S01.E11: The Path Of The Righteous

[The Crazed Spruce]

Fisk and Murdock wrestle with the consequences of their chosen paths, while Ben and Karen get closer to Fisk's true past.

[Actionmage]

That er doctor/nurse? Love her! "Don't you know who I am?" "No, and I don't care." 

 

It wasn't until this episode I realized just how vital Wesley is.  He is the Foggy.  Toby Leonard Moore is just quietly walking away with the show, right next to Eldon Henson.

 

I love Marvin and Matt is a douche. He can't go around saying things like that when he can't be certain.

 

Why are folks being sloppy?!

 

Geez, did not expect Wesley to be that sloppy. Damn!

[starri]

I said in an early thread that Karen is the bravest of all the characters.  I think I have to amend that and say that not only is she the bravest, she, not Matt, is the hero of the show.

 

Geez, did not expect Wesley to be that sloppy. Damn!

He shouldn't have underestimated Karen.

[calliope1975]

That was a terrible attempt to cover up EH's tattoo. Not only could I still see the tattoo, but the make up was about 3 shades darker than every other part of his body. 

[Gregg247]

Just when I'd decided last episode that Wesley was my favorite character on this show, he up and gets killed.  That was an awesome scene; I really wasn't expecting her to pull the trigger, but boy was it satisfying when she did!  (They had almost the exact same scene on MAoS last week, and it of course ended with no bloodshed.)

 

Great show, great episode, great scene.  How are they going to wrap this thing up in just 2 more episodes?

[Chaos Theory]

Well that took a turn pretty quickly.

Sad to see Wesley go he was kinda my favorite character. Awesome scene though. Karen wasn't a character I was very attached to at first but she grew on me a lot over the episodes.

Well this is going to put Fisk over the edge. First having his girlfriend get poisoned then his manservant get shot. Yeah I don't think he's going to be a happy Kingpin.

Edited April 13, 2015 by Chaos Theory

[MrActionmage]

I nearly fell out of my chair laughing when Karen shot that smug Wesley.  "We're going to kill everyone you care about" etc.  Pride goes before destruction, in

[Morbs]

The scene with Wesley in the hospital where he is talking with that other older crime lord, Wesley had tons of orange makeup blotched around his face.

[thuganomics85]

Whoa!!  Wow, I never would have predicted that Wesley would not only die, but at the hands of freaking Karen!  He picked the wrong, wrong time to get cocky/sloppy.  He really must have thought he was just dealing with a wallflower, and he paid for it big time.  Dude forgot he was messing with a woman who managed to fight off an assassination attempt in the first episode.  I'm glad Karen did it (for her sake and Ben's), but I will miss him.  He was such a fun henchman!  Props to Toby Leonard Moore for taking what could have been a stock character, and making him more interesting then normal.

 

At least Vanessa might pull through, but it sounds like Fisk wants to cart her off, in order to protect her.  Have a feeling that she won't be down with that, if she is able.  But, with Wesley dead, I can only imagine what Fisk will do next.

 

Leland is such a hilarious bastard.  I know I should hate him, but he is so entertaining. Bob Gunton is killing it.

 

Claire is back!  I'm glad she still exists.  But she might be heading out of town?  No, don't go!  I need my Rosario Dawson fix!

 

So, yeah, Matt and Foggy are still going through a "rough patch."  Foggy is getting drunk and getting back together with his ex.  Matt is being mopey, and not telling Karen truth.  He's going to need to get it together, because I suspect shit is going to go down soon. At least it sounds like he might get an upgrade on his suit!

 

A lot of scenes of just two people talking, and yet, I enjoyed almost all of them.  Matt/Karen.  Matt/Claire.  Karen/Foggy.  Karen/Ben. Said it before, but they really struck gold with the casting.

