While Billy struggles after confronting Madani, Frank and Pilgrim come face to face and end the Schultz matter once and for all.
A furious Billy Russo storms into Dumont's apartment and shoots at Madani, who retrieves her gun and wounds him multiple times. He chokes her out despite bleeding profusely, and collapses.
Elsewhere, Pilgrim's boys are suited up for their mother's funeral, while the Schultzes discuss how they could be useful and they owe it to John to care for them. Eliza is sure they can't help the damaged John, who is no good for the boys; Anderson applauds her tough choice, which she says will help the boys' future and David's. Anderson calls their son up but gets Frank, and he and Eliza become upset and angered as the Punisher demands Amy for David. As Frank knows what they're capable of, Anderson threatens to kill anyone around Frank if David is harmed, unaware the phone is connected to a laptop. Frank responds to the threat by punching David. Though Eliza feels he's in over his head, she asks what he wants; Frank says he'll trade David for the unharmed Amy, but rescue attempts will make him kill the senator. Done stitching himself, Pilgrim cautiously answers a knock at his door but finds no one; Amy is around the corner with a shotgun. He picks up a call from his son Lemuel, who expresses concern for him, but Pilgrim assures him they'll be together soon and expresses his love. Eliza takes the phone and tells him about David's situation. Recognizing her anger, Pilgrim lies that he has Amy, and she makes a veiled threat about the boys.
Madani wakes to Mahoney and a medic, and after he calms he down, she confirms Billy was there and he reveals Dumont survived her fall.
She is hysterical wondering how she survived after her multiple shots didn't stop Billy, but Mahoney calms her and says he believes Billy lost a lot of blood and will likely die. He applauds her for working so hard with both Billy and Pilgrim, and after he agrees to tell her when they find Billy, she turns down her gun and badge. Amy gives Frank a call, and he goes to the hotel and berates her; she was tired of running from Pilgrim, and though sharing his room number, lies she didn't get close. She agrees to stay away no matter what and Frank busts in, but Pilgrim is in the room next door and starts shooting through the wall. As guests rush out, Frank returns to the hall and enters the other room, but Pilgrim goes to the other room and shoots again. Terrified outside, Amy starts coming forward, and Frank forces Pilgrim into the hall by jumping through the damaged wall, and the hitman grabs Amy to use as a shield. He demands David in exchange for her, and though Frank follows, he can only advise her to listen to Pilgrim as they take the elevator down to the garage. The other elevator opens on three cops, so Frank jumps in and beats them all as they go down, arriving just as Pilgrim peels off with Amy. He jumps on the hood, but Pilgrim shakes him off and escapes. Elsewhere, Billy holds a doctor at gunpoint patch him, as he knows he'd get locked up at a hospital; the doctor reluctantly agrees despite the enormity of his wounds. Jigsaw demands the operation be done without anesthesia as well, and though afraid he'll cut something when Billy inevitably reacts, the doctor begins. The man succeeds in removing one bullet, but Billy passes out as he goes for the second, and he looks at the bag of money.
Over at the trailer, David is in shock over his parents' actions and his inability to see it; Curtis says they kept him from it to use as a poster boy who could deny it all.
He is also confused why it's over some photos they both say shouldn't matter, and while he used to believe his mom's saying about protecting people from their prejudices, he now realizes they killed these people due to being ashamed of him. David asks why Curtis is keeping him despite being different from Frank; he agrees when Curtis says he just wants to go home at this point. Meanwhile, Billy awakens in an alley dumpster, and after laughing crazily amidst his despair, he clambers out and stumbles away. As Pilgrim stops somewhere with Amy, Brank finds the trailer empty. Pilgrim calls to arrange the swap, and Frank lies that David is at the trailer and orders him to come. Amy can't believe Pilgrim plans to take on Frank, scoffing at his religious beliefs and saying the Punisher will destroy him. She asks what he found righteous about this ordeal, as the Schultzes has manipulated him into killing innocent people. She claims these webs of lies never end as people don't change, and that he needs to decide to either believe the lie or choose a new path for himself. He says he has no other choice, though he wishes he could let her walk. Mahoney meets Curtis at a field and is introduced to David, who claims he's been treated well considering the circumstances. Though Curtis doesn't know what David is wrapped up in, he just wants to give him back; David doesn't want him arrested and Mahoney agrees because he's heard good things about Curtis. ​His bargaining chip gone, Frank has to think fast to handle Pilgrim, and Billy finds himself needing someone as he struggles with his wounds.
