S03.E05: The Perfect Game

[The Crazed Spruce]

Quote

To quell the rising backlash over his release, Fisk serves up a scapegoat to the FBI. Dex misses the mark when he runs into a woman from his past.

[Lady Calypso]

That is certainly a dark backstory to Dex. Who knew that he'd not only be a complete psychopath but he'd need empathy lessons and that he'd screw up his chances with the woman he's stalking to the point where he's likely going to get used by Fisk? 

Those tapes of Dex's are absolutely going to disappear at some point. They're not sticking in Dex's possession for very long. He's going to go full psycho for Fisk. 

So, Fisk frames Matt and Special Agent Ray buys it...despite the fact that Fisk has only been helpful ONCE before Ray falls for it hook, line, and sinker. Karen's scene with Ray was well done because....she wasn't wrong. She was asking better questions than Ray was. 

Ray and Foggy's scene was great and it certainly didn't do Matt any favours, unfortunately for him. I knew this would head into a Matt/Daredevil is a villain arc, though it hasn't extended to Daredevil quite yet. I am definitely worried about how Fisk makes himself to be the good guy, if he even can. He isn't wrong about the public getting distracted easily so maybe it's more about making Matt/Daredevil the villain so that he has time to find Vanessa and get away. 

Karen tells Foggy finally about the guy she killed back in season 1! 

And Matt only appears for about 30 seconds here. I really don't know how he's getting out of this.

[greekmom]

The gif is for the FBI and especially Nadeem.

So they judge and jury Matt on the word of a criminal. With evidence of what? A retainer for his counsel on someone that was associated with Fisk's shell company.

So if Fisk has a receipt for the corner deli and has a beef with the owner, the receipt is proof enough that deli owner worked for Fisk.

Gawd the FBI needs Misty Knight like yesterday!

[Kel Varnsen]

7 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

Those tapes of Dex's are absolutely going to disappear at some point. They're not sticking in Dex's possession for very long. He's going to go full psycho for Fisk. 

I really expected that the tape that Dex started listening to was not going to be one of his therapy sessions, but one of Fisk telling him what to do. Especially since Fisk clearly orchestrated things so that his stalking victim got a job at the hotel.

And man for such a low key episode a lot of plot stuff happened. I am really curious how Matt has any hope of getting his life back. Even if no one figures out he is Daredevil the video of him fighting in the prison would destroy his reputation.

The only thing missing is I wish there was some explaination for how Dex got a job with the FBI. 

[thuganomics85]

I like that Wesley has been brought back up and Karen killing him could end up being a problem going forward.  Glad Foggy knows about it and I'm curious to see how it will effect their relationship.

Yeah, Ray and the FBI are not impressing me with how easily they're buying what Fisk is selling hook, line, and sinker.  I know it is all leading to Matt being set-up and Fisk painting him (and maybe Daredevil?) as the new villain, but I wish the FBI didn't all come off like chumps because of it.

So, Dex is all kinds of messed up.  And Fisk was totally who hired his stalking victim, knowing it was all going to get worse, right?  I have a bad feeling about this...

[Kel Varnsen]

The only other thing that bugged me waa Foggy's give me 5 bucks so I can be your attorney thing. Because it is bullshit and means that lawyers who do pro bono work don't have privilege protections. Would have been better if Karen had asked if she needed to give Foggy money and he just said that's only in movies.

[MisterGlass]

On 10/20/2018 at 10:40 PM, Kel Varnsen said:

The only thing missing is I wish there was some explaination for how Dex got a job with the FBI. 

That bothers me too.  There is no way he should have passed a law enforcement background check and/or mental fitness evaluation.

[Cthulhudrew]

So I'm guessing Poindexter was able to pass vigorous FBI background checks because his therapy sessions were sealed to investigators due to him being underage? Either that, or else they knew he was a psychopath and brought him onboard anyway because of his very specific skillset? This is actually one reason why I was wondering why they changed his background so much for the show; because neither scenario seems all that plausible to me. Anyway, an interesting exploration of the character's psyche, albeit I'm not so sure it required so much episode time.

I miss Wesley. He was such a great villain/majordomo. (And Toby Leonard Moore did such a great performance!)

I am getting the distinct feeling S3 will be pretty much cameo-free of other MCU characters (other than DA Blake and Fisk's lawyer). I do hope Turk shows up, though.

