Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for Daredevil: Born Again Episode 7.This week's episode of adds yet another thrilling installment to the acclaimed MCU revival. Not only does the series' latest arrival confirm the open secret that is playing Muse with his chilling reveal as Bastion Cooper, but it is also filled with plenty of rewarding Daredevil () and Kingpin () moments now that both men are returning to their darker halves. That said, in an episode where questionable supporting characters like Daniel Blake () and Buck Cashman () take meaningful steps forward into the narrative spotlight, there's one point in which the episode drags – the continued relationship drama between Matt Murdock and Dr. Heather Glenn ().

Heather is perhaps the most important character in Daredevil: Born Again Episode 7 because of her relationship to Doohan's unprecedented serial killer. Her latest therapy session from hell gives the episode its defining moment when Muse rears his blood-stained head and threatens to make Heather his latest victim, resulting in a close-call save by Heather's masked boyfriend before the therapist shockingly shoots her own client. The altercation is not only a successful subversion of the popular theory that Heather would suffer a brutal death but also a traumatic experience that is bound to resonate throughout the rest of the revival. Yet, after weeks of waiting for Heather's compassionate world to collide with Matt's brutal alter ego, the fallout from this scene is also unbearably exasperating .

There's no question that secret identities are a quintessential part of the superhero experience, and it's a tale as old as Celestials that said superheroes will try to keep their identities secret from those closest to them in order to either protect them or maintain their privacy. This dynamic has played out countless times in basically all major superhero origin stories. First, the hero gains their powers or adopts their persona, then begins the cathartic march towards accidentally letting their real identity slip to basically everyone who knows them. This gradual process is one of the most rewarding aspects of watching superhero television, as it mirrors a process of personal discovery that can make viewers at home feel seen whenever they feel they have to hide aspects of their own personalities. With that in mind, the classic trope of the hero hiding their identity from a loved one can become tortuous if it drags on too long.

is a good example of a now-classic superhero series that never saw 's iteration of the caped crusader clear the air with his love interest, Dana (), depriving the audience of a satisfying step forward in the pair's relationship until eventually implying the conversation had taken place in . On the Marvel side, Peter () and Gwen () never had the time to peek under the former's webbed mask in . In recent days, however, the MCU and superhero television in general has actually been improving this trope, with recent series like the Daredevil-adjacent , , and all getting these major revelations out of the way relatively early.

These improvements only serve to make Daredevil: Born Again's latest episode that much more frustrating because . Following her rescue by Daredevil, Heather wakes up in the hospital to Matt comforting her, and while it isn't exactly clear yet what the therapist suspects or knows, Daredevil: Born Again still only alludes to Heather's suspicions when she begins remembering how Daredevil spoke her name. It's as important not to rush narrative development as it is to keep a television series engaging, so the show's hesitance is, on a level, understandable. Having Heather not know about Matt's powers for the show's first seven episodes — while she is ironically researching masked vigilantes, no less — . At this point, however, it's well past time to give up the act.

Again, there are benefits to the superhero slow-burn when a more gradual pace fits the narrative, especially for more long-form, serialized narratives that take place in a static setting, like a high school. In Daredevil: Born Again's case, however, it doesn't look good for an adult man in a long-term relationship to essentially gaslight his romantic partner on a daily basis, especially considering . With Matt outright lying to Heather at the beginning of the episode when she discovers the bruise leftover from last week's epic battle with Muse and our really good lawyer pretending again when Heather is literally hospitalized, Daredevil: Born Again is taking a murky moral stance towards Matt Murdock's personal life. In many ways, this Matt is a regression back to his early days of lying to Karen () and Foggy ().

This regression offers a fascinating insight into Daredevil: Born Again's handling of Matt's grief following the latter's tragic death, suggesting that Matt is unable to maintain his maturity without his beloved friend. The idea that Matt's addiction to crime-fighting brings out the worst of his personal life is also fascinating, and it creates another fascinating parallel to the personal life of his mayoral adversary, who is surprisingly open about his dark side with his wife. (Minus an extramarital murder, give or take.) Yet, while drawing out Matt's secret with Heather possesses undeniable thematic benefits, it also puts Daredevil: Born Again in a storytelling bind. With only two episodes left until the end of Season 1, it doesn't feel like the series has enough time for Heather to gradually realize the truth and confront Matt in a way that pays off the pair's recent history.

At the very least, Daredevil: Born Again's timeframe puts even more pressure on the Season 1 finale to deliver a reckoning between the pair that balances Matt's unraveling with Heather's clinical personality. Moreover, in order to give the audience enough time to really savor these character interactions, this reckoning needs to happen sooner rather than later, especially with Kingpin rapidly rising in the world of politics. Mayor Fisk's war against vigilantes is bound to fire shockwaves through Matt's personal life, especially since Daredevil's worst villain literally knows more about him at the moment than his current girlfriend. Therefore, in order to spare enough time for Matt and Heather to work out if there's any love left beneath his mask, Daredevil: Born Again needs to move past its tired trope and hit Matt with the real fight audiences have been waiting for.

New episodes of Daredevil: Born Again debut on Tuesdays on Disney+ in the U.S.