[FurryFury]

Holy shit, that Karen/Wesley scene! I mean, I know he probably wore that body armor, but still, so riveting, so great! I was a bit annoyed at the potential damsel in distress scenario, but it would still be worth it just with Karen potentially establishing some sort of relationship with Wesley. However, I certainly didn't expect her to shoot him! Several times in fact.

 

Other than that, not the best episode. Still worth it for that scene, though. Also O kinda like Matt/Karen. I think I won't even mind a romance some seasons down the line, the show's subtle enough about it.

Edited April 15, 2015 by FurryFury

[benteen]

Holy shit!  I was not expecting that ending.  Go Karen!

 

This was a great episode for Wesley and I can't believe he's gone.  It's nice to be surprised though and I'm very interested in seeing where this goes from here.  Wesley was surprising careless but as IGN pointed out, he's probably successfully done these scenarios before.

 

Melvin Potter!  I'm familiar with the character from Bendis's run and he goes way back in the series.  Thought his smackdown with Matt was awesome.

 

Great episode.

[Anela]

This show really likes it cliffhangers. Damn. I have to wait until later, or tomorrow, to see the rest. I thought he'd be wearing a special suit, but that was a lot of blood.

[Eneya]

Oh my god... i watched the whole season on one go... and I was really weirded out what happened in ep 12... it started with Karen. I was somewhat weirded out that it wasn't the usual flow... and now I realise i have missed a WHOLE episode... I am going to watch it right away!

P.S. The balloon killed me.

Edited April 17, 2015 by Eneya

[enchantingmonkey]

Wow!  Nice surprise ending!  I've preferred Wesley's version of sidekick over Foggy's, so I'm disappointed to see him go.  But I'm so not a fan of Fisk that it warms my heart a bit to see the two people closest to him incapacitated.  

 

Good to see Claire again, even if it was a brief visit.  

 

Intrigued by Karen saying something about shooting someone before.  

[Bec]

Karen actually shot someone before or was she bluffing? She sure didn't bluff when it came to shooting the hell out of Wesley, though. Damn! Was not expecting that. I mean, when Karen and Ben were on the phone and saying they'll talk tomorrow. I was like "one of them is sooo going to die now. And it will probably be Ben." Way to throw me a curveball, show!

 

I love Marvin and Matt is a douche. He can't go around saying things like that when he can't be certain.

Well, Matt did say "maybe", so he didn't even sound that certain. I wouldn't have been good with so many "maybes" if I were Marvin. Also, is Marvin a really good fighter or is Matt just really weak at the moment?

[dwmarch]

I was sad to see Wesley go because my name is Wesley. I thought he was a great henchman and I would have loved to see more from him. I noticed he has two holes in his left ear indicating previous piercings. I wonder if that is part of this story or just something from the actor that wasn't covered up with makeup.

 

I also noticed that he is formally James Wesley but Kingpin just calls him Wesley. I would like to think he has a last name that he doesn't use and that Wesley is his middle name, as it is with me.

 

The bullet holes in Wesley's torso do not match with the exploding wood of the chair. Other than that, I haven't found much to nitpick in this series.

[Danny Franks]

Damn, Karen! You stone cold badass. Fantastic moment for her, and Wesley deserved that ignominious end for his arrogance and his dismissal of her as a threat. He goes on his own, tells no one, starts throwing around the 'we'll kill everyone you care about' threats, and then gets distracted? Dumbass.

 

Too often, you see the teary woman manage to get the gun and have the bad guy dead to rights, but she's just too teary and womany to pull the trigger. Not this time. And man, did she make sure he was dead! Plus, she had the smarts to wipe the table clear of prints and take the murder weapon. Honestly, if the writers of this show ever take follow Frank Miller's direction for Karen, I'll be furious. She's the female lead this show needs, and her journey through this season has been great to watch.

