Daredevil Season 1, Episode 2, Cut Man, is perhaps best known for the 'hallway fight' at the end of the episode. The fight, in which Matt takes on about a dozen armed kidnappers single-handedly, lasts for several minutes and is all done without any obvious cuts. Its tense, immaculately-choreographed stuff, and showstopper 'hallway fights' went on to become a staple of Daredevil, with each season trying to one-up the previous fight in terms of stunts, in-camera effects, and impact.
My jaw dropped the first time I saw this scene, but there isn't a huge about of story to pull from this particular hallway fight, so instead lets talk about this show's most important secondary characters; Foggy and Karen! (Later fights become almost mini-movies unto themselves--I'll talk about them when I get to them.)
Foggy Nelson--Matt's law partner--and Karen Page--their new secretary--are the twin suns around which Matt's personal life orbits, but the beauty of thirteen hour-long episodes a season is that they get the room to become dynamic and engaging characters in their own right. Fully fleshed-out side characters is one of the main advantages television has over movies.
While Matt spends most of the episode being patched up on the lowdown by an off-duty ER nurse (more on Claire to come, I'm sure), Foggy and Karen fill out the episode's C-story by getting druuuuunk. (The B-Story is a series of flashbacks revealing what happened to Matt's dad.)
Foggy and Karen's time in this episode doesn't do a whole lot to advance the plot of the series, but it does serve two important functions. One is that it shows us what a good friend Foggy is. Up until this point we've been told that Matt and Foggy are friends, but their interactions in the first episode was mostly seen through the lens of their work. After this episode though, we see it. You couldn't help be friends with this guy. He's funny, disarming, supportive...
Which brings us to the second reason these scenes are important; they give Karen the space to start processing the fear and trauma she experienced in episode one when she was framed for murder. This is a grounded show. What happened to her in the last episode has consequences--maybe not plot consequences but personal consequences. Karen's too scared to return to her apartment. She's flinching at shadows. But with Foggy's help, she's able to start putting those fears to rest.
It's not ground-breaking, but it's simple, effective writing that gives us a chance to start falling in love with these characters.
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