Marvel Entertainment / The Walt Disney Company
Starring Jon Bernthal (Frank Castle / The Punisher), Ben Barnes (Billy Russo / Jigsaw), Amber Rose Revah (Dinah Madani), James R Moore (Curtis Hoyle), Josh Stewart (John Pilgrim), and Giorgia Whigham with Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page
THE PUNISHER SEASON TWO
Produced by Marvel Television
Originally aired on Netflix
Number of Episodes: 13
Initial Streaming: January 18, 2019
Marvel Entertainment / The Walt Disney Company
Fun The Punisher Season Two Facts
The Punisher: Season Two was the twelfth series produced by Marvel Television for the Netflix Streaming Service. You can read about the history of Marvel Television from its inception as a division within Marvel Entertainment overseen by Ike Perlmutter and run by Jeph Loeb to its incorporation into Marvel Studios and the eventual canonization of Marvel Television’s Defenders Saga into the Marvel Cinematic Universe under the Fun Facts section of my The Punisher: Season One review.
The Punisher: Season Two sees the further evolution of the Billy Russo character into the villainous Jigsaw. The Marvel Comics character was named as such due to the mangled face and puzzle-like scars that he suffered during a confrontation with The Punisher.
Upon the MCU (Sacred) Timeline, The Punisher: Season Two takes place after Thor: Ragnarok and before Jessica Jones: Season Three
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My The Punisher: Season Two Review
Roadhouse Blues – Directed by Jim O’Hanlon. Written by Steve Lightfoot
The first episode of The Punisher: Season Two catches up with Frank Castle in Michigan, having left New York City behind him. Frank meets a local bartender (Beth) at a local bar, defending her against an overly flirtatious drunken stooge. He also encounters a jittery and paranoid young woman that he will get to know as Amy. When she gets off of work, Frank goes with Beth back to her place where they spend an intimate evening together. The following morning, Frank goes out for breakfast with Beth and her son (Rex). Beth enjoys her time with Frank and asks him to come back to the bar that evening, but he insists that he has to keep moving. He abruptly changes his mind however and returns to the bar that evening to Beth’s surprise.
Unfortunately, Amy has come back to the bar as well and she is way in over her head. A mysterious group of people follow Amy into the bar and Frank soon figures out that Amy is in danger. After two women prevent Amy from leaving the restroom and lock her inside, Frank busts his way through the door. The women pull knives, but Frank fights his way through them and offers to help Amy. They leave the bathroom and absolute carnage breaks out inside the bar. Several of Amy’s assailants are killed as are some patrons and staff. Beth is also severely wounded by a gunshot.
Frank flees the scene with Beth and Amy, taking Beth to a local hospital for medical treatment. He leaves with Amy and begins interrogating her about why these dangerous people are after her. Elsewhere, we are introduced to a mysterious man known as John Pilgrim that the mercenaries work for. He views footage of the fight at the bar, and impressed by Frank’s skills, he labels Castle as someone that shouldn’t be hard to find.
Back in New York, we catch up with Dinah Madani as she pays the still comatose Billy Russo a visit. After insulting him and leaving, Russo opens his eyes.
Decent first episode here that had everything a fan of The Punisher would want it to have: drama, suspense, mystery, good fights, and plenty of blood. I really like the Beth character and I am anxious to see Billy Russo vs Frank Castle: Round Two.
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Fight or Flight – Directed by Jim O’Hanlon. Written by Steve Lightfoot
Having fled Michigan for Ohio, Frank and Amy land in a hotel where she begrudgingly helps him remove a bullet from his backside. Their relationship is completely confrontational at this point with Amy frequently pushing Frank’s buttons while refusing to come clean with him regarding why she is in the trouble that she is in. With the situation being as volatile as it is, Frank straps Amy to her bed so that he can get some sleep without worrying about her leaving. Later – and still getting nowhere with Amy – Frank buys another night of a hotel stay in a room next to the one he and Amy are currently staying in. He then proceeds to bash a hole in the wall in which they can walk from one room to the other, readying himself for the confrontation that he knows is surely coming.
