Karen and Matt getting together is the WORST thing that could possibly happen to Karen’s character and I’m actually so angry about this. You know why? Because to make this couple work, they will need to empty her of everything that makes her a compelling and complex character, just so she can neatly fit with Matt.
We know that because we already saw what these two look like together, they are just not compatible. Karen has a view of justice and of the world that does not fit Matt’s own rigid views, and that in itself is a dealbreaker because that’s such a core part of both characters.
I’ll never forget how Matt just told her to leave when she blurted out she agreed with Frank’s methods in season 2, or how judgmental he was about her own acceptance of Frank in season 3.
And outside of that…Matt is just HORRIBLE. He is a terrible boyfriend! He emotionally cheated on Karen, he lied to her MULTIPLE times (which was explicitly a deal breaker to her), he shuts her off, pushes her away even when all she’s trying to do is help him. As recent as Born Again, he does this. He didn’t spoke to Karen for weeks after Foggy’s death. Foggy died IN HER ARMS and he couldn’t find it in himself a place to support her trough it. And you know what’s worse? I KNOW Karen was there for him since the first second, more preoccupied with his pain than her own. But she was so hurt by his distance that she left the city, her home and didn’t even talk to him for a year.
And don’t get me wrong, I know that Matt was grieving, that’s not what I’m faulting him for. I’m faulting him for abandoning his best friend (and apparently love of his life now?!), and worst of all, because that’s the worst part: not seeing his own mistakes, not apologizing and not promising to not do it again. The problem is not that Matt made a mistake while in grief, the problem is how this isn’t being recognized by the narrative as a mistake.
And the worst is…this is just a pattern in Daredevil. Matt does something bad to his friends (and apparently love of his life) and instead of the narrative acknowledging these mistakes and finding a way to overcome them, the show justifies it or more often, just forgets about it. Did Karen ever confront Matt about Elektra at all? Did Matt ever apologized to Foggy for the lies he told and the mess he put him in (the Punisher trial)? No, those things are not even mentioned, for the sake of Matt’s usual brand of angst.
And apparently the latter is what’s going to happen in Born Again. You would think Karen would have that experience of being left in a time of need by (apparently!) the love of her life, and maybe she has problems with that? Maybe she has problems trusting him again, even if she understands the emotional place he was in? You would think Karen and Matt would have some type of confrontation around that event, no? As also a way of overcoming this differences? Well, apparently no! The way Charlie Cox described their relationship, there’s absolutely nothing going on between those two outside of their inevitable romance.
And the problem with this is that it treats Karen’s feelings and actions as a narrative device and therefore, can be changed or forgotten about whenever the narrative needs it. Do I need to say this is treating her as a prop? Do I need to say this will destroy her complexities and depth, for the sake of giving Matt a “proper” girlfriend?
And you might tell me “but Cass, you don’t know if any of that is gonna happen. The show isn’t out yet!” True, but I can make educated guesses based on what I do know, and I what I know is: they won’t explore her time in San Francisco at all (Deborah talked about imagining what she went through there. If she needs to imagine…), I know that until now, neither Charlie nor Deborah talk about the characters dealing with the grief over Foggy, being together or separated, I know Karen won’t be still dealing with that grief, maybe making her own mistakes in the process because Deborah talked about Karen being in her “strong place” in season 2. I know Charlie Cox describes them as having no internal conflicts between them, at all. All of these are very bad signs for Karen as a individual character.
I don’t know why they are doing this. No one likes this couple. No one ever did! The most common reaction to Karen and Matt being a thing is utter confusion. Narratively, these characters never fitted together, and yet…they keep insisting on it, at the expanse of everything else……..Oh god, help me.
