Some of the Matt/Foggy stuff here felt a little bit like a repeat of last year's big blowout, but at least this one sort of took things a few steps further. Meaning, this time Matt sort of played it all really coldly and kind of shut Foggy out for real. Perhaps even pushing him away in order to protect him. And it all led to, basically, Foggy shutting down the law firm. For now. So while it's not the first rift we've seen between these two, it was a very serious one. Perhaps irreparable even. And it left Karen in the lurch. Though fortunately her dogged determination to uncover truths no matter where they hide led her back to Ellison. And into the sad-but-comforting embrace of Ben's old office.On Karen's end, she discovered that an undercover cop was a part of the Central Park massacre. And that his body was vanished by the powers that be. It's funny to think here that Karen and Frank were both, essentially, working on this case. From different sides. And, of course, on different levels of violence. Which is to say, Karen smartly and warmly convinced the medical examiner to speak up while Frank mutilated about a dozen inmates and wound up covered in loads of blood. All while learning about a mystery puppeteer known as "The Blacksmith."
Fisk meeting with Frank was great, as was his inevitable act of betrayal that was meant to kill off Frank and cleanly close the loop. The best part of this entire Frank/Fisk arc though was when Fisk returned to speak with Frank after he'd tried to kill him and failed. A strangely noble "mea culpa." And then repayment in the form of setting Frank free. Free to... go back to Punishing. And keeping New York somewhat status quo until Fisk was able to return.
There were a ton of great moments here, though I'm trying to cut down the length of these reviews. Fisk eating his dinner in front of a dying Dutton was a fun moment. And Frank fighting his way through a corridor of prisoners - his own lethal "hallway fight," if you will - stabbing people with mop handles and shivs and the like was gruesomely great. A very stark showcase as to how Frank handles opposition as opposed to Matt. Who also would have won, but with no body count.
And, man, that Matt/Nobu fight was incredible. Yes, Nobu's back. The Hand can rise from the grave. He's scarred now, but no less lethal. There's a demon in the basement. Or something. The Rising. It's a huge deal. It needs blood to survive. These episodes have grown a bit more fractured as all our characters sort of splinter off into their own stories, but it makes them no less great.