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This article contains major spoilers for “Daredevil: Born Again” Episode 4.
The coroner collects the belongings of Hector Ayala, the White Tiger, who was shot and killed at the end of the last episode. He puts them in an evidence bag and seals it.
In the hallway outside the morgue, the coroner and Matt Murdock talk about what was found in the autopsy. Matt is surprised because in spite of the “extremely close range” nature of the kill, a bullet casing wasn’t found.
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Angela, Hector’s niece, shows up with tears in her eyes, insisting she wants to see her uncle’s body. Matt convinces her it’s a bad idea and leads her away. They stop in front of vending machines where Angela asks Matt if it was the cops who killed Hector. Getting increasingly upset, Angela hugs Matt for comfort. He tells her she has to believe that someone will find the killer.
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Outside we see graffiti of Wilson Fisk, of the Punisher Skull logo, and finally we cut to a subway tunnel where a mysterious masked man is carrying a body. The intro credits roll.
BB Urich is out at a club with Daniel Blake who’s complaining that he needs to head home. BB tells him that Wilson Fisk is working him too hard, prompting Daniel to praise his boss. He mentions a meeting Fisk is taking with a non-union recycling company. Another friend of BB’s suggests they get something to eat, but Daniel takes a cab to the Staten Island Ferry.
Across the street from the club, a man named Leroy is cuffed and sitting on the curb, complaining that the cops arresting him are eating the caramel corn he’s accused of stealing.
Help is on the way for Leroy. The following morning, Matt is on the rooftop of his building when he gets a call from Kirsten. She needs him downtown on a “freebie” defending Leroy.
In Heather Glenn’s office, Dr. Glenn pushes Wilson and Vanessa to talk about the affair Vanessa had with Adam. Wilson doesn’t want to, but Dr. Glenn insists.
Vanessa says Wilson left and that she had no idea if or when he would be back. She says she was attracted to Adam’s hands and the way he drew sketches. She also says he wasn’t part of Wilson’s world. When Dr. Glenn asks what world that is, in a very telling manner, Wilson and Vanessa both say “business” in unison.
Wilson admits he confronted Adam, the man Vanessa had an affair with, and says he told Adam how he felt about Vanessa, that he couldn’t live a meaningful life without her. Both Vanessa and Wilson, once again in unison, say they don’t know where Adam is.
Before the couple leaves, Dr. Glenn asks to speak to Vanessa alone. She asks Vanessa if she feels safe in her marriage. Vanessa tells Dr. Glenn that of all the things Wilson is capable of, hurting her is not one of them.
Matt goes to meet his new client Leroy Bradford who, along with being disrespectful (he complains he’s stuck with “the blind dude”), refuses to admit he stole the caramel corn. He even asks “Could it have been a Skrull?” He insists Matt get him probation, in spite of Matt being confident there’s no way that’s happening.
Matt has luck with the prosecutor, Sofija Ozola, who clearly has a thing for him. She starts off offering 35 days in jail, but he charms her all the way down to 10.
On the way out, Matt has another run-in with Officer Powell, during which he implies it was Powell who shot and killed Hector Ayala. Powell shoves Matt against a wall and tells him he had nothing to do with Hector’s death. With his enhanced senses, Matt can tell that Powell’s telling the truth. They still trade threats with one another before parting ways.
At Red Hook Port, Wilson unveils a plan to overhaul the area. Daniel, as always, is supportive, but Wilson’s campaign manager Sheila warns him that he just can’t speak things “into existence.” She reminds him of all the red tape he needs to get through to make it happen. As they leave, Buck whispers to him, telling him that the crime bosses will continue to misbehave at the Red Hook Port until one of them is “sentenced” or they’re all dead.
Matt delivers the news of the 10-day deal to Leroy, who at first seems extremely ungrateful. After a shouting match between the two, Leroy explains that the last time he was in jail, he lost his SSI benefits because he missed an appointment. Now he has to beg for money and scrounge from dumpsters. He stole the caramel corn because for once he wanted some dessert that tasted good.
Wilson is in a classroom where he’s being subjected to an elementary school class’s rendition of Jefferson Starship’s “We Built This City.” While he suffers, Daniel shows Sheila a news story from BB Urich about Fisk’s plans to talk to a non-union recycling company – something he unintentionally leaked when he told Urich about it.
Outside the Latvian Cultural Center, Fisk yells at Sheila – who hasn’t revealed Daniel’s part in the leak – about the news, demanding an all-hands meeting to find out who leaked the story.
As he’s about to speak at the Cultural Center, a gathered Latvian choir breaks into a Latvian rendition of “We Built This City.”
Back at the Mayor’s Office, Fisk rages at the all-hands meeting, vowing to find out who leaked the story. Before it gets too far, Daniel steps forward and admits it was him. Fisk kicks everyone else out of the office, though Sheila insists on staying.
Daniel gives a long apology, oversharing about what happened at the club and swearing that if he’s fired, he will still do everything he can from afar to support Fisk. Wilson is impressed. He tells Daniel he’s not fired but threatens to kill him if he ever does anything like it again.
At night, Matt returns to the spot where Hector was murdered. A scooter drives by, knocking a bottle cap across the sidewalk and it gives Matt an idea. He knocks over a tiny liquor bottle to see where it will roll. Where it lands, in a sewer opening, he finds the missing shell casing.
Matt heads somewhere with purpose, down an alley, across a vacant lot, and to the basement of a building we don’t get to see from the outside. He walks down a few hallways to a room where Frank Castle comes yelling out of nowhere with a hatchet and slams Matt against some lockers. Matt’s able to talk him down as Frank slowly recognizes him. He lets go of Matt and buries his hatchet in the side of a nearby cardboard box.
Matt tells Frank he found a shell casing with a Punisher skull logo on it, which Frank says is from a “bunch of bulls–t fanboys.”
Frank’s new home looks exactly like you’d think it would: impressive firepower lining the walls, security monitors, a huge wall-sized “crazy board” filled with newspaper articles and photographs. From what we gather from the conversation, Frank hasn’t left the room in a while. Matt suggests he could help people, but Frank says he has no time for Matt’s idea of heroics.
A more passionate argument ensues. Frank senses the guilt and shame in Matt from the death of Foggy Nelson, but Matt refuses to admit it. Frank thinks Matt’s there for his permission to put the mask back on, but Matt’s too far in denial. Frank asks Matt if he hears Foggy’s voice, and from Matt’s tears, it’s clear that he does. Frank says he still hears his son’s voice: “Get ’em, Daddy. Every last single one of ’em, get ’em.”
Vanessa and Wilson are having drinks at the dinner table when Vanessa tells him that Dr. Glenn asked her if she felt safe. Wilson had already guessed it. Vanessa asks if she should feel safe. Wilson explains he learned all his ways from his father and that forgiveness was not a part of his playbook. He insists he’s trying his best.
At Matt’s apartment, Heather Glenn is there, waiting. She was worried about Matt. Matt puts it on “one of those days,” mentioning Hector’s death and Leroy’s time at Riker’s.
A new scene cuts between Matt and Wilson. On Matt’s rooftop, he goes to a secret room where his Daredevil equipment is stashed. He doesn’t go so far as to put on the uniform, but he does practice with his batons.
In some kind of secret apartment for Wilson, the mayor eats an uncharacteristically large meal, while nearby, in a cage, a bloodied Adam begs for freedom.
The episode ends in the subway tunnels where the mysterious masked man from the beginning of the episode has brought his victim. We see other victims hanging from the ceiling. The man plunges some kind of needle into the man’s thigh, and we hear him screaming as the masked man breathes heavily.
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