Recap: Matt Gets Caught Up in a Bank Robbery in Latest Episode of "Daredevil: Born Again"
Things are really starting to get crazy in Marvel’s Daredevil: Born Again. A new villain has appeared one the scene while Matt Murdock seems to be just about willing to become his old self again. This week though, the show decided to take a break from its larger story and give us a bottle episode.
The episode opens with St. Patrick’s Day celebrations throughout the city. Matt waits at a bank for a meeting regarding a loan for his firm. A man approaches him and explains that the man Matt was supposed to be meeting with had an emergency and won’t be in. We see that the man is Yusuf Khan, the father of Ms. Marvel herself, Kamala Khan.
They talk until Yusuf is interrupted by a text on his phone and explains it is from Kamala, who is visiting friends in California. This could mean two different things. Kamala is likely visiting Bruno, who was headed off to Cal Tech at the end of Ms. Marvel. However, she could also be using this trip as an opportunity to meet with Cassie Lang, who lives in San Francisco, and recruit her into what will eventually be the Young Avengers. Remember, Kamala met Kate Bishop in New York at the end of The Marvels and briefly mentioned Ant-Man’s daughter.
Yusuf tells Matt they live in Jersey City and that they have their own super hero, of course talking about Ms. Marvel. He even shows Matt a Funko Pop! figure of Ms. Marvel, though Matt has to respond by explaining he can’t see it. When they eventually get back to business, Yusuf unfortunately explains that the bank cannot approve his loan.
Outside, an Irish gang gears up to rob the bank. The leader explains that they plan to steal the money to pay the restitution Vanessa ordered them to pay a few episodes back. The security and power in the bank is cut and the men enter, now wearing colored masks. They order everyone down and Yusuf sneaks away to an office to try and call the police, but of course the phone lines have been cut.
Outside, Matt explains to Kirsten on the phone that the loan was denied. He hears the robbery in progress, tells Kirsten to call 911 and heads back to the bank. As the robbers are talking to the hostages, one of them finds Yusuf in the office and brings him to the rest of the group. Matt wanders into the bank, pretending he has no idea what’s going on. The robbers add him to the hostages and lock the front door, which they probably should have done earlier. The leader threatens the hostages and Matt tells them why that would be a bad idea, legally speaking. One of the robbers hits Matt and he has now gotten the leader’s attention.
The leader begins looking for the bank manager, who is not there because it’s the same man Matt was supposed to meet. Matt hears the police arrive outside and the robbers notice as well. The leader eventually questions Yusuf and he tells him he can get them into the vault. SWAT arrives and the robbers start to get a bit nervous but the leader settles them.
Matt hears the leader telling another robber their plan in another room. One of them is going to take Yusuf down to the vault so he can let them in. Matt learns that Yusuf can’t actually get them into the vault and that he lied because he was nervous. Matt tells Yusuf to stall as long as he can when they bring him down to the vault.
Outside, detective Kim arrives on the scene as the hostage negotiator. They get a call from the robbers and begin negotiations. The leader demands three armored vehicles brought to the bank and Kim requests two hostages be set free as a showing of good faith, but he hangs up the phone.
The leader heads to the hostages and selects two hostages - Matt and a woman. He lets them know they’re being set free and the woman immediately begins pleading for her husband to be let go as well. Matt tells the leader to let the man take his place and, after a long conversation in which Matt gives the man some of his life story, he agrees and the other two hostages are let out.
The leader has one of the men take Yusuf down to the vault as the police respond to the two hostages being let out. The hostages begin discussing what the robbers might be after as one man explains there’s no cash in the vault, just safety deposit boxes. A woman says it must be diamonds they’re after before pointing out she’s uncomfortable with the fact Matt is standing. Two of the robbers return and order Matt back down to the floor but he tells them he needs to use the restroom.
One of the robbers takes Matt to the restroom while another watches the hostages. As he is being led, Matt listens to Yusuf stalling at the vault. They reach a stairwell and Matt quietly takes out the robber so no one else can hear. The robber with Yusuf realizes he can;t open the vault and is about to shoot him. Matt arrives just in time and takes out the robber, saving Yusuf, and he goes to work on opening the vault himself. His plan is to give the robbers what they want to keep them from killing the hostages. After working on it, Matt is able to crack the vault and gets inside.
The leader plays mind games with Kim and makes her come up with a joke in order to buy herself more time. Meanwhile, Matt and Yusuf look for the safety deposit box the robbers are after. They eventually find it and open it to find a diamond inside.
Matt hears that SWAT is about to move in on the bank and he and Yusuf head back upstairs to the rest of the hostages. The robbers point their guns at Matt and Yusuf and Matt begins negotiating to let the hostages go. He tells the leader the police are about to breach and he shows him the diamond they came for. He tosses the diamond in a bag to the leader just as the police breach the building.
The leader hides in an office and changes into a police uniform, allowing him to sneak away. Before he does, he hands the diamond to the woman who was trying to get Matt to sit back down, and tells her to get it to Luka. Turns out she was never a hostage. Matt hears that and heads out after the leader, grabbing one of the robbers’ masks on his way out, fittingly a red on. Matt eventually catches up with the leader and takes him out after a violent fight. The woman gets away fro the bank and checks the bag to find a candy from Yusuf’s desk instead of the diamond.
The next day, Matt meets with Yusuf again at the bank. Yusuf tells him they still can’t give him the loan but invites him to have dinner with his family so they can brainstorm ways to make his firm more profitable. Matt agrees, setting up a potential meeting between Daredevil and Ms. Marvel. As he stands to leave, Matt makes it a point to let Yusuf know he is going to try one of the candies from his desk. After Matt leaves, Yusuf reaches into the bowl to find the diamond.
It can be frustrating when a show takes a turn away from it’s larger story to give an episode like this. However, it is less frustrating when that episode is as enjoyable as this one. It was also a lot of fun to see Yusuf again and exciting to see the stage set for Ms. Marvel’s return.