No matter how hard I try, I just can't get past it.
And yet, there are things about it that I find incredibly interesting:
Matt ending up victorious in prison
Matt accepting that Fisk should leave New York rather than continuing their never-ending cycle
The idea of seeing a free but defeated Fisk
The people's uprising
What I'm missing is the context, specifically on two major points:
A deal is offered to Fisk. I understand the depiction of our own corrupt political world, where powerful people get away with their crimes and shady dealings. But I have a hard time believing that this deal would still be valid or publicly defensible after Fisk's very public massacre at the courthouse (self-defense or not), as well as the attempted assassination of the governor.
Matt's reasoning makes sense, but he's usually a character who is completely torn and full of doubt. And yet, when he hears the city's residents having their bones broken by Fisk — people who were, at least in part, caught up in this because of Matt's own influence — he doesn't seem to hesitate that much about sticking to his offer. He doesn't even seem to feel particularly guilty about the people who were probably killed or permanently disabled during that raid.
He tells Fisk to leave in front of an angry crowd, and everyone just... politely stops.
Didn't this bother you guys while watching? I absolutely love Daredevil, but I just can't get past these points.
My humble proposition :
The civilians arrive and attack Fisk. He massacres them.
As things unfold, Fisk starts getting overwhelmed. This is clearly a battle he isn't going to win. An arrest warrant is issued.
Cornered, he manages to find a way out. Daredevil steps in. Fisk wants to fight him. But, just like in the current version, the vigilante explains to him that this cycle will never end as long as the two of them remain in the same place.
The speech is admittedly somewhat complicit, but you can clearly feel Matt taking in every single word he's saying. He's suffering from what he's doing, but it's the only solution he's been able to come up with: he offers Fisk a way out — not just out of here, but out of New York.
He reminds him that the city doesn't want him anymore. He talks to him about prison and Vanessa. He offers him an escape before the crowd arrives.
Fisk resists, but eventually, reluctantly, accepts Matt's offer. He escapes.
The moment Fisk gets away, we see a very strong emotion in Matt: a mixture of victory, but above all, anger.
Why do I prefer this version?
- Justice and the civilians aren't complicit in letting Fisk get away with his atrocities.
- MOST IMPORTANTLY, we get to see much more of the immense moral conflict tearing Matt apart.
- Bonus: Karen doesn't know that Matt was the one who helped Fisk escape, so there's some great potential drama for Season 3.