6) The Choice
The crux of episode three is the Punisher chaining up Daredevil and forcing him to make an impossible choice – break his moral code and kill him, or he will kill a criminal. This plot is lifted wholesale from ‘The Choice,’ an issue of The Punisher from Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon – complete with the gun taped to Daredevil’s hand.
The criminal he kills is Nelson & Murdock client Elliot ‘Grotto’ Grope. The character derives from Daredevil #168 from 1981, again by Frank Miller. Grotto does not have such a large role in the comic, however, and is just a minor stooge for the mob. Coincidentally – or not? – he appears in the same issue that also introduces Elektra.
Furthermore, there are repeated references throughout the season to the Punisher turning Hell’s Kitchen into a war zone. This is, of course, also the subtitle of the character’s third movie outing, 2008’s Punisher: War Zone.