The worst episode of the season. This episode manages to crush everything wrong about Punisher in one episode. Luckily the rest of the season is excellent. But this episode has so many problems such as the overly idealized "perfect wife" who isn't a real person (which continues). There's violence in this episode towards the end that is just brutal for the sake of being brutal. It's what a teenager thinks The Punisher is about.
The Punisher is a character who understands everything about what he does. He's violent yes but controlled violence that's purposeful. He kills but he kills because he's already done the mental math and concluded that it must be done. It's his superpower as it were. Moral superiority. He doesn't agonize about whether or not to kill his enemy. He kills and goes to sleep because he unlike many superheroes has already suffered extreme cruelty. But Castle's not cruel and the violence in this episode can't be considered anything other than cruel. He doesn't need to destroy these men to save the boy and yet he does. The framing of the episode so far does everything it can to humanize the victims of his attacks. Which isn't what you do when you want your hero to kill people. The framing of the fight scene at the end implies this is an awesome thing done by an awesome guy. It's not. It's just an ugly violent inhuman version of Frank Castle even by comic book standards. When what made him so good in Daredevil Season 2 was his humanity.
Review by Jacob PolakBlockedParentSpoilers2023-05-08T19:42:36Z
(8.5/10) - I have not heard many people talking about ‘The Punisher’ and I have never acknowledged him as an iconic marvel character, so I was not incredibly motivated to watch this show. However, after seeing Jon Berthnal’s exceptional and iconic performance as Shane Walsh in AMC’s ‘The Walking Dead’, I thought I’d give this series a try.
… and boy it is bloody fantastic so far! Pilot episodes are never really intense or fast-paced, and they often contain necessary but sometimes boring insights into certain characters’ backstories, but this pilot is certainly unique.
I loved the dark and mysterious vibe of the episode; the soundtrack, special effects and acting was absolutely spot on. There isn’t a whole lot of dialogue in this episode, but that isn’t required as the fast-moving plot and even early character development hits the nail on the head!
Frank Castle spends a lot of the episode traumatised and haunted by memories of his past with his children and continually sees certain visions of his wife, which I really enjoyed as it was a different approach to telling a story without conveying too much critical information- it helped to keep me hooked.
Overall, I am very excited to see what is next for this stand-out series and I’m definitely going to binge-watch!
Best Scene (SPOILER WARNING!!!) When Frank absolutely destroys Lance and his team of criminals after they hurl an injured Donny into a cement mixer.