Frank Castle is back, and his attempt at living a normal life is ruined when he sees a group attacking a young woman.
The episode opens on a blood-soaked Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal) with a young woman (Giorgia Whigham) next to him in his Battle Van as a car follows.
When another car blocks their escape, Frank simply rolls down his window and unleashes a hail of bullets, then reverses into the car behind them. At some point earlier, Frank is in a bar when the girl arrives, and her antsy manner catches his attention as she insults him for glancing at her. The girl seems to be waiting for someone, and Frank, returning to the bar, intervenes when a drunk harasses and grabs the bartender (Alexa Davalos). Frank's disgusts when the man insults her gets him in a fighting mood, and when Frank easily shoves him back, he breaks a bottle and keeps coming. The bouncer, Ringo (Avery Mason) grabs him, but Beth stops him from throwing out Frank out; he gives his fake name as she shows interest in him. Elsewhere, a man named John Pilgrim (Josh Stewart) is torturing Sergei Konchevsky (Alex Notkin) when the girl calls, saying she worked for someone named Fiona. She tells him "everyone else" has been killed, and she refuses to bring photographs she's carrying to him, saying she wants out. Explaining she went to Michigan where no one would search for her, she says to meet her at the bar to make the trade or he'll never see her again. Pilgrim says the girl's return when he'd lost her is providence; he then gives Konchevsky "peace" by strangling him while praying.
Frank and Beth get closer chatting about his wandering lifestyle, and though he plans to move on the next day, she invites him over to her place, and he accepts.
The two feel awkward and almost call it off, but Frank hops in Beth's truck, while the girl breaks into a room at the hotel he was staying in. At Beth's house, she explains she was into music in the past but needed things to slow down; Frank surmises that she has a son. Things stay awkward as she assumes a son would be a deal-breaker, but they finally take things to the bed. In the process, Frank tells Beth about his marine corps past and how his family was taken from him. He echoes Karen's words about loneliness, and after they both agree they're not lonely now, he gives his real name and says he is staying shut about sensitive information. She is naturally shaken, but also impressed with his desire to keep things honest as he promises to not let his issues affect her; she decides not to let him stay. Beth says you have to be able to take the good when it comes, he agrees, but flashes back to scarring Billy Russo (Ben Barnes) and their old friendship.
Trying to skip out the next morning, Frank meets Beth's young son Rex, and as they try to reduce the tension, Frank invites them to have breakfast wherever Rex wants.
Surprised Frank's not still trying to escape, Beth agrees. At the diner, she explains what she does to support them, and Rex takes a liking to Frank. Rex asks if Frank has a son, and says his dad has never been around. Frank assures him that his dad must miss him, as he misses his every day. They return to the hotel later and say their goodbyes, and Beth mentions that the band from the bar, whom Frank enjoyed, will be playing again, suggesting he stay. As Frank returns to his room, the girl wakes to the door opening and grabs her things. She leaves as it turns out a worker was the one outside, and after bumping into Frank and recognizing him, she accuses him of stalking and leaves as he asks if she's okay. The girl returns to the bar to wait, and out on the road, Frank has a change of heart and turns around, surprising Beth at the bar and joking he stayed for the music. Frank notices a suspicious group of people but assures Beth it's nothing. He notices, however, when the girl, having seen the people, struggles to run out of the room. She tries to escape out the bathroom window but only tosses out her bag before a woman pulls her back in to face her and another. Frank finds one of the guys standing guard at the door and tries to get in, and when the girl screams, he headbutts his way in. Frank wraps his belt around his arm when they pull out knives, and gets ready for a scrap that becomes a bloody barroom brawl and kicks off his involvement in whatever the girl is mixed up in.
As with Daredevil, the return of the The Punisher is as exciting as I'd hoped, giving us a taste of both Frank's attempt at a normal life and what keeps him from it.
