Warning: This recap contains spoilers for the Daredevil episode “.380.” Leave the ring and find a fight away from this page if you haven’t seen the episode yet.

If you’ve been feeling like there wasn’t enough happening in season two of Daredevil, “.380” probably changed your tune. And I’m being sarcastic because the sophomore season of the Marvel Netflix series has been jam-packed. However, this is the first time it’s felt in danger of being overstuffed. The eleventh episode bounced between the Hand and what happened at the hospital, to the Blacksmith and Frank’s mission, and to Elektra and Stick. The character who made the strongest impression, as usual, was Punisher.

Frank reached out to Karen, and saved her life from an ambush at her apartment. Their exchanges have been some of the most well-written and performed of the season, and I loved their talk at the diner for a couple of reasons. Before I discuss the ins and outs of their chat, can I just scold Matt for being judgmental and shitty? How dare he lecture Karen about not telling the police about seeing Frank. He had no right to be annoyed with her. Ugh.

That ties into one reason why Karen said she liked Frank. Because on the surface, there’s no reason for her to continue to meet up with Frank–not after he’s backed out on deals they’ve made and escaped jail. But Karen appreciates Frank’s honesty. She said he’s been upfront with her, and given the relative lack of honesty she’s received from Foggy or Matt, I don’t blame her for latching onto it. Frank continued to dole out the truth by calling out Karen’s love for Matt. He told her, more or less, to put aside all the bullshit and hold onto it. Jon Bernthal manages to make Frank seem positively eloquent despite the character’s nature and his bruised and bloodied face.

Frank set a trap to lure some of the Blacksmith’s men to the diner where he and Karen were holed up. This marked the first time Karen saw Frank in action as the Punisher. It was one thing to hear about it and see photos of the crime scenes, but it’s something else to huddle scared in the next room and listen to the bullets fly. Karen needed to experience it in person to understand. She was horrified. I don’t think it changed her opinion about Frank, but it certainly added some color.

One of Frank’s victims gave up the right information, and Matt got a lead on the Blacksmith from Madame Gao. It led them to the same place on the docks. We haven’t seen Daredevil and Punisher talk since their heart-to-heart in the fourth episode, and Daredevil admitted he’s coming around to Frank’s way of thinking. I don’t know if his statement was entirely true. I think Matt’s experiencing doubt; he said as much to Claire. But I don’t believe he’s ready to buy into Frank’s methods. Not yet. Frank didn’t think so either and threw Matt over the edge of the ship rather than deciding to work with him.

While they made a scene at the docks and Frank killed several of Blacksmith’s men, Elektra circled in on Stick. Matt ran off to help once he learned about Elektra’s intentions, and with only two episodes left, I’m concerned about him taking that detour. However, maybe Stick is the Blacksmith? I don’t have any evidence to back up the theory, but Stick being the Blacksmith would certainly bring the various elements of season two together nicely. And I do want it all to be connected in some way.

“.380” had a lot going on. So many faces jumped in and out of the episode with Marcy, Gao, Claire, and others. It was a little disjoined, but it ultimately worked because of the strong anchor of the scene with Frank and Karen.

Random thoughts:

• This Tumblr post is for anyone else who appreciates Frank’s penchant for coffee as much as I do.
• Many fights this season have been shown in silhouette or at least, the profiles have been emphasized rather than being fully lit. As a result, they’ve looked gorgeous.

Favorite quotes:

• “I’m not yours to protect.” – Karen
• “That candle that you’re burning at both ends, sooner or later it’s going to fizzle out.” – Claire

How about those ninjas? What did you think of the diner chat between Frank and Karen? Let all your opinions loose in the comments.

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IMAGES: Netflix, Malisses Icons

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