THE PUNISHER season 1 - Bloody wonderful in all meanings of the word

The Punisher is a Marvel-Netflix series created by Steve Lightfoot and starring Jon Bernthal, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Amber Rose Revah, Ben Barnes, and Deborah Ann Woll. The season follows Frank Castle, an ex-military vigilante who uses lethal methods to kill his targets as "The Punisher", as he goes to find and kill the people responsible for killing his family.

The Punisher is the sixth series in the Marvel-Netflix franchise, coming right off the heels of the sadly average The Defenders, and comes up as the most anti-superhero project Marvel has ever done yet. In fact, there was absolutely zero mention of anything related to superpowers or any of the events that occurred in other Marvel titles, movies or otherwise, and The Punisher thrives because of this. While not perfect, this series does an excellent job with its tone, its story, and most of all, its characters.

The Story

Frank Castle and his family were on a lovely picnic to the park one day when all of a sudden, a gang skirmish explodes onto the scene, killing many, including Frank's beloved wife and children. From that day forward, he vowed to find everyone responsible and kill them. T'is the story of The Punisher, and a mission that he seeks to finish in this series.

Whether or not the actual plot itself will appeal to you depends on your preferences. I found it to be a bit too conspiracy-theorist (especially one spoiler that I wasn't too fond of and I believe slightly diminished the tragedy of his character), but it wasn't anything I couldn't get behind, especially since other aspects of the story were done very well.

A big theme in The Punisher is the idea of mistreated war vets and the PTSD they endure, something which I think it pulls off well. It's often the best of the Marvel-Netflix shows that have a certain theme like that (Daredevil, Jessica Jones, the first half of Luke Cage) rather than focusing on just being a superhero show.

Unfortunately, the series also missteps in some areas; the PTSD theme feels more like a side step than integrated into the main action. There is one character who is suffering from a lot of PTSD and is meant to represent what Frank Castle could one day turn into, but the whole plot thread doesn't pay off well and feels like a diversion rather than a part of the main plot.

Besides that, there really isn't anything else in the story to fault. Unlike Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and especially Iron Fist, The Punisher never really has episodes that feel like they're going anywhere or are there for padding, and--besides some poor pacing in the second half and a rather prolonged climax--does an overall excellent job with the execution.

The Characters

Jon Bernthal was born to play Frank Castle. I know that's a bit of a cliché nowadays but I firmly believe it (and for the record, Robert Downey, Jr. was born to play Tony Stark, Ryan Reynolds was born to play Deadpool, Hugh Jackman was NOT born to play Wolverine but he did a very good job anyway).

There is so much subtlety in the character of Frank Castle--the tragic, the aggression, the hatred, the betrayal, the loneliness--that it's incredibly hard to get right, but Bernthal does it so easily. His performance is utterly hypnotizing, and I'd go as far as to say he might be the best casted and best performed out of all the Marvel-Netflix characters (MIGHT, but Vincent D'Onofrio puts up one hell of a fight as Wilson Fisk).

Micro is the token sidekick who surprisingly pulls on your heartstrings quite a bit (especially near the end of the season). He's a tragic character like Castle, but not even half as competent. The friendship they grow throughout the season is very well written, and really makes you happy to see them grow to work together as partners.

Dinah Madani is standout for me as probably the second best female character in the Marvel-Netflix shows (after Clair Temple, of course). She's a spunky, arrogant, highly driven Homeland Security agent who could be considered the second main character in the show. The show does a great job at immediately getting you on her side and relating to her, and, despite her being a cop who often is in direct opposition to the main character, I've never felt annoyed by her as I did multiple times with Luke Cage's Misty Knight. The show also pulls this off kind of ingeniously, with Dinah and Frank never having any real contact until the tenth episode. TENTH! That's an interesting writing choice that pays of very well.

A big flaw in the series, though, is its villain. The first half of the season doesn't have a focused villain, which I thought was intentional for the whole season; the war was the villain of The Punisher and what he needed to overcome. Had it stuck to that, I thought it would've been a fine job. However, by the second half of the season, The Punisher really insisted on a certain character becoming the main villain, something which I found clichéd, uninspired, and rather boring. We never find out the villain's motives for being the way they are or for betraying certain characters, and it becomes really one-note really fast.

Final Verdict

The Punisher is a great series for everyone who has the gut to get through a LOT of gore and violence. It has a good story, excellent characters, and a lot of great action set pieces that'll make your inner 13-year-old gape. There are some pacing issues and some plot threads that don't seem to really belong, and the villain is really generic, but this is well compensated for the highly character-driven story featuring well-written characters like Frank Castle, Micro, and Dinah Madani. And episode 10 is amazing.

Score: B+