 

I really liked the scene where Karen came to Matt's apartment, and was so much more open with him than she has been before. She's forged connections with these two guys, and now she feels like it's falling apart. I'm a bit of a sucker for the 'vulnerable woman has no friends in the big, scary city' trope, and Deborah Ann Woll has really sold me on the fact that Karen has really grown since meeting Matt and Foggy.

 

I liked seeing Claire again, and I did think she might show up at the hospital, treating Vanessa. Shame it was a fleeting visit, and it seems like they're leaving her return open ended. I guess Rosario Dawson is pretty busy. The chemistry between her and Charlie Cox is pretty good though, and if they can get her back, they should.

 

But I have to say, one thing that I find interesting is that, despite Matt Murdock's well established comic book reputation as a ladykiller, the closest he's got to bedding anyone is when he kissed Claire, a few episodes back. It's an impressive display of restraint from writers who could easily have had him sleeping with beautiful day-players all season long.

 

I did worry for that nurse when she told Fisk to stay out and shut up. We've seen what he'll do to people who get in his way, especially when his emotions are out of control. Luckily, Vanessa's hanging on, because I truly feel Fisk would burn the entire city to the ground to get at her killer. The nurse was hot as well. If Claire can't be around, can this girl be instead?

 

Fisk still gives off this great aura of awkwardness and clumsiness that I really find sympathetic. He doesn't like being in public, he seems very self-conscious and ill-at-ease. But he's able to speak convincingly and seemingly from the heart. I can see why he's garnered so much popularity in such a short amount of time in the public eye.

[Ottis]

Also, is Marvin a really good fighter or is Matt just really weak at the moment?

 

 

I was stunned by that as well. Marvin seemed to know what he was doing.

 

Fisk still gives off this great aura of awkwardness and clumsiness that I really find sympathetic. He doesn't like being in public, he seems very self-conscious and ill-at-ease. But he's able to speak convincingly and seemingly from the heart. I can see why he's garnered so much popularity in such a short amount of time in the public eye.

 

 

This is part of why he is so fascinating, IMO. At this stage, his end goal is very similar to Matt's, except it also enriches Fisk in the process. It's how they are going about it that is different. I thought Vanessa would die and that would send Fisk over to the dark side, fulfilling Gao's prophesy that he must make a choice. But now that she is alive, maybe Fisk will keep walking that line. That would be fascinating. Once the "mwa-ha-ha" comes out, he won't be as interesting. 

[millennium]

Not Wesley!   I LIKED Wesley!  He made Fisk more interesting.

 

Maybe Wesley was wearing a special suit too, one equipped with multiple exploding blood squibs for situations just like this.  You never know, right?.  The guy was pretty buttoned up and he ---

 

Aw crap.

[Kel Varnsen]

The bullet holes in Wesley's torso do not match with the exploding wood of the chair. Other than that, I haven't found much to nitpick in this series.

My only real nitpic is when Ben and Karen meet on the waterfront, they had a great panoramic view of Manhattan, but I couldn't see Stark tower anywhere. Other than that awesome episode. I liked how with all the sort of back and forth Matt has had with whether or not he should kill people Karen was cold blooded and didn't even give it a second thought. I am also curious to see how it will play out, since no one really knew where Wesley went or why. 

 

 

Also, is Marvin a really good fighter or is Matt just really weak at the moment?

 

It has only been about 2 days or less since Matt got his beatdown from Nobu. And Claire even said she had to redo a bunch of his stitches. So he is no where near at 100%.

[Bec]

Oh yeah, that does make sense then.

 

Also, when Karen and Ben was meeting, there was such a lengthy shot of Ben's car driving off, I thought it would turn out someone is watching them from a distance or Ben's car is going to explode or something. But then nothing, it was just a lengthy shot.

[that one guy]

I said in an early thread that Karen is the bravest of all the characters.  I think I have to amend that and say that not only is she the bravest, she, not Matt, is the hero of the show.

