Born Again' Waited Too Long To Bring Karen Back -

Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for the Season 1 finale of Daredevil: Born Again.

This week’s Daredevil: Born Again Season 1 finale moves the story forward in dramatic fashion, treating fans to a major escalation in the war between Charlie Cox‘s Daredevil and Vincent D’Onofrio‘s newly-minted Mayor Kingpin. Between the latter’s—pardon the expression—mind-blowing assassination of Police Commissioner Gallo (Michael Gaston) and the foreboding revelation of precisely why Vanessa Fisk (Ayelet Zurer) ordered the series’ opening assassination, the finale sets the stage for one of the most exhilarating chapters in Daredevil’s television history. Yet, perhaps the finale’s most surprising development is the unexpected appearance of Deborah Ann Woll‘s long-missed Karen Page. Showing up at the eleventh hour to save Matt from Fisk’s anti-vigilante task force, Karen is easily the highlight of the finale, but her satisfying return also can’t help but feel like a major misstep in narrative timing.

The last time we saw Karen was back during Daredevil: Born Again‘s premiere, following Bullseye’s (Wilson Bethel) shocking assassination of Foggy (Elden Henson) and sentencing hearing. Her appearance in the revival’s Season 1 finale, however, is a far cry from the helplessness she endured during the attack on Josie’s. It is incredibly refreshing to see Karen come to Matt’s aid for once and likewise reignite her endlessly fascinating dynamic with Jon Bernthal‘s Punisher. That said, Karen’s return is uncomfortable in a structural sense. As a member of the core trio at the heart of Daredevil’s story, Karen is ultimately given too little time in the finale for us to appreciate her journey and too much time for said finale to also balance its various subplots, a problem which could have been alleviated if Daredevil: Born Again had simply brought Karen back earlier in the series.

Karen Needed More Time in ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Season 1

Between Daredevil: Born Again‘s premiere and the series’ brutal finale, Karen feels more like an echo of Matt’s past than a supporting player, and to a certain extent, this approach makes sense. For a series trying to open a new chapter in the unforgiving life of its law-breaking lawyer, Daredevil: Born Again feels most engaging when it gives Matt new scene partners who challenge him with unique perspectives, with Heather Glenn’s (Margarita Levieva) psychoanalysis of vigilantes in particular a highlight of the series. However, with the finale revealing the creative team’s desire to bring Karen back into the revival’s narrative fold, the decision to have the former journalist keep her distance throughout the season feels counterintuitive. The finale proves that Karen’s influence would have been best felt earlier in the season and would likely have provided a more balanced structure to Season 1’s uneven conclusion.

Following Karen’s well-placed phone call to Frank in order to save Matt at his apartment, Karen’s function in the finale is largely to give Matt a well-needed reality check. After weeks of characters like Kirtsen McDuffie (Nikki M. James) warning Matt that his personal life is imploding, Karen counters Matt’s self-destructive impulse successfully by deterring him from braving Fisk’s task force alone. It is this moderating influence on Matt’s darker half that Daredevil: Born Again has been missing. Had Karen shown up even as late as Episode 6 or 7, the series could have heightened the drama around Matt’s return to the mask by having him talk to someone who understands firsthand the kind of toll his vigilante escapades can take on his friends. Since Karen is the one who gives Matt back his horn in Episode 1, her encouragement likely would have led to Matt embracing his powers in the fight against Fisk earlier, allowing the finale to focus more on the revival’s other supporting characters.

Karen’s Sudden Reappearance in ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Leaves Several Subplots Unresolved

BB Urich (Genneya Walton) plotting against Kingpin (Vincent D'Onofrio) with Commissioner Gallo (Michael Gaston) in 'Daredevil: Born Again' Episode 8. — Image via Disney+

For all the finale’s strengths and bone-chilling moments, it is the conclusion’s neglect of side characters like BB Urich (Genneya Walton) and Michael Gandolfini‘s increasingly unbearable Daniel Blake that comes as the most disappointing. In particular, after last week’s inaugural disaster set up a long-expected twist about BB’s motivations, the fact that we barely get so much as a check-in with the character we’ve been spending the last several weeks with comes as a letdown, especially because Karen and Matt have multiple drawn-out scenes together. Even Bullseye, who played a major role in the premiere, features in the finale’s opening scene, and made an attempt on the mayor’s life just last week, doesn’t feature prominently in Season 1’s conclusion, a fact which can primarily be traced back to the extensive screentime Karen is given during the finale.

Karen is certainly a character who deserves all the screentime she can get, but it’s the fact that Daredevil: Born Again waited so long to bring her back that causes this imbalance. Since it already feels a bit awkward for her to suddenly reappear after seven episodes, the finale needs to give Karen as many scenes as possible in order for her presence to feel natural, but this quick return effectively throws a wrench into a story structure that is already buckling under the weight of excessive subplots. As a result, Daredevil: Born Again isn’t able to move most of its supporting characters forward and instead only doubles down on their previous narrative trajectories, with Blake relishing his newfound authority, Bullseye in the wind, and BB still occupying a tenuous position in Mayor Fisk’s increasingly volatile administration.

Charlie Cox and Vincent D'Onofrio's faces cut in half and put next to each other as Daredevil and Kingpin in a Daredevil: Born Again features image

‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Season 1 Ending Explained: Who Will Join Matt Murdock’s Fight Against Kingpin?

“We are the city without fear.”

‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Season 2 Needs To Learn From Season 1’s Missteps With Karen

The narrative imbalance created by Karen’s last-minute return highlights a larger frustration with Daredevil: Born Again‘s finale—pacing. Judging by both the stakes going into Episode 9 and the installment’s thrilling description on Disney+, the series seemed ready to deliver the ultimate showdown between Matt and Kingpin, the kind of brutal confrontation that finally lets the devil in both men come out with a cathartic sense of finality. Instead, both Karen’s appearance and Fisk’s martial law decree draw things out in what ultimately amounts to setup for Daredevil: Born Again Season 2, making the finale feel less like a conclusion to a season’s worth of television and more like a midpoint to a larger story fans will have to wait at least another year to see.

While the finale is somewhat anticlimactic, however, the fact that Daredevil: Born Again‘s creative team has left the door open for multiple future installments means there are plenty of opportunities to course-correct and likewise do justice to Karen’s character. Similar to how Bernthal’s Punisher is being integrated into the MCU, the character could receive a standalone special in the future detailing how she coped during her time in San Francisco. Since Karen is already confirmed for Daredevil: Born Again Season 2, we could also be treated to a flashback in the future similar to the glimpse into Karen’s upbringing featured in Daredevil Season 3. That said, however the revival opts to expand Karen’s role in Matt’s life, the series needs to learn from the shortcomings of its Season 1 finale and better balance Karen’s presence with the series’ supporting players, presenting a smoother narrative structure that allows fans to appreciate both the intricacies of Daredevil: Born Again‘s talented ensemble and the depth of Karen’s character.