Frank Castle returns as “The Punisher” in the latest Netflix | Marvel television show. Season one picks up several months after Castle’s appearance in Daredevil season two when we see him eliminating various cartel members, assassin style. After his work his done, he is given a new identity as “Pete”, and he is a construction worker. The memories of his family’s execution continue to haunt him. An incident involving fellow construction workers and powerful mob forces Frank to take unwanted action.
Thanks to the help of Karen Page, Frank meets “Micro”, who is actually David Lieberman, a former NSA analyst that is supposed to be dead. Micro was stalking Frank in order to get his help, to take on the people that ruined their lives. David is also watching his family remotely to make sure they remain safe. They form a shaky partnership. A sequence of events conducted by Homeland Security agent Dinah Madani and the secrets of a past mission force Frank to come out of hiding.
There are car chases, ambushes, a family in jeopardy, dirty deals, and dirty bombs. The people close to Frank end up either dead or injured. Frank’s closet friend, Billy Russo is “The Judas Goat”. Both men will stop at nothing to obtain their objectives. Frank suffers a great deal of pain and mental anguish. In the end, Frank gets his “justice” and another chance at life.
Overall, I enjoyed the series; I have placed it second next to Daredevil season one. The character progression and development of Frank Castle was good. I felt that some of the characters like Dinah Madani could have been written better. With Frank’s personal war over, I wonder what will be next for him. If there is a season two then I hope we get to see Billy Russo’s transformation into the villain Jigsaw. This was a good series.
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