Marvel's The Punisher - Season 1 Review

  TheBloodyCritique’s ‘The Punisher’ Season 1 Review

Set after the events of Daredevil’s second season Frank Castle (played by Jon Bernthal), still haunted by the death of his family, abandons his identity as The Punisher and gets a low profile job on a construction site under the alias ‘Pete Castiglione’. After being contacted by Micro (played by Ebon Moss-Bachrach), an NSA analyst with sensitive information who faked his death in a bid to protect his family, Frank learns that his family’s murder was part of a much bigger conspiracy. Together they work toward finding out the truth behind the execution of a civilian in Afghanistan by a covert assassination squad Frank was a part of when he was a Marine, uncovering those responsible for his family’s murder and exacting bloody revenge! The Punisher is a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe television series and will appear in the second season of Marvel’s Defenders, which is the Marvel TV equivalent of The Avengers!

I enjoyed The Punisher quite a bit, it was a lot of fun, it’s definitely messy in moments but overall I thought it was a decent effort and definitely the best interpretation of this material! It’s got a dark tone with a great score, good characters and lots of brutal over the top violence which was done in a way that spoke to my particular bloodlust, especially the stabbings, I loved the stabbings. It was gritty, it was violent, it was bloody and I loved it! The Punisher is a simple but effective character and it’s a fairly simple story as well but I was invested in it, they did a great job! 

Jon Bernthal was fantastic as Frank Castle, he was the highlight of Daredevil’s second season and is a more sympathetic and relatable protagonist than Matt Murdock, he did a great job with the role! Ebon Moss-Bachrach also does a great job as Microchip, I liked the dynamic between him and Frank and his struggle to deal with not being able to be with his family, he was a good character! I also loved the chemistry between Frank and Karen, played by Deborah Ann Woll, reprising her role from Daredevil, her chemistry with Frank was far superior to the non-chemistry between her and Matt Murdock.

Ben Barnes was good as Billy Russo, Frank’s best friend who served with him in Afghanistan and now runs a security firm, Jason R. Moore was good as Curtis Hoyle, other friend of Frank’s now running a therapy group for veterans. I really liked Daniel Webber as Lewis Wilson, one of the attendees of Curtis’s therapy sessions who can’t seem to find peace after his time in the army and becomes very unstable. Paul Schultz plays a great villain, he’s got the face of a dodgy cunt! The only character I thought didn’t work at all was Dinah Madani! The show clearly wants us to think she’s cool and to like her but there’s really nothing likeable about her, I wasn’t invested in her storyline at all. 

Overall I’d say The Punisher is definitely worth a recommendation, Jon Bernthal’s excellent in the role and I was invested in all the different storylines going on with the characters. I’d say it was definitely better than Daredevil’s second season but not quite as good as the first season, I loved the William Fisk storyline and there’s nothing quite as good as that here but outside of that they’re about on par with each other. I was entertained, I was engaged, I cared about the characters and I was interested in the story, it’s a fun ride with lots of satisfying moments! If you have any investment in The Punisher as a character you’ll love it, if you’re a Marvel fan you’ll probably love it and if you’re just looking for a decent action thriller with good character you’ll enjoy it too, I’m gonna give The Punisher 7.7/10.

What did you think of The Punisher?