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Marvel’s The Punisher Season 2, Episode 3: “Trouble the Water” Review

Warning: Full spoilers for The Punisher Season 2, Episode 3 below. If you need a refresher on where we left off, check out our review for Season 2, Episode 2.

Whether intentionally or not, The Punisher Season 2 seems to be going all-in on the action movie homages. Episode 2 took several cues from No Country for Old Men as it depicted Frank battling a wave of trained killers inside a seedy motel. Now Episode 3 ventures into Assault on Precinct 13 territory as Frank rallies a ragtag group of cops against an overwhelming enemy. Hey, whatever helps this season keep the action flowing hot and heavy.

Marvel’s The Punisher Season 2 Finale: “The Whirlwind” Review

Warning: Full spoilers for the episode The Punisher Season 2 Episode 13 below. If you need a refresher on where we left off, check out our review of Season 2, Episode 12.

That’s a wrap on The Punisher Season 2. And most likely the series as a whole, for that matter. This episode wraps up everything about as well as can be expected given the rocky road the season has taken of late. Most importantly, it brings the story of Frank Castle to a satisfying conclusion.

Easily the most surprising thing about the finale is the decision to shift the plot very much back towards John Pilgrim and the Schultzes. That was always going to yield messy results. The Schultzes in particular have never been given the attention they needed this season. Even here at the end, they felt more like minor footnotes in the Season 2 narrative rather than the ultimate targets in a hard-fought war. That really worked against the final encounter between Frank and the Schultzes. Whatever sense of satisfaction in seeing two profoundly evil people given vigilante justice was fleeting, at best.

Marvel’s The Punisher Season 2, Episode 5: “One Eyed Jack” Review

Warning: Full spoilers for The Punisher Season 2, Episode 5 below. If you need a refresher on where we left off, check out our review of Season 2, Episode 4.

Frank Castle may be back in New York now, but it’s not looking as though we can expect a Punisher/Jigsaw showdown anytime soon. Just as Frank whiled away many hours with Micro in their abandoned power plant hideout in Season 1, Frank and his new partner Amy seem content to coast on Agent Madani’s increasingly strained hospitality for as long as possible this season. The series is in danger of stalling at this point, though there’s just enough progression in the latter half of this episode to keep the momentum going.

Netflix’s IO Review: Mackie’s Post-Apocalyptic Drama

Netflix’s IO is an interesting take on post-apocalyptic survival films. Instead of dwelling on a given threat or offering broad strokes that are reflective of societal ills, it presents a more intimate story, one centered on the importance of human relationships. It isn’t always successful. The subdued pace and muted thematic elements that allowed for such nuance also reduced the film’s impact. IO never becomes boring (although there are patches that run the risk of dullness), but it’s also not as noteworthy as it could have been either.

Directed by Jonathan Helpert, IO details the exploits of scientist Sam Walden (Margaret Qualley) after a cataclysmic event sends most of Earth’s inhabitants into space. This mass exodus happens in waves, with some people leaving sooner than others. Sam opts out completely; she’s determined to find a way to save the dying planet. Time isn’t on her side though. With the final shuttle’s departure rapidly approaching, she only has a few days to make a meaningful scientific discovery or face the possibility of being left behind.

Marvel’s The Punisher Season 2, Episode 11: “The Abyss” Review

Warning: Full spoilers for the episode below. If you need a refresher on where we left off, check out our review of Season 2, Episode 10.

Well, that went pretty much exactly as expected. Following last week’s unsatisfying twist, with Frank Castle losing his nerve after apparently killing innocent civilians, the series proceeds to quickly walk back and reveal how it was all just a big misunderstanding. Good thing a familiar face from Frank’s past showed up just in time to salvage a disappointing story turn.

