The press crucifies Daredevil after the attack on the Bulletin, and Agent Nadeem suspects the FBI paid too high a price for Fisk's cooperation.
Tropes present in this episode:
- After-Action Patch-Up: An entirely non-sexual version when Sister Maggie finally convinces Matt to let her treat his wounds. He does succeed in bucking him up enough to keep fighting.
- An Offer You Can't Refuse: Manning threatened Melvin to have Betsy killed to get him to collaborate with Fisk once again, not just making a Daredevil suit for Dex, but also help frame the real one by trapping him inside Melvin's new workshop with a second Daredevil suit.
- Bookcase Passage: Wilson Fisk is ostensibly under house arrest in a hotel penthouse but has a secret staircase behind a shoe rack in his bedroom closet that leads down to a secret command center where he can conduct meetings with Felix Manning and underlings without the FBI noticing.
- Chekhov's Gun: There's a shot of the brief Marci was working on spilling from her bag as it's knocked onto the floor when she's having sex. Foggy goes to pick them up later and has a "Eureka!" Moment.
- The Chessmaster: Matt realises that Fisk was five steps ahead of him in the Jasper business. Fisk even had a countermeasure in case Daredevil tried to get info from Melvin.
- Combat Pragmatist: Melvin uses saw blades and wood and other tools in his fight against Matt.
- Bookcase Passage: In this case a shoecase in Fisk's walk-in closet is the entrance to a Secret Underfloor Passage.
- Big Brother Is Watching: In his secret room, Fisk has access to the cameras watching over the FBI agents watching over him.
- Didn't Think This Through: Nadeem storms into Fisk's room, accusing him of bribing Jasper Evans to shank him and being behind his death, without any proof whatsoever. Fisk is naturally unfazed.
- Friend-or-Idol Decision: When Ellison realizes that Karen knows who Daredevil (the real Daredevil) is, he demands that she tell him who it is, or she's fired. Karen is clearly upset, but she refuses to sell out Matt.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: When we're in Foggy and Marci's apartment, you'll notice there's a photo of them
◊ on the table next to the couch. If you have a real sharp eye◊, you'll notice it's actually a photo of Elden Henson and Amy Rutberg◊ from the season 2 premiere party. - Framing the Guilty Party: In a bit of a twist on this trope, Fisk attempts to frame the actual Daredevil for being the Killer-Daredevil.
- Glad-to-Be-Alive Sex: Foggy and Marci make love on the couch after Foggy's near-death experience. Marci even lampshades this a bit when she tells him she understands why he suddenly became so frisky.
- Heroic BSoD:
- This was Foggy's state for a few moments after he came home from the attack at the Bulletin.
- Nadeem gets one after failing to get Fisk to confess the truth about Jasper Evans.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Melvin sets a trap for Matt but ends up getting arrested himself.
- Internal Reveal: Matt, and later Nadeem, learn the fake-Daredevil is a member of the FBI.
- It's All My Fault: Naturally, Karen feels horrible about indirectly having caused the massacre at the Bulletin by deciding to conduct the interview with Jasper there. She feels even worse after speaking to Ellison, who demands that she tell him what she knows about Daredevil, or else she is fired.
- My God, What Have I Done?: This is written all over Nadeem's face during the above-mentioned Heroic BSoD; from his realization that his "prisoner" has just dismissed him from his presence, to the moment he looks around at the lavish penthouse that is Fisk's "cell" as if it's the first time he's seeing it properly. You can really tell that it's finally occurring to him just how completely he's been played.
- Mythology Gag: Just like in his first fight with Matt, Melvin uses a giant circular saw as an improvised weapon, comic Gladiator's trademark gimmick.
- Non-Answer: How Fisk responds to Nadeem asking if he got Jasper Evans released in exchange for shanking him, playing the FBI.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Betsy tells Matt that he's not so far removed from Fisk, as she warned Melvin that both men would use him and end up destroying him.
- Obstructive Bureaucrat: Agent Nadeem is shown interrogating Karen after the massacre, focusing solely on the fact that Fake Daredevil called her by name and used her gun as evidence for her knowing him and possibly even being complicit due to him not harming her. Thankfully, at the end of the episode, he grows out of it and decides to hear Matt, the real Daredevil, out.
- Only Bad Guys Call Their Lawyers: Zigzagged; the Warden clams up and demands a lawyer when Nadeem tries to coax some information on how Jasper Evans was released. On the other hand Foggy acts as Karen's lawyer during Nadeem's interview, and ends the interview when Nadeem accuses her of acting in cohesion with the fake Daredevil by bringing her gun to the Bulletin.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Despite ending up in hospital Ellison appears to be his usual gruff but determined self, until he realises that Karen must know Daredevil's Secret Identity and starts Suddenly Shouting at her when she tries hiding behind journalist source privilege.
- Parental Neglect: Karen's dad doesn't even call when he thinks that she might have been killed at the Bulletin shooting and coldly rejects her when she asks to come home for a while. He seems to barely even notice her emotional breakdown.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Fisk doesn't have his fixer "alter the situation" of Melvin or Betsy because it's simply not necessary.
- The Reveal: Karen was right; Fisk acquired the building and had it prepared for his occupancy with secret passages and a separate surveillance system.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: Because of "Daredevil" not hurting Karen at all when he had the chance (when her coworkers weren't so lucky), knowing her name, and using her gun to kill Jasper, Nadeem believes that Karen knows who Daredevil is and knows him personally. She does know who Daredevil is...but knows the real one, not the imposter.
- Pull the Thread: Ellison realises the only way Karen can be sure the man who attacked them wasn't Daredevil would be if she knew who he really was.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Nadeem proves Foggy right, he's a hardass but willing to listen. When Matt breaks into his house and tells him one of his fellow agents is the fake Daredevil, he tells him to keep going.
- Serious Business: It's extremely important for Fisk to get his "Rabbit in a Snowstorm" picture hanging in his penthouse suite.
- Scrubbing Off the Trauma: Karen is suffering from Survivor Guilt and repeatedly tries to wipe the blood spots from her sleeve during her FBI interview.
- Tracking Device: Fisk spoofs the signal from his ankle monitor by having a secret room underneath his bedroom, from which he runs his criminal empire. As it looks like he hasn't stepped outside the electronic perimeter, no-one is the wiser.
- Trespassing to Talk: Nadeem runs into Daredevil in his basement and is understandably not happy, but he also knows this is not the same man he fought at the Bulletin.
- What the Hell, Hero?:
- Matt has the opportunity to save Melvin who he knew was being forced to help Fisk and was a mentally disturbed man, but he allows him to get arrested. Melvin's girlfriend Betsy later calls him out on it, as does hallucination!Fisk.
- Nadeem's wife isn't happy that her husband lied about not being involved in the Bulletin incident, as she found out otherwise from one of the other FBI wives.
- Wrench Whack: Melvin wields a wrench during his fight with Matt.
- Wrestler in All of Us: Melvin pulls off various slams in his fight against Matt and the FBI agents.