 

This ended up being my feeling about it as well - she was the main protagonist and driver of the plot in any case. Nelson and Murdoch meet her when she's already started investigating the conspiracy, and she keeps at it until she takes down Fisk, sometimes with the boys' help and sometimes not. I found her the most interesting character, especially in this episode - after all the show's agonizing over whether Matt should kill people, she just does it. Both of them manage to get other people killed whether they do the deed themselves, it's worth noting. I feel like she's more of a damaged anti-hero, and I hope next year we get to learn more about the dark past they've been teasing.  Her remarks to Wesley make me suspect that she killed someone in the past, and that that's why she doesn't make a credible source for Ben.

[Bec]

Oops, I got another Karen and Ben meeting scene mixed up in my head. The one where we get a lingering shot of Ben driving off was from that episode where Foggy was following Karen. This episode we just got a weird swan or something sticking his neck up in the background all like "Hi mom! I'm on TV!"

 

I saw on twitter that the show almost CGIed out the swan? I guess if they CGIed this scene they might have put in Stark Tower, too. It's hilarious the way it is, though. I'm glad they didn't CGI.

[MisterGlass]

I was really hoping Wesley would be with the show for a while, and am shocked he was killed.  It seems appropriate that it was his instinct to answer Fisk that beat self-preservation for a moment too long.  I really liked the character, and his scenes with Fisk at the hospital were touching.  Fisk even trusted Wesley with his mother.  There were some great unspoken moments between the two of them.  I love how grounded this show is compared to other Marvel efforts, but it is hard not to want the rules to be broken here.

 

I waver between liking and disliking Karen.  I didn't like her leading Ben on about a care facility, and not warning him what they were up to. 

[Primetimer]

For such a supposedly scary nemesis, Wilson Fisk is certainly letting his enemies run the table.

Read the story

[herbaltease]

I waver between liking and disliking Karen. I didn't like her leading Ben on about a care facility, and not warning him what they were up to.

I feel the same way, for the reasons quoted above along with her dogged intrepidness, which, granted, has always unnerved me about fictional characters. Karen is the Zoe Barnes (from House of Cards) of this show, IMO. I've got three more eps to go, but I suspect her recklessness is going to negatively affect everyone around her. This is a trait that peeves me about Matt, as well. Ben was very apt about him punching information out of everyone. Try a different tact, Matty.

A minor (perhaps) fourth wall complaint: Netflix on the roku is hard to hear on the best of days, but I can understand Charlie Cox about as well as I could decipher the Russians' dialogue. Which is to say, not very much at all. Why didn't anyone ever tell him to speak up during filming?

I hope Vanessa's ok. She, Claire, & Ben are probably my favorites.

Edited May 26, 2015 by The Crazed Spruce
fixed error in spoiler tag

[Bec]

It cracked me up that Matt tells Karen the "car" that hit him was Japanese. Yes, and that car's name was Nobu. Hee!

 

I think that's part of how Karen figured out he's lying (I mean, besides his apartment looking like someone has been using it for fight club) - if he was a regular blind guy who got hit by a car, how likely is it that he would figure out the make of the car that hit him? I suppose you can say he felt the Toyota (or whatever) emblem on the front, but how familiar would he reasonably be with what a Toyota emblem feels like and what it represents?

[Brinny]

I really like Karen, but all I could think when she brought Matt that balloon was "You don't bring a blind person a balloon. God, Karen, you're so stupid."

 

That's all I have to add really. 

[Bec]

Hee! I think it dawned on Karen that getting Matt a balloon was stupid when she gave it to him. The way she said "I got you a balloon... it has a monkey on it" made me laugh. That and the image of Matt sadly "playing" with the monkey balloon. It just tickled me so much.

[Reishe]

 

 how likely is it that he would figure out the make of the car that hit him?

The policeman who (would have) filled out the accident report  (would have) told him what kind of car it was. (Since Karen asked "will you sue him?" and Matt didn't tell her it was a hit-and-run, I figured he wasn't going with "he got away.").