That night, trouble comes calling but Frank is ready for the fight. Having taken down three mercenaries in short order, Frank takes the fight outside, targeting a sniper before taking an unconscious female mercenary to his van. The woman wakes up though and shoots Frank, severely wounding his hand. Amy seizes the moment by attempting to drive away in Frank’s van, but she is cut-off by the police. Frank, Amy, and the surviving female mercenary are all incarcerated.
In the meantime, John Pilgrim visits Beth in the hospital in order to intimidate her and get info on Frank. She reveals his name to be “Pete” and Pilgrim is satisfied with her answer. Though Beth did not give Frank’s real name, Pilgrim was still able to track Frank and Amy to the Ohio jail once their information was logged into the computer system. Frank uses his one phone call to contact Agent Madani, but she refuses to help him. Frank then warns his arresting officers that they are in great danger.
Speaking of Agent Madani, she has become obsessed with Billy Russo, and she pays him another visit upon hearing the news that he has regained consciousness. Russo shows no indication that he remembers Dinah, and this is confirmed by his therapist Krista, who informs Madani that Billy has suffered significant brain damage and that there are a lot of things that he doesn’t remember. Madani isn’t buying it though. Later we see one of Billy’s therapy sessions where he speaks of recurring nightmares of Frank’s “Punisher” skull logo.
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Trouble the Water – Directed by Jeremy Webb. Written by Ken Kristensen
John Pilgrim arrives at the police precinct where Frank and Amy are being held and after Officer Hardin refuses to release the duo, Pilgrim declares war on the precinct. After one of his own is shot by Pilgrim’s outside forces, Hardin allows Frank to take the lead as Pilgrim’s forces begin to infiltrate the precinct. Frank takes out several of the mercenaries and soon goes from prey to predator as he ventures into the forest to take down every last one of the mercenaries. Pilgrim eventually manages to sneak up behind Castle, but before he can fire his shot, Agent Madani and her Homeland Security forces arrive, prompting Pilgrim to retreat.
Why was Madani there after refusing to help Frank? Because Billy Russo has escaped the hospital. We were treated with more looks at Billy’s therapy sessions, and learned why he wears the mask that he does through these flashbacks. In the now, Russo’s latest session ends in violence when he assaults hospital security. Billy then forces his therapist Krista to aid him in escaping and she does so but urges Billy to reconsider his actions. He responds by giving her his mask and fleeing.
So, Madani is in a mild panic over the thought of Billy Russo being free, hence her intervention in Frank and Amy’s situation. Madani encourages Hardin to drop the charges against Frank and Amy and after Hardin sincerely thanks Frank, Madani returns both Frank and Amy to New York.
This was another solid episode of The Punisher. Daredevil: Season Three got pretty heavy on the religious front, and this Season of The Punisher isn’t shying away from that either, as evident by the John Pilgrim character. For me, Pilgrim is the worst kind of villain; one that believes he is on a mission on behalf of the Almighty and is willing to commit atrocities in God’s name. Then there is Amy. I really can’t stand her up to this point. She’s so very bratty and condescending! Hopefully, she will become more likable as this Season progresses, but so far, she’s really hard to cheer for.
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Scar Tissue – Directed by Ian B. MacDonald. Written by Angela LaManna
This episode opens with and in large part revolves around Billy Russo. We see Billy take a bus where an idiot tries to bully him, only to be taken out by Russo, who takes some of the guy’s clothes for his troubles. From there, Billy ventures to a local bar where while doing a few shots, he sees media reports pertaining to his escape. Billy next goes to visit an elderly man named Arthur Walsh that had sexually abused him when he was a child. Walsh is a complete and total asshole and takes to berating Billy and mocking him for his scars. Billy of course violently murders Walsh, which I wish they’d have shown on-screen. Billy, covered in blood, next visits Krista at her home. She lets him in and allows him to shower and contemplates calling 911, but Billy comes out of the restroom before she has hit the send button and after begging her for her help, she opts against calling in law enforcement.
