There's only so much you can gather from a show's first episode. Personally, I've found that Marvel's Netflix shows have generally gotten off to great starts, only to drag on a bit too long near the end. So going into episode 1 of The Punisher, I was just hoping to get a sense of the tone. From what I've seen, the tone is right on the money.
The Punisher is different from any other Marvel hero, and it's debatable if the term “hero” can even be applied to Frank Castle. He's violent like Deadpool, but you won't find him cracking jokes while going about his bloody business. The Punisher is stoic and tactical. He's a man on a mission, and that's exactly what the show's cold open tells us.
We get to see Castle run over some wounded bikers, choke a guy with his own tie, and blow the brains out of a Mexican drug lord from a sniper's perch on the other side of the border. And while none of this is portrayed as fun, popcorn action, watching the Punisher do what he does best his still super engaging.
After finishing off the men he deems responsible for his family's death, Frank retires from his punishing duties and finds a job where he can productively use his rage. His coworkers don't think twice about their quiet, sledgehammer-swinging colleague, and that's exactly what Frank wants—to be left alone. However, Frank can only stick to himself for so long, as he ends up saving Donny, a naive but well-intentioned construction worker, after he botches a robbery with his nasty coworkers.
And while Frank does the heroic thing and saves Donny, he also brutally murders the guys trying to kill him. And while that’s what the Punisher does best, it was still a bit disturbing to see how much rage Frank has in him. In killing those three people, Frank further confirms what the guy in the airport bathroom told him right before he died. Killing people won’t bring back what was taken from Frank, and it doesn’t seem to even make him feel better. But at this point, that doesn’t matter to Frank, it’s just what he does.
Also in this episode, we get hints towards a military conspiracy that will likely be the main plot of this season. The Homeland Security scenes made me a bit worried that this storyline is going to feel unfulfilling since every scene with Frank was great and the others weren’t nearly as good. However, once the Punisher gets brought into this plot, the story should come together nicely.
What did you think of episode 1? Have you already binged the whole season? Comment below!