- Title: Daredevil: Born Again – Excessive Force
- wiki: link
The question that has been looming over the season is what would be the catalyst to force Matt Murdock back into the suit. “Excessive Force” answers that question by bringing the underdeveloped villain Muse out of the background and into the forefront. Killing victims and using their blood in the murals that have popped up around New York City, the threat is very real and has gone unnoticed for weeks, and becomes even more personal when he takes Angela (Camila Rodriguez) as his latest inspiration.
The choice of saving Angela certainly works, although one could argue it isn’t necessarily the best choice as the seminal event of the season to get Matt suited up again. Something more directed tied to the Mayor seems to make more sense? While creepy, and providing some interesting art work around the city, Muse isn’t a very interesting character. Still, we do get a fight between Daredevil and Muse in his subway lair which, for time, means we don’t get any of Daredevil actually tracking him down (it all happens off camera in the blink of an eye). Daredevil saves Angela, but Muse gets away leading to a return bout at some point in the season.
The theme of reclaiming yourself, and the subject of Muse, both bleed into the concurrent storyline as Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) gets in touch with his darker side as well after having had a bit too much of politics and disrespect by local gang lords. In a move that’s larger implications will allow him to go after Daredevil once he knows the hero is back, we also see the Mayor set up a task force with extraordinary powers and limited oversight to find Muse (who he categorizes as a vigilante rather than serial killer). I’d expect we won’t have to wait too long before they run into Daredevil as well.
