Fisk makes a major move in this episode of Marvel’s Daredevil and, although I’ve only reviewed as far as I’ve seen, It seems that the pace of things will significantly pick up from here on out. The war for Hell’s Kitchen has begun and if you didn’t think Fisk was a serious threat after last episode I’m certain you do now.
The title “World on Fire” is cleverly misleading as it first comes up at the beginning when Matt is describing his powers to Claire. We see a glimpse of his POV which I have mixed feelings about. The metaphor and visual appeal have me partially convinced this is the perfect representation for the show to take. Representing his radar sense this way brings a weight to his character, almost like Wolverine explaining that it hurts when his claws come out every time. It is unfortunate that the 360 “radar seeing” is difficult to represent. I’ve always been particularly attached to it conceptually, and I worry that “fire vision” gives Matt a little too much actual sight.
But, the city on fire turns out to be literal, as Fisk orchestrates a spectacular display of finishing off the Russians. There is a lot to be said about the connection between Matt and Wilson that this episode emphasizes. It is a common narrative trope to draw ideological parallels between the protagonist and antagonist. The proverbial “We’re not so different, you and I” is served to us on a silver platter and our opponents have not even met yet. Wilson and Matt both want to save the city. They both see the city on fire. Where they differ is in the Wilson sees the flames as progress. I have commented before about the bluntness in the way the show handles themes, but I think there is a charm to that. It isn’t heavy handed in a “see what we did there?” kind of way, more in a “got it? good” kind of way that I can appreciate.
In his review of episode one Zac talked about the lack of a traditional 3 act structure from this show and that struck me in particular in this episode because “World on Fire” has a very deliberate structure that begins and ends with opposite perspectives of the city on fire, as discussed, and is framed by 3 relationships each in the same “discovery” stage. As the audience we are in a similar discovery stage with the show and the characters: we saw something that attracted us, we came back for more, and now we are starting to understand what “Daredevil” is and how it works. It is a cleverly timed episode and an effective way to develop these characters, most of all Fisk and Vanessa.
This episode had a few misses, most notably the Foggy and Karen “let me touch your face” scene. I don’t know what the hell that was, and frankly I’m not sure what these two are really adding to show right now. I can’t stand levity characters and I’m hoping that their plot line will fit into the big picture and not distract from it. Having said that I think this is probably the most polished episode yet in terms of plotting, and it was just the right time to give us another taste of oner action. This show is practically everything I want it to be.