Rebuilding Rob

⚠️ SPOILER ALERT

Fair warning: The following review contains a beat-by-beat breakdown of “The Grand Design.” If you haven’t watched yet, proceed at your own risk. Spoilers abound!

On the heels of last week’s shocking cliffhanger—where Vanessa either died, suffered a traumatic head injury, or was left with a nasty scar—I think we’re finally going to see “Mayor Kingpin” unleashed. Here we go!

The Breakdown

• No Cold Open: We dive straight from the “previously on” segment into the opening credits.

• The Hospital: Vanessa is alive, but she’s in the hospital and things aren’t looking good. Once again, Vincent D’Onofrio is incredible. His emotion is raw and visceral; we see Wilson Fisk completely falling apart.

• The Pursuit: The AVTF is cranking up their hunt for Bullseye, while BB is lurking around the hospital trying to get the scoop.

• The Flashbacks: We see Vanessa (potentially in a coma or a near-death experience) remembering a painting she once tried to sell—an all-white canvas she calls “The Vast Emptiness.” I’m betting there’s a connection here to the iconic white suit Fisk eventually wears.

• Nelson & Murdock: It’s great to see Elden Henson back as Foggy Nelson! Even with the longer hair from the original Netflix series, it’s just good to see him on screen again. They’re representing a guy Foggy knew as a kid on a murder charge. The client tells them, “You don’t even know who you’re working for, do you?”

• Parallel Lives: Bullseye is struggling to stay alive, almost mirroring Vanessa’s fight for life.

• The Case: Foggy finds a warrant error that could get their client’s case tossed. Though they initially wanted him to take a plea, the client refused, fearing he’d be killed in prison. Now, Matt questions why Foggy is letting a “bad guy” walk. Foggy sees it as a “second chance”—clearly mirroring Matt’s current predicament with Bullseye.

• The Betrayal: Buck is taking Daniel to Albany. Is he going to knock him off? Does Kingpin know about Daniel’s connection to BB? Daniel is cooked.

• The Sanctuary: Matt takes Bullseye to… a church? Both realize they’re dead meat if Kingpin finds them. In a move that mirrors his client’s “second chance,” Foggy gives their client an envelope of money from the fund he and Matt were saving.

• The Raid: The AVTF searches the church while Matt initially tries to leave Bullseye behind. The tension here feels very relevant to real-world headlines. Ultimately, Matt goes back for him—we knew he couldn’t just walk away.

• The Loss: They killed BB! Buck asks Daniel: “Saw or shovel?” It’s over for her.

• The Twist: Matt brings Bullseye back to his and Karen’s hideout. Karen is not happy.

• The Awakening: Vanessa wakes up. For the first time, we hear Fisk speak without the “gravelly Kingpin voice.” He’s just a sobbing man. Vanessa sounds different, too—asking for pineapple juice, something she allegedly never liked. When she seems to have no memory of the accident, the Kingpin voice returns as he tells her the story of how they met.

• The Gut Punch: Despite the selective amnesia… Vanessa dies anyway.

Final Thoughts

Even though Fisk is an absolute monster, you almost feel for the guy. D’Onofrio has this way of carrying himself as a massive hulk of a human being and then completely crumbling.

Seeing Elden Henson return for these flashbacks is a bittersweet highlight. It reminds me of the “Secret Life of Foggy Nelson” run in the comics where Foggy faked his death for witness protection. Part of me keeps hoping Born Again is pulling a similar long-con, but seeing him only in the past makes that Season 1 loss sting all over again.

The show may be titled Daredevil, and Charlie Cox is brilliant, but this show is just as much about Wilson Fisk as it is about Matt Murdock. Somehow, the best show Marvel Television has ever produced just keeps getting better.

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Today’s post is inspired by the WordPress Daily Prompt. While I’ve taken the topic in my own direction for the Road to 1,000 Days, you can find more responses to today’s prompt HERE.

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The article “Rob Reviews: Daredevil Born Again Episode 2.5 “The Grand Design” first appeared in Rebuilding Rob.