Meanwhile, Frank and Amy are staying at Madani’s apartment. Franks catches the same news report about Billy that Russo had seen and talks with Madani about the extent of Billy’s mental condition. She still believes that Billy is faking his memory loss, but Frank isn’t so sure. After mocking Madani over the fact that she brought Frank back to New York so he would kill Billy, Frank leaves Madani’s apartment to meet with his friend Curtis Hoyle. Cutis believes that Billy’s memory loss is real and chastises Frank not killing Billy when he had the chance, declaring that Frank’s insistence that Billy live so he can be tormented by his memories is now in vain, seeing that Billy doesn’t remember what The Punisher did to him. Though his talk with Curtis wasn’t all that encouraging, it does inspire a memory that Frank shared with Billy, and Frank deduces that Billy will be targeting Arthur Walsh. He gives this information to Madani, but by the rime she arrives at Walsh’s residence, Billy has already murdered him.
In the meantime, Amy, begins to have a change of heart after leaving Madani’s apartment to venture to a local store in order to use their computer. She looks up Frank Castle’s name and discovers his story: his decorated service, his tragic losses, his crimes, precision, and ruthless effectiveness. She returns to the hotel on her own accord where for the first time, she treats Frank with respect, gratitude, and kindness while vowing to follow his lead henceforth.
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One-Eyed Jacks – Directed by Stacie Passon. Written by Dario Scardapane
Amy performing card tricks to Frank’s mild amazement opens this episode after which Frank targets the Russian crime syndicate with an assist from Turk Barrett. I haven’t really mentioned Turk all that much during these Defenders Saga reviews, but I think I should take this opportunity to say that he has been a pretty great character. Rob Morgan has appeared as Turk throughout The Defenders Saga, usually providing some comedy relief and the same can be said here. Anyway, Frank brutally assaults several Russian thugs in what is a fantastic fight scene and leaves with the realization that Sergei (the man that was killed by John Pilgrim earlier in the Season) is dead.
Agent Madani is none too thrilled with Frank’s little Russian war and frustrated that he isn’t giving the Billy Russo case the attention that she hoped he would, Madani orders Castle and Amy to leave New York within 24 hours.
Speaking of Russo, he continues to stay with his therapist and after listening in on one of her sessions with an embittered United States Army soldier named Jake Nelson, he follows Nelson to a local bar where they bond over their respective frustrations and Billy proposes an idea to find more like-minded people, suggesting that together, perhaps they can generate true change.
Elsewhere, John Pilgrim is ordered to return to New York by the superiors of his congregation, leaving the bedside of his sick wife. Pilgrim is noticeably bothered by this, but the sequence makes sure to show that Pilgrim is deeply devout and that he puts his congregation and their interpretation of God first in everything that he does.
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Nakazat – Directed by Jamie M. Dagg. Written by Christine Boylan
While John Pilgrim confronts Agent Madani and warns her against interfering with the business that he has with Amy and Frank, we see Amy and Frank develop the photographs that Amy had taken and that had gotten her into so much trouble. The pictures show the homosexual exploits of a prominent and important politician named David Schultz (a United States Senator), who is being groomed to be the next President of the Unted States. Frank learns of this from yet another prominent member of the Russian crime syndicate, whom he surprisingly allows to live, though Pilgrim eventually murders the man anyway.
From there, we catch up with Curtis Hoyle, who has taken to residing at a hotel with his girlfriend out of fear of encountering Billy Russo. Regardless, Billy successfully tracks Curtis down and asks Hoyle to tell him the details of what had happened to him, but Curtis refuses. Billy goes on to apologize to Curtis for shooting him, explaining that he was only told that he had done so and doesn’t actually remember it. He then insists that he hadn’t come to hurt Curtis before walking into the shadows.
In the meantime, Agent Madani is being regularly harassed by NYPD Officer Mahoney, who is convinced that she had not been truthful in the statement that she made pertaining to what occurred at the carousel shootout that ended Season One. He tries to poke at her conscience with condescension and it does rattle her somewhat as she begins to wonder if bringing The Punisher back to New York to take out Russo was the right thing to do. Curtis arranges a meeting with Frank and Madani, stressing the importance of resolving the Russo situation, which Frank insists can end only in one way.
As for Billy, he violently confronts Krista over her efforts to control him mentally and emotionally, but the confrontation ends with him passionately kissing her after she stabs him in the hand.
