You might have noticed during last week’s premiere of Daredevil: Born Again that episode two was dedicated to White Tiger actor Kamar de los Reyes, who passed away in 2023 shortly after receiving a cancer diagnosis. It’s difficult to determine how this tragedy affected the production of Born Again, especially given the series’ creative overhaul that required extensive reshoots early last year. What we do know is that Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) defends Hector Ayala (de los Reyes) in a trial that further shapes public sentiment toward vigilantism in New York, with a verdict that forces Kingpin’s (Vincent D’Onofrio) hand—so his story comes to a sudden and violent end. Whether that was the plan for showrunner Dario Scardapane from the beginning doesn’t matter. What matters is the impact the late actor leaves on the series, which I can confidently say is undeniable.

Kamar de los Reyes is so damn good in this episode that his character’s senseless death becomes all the more heartbreaking. White Tiger served a crucial role in Murdock’s presumably inevitable return as Daredevil, but the obviousness of his function feels so inconsequential to de Los Reyes’ performance that you might believe, for a moment, that this third episode of Born Again was a secret pilot for a White Tiger spin-off—one I’d watch without hesitation. Watch him in this week’s opening scene, where Murdock checks in on his pro-bono client before his day in court: the way he shifts on that bench, clenches his jaw, and admits he hasn’t eaten thanks to the NYPD—the character’s pain is presented so delicately. Every choice de Los Reyes makes in his scenes reveals a nobility and righteousness currently lacking in Matt Murdock. Daredevil isn’t sure what kind of person he wants to be, but White Tiger knows precisely who he is and what he’s willing to sacrifice to remain true to himself.

While it’s important to detail the other events that take place in this episode, as Born Again is, at least for the moment, building to something more compelling than one might expect from Disney+ and MCU, the White Tiger arc all but eclipses everything around it. It feels almost trivial, for example, to dwell on the Red Hook gang war taking place in the vacuum left behind by the gone-legit Kingpin. We see the five crime families squabbling over debts and turf as though they were the center of the universe, when in reality they’re but rats burrowing under the feet of the New York City mayor and Born Again overall. “Let them kill each other,” he orders, his mind focused on other matters. I sympathize.

Another irritant, despite Kingpin’s feelings on the matter, is the continued distance that his legitimized status is putting between him and his beloved wife, Vanessa (Ayelet Zurer). Breakfast at the lavish Gracie mansion is a tense affair despite their conversation about a shared interest—fine art—which, as it happens, coincides with their covert criminal enterprises: Francis Bacon’s Three Studies Of Lucian Freud is up for auction; what’s more, purchasing it would help launder 200 million dollars the Fisks have stashed away. You’d think Fisk would welcome an opportunity to make his wife happy, not to mention securing his empire with untraceable currency, but the responsibilities of the mayor seem to be all that matter to him at the moment. 

Of course, we know that can’t be all the way true, given the state of his knuckles as he sets down that fine china coffee cup. They’ve clearly seen some action, and recently—there will surely be time in future episodes to explore what Hizzoner gets up to when he thinks Vanessa and the city aren’t watching. (Spare a thought for the elusive “Adam,” with whom Vanessa has had an affair.) For now, the show’s director, Michael Cuesta (Homeland, L.I.E.), takes this shot of Wilson’s battered mitts as a cue to cut to those of Matt Murdock, a smooth transition that succinctly parallels the impotent rage of both men. They need to be Kingpin and Daredevil, but their comfortable new lives suppress these alter egos. The roles of the mayor and the high-profile defense attorney are make-believe, barely concealing the fury that burns in both men’s bellies. And it’s refreshing to see a show about comic-book characters treated with such insight and nuance. Despite the obviousness of this subtext, it’s fun to think about.

Last week, Matt’s struggle to acquit Hector Ayala led to a violent altercation with Officer Powell (Hamish Allan-Headley), which adds considerable tension to their impromptu face time in the men’s room of the local courthouse, where Hector’s fate will be decided. Both of their faces are a little more dinged-up this time, but at least now both know where the other stands. Should Powell drop a dime on Matt, he could lose his license; and if Matt does the same to Powell, he could lose his badge. Here’s yet another tricky truce with a dangerous adversary. Murdock should try a gentler approach to his extralegal affairs before his enemy’s list grows untenable. Later, Powell gives a devastating testimony, asserting Ayala killed his partner unprovoked—a lie supported by the crowd of cops sitting in attendance. Hector’s freedom will not come cheap.

The Ayala case isn’t just keeping Matt busy; Cherry (Clark Johnson) is tasked with stashing Nicky Torres (Nick Jordan), the key witness for Hector’s case, from the NYPD until he testifies. After a clever bit of rope-a-dope with Powell, a van, and a taxi cab, Cherry’s slick ruse ensures Nicky makes his court date. Maybe Cherry shouldn’t have gone to the trouble; Nicky’s short testimony, originally meant to reveal that he was roughed up by Powell and his partner when Hector intervened, changes into another instance of perjury. That thin blue line in the courthouse might as well be a brick wall as far as Matt’s is concerned. 

