Daredevil Born Again – The Grand Design review S2 E5

The Grand Design starts off in an unexpected fashion given last week’s shocking cliffhanger, but by its conclusion, it proves to be another very strong installment of Born Again’s second season.

Turns out Vanessa didn’t die on the mat (thanks to Bullseye’s expert trajectory or Fisk’s incredibly unfortunate ricochet — depending on your perspective) and she’s in the OR being prepped for surgery.

Bullseye exposed the one flaw in Fisk’s grand design for his new utopia. He’s gone so far that he can’t escalate things further in his war against vigilante activity. Sure, he “could” have his task force kill them on sight, but that would get the governor not to mention a litany of lawsuits for ignoring due process and the right to a trial.

Quietly seething though relieved Vanessa is out of surgery, Fisk tells Powell he wants Bullseye and Daredevil alive. If anyone is going to make them suffer it’s not going to be some task force grunts — it’s going to be The Kingpin.

Embodying Fisk’s rage, the task force is really on the hunt now. Daredevil has to scramble to keep himself and a badly wounded Bullseye out of the task force’s clutches. Having accomplished his mission, Dex is fine bleeding out and says he deserved this death many times over. Bullseye is a homicidal maniac who under no circumstance should be redeemed although him being alright with dying to balance the scales for Foggy seems poetic.

Daredevil warns Bullseye that he doesn’t get to say Foggy’s name as he leads them back to the church. The Seminarian is not thrilled to see two bloody vigilantes at the door, but lets them hide in a back room.

A sizable portion of The Grand Design focuses on dueling flashbacks — one centered on Matt and the other from Vanessa/Fisk’s perspectives. Foggy and Matt have to help out Leo “The Lion” McCoy (Nathan Wallace), a guy who used to harass Foggy when they were both kids. This subplot feels like a loose adaptation of Mark Waid and Chris Samnee’s arc from Daredevil Vol. 3 #28-30. brother. Charlie Cox wasn’t joking when he said the series takes inspiration from all corners of the Daredevil lore.

Leo is a bit of a lowlife, but he’s getting set up in this instance to people in prison can kill him within 24 hours. In a fun twist, Leo’s original fate was being arranged by Wesley (Toby Leonard Moore), Fisk’s right-hand man from the first season. With Foggy finding a technicality to save Leo from prison, Wesley calls in his guy to deal with him. Naturally that guy is Buck, which is a nice little bit of on-screen connectivity to explain why Fisk trusts Buck so implicitly. He was Wesley’s guy. Foggy uses the money he and Matt saved up to give Leo the chance for a fresh start anywhere else.

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His timing was perfect as Buck narrowly misses Leo, who takes Foggy’s advice and leaves town. Foggy’s assassination certainly hasn’t been meaningless in the context of Born Again, but it does stink to lose such a likable supporting cast member. Hopefully, this segment of Grand Design opens up the door for more Foggy-focused flashback episodes going forward.

Wesley with Fisk. Going real vintage here. Wesley mentions he has a friend who owns an art gallery. Wesley’s guy is a go. He recruits Buck into the fold to take care of Leo.

Back in the present day, BB visits Daniel in the hospital at least presenting like she cares about Vanessa’s health. BB keeps putting Daniel in a bad position as the news leaks shortly after her arrival that Vanessa is in critical condition. The very Zen surgeon tells Fisk that her surgery went well, now it’s just time for the healing process.

This cues up the third flashback from Vanessa’s perspective as she talks to the gallery curator about Rabbit in a Snowstorm. Vanessa is convinced it will have a buyer and moves it to the main gallery space, just in time for Wesley and Fisk to pull up at the gallery. The rest of course is Season 1 history.

Buck wants Daniel to accompany him on a mission. Daniel is nervous and even more so when Buck wants to stop at a hardware store to pick up a shovel and a cut force toolbox. Buck’s not in much of a chatty mood, which further puts Daniel on edge. Daniel is already thinking over his plea for his life when Buck asks an important question — saw or shovel?

In the back of the trunk is the body of the first mate who Buck killed last night. That was a great fake out since there were numerous ways that scene could have paid off. Buck reluctantly having to kill his pal or BB being tucked away in the trunk.

Daredevil hears Powell and the task force at the church’s front door. He doesn’t owe Bullseye anything after Foggy yet his guilt and belief in grace makes him turn back to save Bullseye. This was a well-done scene as it shows how a character’s religious faith can guide their convictions even against the backdrop of seeing a killer get his due.

Yet it doesn’t imply that Daredevil is going to start teaming up with Bullseye either. It certainly doesn’t mean Karen is going to be happy to see Matt show up at their hideout asking for help tending to Bullseye.

Speaking of killers getting their due. One actually does in Grand Design.

Vanessa is out of surgery and able to speak. Fisk is being extremely protective even while the nurses want to take further steps to make sure she’s alright. When she asks Fisk why he’s acting so strange and then had him repeat the story of how they met, it seemed like The Grand Design was going to have Vanessa develop amnesia with no memory of the monster she’d married.

Vanessa is having visions of a beach with little but the sounds of the crashing of the waves and the water as far as she can see in the distance. Then she’s staring at Rabbit in a Snowstorm and mirroring the waves, by crashing. The doctors and nurses can’t do anything to save her. While it was definitely teased last week, Grand Design truly marks Vanessa’s death as the camera fades and the echoing of the waves is all that’s heard as the credits roll.

Keeping Vanessa alive through Grand Design seemed like a risk, but the false sense of hope Fisk received makes it more traumatic for him only furthering to intensify his hatred of Daredevil and Bullseye. Last week was a shocking cliffhanger, but this slow burn payoff raised all the conflicts in Born Again to another level. One major supporting player is off the board, but it feels like a safe bet that this won’t be the only one.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Photo Credit: Disney

After watching The Grand Design, check out the Daredevil Vol. 3 omnibus on Amazon.

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