There are a lot of exciting firsts in Daredevil Season 1 Episode 3, Rabbit in a Snowstorm. It's the first time we actually see Matt and Foggy try a case. It's the first time we're introduced to legendary reporter Ben Urich.
It's also the first time we meet Wilson Fisk--also known as Kingpin--the show's primary antagonist, and it happens in a scene so unlike the introduction of any other antagonists that I want to talk about it.
I don't know who said it, but the phrase 'Your story is only as strong as your antagonist' is always rattling around my brain, especially when I'm outlining a story. It never takes long for me to start then thinking about Wilson Fisk and what a perfect character he is.
There are lots of ways to introduce a villain, but I would say that the most common way in superhero stories is to have them show up in a prologue or cold open of some kind, during which they commit some dastardly act that signals clearly to us the threat our protagonist will face. Regardless of when it happens though, the villain's moral character is usually made clear to the audience, whether they're executing cronies or simply sneering behind the hero's back. This is not a bad approach. It works, and it works well, but when a show like Daredevil breaks the mould it can be truly breath-taking.
For nearly three full episodes we've been aware that there is a serious, unseen power in Hell's Kitchen. To speak his name is a death sentence. He's ordered deaths; framed innocents; bribed juries--all to some unknown purpose. Matt has been obliquely chasing down whoever this person may be (providing conflict and lesser antagonists to keep things interesting before he comes face-to-face with the true villain of the story). Then, right after Matt beats the man's name out of a hired killer, the audience gets their first glimpse of this monster...
And we feel sorry for him.
For the episode's final scene, the show cuts to an art gallery where a large, quiet man contemplates a painting composed only from varying degrees of white. The gallery's curator approaches the man and, after a little discussion, asks him how the painting makes him feel. Wilson Fisk says, "It makes me feel alone."
Cut to credits.
Listen, the scene gives me goosebumps. Vincent D'Onofrio, who plays Fisk, speaks that final line with such sadness--such genuine emotion--it almost breaks my heart. Not only do those words hint at the romantic relationship Fisk eventually seeks with the curator, Vanessa, but it also speaks to his motivation as a character. Whatever happens next and whatever justifications Fisk gives for his evil deeds, it all comes back to this one thing: Fisk is a lonely man.
What makes this even more special from a storytelling perspective is how unthreatening Fisk is. He's not a villain here. While shopping for art, he found a piece that genuinely moved him and, despite his awkwardness, opened up to a stranger about it. A different show would end this episode with Fisk killing a disloyal goon, or ordering some nefarious act be committed, but not this show. We KNOW he's the show's villain from all the set-up but being shown this almost gentle giant instead of some monster completely undercuts the audience's expectations. "Wait, he's the villain?" It's our first hint that this antagonist is something complex; something special.
For my money, D'Onofrio's Wilson Fisk is the best villain Marvel has ever put to screen, and it all began with this short scene.
***
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