New York's Finest is the third episode of the second season of the television series Daredevil.
Synopsis[]
Trapped face-to-face with the Punisher, Daredevil wrestles with the morality of vigilante justice. Meanwhile, Foggy and Karen work to save the firm.
Plot[]
Daredevil regains consciousness and finds himself in chains on a rooftop, being captured by Punisher, while he treats his bullet wound. Daredevil tries to struggle and scream to attract anyone's attention, but Punisher says that any of his attempts are futile. Daredevil asks why Punisher did not take off his mask, to which he replies that he simply does not care about who Daredevil is. Daredevil then asks why he did not kill him and although Punisher does not respond, Daredevil senses the military-grade weaponry that Punisher ownes. Daredevil asks what he is planning to do with it and Punisher eventually replies that he will do what is required.
Following an unsuccessful sting on the Punisher, Samantha Reyes and Blake Tower oversee cleanup of the site, so they could control the narrative of the events. Karen Page confronts Reyes and accuses her of lying and purposefully putting Grotto's life at risk, so they could conduct their operation. In response, Reyes implies that if the story ever goes public, Nelson and Murdock would take the blame for everything, including putting Grotto in danger. Page is frustrated but Foggy Nelson says that there's no way they can go against the DA's office, but promises to reach out to Murdock, so they could figure something out.
Searching for Murdock, Nelson arrives at the Metro-General Hospital and finds the emergency room being crammed with patients, many of them criminals. Nelson eventually finds Claire Temple, telling her that they have a mutual friend, although Temple is not thrilled to see him at that moment. Meanwhile, Page returns to the office where she looks into Reyes, until she receives a call from Grotto. Grotto is angered that Nelson and Murdock let the DA use him as a bait, and although Page tries to convince him to turn himself in, Grotto tells her that he will be leaving New York City soon and try to hide from Punisher.
Daredevil tries to get Punisher to talk about himself before suggesting that it is not too late to walk away, so Punisher breaks his silence, asking if Daredevil could walk away himself. Daredevil tries to dig for more information and guesses that Punisher used to be a soldier and that he lost someone close to him, saying that it does not justify his killings. Punisher responds by accusing Daredevil of being coward who cannot do what it takes to stop criminals once and for all, telling Daredevil that he is only one day away from being him. Daredevil then overhears someone entering their rooftop, so Punisher warns him to stay quiet or he kills whoever is coming.
Nelson asks Temple's help to find Murdock, but she is busy tending to the patients, as the ER is being overrun by the patients. Temple mentions that since she helped another enhanced person and violated hospital policy, she had to work at the ER nonstop all month as a punishment. She then tells Nelson that she has not seen Murdock ever since she patched him up months ago after he was nearly killed. As Nelson helps Temple, she says that even though she believes in Murdock and his cause, there is only so much she can do for him without ruining her own life. Suddenly, one of the patients breaks away from his handcuffs and grabs a scalpel, threatening a member of a rival gang.
As Jerry comes to the rooftop, Punisher introduces himself to him as Frank and tries to convince him that there's nothing to worry about. As Daredevil struggles in his chains, making Jerry hear that, Punisher cocks his gun, so he would stop making noise. Punisher and Jerry then briefly talk about their service in the United States Marine Corps and Jerry eventually leaves, while Daredevil accuses him of threatening the innocent man but Punisher says that it was only to get Daredevil to stay quiet. The two of them then argue about their different views on justice, as Daredevil says that Punisher's methods leave no place for redemption, Punisher says that he does what needs to be done and the criminals who got killed deserve only death. Daredevil tells Punisher that he is insane and he will not stop coming after him while he is alive, prompting Punisher to knock him out.
Page visits Tower at his office, talking to him about Grotto's case and revealing that she has done research into Reyes' career. She tells him about the record of the previous Assistant District Attorneys losing their job due to Reyes' poor decisions, implying that at some point, Tower might be next name in the list. She asks Tower for help, to which he angrily tells Page to leave and never contact him again, while secretly slipping her copies of Punisher's files.
