Marvel’s Daredevil 308 – Upstairs/Downstairs
With his life and sanity spiralling out of control, Ben Pointdexter reaches out to Julie for help. Trading on what’s left of his charm and their shared past work experience, Pointdexter disarms her and she agrees to give him the support he needs. Meanwhile Nadeem and Matt continue to circle each other, trying to gain the other’s trust enough to team up and get more intel on Pointdexter. The irony of their verbal jousting match is that they are more alike than they are different, aside from Matt’s penchant for jumping across rooftops in strange outfits.
Foggy thinks he’s found a key to bringing down Fisk. He takes his theory to Karen who is coming off an ongoing session of Chinese takeout and sleepless nights. Foggy’s onto something but Karen is afraid that going after Fisk only leads to death and destruction. Foggy needs her to expose Fisk in an article with his theory and Karen is game except for the fact that she’s been fired from the Bulletin for not revealing Daredevil’s identity.
Upstairs/Downstairs casts Agent Pointdexter in an interesting light. Now that Nadeem is onto him, he’s actually a pawn in a massive game being played between Fisk, Matt and the FBI. Considering his homicidal tendencies however, there isn’t much sympathy that can be afforded him. When his supposed lifeline is pulled from him, Pointdexter quickly reverts to form and becomes more of a menace that he ever was before.
One of the most pivotal scenes in Upstairs/Downstairs is the faceoff between Karen and Fisk. It’s a great scene with a slow boil of back and forth jabs until the verbal punches become haymakers with damage taken on both sides. The scene showcases Fisk’s smarts, cool detachment and menace. It also highlight’s Karen’s moxie and ability to get under Fisk’s skin. Karen’s final blow ignites a fury in Fisk that boils over and jumpstarts a campaign of revenge.
The final scenes of Upstairs/Downstairs deliver a twist that shakes Matt to his core and will no doubt surprise those who aren’t familiar with the comic books. The interesting thing about the Kingpin/Daredevil/Pointdexter triumvirate is the boiling internal rage that drives them. Will the new revelation diffuse some to that fire and allow Matt to see the world in a new light? It just may be the key that keeps him from self-destruction and allows him to win the war against his enemies.
