The Punisher was Quite Underwhelming

It lacked perspective on just about every topic it brought up. It was very pro-violence, which makes total sense. But without showing the other side of the argument, there wasn't much to digest here. What made Punisher great in DD season 2 was his dynamic with Matt. The clash of ideologies regarding justice and punishment gave the audience something to chew on. In Punisher, all you got was pro-gun rhetoric from nearly every character, even Karen. The only character with an alternative viewpoint was that senator, who was depicted as a boob and a hypocrite.

The show was filled with missed opportunities. It paid lip service to PTSD but never really explored it. Lewis was just a nut; how about you give us a flashback to him before or during the war so we get a sense of how it changed him. Just showing a guy doing a series of crazier things makes him a villain, not a victim-- which I think is what they were going for? Frank briefly mentions how difficult it would be if he had to shoot a US soldier; but he only had to wound one and mentioned it in passing later. Lewis was a combat veteran suffering from severe PTSD-- the conversational potential there is off the charts. A conversation between the two could've blown away the scene between Frank and Matt from DD season 2 that everyone raves about. Instead Frank just argues with Lewis a few times on the phone and then convinces him to blow himself up. And again there's no emotional response to that from Punisher, Lewis is never mentioned again.

Dinah's motivation throughout the course of the show is finding the trigger man in Kandahar, and when she finds out it was Frank, her eyes get a little wide and it's never addressed again. Where is the moral quandary there? This man who saved your life and is helping you blow the lid off of this investigation is the 'villain' you were searching for the whole time. Can we explore that a minute or should we have another ten minute scene of Frank fixing the garbage disposal at Micro's house? Puzzling creative choices as far as when the show decided to get deep.

If I'm getting nitpicky... Why was Rawlins a stone cold evil genius for the entirety of the show before turning into a raving lunatic right before they killed him? To be fair, he was viciously attacked, but still. I thought it was an odd choice. The audience already hated the guy, no need to make him a snarling beast ready to be put down. I also think Frank's ability to come back from serious injury was a bit absurd, even for an action hero. Is he the Punisher or Wolverine?

Probably my biggest gripe is the finale. The Punisher isn't the Punisher anymore? The government would just allow this madman to walk away? "You know, the only thing separating you from Lewis is you had a specific target to focus your rage on. Now that the target is gone, we're sure you'll just go back to leading a normal life. Good luck." And his face was all over the news, people thought he was a terrorist! He's going to walk the streets looking like Frank Castle the terrorist and show up to meetings recounting his war stories like nothing ever happened? It's ridiculous. I thought the waste of time scenes with Micro and his family in the final episode were there to give closure to one character and remind us Frank will never have closure; that his war will never end. Instead they close on Frank telling us he has no one left to fight. Frank has the world to fight, and no 'just when I though I was out, they pull me back in' scene in season 2 is going to make up for the way they closed the season (which incidentally, is the same way they opened the season).

Frank is far too sane and in control of his emotions in this series. When he loses it, he really loses it. But it doesn't happen enough and they don't focus on the psychological or moral aspects nearly as much as they should. It's decent tv for the most part, but it doesn't possess half the depth you'd expect, considering what it was going for. And as an adaptation of the character, I have to say they really missed the mark. Bernthal was great, but the writing let him down.

I haven't finished it yet and I started it within a couple days of its release. I had trouble getting into it. It's kinda boring. I think I made it about three of us so far.

I'm at episode 7 but I think I'm already done with the show. Which to be honest I am shocked about, since I found episode 1 to be absolutely brilliant.

The show deals with a number of interesting issues but it is clear from now that it only faintly touches their cheek, it is not getting really deep into anything. Past episode 1, every episode has been monotonous and quite frankly tiresome in long stretches. It tries to be "edgy" with HBO style sex scenes, but Frank himself is lacking any real edge. I agree with people who say he was way more compelling on Daredevil. And no, it has nothing to do with how many people he kills or doesn't kill. He's ideologically confused, which is fine, but the whole show itself feels confused and doesn't know where it's going. There's no real spice or kick to anything that's happening.

I really, really wanted to like this show after the first episode, but there's not much to dig into.