Penny and Dime

While Frank Castle will do anything to punish wrongdoers, the viewer cannot fail to empathize with him. And Karen is the one who expresses this in the bluntest of all ways (later on, though, in Semper Fidelis) "“ to have to relive the same tragic moment over and over again, while also knowing that all of the vengeful acts, no matter how violent, won't bring back the ones who were lost.

Pretty much like Nolan's Memento "“ the Punisher can only find momentary peace in killing villains.

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Karen goes snooping in Frank Castle's house, in an episode which serves best as the vigilante’s origin story. She realizes that the war hero lost his family (wife and two kids), and that someone wants to keep this story out of the light (as said, some characters are too obvious in their actions). And this is the perfect way in which Karen's character can be served "“ even if, later on, despite her detective and intuitive skills, again and again ends up in need of saving.

Also, she becomes even closer to Matt, and there is chemistry between the two actors. Nonetheless, it’s more than obvious that it isn't going to work. First of all, it is pretty clear at this point that Matt needs to be Daredevil. Secondly, he has too many secrets that he doesn't want to share with Karen. But we guess we'll see (and we saw it).

The episode also benefits from the presence of Tony Curran, as a brutal Irish mobster who catches the Punisher (or, better yet, who believes he’s caught the Punisher). Unfortunately for him, Frank Castle is willing to hide a razor in his own flesh, and to have his foot drilled in the most explicit manner, in order to get his revenge "“ and he gets it in the end, with a shotgun blast to the face.

If the New York Finest rooftop dialogue was top notch, the monologue delivered by Jon Bernthal in Penny and Dime is even better. It creates a perfect contrast between exterior action and violence and interior softness and helplessness. As expected, this episode (which concludes the Punisher-focused arc of Season Two) sheds light on Frank Castle's real motivations, ones with which anybody can empathize.

Lastly, for a perfect ending, Daredevil delivers Punisher to the police. But he doesn't take the credit. Instead, the police need to be the ones who caught the villain, in order to gain the trust of the people. We did see this happening before, but it simply doesn't matter "“ it is the perfect ending for another perfect Daredevil episode.

Wait "“ this wasn't the ending. The ending brought Elektra.