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One Bad Day – Directed by Jet Wilkinson. Written by Felicia D. Henderson
Billy and Krista consummate their rather volatile relationship, but despite bonding over their respective scars, Billy ignores her pleas to stay with her, insisting that he cannot allow himself to cause the downfall of her career. Billy then meets with the members of the gang that he has assembled, ensuring that everyone is up to speed on the robbery that Billy has planned the following day. Jake Nelson foolishly defies Billy’s orders to stick together over night and when he returns to his apartment, Curtis and Madani watch Frank torture the soldier until Jake reveals where Billy and the rest of his crew are and what Billy’s plans are. Having witnessed the brutal torture that The Punisher is capable of and knowing full well that everything is about to come to a head, Madani has more second thoughts and Frank coldly tells her to do what she has to do while he does the same.
Frank and Curtis then venture to the warehouse in which Billy’s gang slept the previous night, but they arrive too late to confront Billy. From there, Billy’s gang pulls off the robbery, but Frank has no intentions of allowing them to enjoy the fruits of their labors. A massive gunfight ensues, leading to an incredible moment in which Billy sees Frank walking towards him. Billy then zeroes in on the prominent white skull that has haunted his dreams for months. Realizing what this means, Russo calls out to Frank and asks if Frank was the person behind his condition and Frank readily confirms that he was. Billy then mentally breaks, genuinely horrified by the thought of Frank harming him and also genuinely not understanding why Frank would. Billy completely freezes in the moment as his crew desperately tries to whisk him away to safety while they receive cover from a rooftop sniper above.
Wow!
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My Brother’s Keeper – Directed by Michael Offer. Written by Bruce Marshall Romans
The Punisher vs Billy’s gang confrontation leaves blood on the streets of New York and grows to include Curtis, who takes down Russo’s sniper. As Frank relentlessly pursues Billy, he finds himself targeted by the obsessive Mahoney, who soon corners Frank while Billy gets away. Curtis intervenes in what would have been another arrest of The Punisher, knocking Mahoney out so that he and Frank can flee.
As Frank and Curtis talk about what went wrong, Frank regrettably admits that he hesitated for enough of a split second to allow Billy to live when he had his shot. The reason for this was Frank’s realization that Billy really does not know what happened between them. He remembers Frank as only his brother … his best friend. He genuinely does not know what he did to Frank, and he feels betrayed by Frank! Curtis would go on to admit that he too had a shot at Billy and froze and Billy’s feelings are further explored when he reunites with Krista (after shooting a couple of members of his own crew) and just completely breaks-down, voicing the emotional torture that is the realization that his best fried tried to kill him. Ben Barnes was incredible in his performance here and I loved all of this so very much!
Frank is meanwhile having his own breakdown. He harshly terrorizes Amy when he returns to his apartment and then reinterrogates Jake Nelson over the whereabouts of Russo, when Jake had already given him everything that he knew. Curtis intervenes before Frank can kill Jake and a greatly frustrated Frank leaves to visit the graves of his family on a very stormy night. Back at Krista’s, Billy provokes another confrontation with his therapist, accusing her of lying to him and hiding facts of his case from him. As he begins destroying her residence, she insists that she has never lied to him and after admitting that she is in love with Billy, he emotionally relents. Later, he meets with what is left of his gang and proposes that they get bigger.
Elsewhere, Madani (after yet again being confronted by the annoying Officer Mahoney) spends the evening with Curtis and Amy as all three of them begin to come to terms with the fact that due to their experiences with The Punisher, none of their lives will ever be the same.
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Flustercluck – Directed by Salli Richardson-Whitfield. Written by Steve Lightfoot and Ken Kristensen
Frank reconvenes with Amy, Curtis, and Madani at his trailer where he says he is who he is, and he is not going to try to be anyone else and tells them to take it or leave it. Meanwhile, Billy’s army is wreaking havoc across New York. With Curtis and Amy tracking Billy’s movements, Frank begins taking members of his army out. Frank confers with a local waitress at a bar in an effort to find out where Billy’s hideout is, and she points him in the right direction, but as he leaves, he is trailed by several men and discovers that a $5 million bounty has been put out on The Punisher and Amy. Frank brutalizes the men and tries to reach out to Amy to fill her in on the gravity of the situation, but while he was gone, Curtis and Amy both decided they’d had enough of Frank’s demands, and both left his trailer, going their separate ways.
