As the search for Billy begins, he makes a trip to see an old friend and Rachel's true past begins coming to light.
Some jerk clearly looking for a fight climbs onto a bus in the city that Billy Russo happens to be riding, and takes interest in the scarred man.
His goading gets no response as Billy thinks about what happened with Dumont, but when he climbs off the bus, Billy follows, and steals his clothes and switchblade. With Frank and Rachel in her apartment, Madani tells Hernandez how Frank let her know he'd talk if she didn't help him. She reminds him they can't really expect him to trust their agreement since it's based on lying, then forms her own lie saying she sent Frank packing. In reality, she is letting both Frank and Rachel stay at her apartment while she stays in a hotel under the condition they don't leave for anything. Hernandez tries to convince her to talk to someone, as despite having finished the department's counseling, she's become obsessed with Russo. Rachel bombards Frank with questions about Madani, their relationship, and him, but he simply tells her to take the bedroom while he takes the couch. Frank clicks on the news and sees a report about Russo, and after noticing Madani's nice clothes, Rachel takes a shower. She then tries to sleep, but can't get comfortable and strangely decides to sleep underneath the bed, and begins crying, which Frank hears.
At a bar, Billy sees a report about him, and thinks back to his time building his physique at the hospital; he was irritated at only managing 20 push-ups.
Dumont asks how many he could do before; he explains military officials would ask that to find guys who would say "I don't know" or "more than the next guy," as they didn't know their capability; he was never asked before. As Billy laments his situation, Dumont claims he's come far in a short time and tells him to "hang in there," which causes Billy to begin laughing. He stammers out how they had the famous poster of a struggling cat with this message at the group home, as if they'd had any other choice. She brings up his dreams, and after calming him when he gets riled up, suggests decorating his still-blank mask, in an effort to have the face he wants the world to see. In her apartment, Madani demands answers from Frank, claiming he owes her, but he sees through her deception and says she needs him to deal with Billy like she can't. She details how the doctors thought Billy couldn't live through everything he experienced, yet somehow he dragged himself back to life. Billy's journal is revealed to contain only pictures of the Punisher skull; Madani says is proof he's lying. Frank says it's good he's all Billy thinks of, so Madani fetches his old armor, saying while he's moved on, Billy, who's blood is mixed with theirs on it, hasn't. When he points out she had a shot at Billy as well, she raves that she knows and spent every day at the hospital wanting him to admit what he did. She says maybe Frank couldn't kill him either because they were both fooled, so he angrily demands to know if he's there to take the shot she couldn't. Madani requests names or places to find Billy, but Frank simply says never ends, and she leaves. That night, Frank checks Rachel's door, then locks it and leaves when she doesn't answer. Inside she dreams about her past happy life and how it was shattered when she returned to her friends to find them all slaughtered, and ran. Frank visits a cautious Curt, and after small talk, he admits his gun is a precaution for if Billy remembers what happened. He explains that for some reason he's still listed as Billy's next of kin, and visited once to find him scrawny and babbling, sure he was there to see Curt about his lost leg. Frank shares Madani's theory, but Curt shuts it down as Billy thought they were still enlisted and talked positively about Frank. Curt notes the irony of Frank and everyone else having to live with what Billy and the Punisher did, but not Billy himself; he says Frank should've killed him. He continues that he wants a real life, not a miserable stoic one where he guards his own apartment, and is dating someone he wants nowhere near this. Frank wonders where Billy went, and Curt reminds him that Billy didn't hide or run from them before, theorizing he'd go after anyone who'd wronged him in the past.
Billy has, in fact, returned to a baseball field from his and Frank's past, where he told his former friend how he used to love coming down to play and see everything.
This all ended when he was abused by someone named Arthur, even after his shoulder healed; Frank wishes his friend could've had the lucky childhood he did. They rationalize it that his suffering at least made him the "toughest SOB" Frank knows, and Billy says he sometimes comes by to think about something. He begins falling asleep at the dark field, but snaps awake again when he immediately dreams of the Punisher skull. Returning momentarily to Madani's apartment, Rachel has a meltdown when she finds she's been locked into he room, yelling at and hitting Frank, who just takes it. Billy has since gone to Arthur Walsh (Thomas G. Waites), and after assuring him he won't hurt him, reminds him of their relationship at the Ray of Hope Group Home. At the apartment, Rachel tells Frank about her experience, with him ignoring her suggestion he go to a hospital for his hand. She is angered when he questions Fiona taking care of them but also having them take dangerous jobs, but agrees to stay and talk rather than run and lay low. She continues that she was stuck hiding under the bed when Pilgrim returned, and their job was taking photos of two men hugging, crying, and kissing at some event. Becoming annoyed when he asks what she wants to do about it, she, saying Pilgrim killed everyone she cared about, wants to run. Frank says she knows she can't, because Pilgrim will never stop, and sometimes you have to take the fight to your enemy. Arthur gives Billy some coffee, which he wasn't allowed at the hospital, and surprises him when he doesn't care the group home is now a bunch of apartments. He is confused Billy would come to him and asks what happened to his face; this triggers one of Billy's moments and he says it was an accident. While he admits his mind is scrambled, he remembered Arthur's address; Arthur says it's a damn shame because he was a "good-looking kid." As the episode ends, Madani butts heads with Mahoney, Rachel makes a choice after researching into Frank, and Russo makes a dark decision of his own.
This episode focused mostly on the struggles Billy went through in his past and the more recent ones that have pushed him over the edge.
Throughout the episode, we get hints about the truth about what happened to Billy at the group home, and by then it's quite clear without being stated outright. Early in the episode, Billy mentions they had no choice at the group home but to "hang on," clearly meaning the others were abused as well, and they couldn't escape. Then, there's the flashback where he and Frank talk about his shoulder having been injured because of Arthur, which at least shows he was violent. By the end, it's obvious that Arthur was not merely an abuser; he abused Billy sexually, which was key in warping his mind. After going through this torture, it's easy to see how Billy would become the kind of person, though this doesn't really make you sympathetic and understanding of what he did last season, but rather what he's going through now. The Billy we're seeing right now is, essentially, a different man than he was last season, as he has no memories of things that happened. When you really consider all the experiences you've had before and how they've shaped you, you realize you're a completely different person from your past. This Billy, if he's truthful about his memory, might not even consider doing what he did to Frank; perhaps another thing happened to corrupt him. But without these memories, he's also confused and scared, and like Dumont said last episode, has regressed to primal reactions. His most reoccurring reaction is rage, and this has consequences when an terrible person from his past becomes fresh in his mind again. Along with this insight to Billy's past, we finally get what seems to be the truth from Rachel, who finally seems to understand that Frank wants to help her. It's honestly surprising in a way that she was able to push on like she did, as though she was obviously scared, she managed to escape Pilgrim and plan. It was fortunate for her that she ran into Frank, who can be both the animal to protect her, as seen before, and a calm guy to talk to, as he was here. His chat with her this episode was a bit of a wake-up call she needed, as she finally realized she couldn't just run from Pilgrim. It would've been difficult for her to fight back on her own, but now she also has Frank on her side, and that stacks the odds in her favor, I'd say. Madani is getting pretty irrational so far, but it's understandable why she would, and of course Billy will likely get his memories back and it'll seem like she was justified. Really, though, Madani is just being stubborn because of Billy being able to fool her before, and seems impossible of accepting that he could really be amnesiac. If he truly has lost his memory, then I will still find Madani to be in the wrong, as she's making the process of figuring everything out harder and worse, which could be part of why he ran off. Now that Billy is loose and Rachel is finally being honest with Frank, it might be time for the Punisher to truly make his return.
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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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