The Punisher Doesn't Have A Whole Lot Of Punishing In It But That's Kind Of The Point

So I finished watching Marvel's The Punisher on Netflix and came away from it feeling elated that one of my favourite characters in comics had finally been put to screen in an accurate and compelling way. I was surprised to find that when I went to investigate the rest of the internets reaction to the show, many die hard fans of the character found themselves disappointed with the show, specifically for its focus on the moral implications of and reasons behind Frank Castle's actions and it's lack of brutal action scenes for the majority of the show. Understandably, most people came to this show expecting the character to be accurately portrayed, which to them meant wall to wall gun violence with no real consequence but (and I hate to be that guy) I feel strongly that those people fundamentally misunderstand the character and his place in pop culture in 2017. The way I see it, the story of Frank Castle is about one man and how he deals with extreme pain and loss, it's about how war not only takes the lives of innocent people on the battleground but destroys those who return to the point where they're no longer themselves, it's about powerful people taking advantage of those less fortunate and the less fortunate fighting back. The Punisher is at his best when he's tearing apart a corrupt government or corporation one exploding cranium at a time and not when he's on the streets shooting everyday thugs. I think the previous on screen Punishers have ruined the audience's expectations for the character because the only enjoyable Punisher movie is Lexi Alexander's Punisher: War Zone. This isn't a burn on that movie, it's a fun movie and nails the depiction of Frank Castle's uniquely brutal vigilante violence but with little substance, which is why people expect that from a true to character Punisher show. What Netflix's The Punisher loses in balls to the wall, gory nonsense, it makes up for in substance. Frank Castle is a complicated character with layers upon layers of depth to explore and this show manages to dive into every miserable inch of his character. Castle's not just about revenge for his family and this show knows that, it explores his yearning for justice and what he sees as accomplishing such a concept, it explores his efforts to move on after the loss of his wife and how hard he finds it, it explores how his mental health suffered during his military service and after the tragedy that befell his family. Frank is a father, a husband, a best friend, a soldier, all his facets are explored here and it's only made

more perfect by Jon Bernthal's spot on performance. Bernthal is the glue that holds this realistic portrayal of a ridiculous comic book anti-hero together as his performance makes Frank Castle feel so real. The supporting cast, in particular Amber Rose Revah, Ben Barnes and Ebon Moss-Bachrach in their respective roles, fully supports Bernthal's performance and keeps it fully grounded in the reality of the world through their reactions to Frank's actions and ideologies. A stand out of the supporting cast is the return of Karen Page from the Daredevil series. This series builds upon the relationship between Castle and Page, established in the second series of Daredevil, in a heartstring pulling fashion that showcases Frank's humanity. Karen is an interesting character also in the respect that she is a prime example of the show's reluctance to commit to any one message or political statement. Karen proudly carries a concealed firearm and the show doesn't question whether that is right or wrong, it never settles on an opinion on Frank's method of dealing justice, it never condemns or glorifies the military in any certain terms. At first this lack of political focus frustrated me, it felt cowardly but thinking about it in the context of the characters history it makes sense and became one of my favourite things about the show. Part of the conundrum of Frank Castle is that he's been used as an example and symbol for both the left and the right, for gun control and against it, in support of war and the military and in defiance of the military machine so to create a show that settles on any one of these ideologies would be a disservice to the multifaceted and contradictory nature of the character. Netflix's The Punisher solves this problem by presenting a cast of well rounded characters that each represent a political stance without demonising them, it lets the audience make up its mind about the characters and their opinions. The only performance that took me out of the shows gritty realism was Paul Schulze's Rawlins. Schulze moves into cheesy MCU villain territory with his performance by the end of the series, in fact the whole show has somewhat of a villain problem, the main duo not reaching their true potential until the final two

episodes and the more interesting villain being the secondary, alt-right reminiscent terrorist that Frank has to dispose of. However the show makes up for this with its escalation. I've found that my main gripe with the majority of these Marvel Netflix shows is their reluctance to properly escalate a story, they're always swapping out interesting villains for less compelling or less threatening ones part way through the series, putting the climax at the mid point of the show rather than building the villains up at the same time and having everything come to a head towards the end of the series as this show does. I fully understand why fans of the Punisher from the comics would be dissatisfied with the amount of brutal action in the show but I strongly believe that the action wouldn't have any impact without all the small, human moments that make the audience care about Frank and his friends so to replace the slow burn of the show with wall to wall headshots and throat slicing would ruin the show. I think this goose really has teeth exactly as it is.