Episode 1: Roadhouse Blues
Here we are, back again!
Hopefully, it makes the most of the opportunity; season 1 ofThe Punishermade the No.
The first scene, of course, tells us that he wont succeed.
Credit: Cara Howe/Netflix
We see Frank driving a truck with a young girl in the passenger seat.
Hes got a bloody face, and we dont know why.
They run into a roadblock with various people pointing guns at them.
The girl asks what they should do now.
Before we find out what happens next, we get pulled into reverse ourselves.
We flashback to the previous night when Frank first meets this young girl at a bar.
Apparently, shes in possession of some photos that are of interest to this guy.
Unfortunately for her, her contact is tied up in a chair with a bloody face.
that very bar where she just ran into Frank).
Frank tells the guy to back off and then crushes his fingers when he tries to throw a punch.
The bartender is impressed and tells him her name is Beth.
He accepts her offer.
I like how the subsequent sex scene is constructed.
As much fun as he had with Beth, though, something else grabs his attention when he arrives.
Its that young blonde girl again, looking scared as she hurries into the bathroom.
Two women follow her, while a man stands guard at the door, and Frank knows somethings wrong.
He barrels into the bathroom and engages the girls three attackers in a bare-knuckle brawl.
Things quickly get messy.
When she asks if there are more of them out there, Frank replies, I hope so.
The Punisher is back, baby!
Hell soon find that his old allies and enemies are also alive and well.
Shortly after she leaves, his eyes open… Hes angry, shes sassy and angry.
But theres actually more to their interrogation than simply laughs.
However, its not a friendly social call.
Shes there to torment him because he, you know, shot her.
But, apparently, Billy doesnt remember that.
In fact, he claims he doesnt remember anything that happened in season 1.
Madani is traumatized by the events of season 1, too.
Her mentor/friend Rafi tries to convince her that this isnt healthy, but she doesnt care.
She says no, leaving Frank to defend a precinct from religious zealots on his own.
Before we get to the good stuff, though, we learn a little bit about the enemies involved.
The wealthy patriarch is played by Corbin Bernsen, with significantly more menace than he ever brought toPsych.
This evil church version of Henry Spencer tells the Mysterious Religious Zealot that they need him for a mission.
The sheriff doesnt buy it any more than Frank did, and hes got fingerprint data on his side.
Apparently Rachel has gone by many names and claimed to be many ages.
Mysterious Religious Zealot isnt a big fan of Frank and Rachel sitting in a jail cell, though.
This sheriff is a by-the-book kind of guy, though.
Arraignment is Thursday, so hes not letting Frank and Rachel go before then.
This once again turns the lieutenant into an exasperated mess.
The Mysterious Religious Zealot decides to turn things up a notch.
After the peaceful option fails, he opts for war.
The station is well-equipped with guns, but their force is not up to the task.
While Frank still languishes in handcuffs, one of the amateur cops gets shot.
So the fight continues, and it really kicks into high gear once Frank gets out of his restraints.
The high point of the battle comes once Frank is armed.
Just as theyre about to let loose, Frank sends a well-aimed bullet right at the bottle.
After that, the battle gets a little more boring.
Unlike Kandahar, theres no crazy one-take sequence.
But just as he gets Frank in his sights, Madani shows up in her DHS helicopter.
Thank God it would suck to lose an intriguing villain quite so soon.
Madani comes to Ohio straight from New York, where theres been an update with Billy Russo.
After he got angry in one of his therapy sessions with Dr. Dumont, the guards are called in.
Thats when Billy rediscovers his strength and beats them all to death with their own weapons.
He takes Dumont as a hostage of sorts to secure his safe passage through the hospital.
When Rachel asks where theyre going now, Frank and Madani reply at the same time: New York.
Scar Tissue is mostly concerned with the trauma in almost all its stories.
(Speaking of Billys face, the actual scarring is pretty lame, right?
Like, his face doesnt actually look that messed up.)
He shows up at her home that night and asks for her help.
Of course she agrees, which is a development we all saw coming the moment she was introduced.
Meanwhile, Frank and Rachel Amy are busy lying low in Madanis apartment.
After taking a shower, she tries to nap on the bed but cant.
What happened between that moment and her landing at the roadhouse still remains unclear, though.
Both Madani and Curtis point out how Franks failure to actually kill Russo has made their lives more anxious.
Mahoney in the chest because he sneaks up on her at Arthurs home.
Thankfully, he was wearing a vest.
Thats right, folks: Its time to check in with Turk!
