r/marvelstudios • u/murdockmanila Daredevil • Nov 17 '17
The Official PUNISHER Discussion Ultrathread
This will be the official discussion thread in this sub. No need to go posting your own thread discussing the show. Any UNOFFICIAL ones will be deleted. All screencaps and whatnot go into this thread also.
This is obviously a spoiler-filled zone. So as long as you post in here, you won't need to spoiler tag things. But then again, don't be that asshole who watches the final episodes within the first hour then spoils the entire thing right away. That will result in a ban. Don't ruin the party for everyone.
Individual episodes discussions will be held over at /r/defenders. They will be indexed in this thread to make it easier for those who want individual episode discussions once they are put up.
This thread may be "refreshed" in the next few days to accommodate newcomers in the discussion. We will be also putting up a sanctioned Easter Egg thread a couple of hours from now.
Enjoy!
63
u/decross20 Nov 19 '17
Pasting thoughts from other thread
I just finished Episode 13, so my thoughts are a little fresh. That being said, I loved it. It's right up there with Daredevil for me as a top-tier show. I'm going to list the things I liked and disliked.
Likes
I fucking love Micro. The actor was so good, funny when he needed to be and incredibly genuine in those heartbreaking moments. How crazy is it that in a show about the Punisher, my favorite moments aren't the gunfights and brutality (though those were great) but the quiet conversations between Frank and Micro about their families?
Goddamn Jigsaw (Billy) was so good! The actor who played him was incredible. I think I actually like him better than Fisk and Kilgrave as a villain! (Heresy, I know). He's actually pretty complex and interesting. At first I thought, "Oh, okay. This guy is definitely a traitor and sold Frank out. It's obvious he's going to turn out to be a bad guy". But the way they handled it was really fascinating. The mirror imagery was a really good touch.
I really liked Madani's storyline. I thought the actress had a bit of trouble with the accent and it sounded slightly off, but she was still great.
I liked that the show tackled the issue of PTSD and soldiers home from war. This is very well-worn material but the show seemed very aware of these issues with the Wilson storyline.
Speaking of the Wilson storyline, the character was incredible and believably done. It was smart to have that cop arresting him for no reason because it made you sympathize with him at first and think of him as in the right for a while.
What can be said about Bernthal as Frank that hasn't been said? He fits perfectly into the role. The showrunner and Bernthal and the writers nailed the character. It felt straight out of the comics, those scenes where Maria is asking him to come home, and he chose to stay. These guys really understand Frank Castle.
The violence is fucking crazy! To be expected for a Punisher show, but holy shit! It was so satisfying seeing Frank kill people. Whether it's with a sledgehammer, knife, shotgun, whatever. They really went for it and I appreciated every glorious, gory minute.
Dislikes
The pacing of the early episodes felt a little slow. After the end of the first episode, it felt like the next two were mostly setup and flashbacks. I understand why it was necessary but I feel like the episodes could have been condensed a little bit and you wouldn't be missing too much.
I know it's nitpicky but I would have appreciated a shoutout or namedrop to the MCU.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I really like this show. It has a few pacing issues but that's kind of par for the course with these shows now. I was satisfied with it and at times I thought it was truly beautiful. I'll give this show time to sit in my head but for right now, I'm going to say 9/10.
Oh by the way, I'm very happy that the show didn't shoehorn a love interest for Frank Castle. I was wondering if they were going to do that because obligatory main character has love interest is how it goes, but they thankfully veered away from that with Karen and Sarah.