand”
In this episode we are grounded in the courtroom and Matt is in full lawyer mode. We get none of the fight scenes that started episode 1 and ended episode 2 but we get some solid back story building along with progressing the re-emergence of Kingpin and Daredevil. We get to learn more about Hector Ayala and why he dons his costume at night and risks his life to protect the people of the city, most of whom are complete strangers to him and the conflict within Matt Murdock.
In the opening of this episode Matt visits Ayala in prison where he talks about his life in Puerto Rico, sitting on the beaches and a tree frog called a Coqui. This frog doesn’t croak but whistles its name. For the tourists it is a distraction but for the locals it is the most beautiful sound. Ayala s convinced he is going to prison but Matt promises him he’s going to see beach, see his family and hear the voices of the Coqui again. We get some great camera work here isolating Ayala from Matt, even though they are mere feet from each other and when they do bring Matt into frame he is hazed out contrasting Ayalas isolation as the hero White Tiger and Matts decision to leave the hero business to others.
At the beginning of the court scenes we find Matt in the mens room experiencing some guilt for having lost his composure and getting into the fight at the end of the last episode. Officer Powell who was on the subway platform and was in the fight at Torres’ apartment enters the mens room trying to intimidate Matt but Matt teases him about the black eye he gave him and a threat to expose him for witness tampering. In a courtroom fill with NewYork city cops, some sporting tattoos reminiscent of the Punishers logo, Matt is seen questioning Powell. He lays the groundwork for the appearance of Nicky Torres on the stand the following day asking Powell if he was sure no one else was on that platform with them maybe a certain CI who worked for Powell but he denies him ever being there or even knowing him.
Matt tasks Cherry with getting Torres to court the next day and trying to find any paperwork trail tying Powell to Torres. Cherry moves Torres to a safe house location providing him some drugs to help him calm down from his withdrawals. The next day we see Cherry and his assistant loading Torres into a van to transport him for his testimony. As Cherry drives through the city we see various cars and police cars following the van all inter spliced with scenes in the courtroom as Matt is getting anxious because the clock is ticking.
Cherry is finally cornered by the cops and forced to open the back of the van where we find the van is empty. Somehow out of our sight Cherry gets Torres into a cab and we see him getting out of the car and entering the courtroom. Matt proceeds to question Torres about the events of the night when Ayala was charged with killing a cop. Torres looking at all the cops in the room says he was never there and recants his previous statements. With the case unraveling Matt finds himself cornered and pulls a hail Mary by showing the White Tiger mask to the court and jury outing his client as the vigilante. Matt is called into conference with the judge and prosecutor who are both very angered and bewildered. The judge begrudgingly allows Matt to enter the mask and Ayala’s alter ego into eveidence.
The next day Matt and Nikki present many witnesses telling how the White Tiger had saved them and presenting documents from cops who praised his efforts to help the city and in several cases saving them. He had saved them from car wrecks and muggings, constantly putting his life in danger, justifying his actions by just repeating that it was the right thing to do.
During the recess Ayala tells Matt “It wasn’t your secret to tell”, Matt apologizes and tells him he has to give up the suit and find other ways to do good for the community (trying to justify his disappearance as Daredevil) but Hector says the amulet chose him and it is a calling he didn’t seek but he fully accepts it. In an odd way Ayala is speaking right at Matt unbeknownst to himself.
In a testament to our story path the Prosecutor makes his closing argument which speaks to our 2 lead characters even if it is a losing argument. He basically says that in this world we have many good people who can also do bad things then in the antithesis mentions that there are bad people who can do good things clearly identifying Matt/Daredevil and Fisk/Kingpin, with their dual personalities. Matt is successful and gets Hector acquitted.
The outcome of the case does not make Mayor Fisk happy because he campaigned on an anti-vigilante platform. He summons BB Urich to his office bypassing the legacy media stating his opinion of the ruling, calling it a “miscarriage of justice” that has occurred and he is an expert on bad rulings.
In this episode we are shown a truck highjacking in Red Hook where the two drivers are murdered showing us that gang violence is moving up in this area. At breakfast Fisk and Vanessa learn about the highjacking and double murder. Vanessa says that leaders of the Five families are restless and turning on each other because both of them are off doing other things and aren’t there t keep them in line. Fisk shrugs it off and says let them kill each other, we also see Fisk with bloody knuckles again (are we getting closer to seeing the return of Kingpin).
Vanessa is not happy with this answer saying that whomever comes out on top will come for both of them next. It also appears that she is itching to get back into the crime world again as she talks about how much money they could launder with art sales. Later we see the couple in therapy Vanessa accuses Fisk of punishing her for what happened with Adam (looks like we have an affair here) before Heather (Matts girlfriend) walks into the office.
Fisk does decide to send his aide Buck Cashman to meet with the leaders of the Five Families. He attempts to settle their debts and tells them to cool it with the violence. None of them are too keen on the idea and are upset that Fisk couldn’t handle this himself.
After the court case we see Matt cooking dinner for Heather and they share a drink from a special whisky Foggy and himself saved for toasting victories (ironically it is the whiskey Foggy was drinking the night he died). All looks rosy right now but I’m curious to see what happens when Matt finds out she is counseling his nemesis).
In the end of this episode we see Hector suiting up as White Tiger to go out on patrol. As he is walking about the neighborhood he can hear someone in distress and he follows the sounds but out of the shadows behind him a lone gunman emerges from the shadows with a gun, shooting White Tiger in the back of the head killing him. As the assailant walks past the prone body of White Tiger we see the Punisher symbol quite clearly on his shirt even if we can’t see the face. Will we see the Punisher soon?
Conclusion
I give this episode an 8/10. The story was very well rounded, we didn’t get any of the action fight scenes we got accustomed to in the first 2 episodes so it was a bit boring. The acting and script were very well done along with the camera work that was able to convey how alone White Tiger was and how the absence of Daredevil had forced many to take up his fight. Is Daredevils self imposed exile a selfish attempt to rid himself of guilt or a punishment on the people of New York.
