It’s a strange feeling watching a Daredevil episode that both underwhelms and impresses at the same time. But if you’ve been following this series long enough — especially from the Netflix era — you’ll know that not every episode is going to be a knockout. Episode 7 of Daredevil: Born Again is a bit of a mixed bag, but it’s the kind of mixed bag that still throws punches, lands a few of them, and leaves you thinking about the long game.

Let’s start with the most bizarre piece of the puzzle: Muse.

He’s a street artist. He’s a Taekwondo prodigy. He’s a serial killer. He’s a supervillain. He’s also an incel. Yeah, it’s a lot. Like, a lot a lot. Muse’s character tries to juggle so many angles that it ends up feeling like the showrunners jammed multiple villain archetypes into a single guy with a spray can. The result? An ambitious villain who collapses under his own chaotic energy.

And yet, there’s something gripping about Muse’s presence. The scene where he slashes Heather Glenn’s arm “up and down, not across” is bone-chilling. The kind of grotesque horror that throws you back to the days of Saw or Hostel. It’s brutal, sudden, and somehow still manages to feel grounded in the twisted reality this show plays in. Even more telling is the subtle commentary: Muse, a rich prep-school kid, plays artist in the alleys while the real underclass bleeds. The cops turn a blind eye to his activities, but they’re quick to frame his capture as their own. The politics in Born Again are sharp, and Muse — for all his excess — fits into that jigsaw in an interesting way.

Then there’s the ridiculous-but-kind-of-awesome bit where Daredevil tracks down Muse and Heather using touch. Apparently, Matt Murdock identifies Heather from the brushstrokes in Muse’s obsessive portraits of her. It’s a moment that sounds absurd on paper (and let’s be honest, it kind of is), but the show leans into the comic-book logic so confidently that you just go along for the ride. Still, it’s hard not to imagine how differently this would’ve gone if Muse was a Cubist.

But the Muse storyline wraps up quickly, a little too quickly. It feels like a buildup to something bigger — only for it to end with a bang that’s more confusing than climactic.

Where the episode really shines is in the background — in the subtle power shifts and character moments happening beyond the red mask.

Michael Gandolfini’s Daniel is a revelation. In a matter of seconds, he flips the switch from harmless idiot to political predator. Watching him grin as he threatens BB Urich in the Mayor’s office — “I’d be so stoked if you made the right call!” — is unsettling in all the right ways. That scene alone tells you everything you need to know about the kind of fascism creeping through Fisk’s administration. And speaking of Fisk…

Wilson Fisk is fuming. Hearing that Daredevil is back sends him into a full-blown meltdown — voice rising, temper flaring, mind unraveling. It’s a rare moment of instability for the Kingpin, and his advisor Buck Cashman clocks it immediately. But instability doesn’t mean weakness. Quite the opposite, actually. Fisk is still making power moves — like allowing his NYPD task force to take credit for Daredevil’s takedown of Muse while launching a propaganda campaign against all mask-wearing vigilantes.

Meanwhile, in the dimly-lit corners of an Italian restaurant, Vanessa Fisk’s subplot with the gangster Luca reaches a violent conclusion. Did anyone actually believe she would betray Wilson? Not really. But the tension in the mafia-movie-style dinner scene was worth it. Vanessa playing chess while Luca tries to play checkers leads to one of the episode’s cleanest payoffs: Buck executing Luca in the golden glow of Hillary Fyfe Spera’s impeccable cinematography. You can practically smell the marinara and gunpowder in the air.

And of course, there’s Matt.

Murdock begins this episode riding high, renewed by the return of the Daredevil mantle. But that brief high is quickly brought back down to Earth when Heather confronts him about his erratic behavior. It’s a sobering scene. She knows something’s off. She might even know he’s Daredevil. Watching her break through Matt’s tough exterior using nothing but therapist logic is one of the most emotionally intelligent beats in the episode. It’s also a reminder that for all of Matt’s physical strength, he’s a mess when it comes to dealing with emotional trauma.

Then comes the big fight. Daredevil vs. Muse. It’s bloody, brutal, and borderline unbelievable. Muse, with a few months of training, goes toe-to-toe with a seasoned vigilante? Suspension of disbelief, engage. But the choreography is so intense and the tension so thick, that by the time Muse gets a hook jammed through his shoulder, you’re cheering — even if your brain is still going, “Really?”

As the smoke clears, and the episode winds down, you can feel the dominoes begin to fall. Episode 7 is the tipping point. Murdock’s double life is on a collision course. Fisk is building his empire through lies and bodybags. And characters like Daniel, Vanessa, and Buck are sliding into place for whatever violent ballet is coming next.

This episode is far from perfect, but it’s full of moments — quiet, loud, creepy, and cathartic — that remind you why Daredevil’s world is one of the richest in the Marvel universe.