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A good courtroom drama is surprisingly difficult to craft. Sure, we love the way that lawyers navigate the oftentimes draconian nature of legislature, but too often it feels like a box-ticking exercise. A confident hero taking on a seemingly corrupt system, overcoming the odds to get the verdict we’re waiting for. Courts have been the source of endless drama, both in film and in the real world, but Daredevil: Born Again episode three delivered what I think is the best verdict delivery I’ve ever seen, simply by keeping us guessing about the inevitable outcome.

I’ll be talking spoilers for Daredevil: Born Again ahead, so be warned.

The verdict of any courtroom drama feels like the finale, the big reveal and payoff for fans keeping up with the twists and turns of the trial, but too often it feels like a foregone conclusion. Great films like A Time to Kill are a wonderful examination of how law and racism mix, but it never feels like they are really going to let racism win in this case. Instead, we’re gripped by trying to figure out how Matthew McConaughey’s Jake Brigance is going to win. The same is true in the greatest court movie of all time, My Cousin Vinny. The outcome feels safe even if the journey there doesn’t.

The White Tiger trial in Daredevil: Born Again episode three feels anything but safe. We still get the wonder of watching Matt Murdock at his non-vigilante best, overcoming impossible odds to give his client a fighting chance at freedom, but it isn’t clear what the verdict will be. We, as the audience, believe Hector Ayala is innocent, but I still felt an unease in my stomach as the jury was announcing their decision.

I let out an audible sigh of relief when he was found not guilty on all counts, something that caught me off guard. By nature of spending my days writing about pop culture, I’m pretty good at seeing where a story is going. It isn’t just about what the writer has shown us – it is about the kind of story they’re trying to tell and that is why I couldn’t guess what was going to happen. Either verdict made sense to both the characters and the narrative. Both could have led to the inevitable temptation for Matt Murdock to return as Daredevil. Both would have worked, so I was left with the unfamiliar feeling of not knowing what was coming next.

Sure, things didn’t pan out exactly how we wanted in the final moments, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that Daredevil: Born Again delivered the most tense, unpredictable courtroom drama that I’ve seen in years. Nothing felt safe or certain throughout and the White Tiger trial ended with a verdict that delivered an unexpected emotional hit in a show that, up till then, had been struggling to keep me invested. If this is the kind of uncertainty and payoff that the rest of the season has in store, then I can’t wait for more.

Consider this a meta post-credits scene for Marvel fans - the four key articles you need to read next to continue the thrills:

• How to watch the Marvel Cinematic Universe in release or chronological order
• The best Marvel Comics stories of all time
• All the MCU movies ranked from best to worst
• Our weekly Marvel insider's column, Marvel Matters