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briangroth27 · 6 years

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The Punisher Season 1 Review

Going into this show, I’d seen all three Punisher movies and his appearance on Daredevil (in addition to cartoons like the 90s Spider-man animated series and guest spots in non-Punisher comics), and thought the character was OK, but none of those sources got me to seek out his solo comics. As far as I was concerned, the use of Frank in Daredevil as a foil for Matt is the best and most interesting role he’d ever played. Unfortunately, while this solo series introduced a couple of compelling ideas, I can’t say it made me a fan of Frank Castle.

Full spoilers…

I feel like the biggest problem was that the season’s focus was entirely on the wrong plot. I didn’t care about Castle’s (Jon Bernthal) battle with his ex-friend Billy Russo (Ben Barnes) at all; not only did we barely get any scenes of the deep friendship they supposedly had, which would’ve given weight and tragedy to their conflict as enemies, but unnaturally extending the conspiracy surrounding the murder of Castle’s family (Kelli Barrett, Aidan Pierce Brennan, Nicolette Pierini) after he’d resolved it at the beginning of the series fell totally flat. We got even fewer scenes of the Castles together than we did Frank and Billy together. We were shown his wife Maria shot in the face in a dream sequence in each of the first three episodes (which was totally unnecessary), and that felt like the majority of what we saw of them. So, not only did leaning on Frank’s vengeance arc feel repetitive since we’d already seen him fight that fight, the season failed to connect me to his family and the loss Frank was feeling because of the Castle family’s total lack of characterization. I shouldn’t feel the violence of his family’s death more than I know any of the characters who were killed—that makes it feel like Frank is fighting against violence itself, rather than avenging anyone he personally cared for—but that’s exactly what happened here. The show wanted me to mourn his dead family with him, but since I didn’t know those people, they came off as shorthand pain for Frank instead of characters it was a tragedy to lose (watching him bond with Micro’s (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) son (Kobi Frumer) isn’t the same thing as seeing Frank with his actual boy). As much as I hated Castle re-avenging his family, Frank’s near-death experience at the end of the season—where Maria tells him to come home with her, but Frank decides to live instead—was a well-made and well-acted sequence. It just should've happened at the start of the season, right after avenging his family. All that time where he’s a walking zombie at the start of the season could’ve built to a moment where he can’t go on just existing and has to choose to live again. I have to believe Frank has a purpose beyond avenging his family (it can’t be the only thing pulling him back into life) and this show should've been about him exploring and defining what that purpose is instead of just throwing him back into the same grief he already dealt with.

Castle admits he's scared to think about what to do when the war is over in the final minutes of the season and that’s an interesting angle to approach the character from (and Bernthal played it very well), but it too should’ve happened much sooner instead of regressing his character with the conspiracy. That's what they should've started with and expanded from there, particularly as that was already a briefly-mentioned theme early on. I would’ve been much more invested in a man trying (and sometimes failing) to get back into society than I was in a man who was essentially dead, like Castle was in the first couple of episodes. I did enjoy the ex-soldier support group run by Curtis Hoyle (Jason R. Moore) that met throughout the season. Not only was that a good place to tie Castle’s experiences to our world and lend the series some social relevance when it talked about society’s treatment of soldiers after they come home from war, but it provided what should’ve been the main plot of the season: Lewis (Daniel Webber) as a Punisher copycat/acolyte. Lewis’ psychological issues were fascinating and comparing his inability to deal with the real world with Frank’s failed attempts to reconnect would’ve been a strong juxtaposition. Furthermore, turning Frank’s mission on its head by having Lewis (and, if I were writing it, others) become a violent copycat who attacked the governmental system “that’s trying to take away their right to defend themselves” (along with sympathetic media sources) while Frank only killed criminals—making Frank the “half-measure” he called Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox)—would’ve been a great way to force Frank to deal with what he’d brought into the world and to reflect on his own methodology. Lewis should’ve been the main villain: he was the direct challenge to Castle’s morality and crusade that could force Frank to grow, not Frank’s old corrupt war buddy. Frank dealing with what he brought into the world would’ve been a much stronger conflict than anything they did with Billy and the conspiracy. Instead, Lewis was a short-lived subplot that didn’t really make Frank reflect much at all.

