For a show that is more than willing to indulge itself with sequences of extreme violence, it’s equally willing to confront that violence and explore the consequences of it, both in terms of physical repercussions and mental. The first season of The Punisher did a good job of exploring PTSD, the way veterans are often left to fend for themselves, and having to find support within each other, and the ways, and the ugly manifestations that a life of violence can lead to. The second season, which just recently released on Netflix, complements these themes and expands on them, as well as how they relate to the characters.
Season two dives deeper into the idea of trauma, and how we can allow it to turn is ugly, or use it to help better ourselves. Many characters in this season struggle with some form of trauma. Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal) is obviously still deeply affected by the death of his family and his actions overseas. Billy Russo (Ben Barnes), having survived his encounter with Frank at the end of season one, struggles with memory loss, while being haunted by the skull image from Frank’s suit. Homeland Security Agent Dinah Madani (Amber Rose Revah) is coping with being used by Billy and surviving a gunshot to the head. Krista Dumont (Floriana Lima), Billy’s therapist, is revealed to have gone through a horrible incident during her childhood. And Amy Bendix (Giorgia Whigham), the teenage runaway that Frank decides to help, is on the run from bad people after discovering her friends were gunned down.
There’s more I could get into, but you get the point. The show is all about the ugliness of cyclical violence, and the way toxic avenues are often the easiest and most available ways of dealing with past trauma, especially when there isn’t any kind of support system. I suppose there can’t be many other ways of approaching a character like the Punisher given America’s relations with gun violence, and with this particular take being grounded and lacking the stylization that makes works like John Wick easier to enjoy despite their gun fetishism. It’s well done though, and because it’s a show willing to take its time with its characters, it’s more thoughtful and empathetic digressions ring true.
The show is a general improvement over the first, and the first season was already very solid. There is a good flow with all 13 episodes, and there isn’t that mid-season lag that many of these Marvel Netflix shows have. There is maybe one episode that could be argued as padding, but there are still plenty of dynamic character work that it doesn’t feel like a waste of time. There’s also a more consistent amount of action if you felt the previous season saved most of it for last. I’m pretty sure every other episode features Bernthal covered in blood, which – at this point – basically makes it his equivalent of Tom Hardy always wearing something over his face. The amount of physical punishment he gets through the course of the show is absurd, but very satisfying. Bernthal roguish charms allows him to own the role in a way that sets him apart from other iterations of the character.
If you liked the first season of The Punisher, then there’s no reason you won’t enjoy this one, hell, you might enjoy it even more like I did. If I had to nitpick about one thing, it would be the lack of swearing, which might not seem like a problem since it doesn’t register as one for the other Marvel shows, but given how grounded this is, mostly involving a guy who shoots people without the help of any superhuman powers, it’s unfathomable to me that none of these characters are swearing like a bunch of sailors. That said, out of all the Netflix shows, this is one that I found myself the most emotionally invested in, which could be due to the effectiveness of the story formula that involves a tough, rugged guy reluctantly going on an adventure with a young girl, which we’ve seen done brilliantly in stuff like Léon: The Professional, Logan, The Last of Us, and the journey that Frank goes on with Amy is very endearing. I previously considered the third and final season of Daredevil to be the best Marvel Netflix show, but my gut reaction to this season of The Punisher suggests that it might edge Daredevil out. Unfortunately, it’s very likely that Netflix will cancel The Punisher like it did for most of the other Marvel shows, but I’m glad that we were able to get a great Punisher show that’s as thoughtful, emotional, and entertaining as this.