While ignoring Frank’s calls, Amy quickly gets herself into trouble when she reaches out to a friend to aid her in leaving New York. This supposed friend, knowing about the bounty, instead calls in Amy’s location to the people that are after her. Frank catches up with Curtis and lashes out at him for leaving Amy, who soon finally answers her phone. Frank tells her the deal and she texts her location to him as trouble arrives. Frank arrives quickly and has no mercy on Amy’s assailants, and there’s a pretty great sequence in which Amy puts into action some of the things that Frank has taught her, taking a gun from one of the assailants and shooting him. Frank then encourages and comforts Amy on the way back to the trailer where Frank tells Amy that he has to finish his business with Billy before turning his full attention to Amy’s lingering problems.
There is a lot going on elsewhere in this episode, most notably, Billy paying Madani a visit at her residence. Billy is both sleazy and intimidating during this scene as he asks questions about his and her past relationship, but the key answer he gets is why Frank did what he did to Billy. Madani reveals that it was because Billy murdered Frank’s family, and to say this freaked him out would be an understatement! His brief flash of grief, if not sympathy, quickly turns to rage however, as he makes the incident about him, telling Madani that even if he did do what she said that he did, Frank was still in the wrong for choosing to make him suffer rather than simply kill him. Billy leaves without physically harming Madani and then vents to Krista about what he has discovered.
As for the bounty that was placed on Frank and Amy, that was done by John Pilgrim under orders and these scenes allow us to meet billionaire Anderson Schultz of Testament Industries and his son David, the aforementioned Senator that is on a fast track to the White House, so long as the pictures that Amy possesses are not released publicly and so long as Frank and Amy’s testimonies are kept away from the NYPD. We see that Pilgrim is conflicted here, not over the killing of Frank and Amy, but over the fact that Schultz asked him to reach out to some of his former contacts. Pilgrim knows that this could get messy.
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The Dark Hearts of Men – Directed by Alex Garcia Lopez. Written by Steve Lightfoot and Angela LaManna
Having found Billy’s location, Frank and Curtis are ready for war, but we flashback to 24-hours earlier, catching back up with John Pilgrim and Agent Madani.
We see Pilgrim’s brutal fight with his former contacts over debts unpaid. Though he dispatches of all of them, he leaves the fight severely wounded and returns to his hotel room where he drowns his pain in booze and drugs and even a hooker. Thoughts about his wife eventually bring him back down to Earth. I’ll go ahead and say that I hated this whole thing with Pilgrim. Watching him fall from grace made him far less interesting than he had been up to this point. His devout faith and stubborn conviction defined him as a villainous character up to this episode and turning him into a hypocrite made him feel to me like just another guy.
Elsewhere, Krista meets with Agent Madani in an effort to learn everything that Dinah knows about Frank Castle over several glasses of wine and professed understanding. By the end of the episode, we see just how bad this turns out to be for Frank, as his and Curtis’ raid of Billy’s army was an ambush set up by Billy all along.
There is some really dramatic stuff in this showdown, from Billy rallying his troops, to Curtis inadvertently killing one of Billy’s men, to Frank taking on a horrific beating before recovering enough to mow through Billy’s men. Billy flees of course, but Frank fires several rounds of shots in his direction, and when he gives chase, Frank discovers that Billy is nowhere to be found while several young women had been gunned down.
Billy had set this whole thing up with help from Krista and The Punisher was horrified to see what his wrath had wrought as the NYPD closed in on him.
Incredible episode!
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The Abyss – Directed by Meera Menon. Written by Laura Jean Leal
Frank is hospitalized under the watch of the NYPD. Having seen the news, Karen Page visits him but all of her attempts to comfort him are unsuccessful, as Frank is tortured by the thought of having murdered three innocent women. He now sees himself as a monster, but Karen isn’t quite buying it, nor are Amy and Agent Madani, who soon join Karen in the hospital room. As the three of them converse with Frank and each other, Billy Russo calls to taunt Frank for having finally beaten him.
