Fisk and Vanessa are reunited, but there's trouble in paradise, and Matt and the others formulate a plan they think will take Fisk down.
While annoyed to hear of Nadeem's escape, Fisk simply tells his man to find him, and turns his attention to Vanessa as she climbs down from her helicopter.
Elsewhere, Matt and the others take Nadeem to Mahoney's mom's house to hide, and while settling in, Seema becomes angry at her husband for lying to her again. Though he reminds her Fisk played them, Seema doesn't want to hear it, noting he brought home a gunfight that left Sami terrified, and the boy can't trust him. Outside, Matt and Foggy discuss the situation, and when Nadeem comes out, they explain they'll be his lawyers so he can testify against Fisk. Fisk takes Vanessa to the hotel to impress her, and Poindexter is left having a meltdown when he asks for a moment and the Kingpin brushes him off. Vanessa turns down Fisk's suggestion of food and thanks him for the paintings he's gathered together, but something seems wrong, and she decides to sleep. Matt takes Nadeem to the gym, his "law office," where Karen cuts him off as he apologizes, and they decide his family should be flown to relatives in Bihar, India. As they continue, he feels he doesn't deserve such help, but Karen says that how he hurt people doesn't have to be what defines him. While Nadeem changes, Matt says the same suggestion is true of Karen, and when she goes to leave, he says she can obviously take care of herself but to be careful.
On the streets, Mahoney stops Tower for a chat with Foggy, who offers to drop out of the race if Tower will listen to him, Matt, and Nadeem for an hour.
Tower is irritated to learn they're talking about Fisk, but Foggy tells him about his family issue and says he's dropping out no matter what, and will even vote for him. In the gym, Nadeem says he's ready to testify because he loves being the good guy and wants to be on the right side; Matt brings up how long he took to decide this. Nadeem brings up his family's money issues, but Matt fervently argues about how Nadeem could've done other things and helped Fisk get his manipulative life back and hurt people. Confused, Nadeem demands to know why he's being grilled; Matt says he can't help him unless he can answer the question of why he didn't come clean sooner. At first saying he doesn't know, Nadeem finally blurts out it's essentially a pride issue since he was fooled and put his family in danger, which he wishes he could undo. Matt says this is what Nadeem needs to tell Tower, who enters with Foggy and learns Nadeem is only talking under promise of immunity. Against Tower's advice, Nadeem says he trusts the lawyers, and Matt explains the depth of what Nadeem will be admitting to Tower. Foggy also says Nadeem is willing to testify, and Tower asks why he's coming forward now; he accepts the immunity terms when Nadeem says he has to fix his mistakes. Meanwhile at the hotel, Dex apologizes to Fisk, claiming Karen's escape was Nadeem's fault, but when he volunteers to fix it, Fisk tells him to do nothing. He says he's clearly put too big a burden on Dex's shoulders, and the agent leaves, with his ears buzzing.
Amazed as Nadeem finishes his story, Tower says he can get a special grand jury that day, but is flabbergasted when Matt demands full immunity for Nadeem's testimony.
He reminds them of the numerous homicides Nadeem is accessory to, and says being a federal agent makes the issue worse. He continues that Nadeem never spoke up, but Matt argues that Nadeem's family was at risk and almost killed the night prior, then asks if Tower could still speak up after such an event like Nadeem is. Despite their repeated demand, Tower says the best he can do is five years on each count, and as he starts leaving, Nadeem agrees to take the deal. He calls Sami to explain he might hear stuff about his dad, as he sat by while bad things happened, but that all he cares about is what his son thinks of him. Matt is frustrated they couldn't get him immunity, but Foggy says they did better than most could've gotten and expresses joy at working together again. Matt agrees, joking about Foggy's newfound money, but says they're not there yet. At the hotel, Fisk prepares an omelette for Vanessa, as it's her favorite, then confronts her about what's wrong. She tells him about how lonely she was while in hiding, and that even now she's surrounded by him and his things, but isn't really with him. He says he'll do anything to fix the situation, but Manning enters needing his attention, she he leaves, telling Manning to not bring their work in front of her. In the elevator, Manning explains they haven't found Nadeem, but strange activity and increased security at the courthouse point to him testifying. Manning says the men responsible for Nadeem's escape have been eliminated and offers his resignation, but Fisk thanks him for keeping Vanessa safe for two years and orders him to do whatever it takes to finish the job, even calling in their "friends." On the streets, Karen intercepts Ellison as he gets lunch, and after a hug, he mentions how every FBI agent and reporter in the city is looking for her. She explains that she's not going to tell him Daredevil's identity, but that Dex is the one who attacked; she says she doesn't need proof since Nadeem is testifying soon. Feeling that this is more than an exclusive since Fisk is silencing the truth, so she wants him to call a press conference where she'll speak. Back at the hotel, Dex has Fisk's final painting brought in, and after telling Vanessa it's a gift from the Kingpin, he introduces himself as the new Wesley. After she says how much the painting means to them, Dex explains Fisk couldn't persuade the owner, so he made an effort of his own. Vanessa then notices blood on the frame but stays quiet, simply asking him to have it hung for them. Things don't go smoothly on the way to court, or after, and after Fisk decides to let Vanessa get involved, a drastic action is taken.