The two gangsters at Metro-General prepare to fight each other, but Nelson calls out to them, saying that if they carve each other there, there would be no way out for them. He appeals to both the criminals' sense of self-interest and successfully gets them to drop their weapons and stop fighting to Temple's relief. Temple later searches through hospital records and tells Nelson that Murdock has not been checked in to the hospital, nor was there any record of his body in the morgue. She compliments Nelson on how he handled the fight between the criminals and Nelson tells Temple that Murdock made a mistake letting her go.
Daredevil wakes up again with the gun duct-taped to his hand, as Punisher says there is only one bullet in the chamber. Punisher then shows him a captured Grotto, giving Daredevil a choice: he either lets Punisher kill Grotto, he kills Punisher to save Grotto, or kills Grotto himself. As Punisher is wearing body armor, the only way to stop him is a shot in the head, so either way, there will be a murder on Daredevil's conscience. Daredevil struggles as he does not want to kill, so Punisher makes Grotto to admit that he murdered an innocent woman just for being a witness once. Daredevil, however, manages to shoot the chains and break free and launches himself at Punisher, but fails to save Grotto from being killed.
Punisher then takes a shot at the Dogs of Hell's Club, setting the motocycles ablaze and alerting the Dogs of Hell of his presense. As he prepares to snipe out the bikers, Daredevil subdues Punisher and shoves him into a freight elevator, just as the furious bikers storm the building. Daredevil saves Jerry from being caught between them, and uses his empty gun to threaten the bikers into keeping a distance from him. As he reveals that the gun was empty the whole time, a long and brutal fight ensues and although Daredevil emerges victorious, he finds out that the Punisher slipped away.
Back at the office, Page spread out the contents of the folder, which were the Punisher files. She made notes as she examined each item, and stopped, startled, when she came across an X-ray of a skull with a bullet hole.
Cast[]
Main Cast:
- Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock/Daredevil
- Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page
- Elden Henson as Foggy Nelson
- Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle/Punisher
- Stephen Rider as Blake Tower
- Rosario Dawson as Claire Temple
Guest Stars:
- Michelle Hurd as District Attorney Samantha Reyes
- McCaleb Burnett as Elliot Grote/Grotto
- Ray Iannicelli as Jerry
- John Bianco as Jimmy the Bear
- Marilyn Torres as Louisa Delgado
- Marcos Palma as Petty Thief
- Tracy Friedman as Security Guard
- Matt Baguth as Gang Member
- Marc Basil as Felon
- Ross Brodar as Biker
- Emily Trask as Reporter
- Jay Hieron as Lowlife
- Nick Gifford as CSU Team Member (uncredited)
- Hans Marrero as Criminal #2 (uncredited)
- Caliph Jones as Criminal #3 (uncredited)
- Damien Bosco as Gang #3 Member (uncredited)
- Kristoffe Brodeur as Dogs Of Hell Gang Member (uncredited)
- Dan Miragliotta as Big Biker (uncredited)
- To-be-confirmed actor as Matt Murdock (uncredited)
Appearances[]
Locations[]
- New York City, New York
- Vietnam (mentioned)
- Iraq (mentioned)
- Afghanistan (mentioned)
Events[]
- Frank Castle's War
- Kidnapping of Daredevil
- Attack on the Dogs of Hell
- Ambush on Punisher (mentioned)
- Attack on Grotto (mentioned)
- Vietnam War (mentioned)
Items[]
- Daredevil's Suit
- Punisher's Arsenal
- One Batch, Two Batch (mentioned)
Concepts[]
Vehicles[]
To be added
Creatures[]
Organizations[]
- Nelson and Murdock
- New York City Police Department
- Dogs of Hell
- New York Bulletin
- Fire Department of New York City
- Union Allied Construction (mentioned)
- United States Marine Corps (mentioned)
- 3rd Marine Division (mentioned)
- EnSynth (mentioned)
Mentioned[]
Awards[]
- This episode was nominated for a Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Award for Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series.
Trivia[]
- This episode's plot is almost exactly the same as a Punisher issue from the mini-series "Welcome Back, Frank", including dialogue.
Music[]
| Song title | Artist | Location(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Ace of Spades | Motörhead |
|