Nicky’s lies put our counselor in quite a spot, but Murdock’s decision to out Hector as White Tiger is an overreach that stuns even the generally unflappable Cherry. Clock his expression as the judge orders Matt and District Attorney Hochberg (John Benjamin Hickey) into his chambers for an emergency session. The cat is good and truly out of the bag. Whether Matt’s impulsive choice saves Hector or further condemns him is irrelevant. Regardless of the jury’s decision, his fate was sealed before he could exit the witness stand, doomed by the man he trusted with his life. 

“Is there a Division Of Hypocrisy over at Murdock And Associates?” Hochberg asks Matt in chambers, a pointed and correct question to put to him at this juncture in the story. Later, when Murdock and Ayala are in a cell going over the day’s alarming turn of events, Matt presumes to lecture his client on the other ways he might contribute to his community without wearing a mask. “You may as well ask me to stop breathing” is Hector’s response. 

For him, White Tiger is a calling. He risks himself and those he cares about for the greater good because, as he states with ringing clarity during his final testimony, it’s the right thing to do. He sounds like Matt during his many philosophical rows with the late Father Lantom in season one. Instead, we’re presently dealing with Matt The Hypocrite, a fellow vigilante stifling his alter ego out of a misplaced sense of guilt over the death of Foggy Nelson, watching victims being chased through the streets (as he did in the last shot of the premiere) and calling out for a hero who hears them quite clearly but does nothing to help them. “I think you might be surprised at how much you don’t miss being him,” Matt tells Hector about White Tiger. Projecting much, Counselor?

To advocate for Matt The Hypocrite for a moment, he does come to this conclusion, or at least seems to acknowledge it, during his and Hochberg’s closing statements. “Real heroes don’t need to hide,” the district attorney says. He’s speaking for the NYPD, but the same can be said for White Tiger and Daredevil, two agents of positive change who use chaotic methods. Hector knows this, which is why he spends his first night as a free man patrolling his neighborhood as White Tiger. Heroes mustn’t hide, and while Mr. Ayala might have been well advised to take a long vacation from NYC, he stepped right back onto the path of danger—because, for him, it was the right thing to do. What will Matt do once he learns the man he both freed and doomed has died? What will the Devil Of Hell’s Kitchen have to say about it?  

The episode’s shock ending is capped off on a poetic note. Recall Hector’s story about Luquillo, a beachfront in Puerto Rico, a haven for Hector in his youth. He describes the sands, the water, and the sound made by the coquis, a small tree frog that sings its name—he whistles its song to Matt and calls it a magical sound, the “music of the island.” Matt promises Hector he’ll see that beach again—and, who knows, maybe he did; it feels significant that we hear the coquis over the credits, the sounds of waves hitting shores Hector dreamed of while he endured the cruel hospitality of the NYPD. The White Tiger is gone. The White Tiger is free. It’s up to Matt Murdock to make damn sure he didn’t die in vain.

Stray observations

• • Fisk calls Gallo “Chief,” but I could have sworn he was a commissioner? Maybe I don’t understand police rankings or maybe this is a detail that slipped during reshoots? 
• • If the Fisks score that Bacon piece, will they just hang it unceremoniously in that storage warehouse like we saw them do with Repin’s Ivan The Terrible And His Son Ivan On 16 November 1581 and Fuseli’s The Nightmare last week? What a waste. 
• • I spotted yet another silly street tag this week: the Punisher symbol with the word “Triggered” stenciled across the skull. Whoever’s putting up these tags is clearly being built up for some story beat in the near future. Could it be Muse, the maniac vigilante that’s been cast in this show for later in the season? 
• • Speaking of Punisher, we spot another logo tattooed on the neck of a NYPD officer. Clearly, real-world policing is going to be explored this season. How Born Again handles this messy business might be a distracting element or it could fit seamlessly in its design. Either way, Jon Bernthal is back, and I’m sure he’ll be grouchy.    
• • Matt’s peach of a dig at Powell while he was on the stand: “You know, there’s this thing they say in boxing: The best cure for a black eye is fast hands.” 
• • Interesting that Matt weighs his guilt in a courthouse. For a good Catholic boy, he seems to be avoiding the church this season.
• • Josie’s Jukebox: Slayer and “Una Palabra” by Carlos Varela.
• • What say you, group? Will the Kingpin answer for the death of Hector Ayala? Is Matt due some extracurricular vengeance? How great is it that we get a Daredevil show where Hornhead gets to practice law?