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SPOILER ALERT: This article contains spoilers for Episode 3 of “Daredevil: Born Again,” now streaming on Disney+.
After killing off Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson) in the first 10 minutes of the premiere last week, “Daredevil: Born Again” has again upped the body count.
Episode 3 followed the high-profile trial of Hector Ayala (played by the late Kamar de los Reyes), a.k.a. the vigilante White Tiger, who was accused of killing an NYPD officer the show’s second episode. As we saw, Hector was actually trying to stop two crooked cops from harassing a man near the subway and accidentally pushed one of them into the train. The cops then tried to rough up the man in his apartment, but Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) was there to protect him and dole out some brutal, bone-snapping justice.
Now, Matt is representing Ayala in his trial, which is filled with police officers who want to see Hector in jail for killing one of their own. The trial gets off to a tense start, and when Matt calls his first witness — the man whom Hector saved — he barely arrives to the court in time. The cops, including the corrupt Officer Powell (Hamish Allan-Headley), had already gotten to the witness, who changes his tune and throws Hector’s fate into jeopardy.
Matt decides to go on the offensive to get Hector free. He grills the remaining police witnesses as they give their testimonies, then Hector takes the stand. Matt paints him as a good Samaritan who was looking out for a victim in need and shockingly pulls out Hector’s White Tiger mask in front of the entire courtroom, revealing the vigilante’s true identity. The White Tiger moment works (but Hector is a little annoyed Matt didn’t tell him about it beforehand), and the jury finds him not guilty.
Hector walks free — but sadly not for long. In the final moments of the episode, he suits up as White Tiger to go on patrol, but an unknown assailant guns him down in the street. We don’t see the shooter’s face, but he’s wearing a black outfit with the Punisher’s white skull logo on his shirt. This may be the end of Hector’s story, but White Tiger could live on. In the comics, Hector has a niece, Angela, and sister, Ava, who both take up the hero’s mantle after his death. Their family passes down a magical jade amulet that imbues the wearer with enhanced strength, so it’s possible “Daredevil: Born Again” may introduce another iteration of White Tiger.
Could this tragic moment also mark the return of Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle, a.k.a. the Punisher, from the two-season Netflix series? Without seeing his face it’s hard to tell, but this isn’t the first time the Punisher logo has appeared in “Daredevil: Born Again.” Officer Powell also has a tattoo of the logo on his wrist, which was briefly seen in Episode 2 when he was getting beat up by Matt. We also know there’s a serial killer named Muse on the loose in the series — or it could be one of Mayor Wilson Fisk’s (Vincent D’Onofrio) goons cracking down on vigilante crime-fighting.
“Daredevil: Born Again” streams Tuesdays on Disney+.
English (US) ·