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

Even if I knew nothing about Elektra from the pages of Marvel comics, I wouldn’t trust her. Bad sign number one: she broke into Matt’s loft and waited for him in the dark. She exuded a dangerous and mischievous vibe when she appeared for a second at the end of the fourth episode of Daredevil, and the feeling continued in “Kinbaku.” The episode interrupted the present with flashbacks explaining what Matt and Elektra once had.

First of all, Charlie Cox has an inhuman ability to be flopsy and endearing. Him as a younger, more innocent Matt Murdock? No one should be allowed to be that charming. He was easy prey for Elektra. Elodie Yung was magnetic in every scene and managed to carry an edge of derangement around in every one of Elektra’s scenes. The way Matt and Elektra’s relationship began was a role reversal of the usual bad boy trope. Here, it was Elektra who liked fast cars and petty crimes. She ran headlong into questionable situations. Matt wasn’t an innocent bystander, but I don’t know if he would have pursued any similar activities on his own.

We got an Elektra crash course through the flashbacks. She was wild, a bored rich kid who liked taking chances. She had expensive taste and enjoyed the finer aspects of life. I can’t say I found her likable except for one thing: she never babied Matt or treated him differently because of his blindness. In fact, she saw past his pretenses and quickly learned Matt could see in other ways. She treated him as an equal, which no doubt made her more attractive.

If things were so exciting and fun between them, then why did it end? Why have we never heard a word about her? Elektra went too far. She found the man responsible for Matt’s father’s death and presented him as a twisted present (note to everyone: people who your loved ones seek revenge upon are not appropriate gifts for any occasion). It was obvious Matt was surprised and taken aback by it. He thought he knew the limits of her unpredictable behavior and was in disbelief about her encouraging murder–understandably so. Just as Matt was confused by the offering, Elektra was disappointed in Matt for not seizing the opportunity.

Whew. They had quite the roller coaster ride, didn’t they?

The information about Elektra was served up in time to compare it to Matt’s burgeoning relationship with Karen. They couldn’t have been more different. Duh. Matt’s experience with Elektra gave him a distaste of wealth and extravagance, and by moving to a more casual restaurant for their dinner date, Karen showed she didn’t care about either of those things. Comfort with the cheap stuff, guys. I hear ya.

Elektra’s presence in Hell’s Kitchen of course meant nothing positive. She was there to take a meeting with Roxxon and manipulated Matt into helping her with a problem. The sort of problem that carried guns.

The glimpse into Matt and Elektra’s past was educational, but I wasn’t taken with this episode. Matt and Karen’s date as well as Karen’s ambitious request for help from Ellison were the highlights. Yung was completely engaging as Elektra, but I’m not invested in the character– actually, I find her annoying and want her to go away. And I’d really like to get back to Punisher.

Random thoughts:

• Did you catch the Jessica Jones mention? Marcy mentioned she’s under review.
• Also, Roxxon is a presence in Marvel comics, but we most recently heard about it in Marvel’s Agent Carter.
• It was a little thing, but I liked how Matt took his glasses off on the walk home from the date with Karen. It suggested more trust between the two of them.

Favorite quotes:

• “In this city, a girl needs all the help she can get.” – Elektra
• “Sweetheart, you don’t break into my home and talk about trust.” – Matt

What are your thoughts about Elektra? She’s making me twitchy. Scroll to the comments and share your opinions about her and the flashbacks.

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IMAGES: Netflix