Daredevil: Born Again season 2 may have made more space for its female characters, but a disappointing confrontation in this week's episode proves that their lives still revolve around the Man Without Fear.
At the end of last week's episode, the AVTF arrested Karen Page after a riot broke out at Vanessa Fisk's vigil. Now, in episode 7, as Karen awaits the continuation of her trial (she's been fast-tracked to vigilante court), Dr. Heather Glenn pays her a visit to carry out a psychological evaluation for the DA.
What could have been an interesting deep-dive into the psyches of two of this season's most intriguing characters (Karen, with her rage and desire for revenge against the Fisk regime, and Heather, with her mirrored feelings against vigilantism, mutating instead into anxiety and fear that she believes only the mayor can quell) devolves into a schoolyard fight over a boy.
Boy problems
Let's rewind for a minute. In Born Again season 1, Heather and Matt dated after being set up by Matt's legal partner, Kirsten, but their relationship fell apart because of Heather's anti-vigilante views and her proximity to Fisk. Tensions rose – understandably – between the two when Matt mistook her for Karen when she visited him in the hospital after he took a bullet for Fisk. And, somewhere in the time jump between seasons 1 and 2, Matt and Karen's cautious flirtation turned into a fully fledged relationship. As Karen was absent for most of season 1, escaping New York after Foggy's death, the two have yet to really cross paths – until now.
In the interrogation room, Karen taunts Heather about her failed relationship with Matt, which climaxes in Heather slapping her. "Matt really hurt you, didn't he," Karen says, condescendingly. It all feels weirdly childish for an otherwise mature, thoughtful season of television that's elsewhere interrogating weighty themes like authoritarianism and fascism.
It feels like a major wasted opportunity. Other than Kirsten and Karen coming to Angela's aid after her aunt is arrested and some brief conversations between Vanessa and Heather, there's very little interaction between the women in Daredevil: Born Again season 2. Their storylines are planets revolving around Matt's (or, by extension, Fisk's sun), which makes sense for a show named after his character. But with plenty – or, one could argue, too many – subplots bubbling away in the background this season, from an underground network of ex-cops to backstabbing in City Hall, it's a shame that no space could be made for a more considered interaction between two women on opposing sides of the show's political divide.
Two sides of the same coin
Karen is unerring in her loyalty to Matt and Foggy's memory, while Heather is so traumatized by her encounter with Muse in season 1 that it colors everything in her life. While Karen has a steadfast partner in Matt (despite their disagreements about violent versus nonviolent methods), Heather only has uneasy allies in City Hall. Vanessa was the closest she had to a real friend, and she's now dead. She keeps Muse's mask in a drawer, even though the sight of it sends her into a state of panic. What's more, Fisk's right-hand man, Buck Cashman's, attempts to ingratiate himself with Heather have thus far felt nebulously uncomfortable for reasons that are hard to pinpoint (although it's not hard to guess that he might have less-than-honorable intentions), but came to a head in episode 6 when he encouraged her to strangle him in a thoroughly weird psychosexual interaction.
It's disappointing, then, that instead of further exploring what it could mean for Heather and Karen to represent two sides of the same coin, the show doubles down on petty romantic rivalries and tired love triangle tropes. It all comes a little out of nowhere, too – Karen has so far shown no sign of jealousy or romantic insecurity with Matt, and Heather seems far too preoccupied with her Muse-related trauma to be worrying about her ex-boyfriend.
When you consider that Jessica Jones' long-awaited return to the small screen was somewhat dampened by a lack of screentime and some unfortunate fridging of her powers at the expense of motherhood, it seems that Daredevil: Born Again might be struggling to work out what to do with its female characters.
Of course, Daredevil is the beating heart (and tortured soul) of the series, but it's the supporting cast that really brings the show to life. Karen and Heather should be fierce political opponents, not fighting over the same boyfriend. They have plenty of reasons to hate one another – and Matt Murdock should rank pretty low on the list.
Daredevil: Born Again season 2 is dropping weekly on Disney Plus. Stay up to date with our Daredevil: Born Again season 2 release schedule, or check out our Daredevil: Born Again season 2 review.
