The Punisher Season 2 Discussion thread

I feel like MCU netflix should stop putting two (or more) separate villains in the same season. I don't mind if the villains are interconnected in some way, like how Kingpin and Bullseye were interconnected in DD S3, but having Pilgrim and Jigsaw both in the same season without them being related in some way made me feel like I was watching 2 separate shows. They did the same thing in DD S2 where Punisher's arc was completely separate from Elektra's arc. It lessens the time for development of one arc and it just makes the show feel disjointed.

They should have kept Billy in a coma the entire season and it just be about Amy and Pilgram's story with the Schultzs and have a little stinger in the end of the season of Billy waking up and potentially setting up season 3 if it wasn't being cancelled.

finished up season 2 awhile ago and I gotta say it was a pretty big let down . Like it looked so much cheaper & low budget than Season 1 (which imo was far superior ). The college chick was annoying as hell and having to sit thru Billy Russo's temper tantrums thru out season 2 got old really fast .
I will say this though , Jon Bernthal was born for this role. I have no complaints about him just the supporting cast .

Season 1 7.5/10

Season 2 5/10

I thought it was terrible. Every combat veteran is a terrorist waiting to happen according to this show, there should be more talk about how absurd and offensive this is. The show had so many redundant scenes with characters having the same conversations over and over again. Billy was constantly screaming like an idiot and the idea that he couldn't understand why Frank wouldn't like him is hilarious. You're a violent criminal who shoots his own accomplices for mouthing off and you wonder why somebody wouldn't like you? And don't even get me started on that shrink, one of the worst tv characters ever.

The show should've focused on John Pilgrim, he was a much more interesting character. The Jigsaw storyline didn't have enough material for 13 episodes, that's why there was so much filler (see the redundant scenes I mentioned earlier). That could've been great if handled properly, but only 8 episodes tops.

I still think the Dolph Lundgren Punisher flick is the only one that actually understood the character. That guy was dead inside. This Frank actually gives Amy life advice about cleaning up her act at the bus station and then hugs her! Next time we see him he's a screaming lunatic again with no explanation. If killing Billy wasn't a means of catharsis for Frank, you sure wouldn't know it by watching that scene with Amy. Yet here he is doing his worst Stallone impression at the end. I think Frank set the record for most grunts and groans by a character in a tv series this season alone.

I went into a little more detail elsewhere on this site and I don't want to repeat myself, so right now I'd like to focus on the finale, which I just watched last night. It really was a mixed bag. As awful as Billy was throughout the show (as a character and as a performance by the actor), he was incredible in his last few scenes. Loved how they wrapped it up. Going to Curtis's meeting place and calling him, Curtis calling Frank, all of it. Billy's reaction to Frank when he showed up. Frank just shooting him before he could apologize. There was nothing left to say. Perfect.

The fight between Frank and John was great, as was Frank's visit to the Shultz's place. I appreciated the moral ambiguity wrestled with by every major character in this episode. Curtis having to call Frank to finish Billy. Madani taking the blame for his death and Mahoney agreeing that covering it up and letting Frank walk is the easiest solution. Frank letting John go back to his family. Everyone has a code, but they all have to decide for themselves what the greater good is; what true 'justice' is, whether they agree with the ramifications or not. As bad as the rest of it had been I was really loving this show for about 15 minutes there.

Then comes the scene where the psychopath tells the girl to have fun living her life or whatever and not dwell on the tragedy from her past-- while he continues to do just that. I'm sorry but that hug is unforgiveable, it simply does not suit the character at all. Especially when he's a foaming at the mouth beast the next time you see him. Let's talk about that scene for a minute. Were those not the dorkiest 'gangsters' you've ever seen in your life? I feel like Curtis could've gotten them to turn their lives around with one therapy session. Instead a bunch of what looked like 20 year old wannabe thugs get absolutely blown to smithereens by a maniac as he screams like an ogre. Such an odd scene, so poorly constructed and acted as well. And to place it right after the Amy hugging scene is just plain bizarre. If anything that should've been the season opening scene. Maniac Frank mowing down punks would've worked if we saw those guys do something extremely shitty earlier in the season and we didn't have the heart to heart with Amy beforehand. As it is, it was just goofy.

And hey, I'm fine with the Punisher not having an arc. He's insane. I already praised Punisher '89 which keeps Frank the same character from start to finish. The problem is, Frank isn't the same character here. We just had that touching scene with Amy. You can't show us that and then have him do a 180 and continue being a soulless killing machine. Curtis should've had that scene with Amy, he was probably my favorite character of this series. I do find it amusing that Madani has embraced the darkness and decided to become a spook. Who needs trials when you can just execute suspects? As Frank says to her when she calls him, "You get tired of reading people their rights?" It was reminiscent of Sicario (only slightly) in that regard.

Season 1 had its issues but it was passable. This season was garbage. It had a few genuinely incredible scenes right near the end, only to be undermined immediately by continued shoddy writing. I'm glad it's been canceled, they had no idea what to do with this character, anyway. Truth be told, Frank was always a better supporting character on tv. There isn't (and shouldn't be) enough personality left for him to carry an ongoing show.