Karen and Dinah decide to venture to the morgue and view the bodies of the women and there, they discover that the wounds do not matchup with the official story. When Frank fired upon a fleeing Billy, the three women were already dead, having been killed by Billy. Meanwhile, an NYPD officer tries to collect the bounty on Frank and Amy, but Madani intervenes. Frank urges Karen to walk away and not let his situation ruin her legal career while the obvious threat of bounty hunters inspires Madani to help Frank escape the hospital, with Frank back to his senses, now knowing that Billy had set him up.
Frank does not get far though, as he and Agent Madani are cut off by Officer Mahoney, who handcuffs Frank in the back of an ambulance and vows to take him to jail.
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Collision Course – Directed by Stephen Kay. Written by Dario Scardapane
As Officer Mahoney rushes through the streets in the ambulance that he has commandeered, he is soon targeted by John Pilgrim, who is more determined than ever to take Frank down and complete the mission he has been sent on by Anderson and Eliza Schultz following the death of his wife. Pilgrim ultimately causes the ambulance to crash off a bridge after which Frank takes the keys to his cuffs from an injured Mahoney and prepares to flee the scene. He soon notices a gas leak and flames though, so he pulls Mahoney from the ambulance just before it explodes, saving Mahoney’s life.
Frank’s escape from custody hits the news, rattling Billy significantly. Krista tries to comfort him, encouraging him to leave things be, and Billy overcomes his initial frustration and assures Krista that he will follow through with their plan to leave the Country together once he obtains the required paperwork. Billy really does follow through with this, making a stop along the way to meet with what is left of his crew, each of whom he provides with passports and cash and encourages to flee the Country. He even buys Krista a bouquet of flowers on his way back to her.
While Billy is gone however, a paranoid Krista contacts Agent Madani and says enough of the wrong things to raise suspicion within Madani. Dinah visits Krista and begins to poke and prod her with subtle accusations and information from her past and Billy’s lover quickly unravels and physically assaults Madani. The two women brawl all over Krista’s apartment until Madani hurls Krista out the window, crashing to the pavement below (the same way that her father died and that she got her scars). Billy happens upon the scene mere moments later and is heart-broken over what he sees.
Following the freeway crash, Frank targets United States Senator David Schultz and abducts him from his home, while Pilgrim ventures to the trailer hideout where Cutis Hoyle is. Pilgrim calmly interrogates Curtis until an excited Amy bursts in the door, anxious to tell Curtis that she had helped Frank getaway. Pilgrim goes into a rage upon the sight of Amy and brawls with Curtis while Amy slips outside and into the back of the car Pilgrim drove to get there. Pilgrim ultimately flees, after which Frank soon arrives with David Schultz. Frank is furious to discover that Amy is gone, and he begins beating on Schultz in an effort to get answers, but the terrified Senator repeatedly vows that he doesn’t have any information to give, even after Frank shows him the photos exposing his homosexuality. Realizing that the conspiracy that Amy has gotten caught up in goes far above the Senator, Frank orders David to call his parents.
As all of this is going on, an armed Amy stalks Pilgrim at the hotel in which he is staying with ambition to kill him.
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The Whirlwind – Directed by Jeremy Webb. Written by Steve Lightfoot
An enraged Billy rushes inside to kill Agent Madai but as they brawl, she manages to get a couple of critical shots off before he chokes her until he believes she is dead. Badly wounded, Billy flees the scene before the NYPD arrives.
Meanwhile, Frank has a chat with Anderson and Eliza Schultz, promising them that he will kill their son if Amy isn’t returned to him safely and unharmed. The Schultz’s angrily threaten Frank, but he casually convinces them that it is he who holds all the cards and that he is deadly serious. Knowing who The Punisher is and what he is capable of, the Schultz’s contact John Pilgrim and threaten his two young boys if he doesn’t successfully remedy the situation.
Amy soon makes contact with Frank and Curtis and Frank heads out to Pilgrim’s hotel while Curtis keeps watch over David. An incredible firefight ensues between Frank and Pilgrim, but John manages to get away with Amy. A frustrated Frank returns to the trailer and finds himself even more frustrated when he sees that David and Curtis are gone. Having had enough of all of the blood and all of the drama, Curtis has decided to take David to Officer Mahoney, after which David declares that he is not pressing charges. Todd Alan Crain was quite likable as David Schultz here.