Frank is looking to figure out how these zealots came to be pursuing Amy.
In the middle of eating, Frank gets a call from Turk.
Now he just needs to make ithistrap.
Meanwhile, the other two people who were with Frank at the carousel that night arent doing too hot.
Billy is still living with Dumont, so shes able to provide helpful advice as needed.
With no armaments at hand, both sides use weight room implements as their weapons.
Unfortunately, he wont be easy to track down.
This guy isnt just a gangster hes got high-level contacts with the Russian government.
I am still loving the dynamic between Amy and Frank.
When is that woman ever happy?
Episode 6: Nakazat
Control is the heart and center of Nakazat.
Instead, they set the studio on fire as they leave and give the creep time to flee.
Specifically, it introduces the idea of whether or not Frank can control his impulse to kill.
Does he have to kill his opponents, and more importantly, will he ever stop killing?
First, Frank teaches her how to disarm someone with a gun, which was pretty tender.
Furthermore, exploring Frank as a father feels like a fresh entryway into the character.
It just wouldnt stop harping on the mandatory Dead Wife aspect.
Once theyre done with recon, Amy and Frank get to work setting at trap for Poloznev.
Instead, Frank just orders Poloznev to get out of the country and to never come back.
And thus, Frank stays hand once more, which is definitely a new thing for him.
Unfortunately,The Punisherveers into Very Bad Idea territory.
She stabs him in the hand with a pen.
But then they just keep staring into each others eyes until they end up making out.
As the episode ends, Curtis also decides to fight to get his life back as well.
The last few days, I let men live that I shouldve killed.
And it pisses me off, says Frank.
So Im gonna find Bill and Im gonna end it.
Im gonna do it my way.
Against her better judgment, Madani accepts that.
Madani, for one, cant stop thinking about the events of season 1.
We flashback to Dumont interviewing her in the hospital as she lay with a bandaged head.
In fact, Madani cant even take a shower these days without thinking about shower sex with Billy.
Its safe to say that Billy isnt thinking of her, though.
Afterward, though, Billy doesnt linger.
After their invigorating run-down of that tow truck, Billys crew is in the mood for something more dangerous.
They select Jake since his meth addiction makes him easy to find.
You win or you die.
Plus, the war already came home for Frank when Billy murdered his whole family in Central Park.
But once Billy starts brandishing a grenade, another employee frantically opens the vault for them.
Billy takes him as a hostage.
Frank arrives as theyre leaving.
At first, the others think hes Jake since hes wearing the guys camo jacket and red devil mask.
But then Frank unveils his face and the bloody Punisher jacket, and Billys head starts spinning.
Frank manages to take out a couple of the veterans, but the others grab Billy and drive off.
Eventually, Billy snaps out of it and orders his men to stop the car.
Mahoney and a bunch of cops show up, and Billy opens fire on them, too.
Billys dudes eventually circle back around and pick him up and whisk him away.
That firefight did very little to calm Billys mind down.
After returning to the warehouse, Billy kills two of the people on his team without saying a word.
Why would he do that?
he cries, unable to understand how Frank could have done this to his face.
He was my best friend.
But he was pointing a gun at me.
If I cant trust Frank, how can I trust anybody?
says an angry Billy, who is convinced that Krista knew about what Frank did all along.
Frank is also losing it right now, too.
Not only that, but then Frank decides to interrogate Billys cohort.
And by interrogate, I mean torture.
Madani eventually shows up looking for Frank and ends up joining them at the table.
Theres definitely more trouble brewing on the horizon.
Clearly, hes preparing for his next fight with Frank, and the world.
Episode 9: Flustercluck
Well, at least Billy Russo is having a good time.
If this was happening in real life, it would be a big cause for concern!
Its not the only big concern in Franks life right now.
Since the honest answer is not well, Evil Henry decides to spice things up a bit.
Its actually not the only meeting Evil Henry is in town for.
After golfing with Pilgrim, Evil Henry plays a game with his son as well.
Fair warning, a lot of reading-between-the-lines is necessary here.
He heads to the trailer, but both Curt and Amy are gone.
The bounty, of course, messes all that up.
Amys able to hide from them long enough for Frank to come reinforce her.
He breaks into Madanis apartment and demands that she explain what happened.
Once again, the handoff here is easy.
Now its up to Chancellor to tell us if they succeed.
After a while, it became really hard to keep track of where we were in the timeline.
After a lot of timey-wimey nonsense, it finally comes time for Frank to attack Valhalla.
Of course, Billy and his boys are waiting for him.