Edited October 22, 2018 by Cthulhudrew

[Danny Franks]

Wow, it took me the entire episode to realise that we hadn't seen Matt at all. Shows how strongly drawn the other characters are.

So Karen gets in over her head, with her intrepid investigating. That didn't take long! And Matt's activities get her into even more trouble. Again, didn't take long.

"I ask questions for a living. I just ask better ones than you do." Nicely played, Karen. But Nadeem is too desperate to redeem himself for the dead agents to listen to anyone right now. He's lost objectivity, just as much as anyone else has.

I'm glad Karen finally told someone that she killed Wesley, and that it was Foggy. He handled it fairly well, under the circumstances. He's got a lot on his plate. His family guilting him about their store, Matt's secrets, Fisk being free, running for DA, and now Karen revealing she killed a guy? It's all a bit much to cope with.

The whole flashback sequence of Dex's childhood was weirdly done, with Fisk 'witnessing' it. I'd have preferred it if we'd just heard the old recordings, or seen Fisk reading the records of it. But Dex is clearly a psychopath, and that was evident from that first therapy session (and the therapist seemed as fucked up as he was. I don't think therapists should be allowing patients to be that dependent on them). He had no guilt whatsoever, for killing his coach. I agree that it seems unlikely this wouldn't have shown up in the various evaluations he'll have undergone to join the FBI.

But he's been fixating on this poor girl for years, yet doesn't have the ability to form a human connection. As soon as she started talking to him, I felt uncomfortable. It was inevitable that he'd slip up and creep her out... which then leads him to deciding that trying to be good isn't worth it. And now I'm worried he's going to end up killing her.

[benteen]

I really liked the way they did the flashback stuffs and I thought D'Onfrio was terrific without saying a word .  Dex's backstory was fascinating although that psychiatrist only enabled him instead of helping him.  She was the worst person who could have been assigned to him.

I admit, I laughed when Fisk said it was going to take some time to go through the files and his lawyer told him "I brought an audiobook."

Question...I know that Dex was underage when he killed his manager but would the FBI really not be able to access that file?  I would think even the existence of a sealed juvenile file would be enough for them to pass on a candidate. 

Really good episode.

[MisterGlass]

I checked the FBI jobs website.  It says that candidate will have an "intensive background investigation."  There will be "records checks" and "extensive interviews with former and current colleagues, neighbors, friends, professors, etc."  The candidate would also have to pass a polygraph.

Since Dex was an orphan, his sessions with a psychiatrist ought to be in his records.  And if they interviewed employees from the boys home, it's likely that they new of some incidents.

23 hours ago, Cthulhudrew said:

I miss Wesley. He was such a great villain/majordomo. (And Toby Leonard Moore did such a great performance!)

Agreed. 

[catrice2]

On 10/21/2018 at 9:57 PM, MisterGlass said:

That bothers me too.  There is no way he should have passed a law enforcement background check and/or mental fitness evaluation.

Are you kidding me? Do you not see the news constantly with unstable police officers? I'm uniquely qualified to comment on this not only did I work for the police department but I dated one and he was a psycho. He also had a co-worker that was arrested for assaulting women on traffic stops. Most of his friends actually never should have passed the psychological evaluation

or the background check. 

I believe they said the Jets have been in the military and it's not uncommon for the FBI to recruit from the military

[Cthulhudrew]

One of the reasons I prefer the comic Bullseye's origin (such as it is) is because they tackle the issue head on by letting it be known that the government (or elements thereof) were fully cognizant that he was being recruited for the purposes of being their killer on the payroll. A very jaded- possibly unrealistic- certainly comic-booky explanation, but at least it was a little less futzy.

[MisterGlass]

23 hours ago, catrice2 said:

On 10/21/2018 at 10:57 PM, MisterGlass said:

That bothers me too.  There is no way he should have passed a law enforcement background check and/or mental fitness evaluation.

Are you kidding me? Do you not see the news constantly with unstable police officers? I'm uniquely qualified to comment on this not only did I work for the police department but I dated one and he was a psycho. He also had a co-worker that was arrested for assaulting women on traffic stops. Most of his friends actually never should have passed the psychological evaluation

Our experiences have been different.  However, in my original comment I meant to refer to federal law enforcement.