With the season finishing up, characters are coming into conflict more than ever as Fisk tries to solidify his position and Matt and the others fight to stop him.
A favorite aspect of this episode for me is how Nadeem is trying to fix his mistakes, and in such a bold way. It's always been obvious Nadeem is a noble character, but Fisk is an excellent manipulator, and played Nadeem like a fiddle. Nadeem did go along with Fisk for a time, but he was in a dangerous situation where speaking out would've put his family at risk. What's unfortunate in this situation is that Tower is right regarding Nadeem's case: he can't possibly walk after being an accessory to numerous murders. Even if he was being blackmailed, Nadeem helped kill people, and therefore should serve some kind of sentence. He shows his noble side by easily accepting the terms, and it's clear all he really cares is what Sami thinks of him, so he uses the situation as a teaching moment for him. It was good to see Blake Tower taking action finally, now that he has proof of Fisk's crimes, and we saw an impressive move from Foggy to make it happen. Not only is he giving up on the campaign; Foggy is specifically refusing to be corrupt, as while the position could help him take down Fisk, the issue of his family would put him in the Kingpin's pocket if he didn't want his family hurt. With Nadeem coming forward, things seem to finally be going well for the gang, but as they've said, Fisk always seems to be a few steps ahead of them. Despite this, they show great ingenuity in their planning, with Karen calling for a press conference rather than rejoining the Bulletin, and Matt having an interesting way of getting Nadeem to the courthouse. Like getting Nadeem to speak, Fisk has an issue when Vanessa returns as he tries to get her to tell him what is bothering her. It's clear as she says the room is everything he ever wanted that she doesn't really care about the things, more wanting to be with him. It's a rather interesting turnaround from typical love stories for mob characters that the love interest isn't horrified by their acts and hidden from them. Rather than wanting Fisk to get out of crime, Vanessa has always been all for it, and gives her own suggestions when there are problems. As opposed to the communication between Fisk and Vanessa, the Kingpin fells to have effective communication with Dex. While things seemed poor between Fisk and Vanessa at first, talking helps them out, while not talking effectively with Dex causes apparent problems. Dex's anger and breakdowns are represented by a strange sort of buzzing sound that overpower everything else he hears, and is a part of the clever use of sound throughout the season. When Vanessa first arrives at the hotel, Dex stands by and the buzzing is light, showing that he is upset about Karen but not having a meltdown yet. This gets worse later, however, when Fisk sends him away, and the sound is suddenly more intense, sounding like a swarm of angry bees. This isn't the first place a sound effect is used this season, though the other is less noticeable without headphones. As a continuation of Matt's injuries, there are scenes throughout the season where we hear things from his point of view. Early on it shows how damaged he is by having us struggle to hear Maggie talking to him, and while he eventually recovers, the scene with his ghostly father has a less-pronounced version of the effect. This later effect is a good way of showing that Matt is still not 100% himself anymore, but has, like Lantom said, adjusted to his new situation. Using sound for only these two also says how the two are similar, much like Matt's analysis of the man did. With Fisk's efforts still going as planned and Vanessa again at his side, Matt and the others have reached a dark turning point.
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