Frank decides to just wildly opens fire on the windowed room from below.
Of course, the cops show up and arrest Frank in the warehouse.
Frank wasnt the only one who broke one of his rules.
One of his shots nicks a vets femoral artery.
Curtis tries to save him, but the vet dies in his arms.
For some reason, visiting his old life sends him down a road of debauchery.
Once he wakes up from his bloody coma, he finds an unexpected visitor next to him.
Thats right, its finally time for Karen Page to show up!
Really, Karen just wanted to be there for a man she cares about.
Leave it to Karen to set things straight.
They were instead shot up close.
This proves that Frank didnt kill them after all; Billy did.
He now uses those same shells to intimidate Dumont and figure out whether shes on his side.
Dumont insists that she loves Billy.
To prove it, she finally explains her backstory, and why shes so afraid of windows.
One night, when Dumonts mother brought up the possibility of divorce, her father freaked out.
He grabbed little Dumont and, with her in hand, jumped out the window.
John Pilgrim, everyones favorite mysterious religious zealot, gets his own revelation this episode.
Unfortunately for him, its rooted in the present rather than the past.
So he has to finish the job.
I like this revelation!
The episode ends in chaos, as Franks friends implement their escape plan.
They almost make it, too.
But Mahoney refuses to allow them to pull another one on him.
But whatever, lets dive into the penultimate episode of the season.
However, in the commotion, he actually steals Madanis car.
Pilgrim uses the GPS system in Madanis to find the location of Frank and Amys trailer.
Curtis pretends that hes just Madanis booty call, but then Amy comes home and ruins the plan.
Meanwhile, Frank decides its time to end this conflict with Pilgrim and the Schultzes.
Senator David Schultz, because he assumes that he must be in on his parents plan.
There is something funny about how Frank suddenly cares about the Schultzes and Pilgrims of it all.
Here in this episode, it seems as though Billy doesnt even cross his mind.
I wish I cared about Krista as a character because her death really meant nothing for me.
You know who will really be rocked by the bad doctor dying?
Episode 13: The Whirlwind
They who sow the wind shall reap the whirlwind.
Here, its used to explain Franks role as an almost-mythic bringer of justice and vengeance.
As you might expect, he comes in guns blazing, but Madanis ready for him.
For a second there, I really thought Madani was dead.
She survives, though almost inexplicably.
In fact, Dumonts alive too!
Like Billy, her face is mostly untouched.
Shes just got her arms in splints.
Billy is actually in pretty bad shape.
Perhaps the reason he let Madani live is that she shot him up pretty bad.
Alone, he now tries to survive on the streets, and the resulting scenes are almost surreal.
But sinceThe Punisheris not a barrel of laughs likeArcher, its hard to tell how to respond to this.
At one point during this makeshift surgery, Billy loses consciousness.
Its so over-the-top ridiculous that it almost felt like the show apologizing for keeping Billy around so long.
Speaking of that other plotline, lets check in with Pilgrim.
Frank makes a call to the Schultzes to show them he has their prized son as a hostage.
When Anderson Schultz (a.k.a.
He makes a simple offer: Return Amy unharmed, and hell release David.
It works because Frank and Pilgrim have a very interesting connection.
Frank plays on that connection between them, and gets him to release Amy.
But once Davids absence is revealed, they just start going at it.
Getting repeatedly slammed in the face with one?
I would have loved to see the show spend more time exploring this connection between them in depth.
Amy reaches them first.
As they leave the mansion, they hear a gunshot and see that Pilgrim has his sons safe.
The Schultzes have reaped their whirlwind.
The Billy story finally,finallyconcludes with him making a panicked phone call to Curtis.
Bleeding out of his stomach, Billy knows hes on the way out.
But Frank is the one who shows up, not Curtis.
Afterward, Madani convinces Mahoney to just say that she shot Billy five times instead of three.
But Frank declines, saying he already has a job.
We then see him burst in on a gang meet-up, guns blazing.
I have to say, as a huge fan of season 1, Im disappointed in the second outing.
It felt like there were a lot of conflicting goals and storytelling choices that never quite gelled.
To understand the extent of my frustration with the Jigsaw choices, look at Jon Bernthal.
Whatever else you might say about this show, Bernthals performance, at least, deserves to be iconic.
It just felt like a lot of spinning wheels and dead ends.
I would much rather have preferred doing periodic check-ins with Billy instead.
As an example, look at the violence this season and who it was done to.
This season was a little more confused in its use of violence, especially at the end.
-Why did it seem like there were so many Lady Macbeth vibes this season?
