*This review contains minor spoilers*
Check out the SPOILER review on YouTube
The second, and probably final, season of “The Punisher” is a bit of a mess, with two separate storylines that never come together. While the acting is terrific, the new characters are reveal so little background that it takes most of the season to understand what makes them tick or why we should care about them.
The best example is the Amy character. We know she needs Frank’s help, but her refusal to tell him anything but lies, even about her name, make it difficult to warm up to her. It’s only after about four episodes that she and Frank begin to bond and we learn enough of her background to care about her. Meanwhile, the ruthless hitman John offers up tantalizing hints to his backstory, but he’s left out of the story for too long to keep invested in him. The most polarizing addition is Dr. Dumont. Her shocking turn into her darker nature rarely feels believable, and she is transformed into a watered-down version of Harley Quinn, complete with her very own physically and emotionally scarred lover.
Luckily, the returning characters are much more interesting, backed by strong performances. While they all have their moments, the most memorable of them belong to Billy Russo and Frank. Despite what he did last season, and dome of the foul things he does this season, Ben Barnes succeeds to make Billy sympathetic. His damaged brain and amnesia makes for some interesting twists as the people that he betrayed seek vengeance on him for acts he has no memory of doing. It was disappointing that they gave him only a few facial scars as opposed to the comic book counterpart’s horribly disfigured face, but he sells his character’s emotional angst well enough to give it a pass.
And just like season one, Frank Castle anchors it all together. Thanks to Jon Bernthal’s fantastic acting, Frank displays so many layers. Whether it’s screaming in primal rage and gunning down his foes, sobbing uncontrollably while discussing his late wife and kids, or using his charm on a pretty bartender, we can see how complex and broken he is.
Unfortunately, all these great characters are saddled with a show that tries to cram two separate stories together, and makes no attempt to bring them together. The season gets off to a strong start with the story of Frank and Amy on the run for their lives, but this is suddenly dropped into the background. It pops up again here and there, but it loses so much momentum and the climax is unsatisfying. The Billy Russo plot comes into the picture and is built up like it’s the main storyline, but almost completely fizzles out and finishes off in anticlimactic fashion.
As expected, there’s some solid action throughout, and when The Punisher gets to cut lose with guns blazing, it’s terrifyingly beautiful. And on the other end of the spectrum, the show lacks much of the lighter moments that we got from season one, and the lack of Micro is one of the main reasons for this. Also, while season one delved into some real-world topics like gun control and PTSD, this season’s mostly sticks to just the plot.
“The Punisher” season two features two storylines that both show promise, but instead of bringing them together, they both fight for the spotlight and neither benefits. Thankfully, fantastic acting and solid action salvage the disappointing.
** out of *****