Daredevil: Born Again hit a high mark this season with last week's release and unfortunately takes a step back with episode 4, "Sic Semper Systema".
Disclaimer: This article contains minor spoilers for Daredevil: Born Again Season 1.
Episode 4, "Sic Semper Systema", follows Matt Murdock(Charlie Cox) and Wilson Fisk(Vincent D'Onofrio as their darker halves fight to emerge. Admittedly, this episode feels a bit like the setup for what's to come rather than a solid episode on its own. It doesn't have a clear throughline, which leads to the feeling that it's just spinning its wheels. The production quality is there. The performances and cinematography are particularly strong points, but overall this episode suffers from odd pacing.
Born Again went through a massive creative overhaul during its production and it shows. This episode suffers from the odd trend of a lot happening while feeling like nothing meaningful happens. Matt gets a new case (which has one of the more poignant subplots), Matt investigates Frank Castle(Jon Bernthal) to set up the inevitable conflict brewing with the police co-opting Punisher's symbol, Wilson and Vanessa(Ayelet Zurer) go to counseling, Muse is teased, Wilson's assistant makes a massive blunder. All this and about 3 to 5 other things happen, but most of them feel like they don't carry significant weight.
Too Much and Too Little
The Muse teases are especially baffling. They're obviously there to tease a villain who will presumably be a major player later in the season, but right now they feel disconnected. There are two scenes randomly interjected into this episode that have no relation to anything the audience has seen so far. It's jarring. Those aren't the only time the episode jumps around, though. The new case Matt picks up delivers some exceptional scenes and is broadly connected to one of the major themes of the show being the corruption and ineffectiveness of the systems for law and order that are in place. However, those scenes also feel randomly placed throughout the episode.
The main issue with this episode is that it feels like nothing substantial changes from the end of last week to the end of this week, save for one noteworthy confrontation. The scene between Matt and Frank Castle is, as expected, dynamite. It's often talked about how perfect both Cox and Bernthal are in these roles, and the chemistry they have acting opposite each other, but it truly can't be overstated. The scene delivers. It's the one meaningful move forward "Sic Semper Systema" makes, but it still almost feels like a half-measure. It's a tease of what's to come.
This episode has glimmers of greatness but ultimately fails to live up to high expectations. Though it's still a thoroughly enjoyable episode of television, it's a noticeable step in the wrong direction. Outside of one standout scene, and the end-of-episode teasers, it doesn't find its voice as an independent hour of programming. With just over half the season left, here's hoping the back half kicks into high gear.
Rating: ★★★☆☆
About Daredevil: Born Again
Premiere Date: March 4, 2025.
Episode Count: 8
Executive Producer/Showrunner: Dario Scardapane
Writers: Dario Scardapane, Brad Winderbaum
Directors: Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead, Michael Cuesta, Jeffrey Nachmanoff, David Boyd
Production: Marvel Television, Disney
Distribution: Disney
Cast: Charlie Cox, Vincent D’Onofrio, Margarita Levieva, Deborah Ann Woll, Elden Henson, Zabryna Guevara, Nikki James, Genneya Walton, Arty Froushan, Clark Johnson, Michael Gandolfini, with Ayelet Zurer and Jon Bernthal
Synopsis: In Marvel Television’s “Daredevil: Born Again,” Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox), a blind lawyer with heightened abilities is fighting for justice through his bustling law firm, while former mob boss Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) pursues his own political endeavors in New York. When their past identities begin to emerge, both men find themselves on an inevitable collision course.