The episode's intro is interesting by itself, as you can't help but wonder why Frank is already soaked in blood and why these people are after him and some girl. This immediately gives you a sense of what is to come and hypes up the rest of the episode, as you wait in anticipation to see what leads up to it. Much like the first season, Frank has left behind his violent life in an attempt to find normality, but of course a girl mixed in with something bad happens upon him. Right off the bat we get to see his classic gentlemanly attitude when the drunk accosts Beth, and even when pushed, the most he does is bend the man's hand. Already, Jon Bernthal shows again why he was a perfect choice for this series, able to perfectly capture the calm "yes sir, no sir" side of Frank as well as his brutal side. Usually when we're seeing Frank Castle, he's taking down criminals, but there's also the softer side he lets out with those close to him, like Beth becomes in this episode. Connecting with Beth is a massive step for Frank, as he's been understandably struggling for years with his family's deaths, and been far too alone. It would've been easy for him to keep quiet about his past and pain, but he was willing to open up to Beth in an attempt to be with her. Later in the episode he shows off Frank's brutal side, and it's just as impressive; he gets rather animalistic, even roaring at times as he pummels people. The combat is great to watch, and Frank uses the exact kind of ruthlessness fans want and expect from the Punisher. Beth is an interesting character to have beyond simply being a love interest for Frank, as she has her son to think about and seems tough, yet with a vulnerable side. In the initial bar scene, Beth doesn't do much when she gets grabbed, but there's not really any reason to believe she should've behaved differently. She's dealing with a rough drunk man, and obviously knows these kinds of guys don't like taking no for an answer, so it's likely that he'd get violent if she were to say anything, and even with Ringo there, she's still in danger. Revealing Rex is the perfect way of showing why she doesn't do much more; if something happens to her, her son is left without either parent. She still stays firm against the guy as he hits on her, and in the later fight scene, she actually tries to help Frank with a classic bartender hidden shotgun. The girl is intriguing so far, giving us little information about what she's doing or who she's mixed up with, giving us a mystery about both her and Pilgrim. She catches Frank's attention from the beginning, nervous and antsy about everything and worried that he's following her at the hotel. Pilgrim is already a bit menacing after a single scene, perfectly willing to kill Kanchovsky, and interestingly saying a prayer as he does so. With this and his mention of providence, it's clear he's going to be heavily based in religion, and his faith obviously believes in a bit of death to "save" others. The music choices for this episode were fantastic, most often with fitting song choices, and in the case of the torture scene, the lack of sound. This can partially be attributed to Shooter Jennings, who gives excellent performances in this episode and whose songs fit the situations perfectly. The meaning behind the lyrics and titles are fitting: the first song is Jennings's "The Outsider," which is playing in the bar as we see Frank, a man who could truly be described as a fighter and survivor. Following this is "Outlaw You," which seems to talk about how Frank is looking for something about himself, i.e. "looking for a country soul," and instead finds people who think they're hard and can take him down. In the torture scene, the lack of music is what aids the scene. In such a scene, tension is important, and often times adding in music can just make it silly. Instead, there is a lack of really any sounds other than what Pilgrim and Kanchovsky say, and this helps make the situation more threatening. The next bar song to play is "Wild and Lonesome," which is more prominent thanks to Frank and Beth's earlier conversation about loneliness. Like the song, Frank has been just traveling around for a while now, and he's been by himself all this time; this kind of thing has an effect on a person. The final song in the bar leads into Frank's fight scene; it starts off slow and turns into a fast song about how, like Frank, the "real" singer is a rough fighter. Some of the lyrics in this songs can also be used to describe the other introduced characters as well, and show how they're similar to Frank, especially the girl. As mentioned, Beth and Frank are both fitting for "Wild and Lonesome," as she's been without someone for a long time. The girl seems to fit this as well, though, as she's obviously come a far way and she's pretty young to be in such a dangerous situation already. In the end, the music for this episode was fantastic, the characters were intriguing, and the action scenes were incredible and brutal, making for some Punisher fun.
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AuthorI love the entertainment side of things. Video games, tv shows, superheroes and movies are my passion and I'd love to get the news out for things I enjoy. My contact page has links to my social media, so if you enjoy what I have to say, likes, shares, comments, and follows are always greatly appreciated! Archives
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