Between Castle and Lewis, they had the perfect opportunity to dive deeper into the gun control issue—Frank is practically the dream “good guy with a gun”—so I don’t know why they didn’t. I wish they’d dug deeper into the problematic nature of the character in today’s world—he would be someone (unintentionally) riling up gun fanatics who fancy themselves Wild West heroes to take matters into their own hands—and not doing so seems irresponsible. I wouldn’t have a problem with him bringing a conservative viewpoint to the table—I don’t have to agree with everything he does or thinks, after all—but bringing next to no viewpoint to the main character felt like a cheat. Maybe it would’ve been OK to come down on the side that says the Punisher is a problem, and then show Frank dealing with that. That would be something totally fresh; we’ve seen countless stories where the main character might be morally wrong but works for the greater good and is thereby absolved; maybe having Frank deal with the fact that his morality isn’t in society’s best interest but having him to go on fighting regardless would’ve been a compelling journey.

David Lieberman/Micro was a good foil for Castle and his steps toward becoming someone like Frank worked well without making him a full-on action hero. The ups and downs of their partnership provided some solid drama, as did his separation from his family (Jaime Ray Newman, Ripley Sobo). If we’d known the Castles at all, we could’ve felt more of what Frank was feeling about David missing his family—but still being able to watch over them—as well. I’m very glad the show didn’t seriously venture down a flirtatious route for Frank and Sarah Lieberman, though their scenes together did have a good measure of chemistry.

Dinah Madani (Amber Rose Revah) was OK, but I never found myself rooting for her to either catch or team up with Castle. While her unique perspective on working in the government as an Iranian-American who saw herself as an American was interesting, her antagonistic role towards Castle didn’t really spark with me (showing her mettle in the early chicken scene was fun, though). I also didn't feel a big moment coming during the build to her discovering that Billy was betraying her (and his de facto confession in the stairwell didn’t seem like it had much of an impact either). I feel like both Revah and her character would’ve been better used in a better plot.

Early on, Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll) seemed to have nothing to do but deliver a clue or two and worry about Frank, which was a waste. I’m glad she came back during Lewis’ attacks and that she played a major role in that subplot. Going against Lewis with the media was exactly the role I wanted to see from her and it was great to see Karen so adept at wielding her journalistic voice. I would’ve liked to learn more about Karen’s dark past, since I read that Woll sees Karen as being able to open up about that with Castle, presumably in a way she doesn’t feel she can with Matt. I wish Karen had come back after Episode 10; there wasn’t time for her to check in on Frank (or he on her) after he was given a new life?

As for the conspiracy itself, I don’t have much to say about it because none of the power players interested me at all. The double-crosses and self-preservation in the upper echelons of government agencies didn’t make me want to know more about the broader Punisher world. I think Billy would've worked better if they'd made him either more emotionally dependent on his Anvil gig as his "place" in the world after the war, another Punisher copycat, or both (if you’re only interested in the name/arc of Jigsaw, just rename Lewis “Billy Russo”). As it was, I wasn’t invested in their friendship so their clashes fell flat (even Frank mutilating his face just had me realizing “Oh. He’s gonna be Jigsaw.”) and I certainly don’t care if he comes back for revenge. The show’s action was pretty underwhelming compared to the street-level fights we've seen on the likes of Daredevil. Perhaps this style of fighting just isn’t my cup of tea, though; I didn't need the violence to be as brutal as it was to prove this was some harder-edged take on the Marvel world. "Cool" sequences like Frank running around gunning down enemies in the forest and Micro’s lair did nothing for me.

Like Inhumans before it, Punisher introduced some interesting ideas but didn’t expand on them enough to keep me interested. Doubling down on Frank’s family’s murders felt redundant and I couldn’t connect to him or them. While the series did convince me that Frank (and certainly Bernthal) could be a compelling lead given the right enemy and emotional journey, this show didn’t provide enough of either. If this does not change, I don't think I'd be interested in a second season.

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