In the meantime, Billy, orders a doctor under gunpoint to take his bullets out and stitch his wounds and to do so without anesthesia, but he blacks out to the pain during the procedure and the doctor stows his body away in a dumpster without finishing the job and makes a getaway with Billy’s bag of money. After waking up in the dumpster and still bleeding out, Billy ventures to Curtis’ residence.
Back at the trailer, Pilgrim arrives with Amy and confronts Frank, who insists that David is inside the trailer rigged to explosives. Pilgrim releases Amy unharmed and Frank orders her to drive away. Once she is gone, Frank tells Pilgrim that David isn’t in the trailer after all and this leads to a very physical altercation between The Punisher and Pilgrim as they fight and brawl with an array of objects-turned-weapons that surround them. Frank eventually comes out on top and accepting his fate, an exhausted and bloodied Pilgrim asks Frank to spare his two boys when he kills the Schultz’s. These words give Frank pause.
Elsewhere, Agent Madani visits a crippled Krista at the hospital to gloat over Billy’s fate while Billy calls Curtis from his basement and tells him that he is dying and doesn’t want to die alone. Curtis contacts Frank one last time and tells him the situation and Frank hurries over and Billy, expecting Curtis watches Frank stroll into the basement. Billy laughs at the irony of it all and begins to apologize to Frank, but before he can get his words out, Frank puts two bullets into Russo, killing him.
From there, Frank and Amy infiltrate the Schultz’s home where Frank shoots and kills Eliza after she makes a move at Amy. As a panicked and mournful Anderson Schultz wails in anger and agony, Frank reveals that he recorded the conversation that he previously had with the Schultz’s and places an unloaded handgun and one bullet in front of Schultz, saying he can either live with the truth or take his own life. As Frank and Amy leave the Schultz’s mansion with John Pilgrim’s boys safely returned to him, they hear the gunshot that lets them know that Anderson Schultz is dead.
This series ends with Frank and Amy sharing a very touching goodbye as Frank sets Amy upon a course of following her dreams. This series did a fantastic job in developing Amy from a spoiled brat to a brave, tough, and likeable character! With Amy gone, Madani – now working for the CIA – calls and offers Frank a job, but The Punisher declines.
So, I loved pretty much all of this! Very rarely did this series take the foot off the gas and provide relatively unimportant or boring moments and the growth of each character and the trials and tribulations they endured from Frank to Curtis, to Agent Madani, to Amy, to Pilgrim, and even to Billy was flawlessly executed. The showrunners did an outstanding job of showing all of the twists and turns and drama from the respective viewpoints of the characters involved. We know what drives each of them and that makes for a very satisfying viewing experience!
This was another Marvel Television production in which everyone involved brought their A-game. The writers, the producers, the directors, the actors, the stunt coordinators, the makeup people, the choreographers. This is easily one of the most unique live-action MCU productions that I have ever seen, as it never really feels like a superhero show. It’s instead a psychological drama and a commentary on morality and coruption and justice. Above all else, it’s everything one could ever want in a Punisher story! For me, this lands just a notch below The Punisher: Season One, but make no mistake about it, this is top-shelf MCU stuff, and I cannot freaking wait to see Jon Bernthal reprise this role in Daredevil: Born Again!
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Highlights of The Punisher: Season Two:
Jon Bernthal is Frank Castle
Ben Barnes as Billy Russo
Amber Rose Revah as Dinah Madani
Chemistry between Jon Bernthal and Giorgia Whigham
Jason R. Moore as Curtis Hoyle
Josh Stewart as John Pilgrim
Corben Bernsen as Anderson Schultz
Todd Alan Crain as David Schultz
The Moment in which Billy Knows
The Punisher vs John Pilgrim
Frank’s emotional goodbye to Amy
So many GREAT song choices!
Violence, gore, politics, religion, and suspense that elevate both dramatic and action sequences and effectively keeps the show grounded in a way that makes this production one of the most realistic of any within the Marvel Cinematic Universe
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Notable MCU Concepts and Characters Introduced:
Amy Bendix. John Pilgrim. Krista Dumont. Anderson, Eliza, and David Schultz. Billy Russo’s frantic transformation into Jigsaw.
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