As expected, resolving rank’s crisis of conscience turned out to be as simple as doing a bit of forensic work and realizing that those women were already dead by the time Frank shot up Billy’s warehouse. It was painfully obvious from the start that this was going to be the end result. And so once again, while I realize there was both a need to find some way of striking Frank on a psychological level and a lack of available options, this particular detour just doesn’t seem to have worked out.

Marvel’s The Punisher Season 2, Episode 12: “Collision Course” Review

Warning: Full spoilers for The Punisher Season 2, Episode 12 below. If you need a refresher on where we left off, check out our review of Season 2, Episode 11.

For the most part, the complaints with The Punisher’s second season have remained consistent. The season’s new characters are badly underdeveloped and don’t measure up to the returning favorites. The conflict is split along two fronts that don’t seem to have much to do with one another. As much as the season manages to dial up the intensity and violence in its penultimate episode, it’s also painfully clear that these recurring problems aren’t going to be addressed before the end.

Marvel’s The Punisher: Season 2 Review

The following contains SPOILERS for all of Marvel’s Punisher: Season 2 on Netflix. Below, you can also find links to all the individual episode reviews for Season 2, for those who’d like a more focused take on a specific chapter, followed by our full (mostly spoiler-free) Season 2 review.

Marvel’s The Punisher Season 2, Episode 10: “The Dark Hearts of Men” Review

Warning: Full spoilers for The Punisher Season 2, Episode 10 below. If you need a refresher on where we left off, check out our review of Season 2, Episode 9.

This is the first truly disappointing installment of The Punisher Season 2. Which is unfortunate considering that the end is fast approaching. But between all the philosophical navel-gazing and a twist ending that doesn’t quite connect as intended, this chapter feels like a significant misfire.

I do appreciate the attempt to make this episode feel markedly different in terms of tone. The flashback snippets, the dark, rainy setting, the jumbled narrative chronology – all of that contributed to a disorienting sensation and a mounting fear at what was awaiting Frank and Curtis inside Billy Russo’s Valhalla base.

Marvel’s The Punisher Season 2, Episode 8: “My Brother’s Keeper” Review

Warning: Full spoilers for The Punisher Season 2, Episode 8 below. If you need a refresher on where we left off, check out our review for Season 2, Episode 7.

The bitter rivalry between Frank Castle and Billy Russo continues to grow more heated. And while Episode 7 ended on a weird note as it abruptly cut off in the middle of Frank and Billy’s standoff, the upside is that Episode 8 wastes no time before diving right back into the fray.

The opening action sequence stood out for a number of reasons, not least of which being the fact that Curtis got his chance to rise to the occasion, punch out a sniper and even save Frank from going back to prison. It’s both satisfying to see Curtis take a more proactive role in this conflict and depressing to realize that he may well have torpedo’d his own life by getting in too deep with Frank. Just as in Season 1, when that dash cam footage revealed to the world at large that Frank Castle was still alive, there’s a sense that the worst thing that could have happened for either Frank or Curtis here is putting themselves out in the open and attracting the attention of the NYPD. What should have been a simple assassination run has grown much more chaotic.

Marvel’s The Punisher Season 2, Episode 9: “Flustercluck” Review

Warning: Full spoilers for The Punisher Season 2, Episode 9 below. If you need a refresher on where we left off, check out our review for Season 2, Episode 8.

Whatever else you can say about The Punisher Season 2, it’s not lacking in the old ultraviolence department. This episode manages to up the intensity even further, turning every two-bit criminal in the city against Frank Castle and Amy Bendix. It’s a great way to cleanse the palate after several episodes focused on Frank’s darker side.

We’re obviously never going to see this version of Frank Castle fully become like the one in the comics – the one who punishes all criminals without hesitation or discrimination. Jon Bernthal’s Frank is a soldier with a more specific war to wage. Which is fine, but sometimes you really do just want to see Frank go full John Wick on some bad guys. That’s where Episode 9 comes in. Between the very one-sided shootout outside the bar to Frank rescuing Amy from would-be kidnappers, there was an added visceral thrill to the series in this installment.