As usual feel free to discuss whether you’re watching along or you’ve seen it all, but please don’t spoil future episodes for anyone in the comments. Let’s hand it to the Punisher team, because they did what no series has done so far: they stuck the landing. Unlike Daredevil S1, which was pretty good all the way through and only faltered slightly in the climactic episodes, The Punisher got everyone where they were going, on-theme, without anyone dressing up in a stupid costume and with a plot that actually made sense. Again, I STILL can’t say I loved it like I loved Daredevil, or even some of the fan-pleasing moments in the other shows – but I cannot deny that it’s the best written of the lot. So it turns out the reason Curtis didn’t get his moment with Lewis was because he was being saved for Russo. Makes sense. I loved the easy relationship between those two characters, both knowing why they were together and not making a fuss about it, but also the reveal that Curtis’ calm movements were all designed to give Frank an opening with his sniper rifle – something Russo realised just in time. The great thing about that scene is that it puts Russo and Frank on equal strategic footing. Of course, any shakiness during the final sequence is made up for by Billy’s fate which is, as Frank promised, worse than death. He never gets the name Jigsaw, but maybe in season 2 (er, if he wakes up). Meanwhile, Micro, the Liebermans and Frank get a happy ending and even Madani gets the satisfaction of out-manoeuvring her superiors. I really enjoyed seeing her gain their respect for sticking to her guns. It was also really cool to see Frank addressing his mental health problems. After all, the big theme of this series has been how PTSD screws you up, and now he’s ended his war on both a practical and moral victory, seeing him admit it’s time to get help was a perfect way to move forward. Sure, they could undo it later on – a second series would undoubtedly have to give him a new reason to kill that wasn’t so personal – but for now, it’s an ending I’m happy with. Admittedly, I don’t know much about Steve Lightfoot, the Punisher showrunner (apparently he wrote on Hannibal?) but I’d love to see him take on one of the higher-profile Netflix-Marvel characters next. He nailed this one. Read James’ review of the previous episode, Home, here.
