Three episodes in, lovably noble White Tiger.

I expect there is still more to come, especially if the heavily Daredevil: Born Again characters like Karen Page - but I wonder if this should have come much earlier.

Foggy’s Death Was Totally Unsurprising (& Right For The Story)

Now We Witness The Fallout

Daredevil: Born Again opened strong with a high-octane sequence that culminated in Foggy's death at the hands of Benjamin Poindexter. The heartbreaking death happened just moments after Matt, Karen, and Foggy were shown to be happy following the tumultuous events of Daredevil seasons 1 through 3. While this happiness may have been somewhat short-lived on-screen, there is some solace to be found in the assumption that it lasted for the seven years between Daredevil season 3 and Daredevil: Born Again's opening sequence.

Short of replicating a tried-and-tested formula, however, Daredevil: Born Again forgoes building tension across a whole season and flips it on its head, killing off Matt's best friend from the jump.

Still, the death was stunning but not entirely surprising. Foggy and Karen are almost designed to have targets painted on their backs as Daredevil's Achilles heel and prime examples of the trope wherein a superhero's main vulnerability is their loved ones. To be brutally honest, it is a mystery how Matt's two best friends have lasted this long. As is the case in Marvel Comics, Foggy Nelson is in constant peril on purpose - and this is a good thing.

Foggy Nelson died in Daredevil (Vol. 2) #82, but the death was later revealed to have been faked.

Daredevil's adventures in the original Netflix series were fraught with concern over the safety of those he holds dear, with his father figure, Father Lantom, ultimately being the one to bite the bullet in Daredevil season 3. Short of replicating a tried-and-tested formula, however, Daredevil: Born Again forgoes building tension across a whole season and flips it on its head, killing off Matt's best friend from the jump. Now, audiences can bear witness to the fallout, seeing Daredevil finally snap and cross a line in response before relinquishing his vigilantism.

When Daredevil returns, Foggy's absence will surely have dire consequences. The opening sequence didn't just deprive Matt of Foggy, after all, as Karen Page has also abandoned Matt and left to live in San Francisco, rejecting his attempts to reconnect. The decision to omit Karen from his life, however, makes me wonder if Daredevil: Born Again made the right call to begin with - as Karen was arguably the one whose death made the most sense.

Netflix’s Daredevil Makes Foggy’s Death Confusing

Benjamin Poindexter Apparently Doesn't Know Foggy Is Connected To Daredevil

This wasn't the first time Benjamin Poindexter attacked Foggy with lethal intent. When orchestrating the attack at the New York Bulletin offices in an attempt to sully Daredevil's reputation, he throws a billy club at Foggy's face - which, in keeping with Bullseye's MO, would have been fatal had Matt not intercepted it at the last second. After tussling with Matt, he then enters a room where Karen Page is sheltering their key witness, Jasper Evans. Bullseye then says, "Hello, Karen. It's nice to see you again," before executing Evans and leaving.

Keeping Karen alive and greeting her warmly was intended to sell the lie that it was Daredevil who committed the massacre. Yet, had Poindexter been successful in his first attempt on Foggy's life, this would have undermined the whole act, as Daredevil would have never killed Foggy for the same reason he wasn't supposed to kill Karen. This indicates that Poindexter is unaware of Foggy's relationship with Matt, and was told to treat Karen exclusively as a close friend to help convince witnesses that he was the real deal.

Matt Murdock's very public relationship with Foggy Nelson is certainly reason enough for someone seeking vengeance to target Foggy Nelson. The problem, however, is that there has been no indication that Bullseye is aware of Daredevil's true identity. The fact that he targets Foggy Nelson in Daredevil: Born Again has forced us to assume that he has learned the truth behind the scenes, but this feels somewhat hamfisted when a more sensible target was right there.

Bullseye Should Have Killed Karen

Bullseye Knows Of Karen's Relationship With Daredevil

Bullseye already has a connection with Karen, as illustrated when he repeated the line "Hello Karen" when approaching her before Daredevil intervened in Daredevil: Born Again. Whether he is aware of Daredevil's true identity is nullified by the fact that his original mission was to acknowledge and spare her after his rampage. With Daredevil Born Again being a direct continuation of the original series, it would have therefore made more sense for Bullseye to target Karen if his motive was to get revenge on Daredevil.

This hopefully means this isn't the last we've seen of Poindexter and that his decision to target Foggy specifically will be unveiled down the line.

Instead, Daredevil: Born Again has given rise to the mystery of how Bullseye would know to target Foggy. We can feasibly rule out that it was a hit orchestrated by Fisk, firstly because Bullseye would harbor just as much resentment towards his erstwhile employer as he does for Daredevil, and secondly because it would be too out of character for Fisk to renege on his promise to Daredevil in Daredevil season 3. While I am not suggesting that this mystery is bad storytelling (quite the opposite), the show barely acknowledges the fact.

This hopefully means this isn't the last we've seen of Poindexter and that his decision to target Foggy specifically will be unveiled down the line. This will hopefully also shed light on why Poindexter targeted Daredevil over Kingpin in Daredevil: Born Again's opening episode, a decision that seems a little out of the blue considering Kingpin was the one to kill his romantic interest, Julie Barnes, and break his back. Then again, a prevailing theory suggests that Foggy's death is all a ruse and that he'll reemerge to explain everything in future episodes.

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