The Punisher (Netflix)

This season seems to follow the fine tradition of trying to humanise the villains which started with Kingpin in Daredevil. I’m really enjoying it so far.

Yeah, 4 episodes in so far and this is quality stuff. I’m really excited for the next episode, but we discovered around Luke Cage Season 2 or so that these shows are best watched once a day or so, rather than binging them. And since is probably the last season of the Marvel/Netflix stuff, we’re trying to savor it.

I enjoyed the first season and I have been enjoying the second one(I am roughly at the same point, 3 episodes in) for the silly action procedural in the vain of 80s shows, but with more blood, that I think it is.
The daily last 15 minutes of killing don’t make me feel quite as comfortable as watching David Hasselhoff pushing the turbo boost button, but it’s pretty close.

I’m through 6 episodes and season 2 has been great. Punisher continues to be the best of the Marvel Netflix shows. I think the episode in the sheriff’s station was exceptional.

Was the most recent one I watched, and yeah, it was real damn good.

Punisher has no right to be this good. Then again, neither did Daredevil.

That sheriff was instantly likable, he should get his own series.

The whole staff was impressively well drawn for guest characters. Really great casting and performances.

I thought this series was right up there with the best of Netflix Marvel stuff so far, the fact that it hasn’t been cancelled yet offers a slim hope for it to continue. Season two certainly upped the brutality beyond the point where I simply cannot see Disney doing anything with the Punisher on their own service, so maybe they’ll let it live on at Netflix.

They have Hulu now to use for mature rated content if they wanted.

Agreed. It was really well made and the narrative was a lot tighter than we usually get in these shows. This is probably the first time it didn’t feel like this should have been fewer episodes than aired, because there wasn’t a lot of fat on this meat.

Early on I was really wishing they’d gone all in on the Amy plot rather than bring Russo back. I just think recurring villains get old real fast. But they did a good job with it in the end.

I’d definitely be up for watching a season 3. Here’s hoping, it’s not like Disney will have any use for Punisher!

Only one episode left. This season is far better than the first. They made Frank a lot more human than in DD and first season of the show. It’s the best paced Marvel/Netflix show. And the guy from The Collector is in it!

My only complaint so far are the musical choices. They’re uniformly awful.

Admission: I watch a looot of television with subtitles on. So in this show, I’m not just hearing the terrible music, I’m also reading the lyrics which have gone above and beyond with their terribleness.

Fortunately, the show surrounding the music is so good, I don’t mind.

I’m about halfway, just finished episode six.

I like this show, but this season has a couple tropes that grate on my nerves—first and foremost Krista the criminal psychotherapist who attaches herself to a damaged criminal because she’s trying to work through her own inner demons, or whatever. She’s willing to throw ethics, professionalism, safety, and legality to the wind for her dumbass obsession with Billy Russo and it’s just boring. She’s not over the top and fun like a Harley Quinn type character and I don’t think that would work on this show anyway, and she’s just not captivating enough to overcome the cliche on her own like Dr. Chilton on Hannibal. I don’t know if it’s the actress or the writing or both, but I just roll my eyes and start to tune out when her story comes to the forefront.

I also don’t love the cliche of the sociopath preacher/religious zealot, but that’s been a little more subdued (so far) than the therapist, and I am finding I actually enjoy what little there is for Josh Stewart to do in the role. The scene where he follows Madani out of the coffee shop and she confronts him for the first time was just a small thing, but I really liked his sort of indifferent confidence and the way that scene unfolded. He’s not wholly unassuming, there’s clearly a little edge to him (“I’m sure we’ll talk again, you’re an easy woman to find”), but he doesn’t seem like he’s actually interesting in being menacing as a tactic, which somehow makes him more interesting to me as a threat.

He seems like an actor I’ve definitely seen somewhere in some other criminal/gangster role. He’d fit right in in a period piece like Boardwalk Empire or something. But I looked him up on IMDb and actually haven’t seen him in anything like that before.

Anyway, pretty good season overall so far, just really don’t care for the therapist.

Agreed. I find the character unbelievable and also grating. I keep hoping she dies spectacularly.