In the first season of Daredevil, Matt Murdock learned that corruption has infiltrated every corner of Hell's Kitchen, and it seems the same can be said of Season 2. Spoilers for Episode 8 and beyond of Daredevil Season 2 ahead. In "Guilty as Sin," Wilson Fisk returned to Daredevil Season 2, and showed that even from jail, the villain has influence over the city, though he's not nearly as powerful as he once was. But it's his desperate need for control that pushes Fisk to approach Frank Castle, aka The Punisher, totally changing the course of the season.
Incapable of dealing with powerlessness, Fisk is bothered to see that another man, Dutton, essentially runs the prison. He starts slowly, accumulating the few prisoners who don't run with Dutton as his own followers, but as soon as he gets Frank involved, Fisk's rise to Kingpin of the prison is rapid. By telling Frank that Dutton is responsible for the gang shootout that killed his family (though the real story is far more complex than that), Fisk manages to have most of his enemies eliminated in one brief, bloody moment. But when Frank defies expectations by surviving the massacre after learning more about the truth of that day, Fisk helps the Punisher escape. Of course, it's all part of a larger plan for Fisk to regain power as soon as he gets out.
Before Frank escapes, he and Wilson have a tense confrontation, where they both promise that next time they meet, only one will walk away. They clearly do not want to actually help each other, but their aims intersect. By letting Frank get out and continue to go after criminals, Fisk is ensuring that his own enemies are being killed while he's in prison. And since his trial exposed Frank's crimes and history to the public, he could potentially serve as a scapegoat for anything Fisk sets up from prison.
It's clear that Fisk's goals have only grown since he was arrested at the end of Season 1. He is confident that not only will he be released soon, but that when is, he'll immediately step back into his role as Kingpin of Hell's Kitchen. And he may not be wrong about that. But with Frank tied so heavily into his plans, he may be the key unraveling them. It seems that if Daredevil really wants Fisk to be stopped, for good this time, the best way to do that is to let the Punisher take the lead.
Images: Netflix, Patrick Harbron/Netflix