[RachelKM]

On 10/22/2018 at 8:16 PM, catrice2 said:

Are you kidding me? Do you not see the news constantly with unstable police officers? I'm uniquely qualified to comment on this not only did I work for the police department but I dated one and he was a psycho. He also had a co-worker that was arrested for assaulting women on traffic stops. Most of his friends actually never should have passed the psychological evaluation

It appears that Dex has an active diagnosis of borderline personality disorder (the therapist's note also indicated psychosis) and a current prescription for mood stabilizers and/or anti-psychotics of some sort.  I don't doubt your personal experience with mentally unstable people getting into law enforcement/faking it through a psych eval. But there is no way Dex would pass the background checks for an FBI agent.  

[sharifa70]

On 10/25/2018 at 2:03 PM, RachelKM said:

It appears that Dex has an active diagnosis of borderline personality disorder (the therapist's note also indicated psychosis) and a current prescription for mood stabilizers and/or anti-psychotics of some sort.  I don't doubt your personal experience with mentally unstable people getting into law enforcement/faking it through a psych eval. But there is no way Dex would pass the background checks for an FBI agent.  

As a former law enforcement employment background investigator, I can say that if his only record is juvenile, and if it’s sealed, we’re not allowed to ask about it even if the applicant says “I have a juvenile criminal record and it has been expunged.” The background investigator then has to treat it as if it was never mentioned. 

That said, there’s no way in hell Dex would pass a psych eval. For that matter, just the stories he told about his fake girlfriend Julie would fail his background and he’d never even make it to psych with our agency.

[maczero]

On 10/23/2018 at 12:34 AM, Cthulhudrew said:

One of the reasons I prefer the comic Bullseye's origin (such as it is) is because they tackle the issue head on by letting it be known that the government (or elements thereof) were fully cognizant that he was being recruited for the purposes of being their killer on the payroll. A very jaded- possibly unrealistic- certainly comic-booky explanation, but at least it was a little less futzy.

Agreed.  I would've went with Dex being a freelance assassin who was already on Fisk's payroll.

[Anela]

I thought maybe the therapist lied for him, before she died. But I don't know much about these things.

It's creepy how Fisk appears to empathize, but he's really only using that to manipulate people. He had them hire Julie, and probably knew that something would happen. Now I guess he becomes his new "north star"? I hope he doesn't kill the girl. 

[moonshine71]

Just an observation after rewatching, how in the hell does Fisk learn about the episode at the suicide prevention hotline when reading Dex's file? This took place well after his therapist dies, and even if he found a new one I really doubt he would share with them that he was about to encourage a caller to shoot their stepfather until Julie could hear his conversation.

 

In general, the flashback/voices in people's heads scenes were something I was a little iffy on this season. They accomplished what they needed to do, I guess, but some of them were a little off to me.

Edited November 3, 2018 by moonshine71

[Taryn74]

On 11/3/2018 at 6:04 AM, moonshine71 said:

Just an observation after rewatching, how in the hell does Fisk learn about the episode at the suicide prevention hotline when reading Dex's file? This took place well after his therapist dies, and even if he found a new one I really doubt he would share with them that he was about to encourage a caller to shoot their stepfather until Julie could hear his conversation.

Just my take on it, I don't think we were meant to necessarily view that as an actual incident that had happened, rather that Fisk is so good at reading people he was envisioning how Dex would have performed at his job there and figured he probably had times where he had to squelch the urge to encourage people to give into their dark side.

[Ottis]

And... the show blew it. If there is any trope I despise, it’s the “good guy falsely accused and has to prove he isn’t guilty” trope. It just ensures a lot of wasted time as characters prove something we the viewer already know... the good guy is a good guy. 

Dex has really good aim. 

I did miss Matt. And still miss the red suit. 

Edited November 21, 2018 by Ottis

[sinkwriter]

On 10/22/2018 at 2:05 PM, benteen said:

I really liked the way they did the flashback stuffs and I thought D'Onfrio was terrific without saying a word 

Yeah, he had so many interesting expressions as he 'watched': curious, intrigued, calculating, maybe a little disturbed, yet oddly understanding and sympathetic. I found myself watching D'Onofrio instead of the unfolding scene, sometimes.