My favorite aspect of this episode was most definitely how Frank and Pilgrim were compared as they came face-to-face once again.
As I've mentioned before, Pilgrim has, like Frank, shown himself to be a machine like Frank, powering through his wounds to defeat the Punisher. Amy herself points out how ridiculous an idea this is, noting Frank's brutal track record, but Pilgrim refuses to step down. While his weakness is his injuries, Frank faces a problem in that Curtis has given David back, taking away Frank's only bargaining chip. Both men in this situation seem just tired of the whole situation at this point, with Frank wanting to get Amy safe and Pilgrim trying to protect his sons. By the end, Pilgrim doesn't seem to even care about the mission, wanting only to get back home and save them from the Schultzes. He even mentions to Amy that he wishes he could free her, showing his more compassionate side we don't generally see. On the other hand, Billy's moments in this episode were rather lackluster, though the pathetic appearances he gives could be a statement about him. The way Frank and Pilgrim have soldiered on (pun intended), I had expected Billy to do a similar performance, forcing himself to safety. Instead, we see him poorly try to force a doctor to perform surgery, and ends up getting in a dumpster, all alone. In this way, I do like how things went for Billy, as in spite of trying so hard to have a group or someone to love, he has no one left. He previously claimed Frank was alone, but he's truly the one suffering, with no one to turn to after his gang has been killed or escaped, and Dumont is hospitalized. Dumont gets a final creepy moment in this episode when Madani confronts her, more willingly showcasing her strange love for Billy. I was also a bit surprised more wasn't done with Madani, as Billy has now almost killed her twice, which I would assume would be disastrous on her mind. Perhaps because she knows Billy is in a hopeless situation, she doesn't return to the anger and fear she felt after season one, but I was expecting more. There was some irony with her that spreads now which I enjoyed, being how last season her desire to fight a secretive system made her a part of it. Likewise, Mahoney has finally been brought into this secret society, seeming to have decided there's not much he can do anymore. I continued to feel for David, and Curtis as well, this episode, as both men were just dragged into this whole thing and simply want to go home. For David, a simple day where he wanted to do good turned into a world-shattering discovery about his parents, and coming to side with at least one of his captors. Curtis, meanwhile, has been trying so hard to re-adjust to civilian life, but always faces problems, generally involving Frank, like being assaulted and shot last season. Here, he thought he would finally get to settle down with a woman he'd met, but then he got pulled back into Frank's world, and it was all torn away. Unfortunately, this is both the season finale and the series finale, with Netflix having officially canceled each Marvel show, though Jessica Jones season three will air. In spite of losing something great, we can be happy a team of incredible actors gave great characters and performances, and enjoy what we have. On a bittersweet note, the episode actually wraps up with a touching tribute to the great Stan "the man" Lee, which managed to catch me off-guard. It still amazes me to look back at the enormous world he and Jack Kirby created, and how far is has come now, taking the world by storm over the past decade especially. What makes me happy in all this is that Stan once said in an interview that while he didn't think about it much, he would just hope people felt he had written good stories after he died. Well Stan, you can rest easy, because you wrote some incredible stories, and they've lived on over the decades to become enormous parts of our culture. You can see Stan's work everywhere, from direct adaptations to the continued comics, to even parodies like the Kids Next Door Christmas special. As Stan famously oft said, "Excelsior! Face front, true believers!" He might be gone, but his stories will live on, and I hope each of us fans can become the kinds of people Stan knew we all could be.
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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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