Daredevil’s little brother… A very good show, but comparing it to its predecessor is not fair. Frank Castle, played by Jon Bernthal, makes his first appearance in the first episode of Season 2 of Daredevil, but now has his own show and story. After faking his death in Daredevil, he is still in New York and has now become a construction worker. He keeps to himself, but when he sees the only person who was nice to him about to be killed, he steps in and kills the almost killers. He then meets up with David Lieberman (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) and they form a great “buddy cop” duo. Watching them work out how to work together while trying to take down the people who killed Frank’s family and the people who are threatening Lieberman and his family, who turn out to be the same people is very fun.
Up until around episode 5 the show is a bit bland. It suffers from what a lot of first seasons/origin stories suffer from and that is building up characters. To start a series you have to create your character and make the audience understand what his motives and characteristics are. They do a good job, but it is also definitely helped by Frank Castle’s appearances in Daredevil. Those episodes are what really build up Frank’s backstory and what motivates him. So I would’ve believed that the pace would’ve been faster, but it felt slow. It isn’t until episode 3 where we really meet our main supporting character Lieberman and then we went through a lot of Frank’s background which some of it felt unneeded and that episode probably could’ve been combined with episode 2 to relieve some nonnecessities to the story.
Speaking of nonnecessities, what was the reason for Lewis Walcott? Lewis Walcott (Daniel Webber) was a vet who struggled with acclimating back to life at home instead of at war. Eventually the struggle catches up with him and he brings the war home. Lewis’s whole character and character arc to the main story is pretty much pointless. The only reason he is in the show is to build Curtis’s character and then bring Frank, Billy, and Madani together. It felt like the producers felt that they needed a smaller storyline to keep attention throughout the middle episodes, which was just unnecessary. I was drawn to the story and the main story, but as I was watching them build up Lewis’s character I thought, why do I care about this character? Then I realized that there was really no reason to care about this character. The only time that I felt really mad about something Lewis did was when he hurt Curtis. Obviously the things he did were terrible, but having a character that is unimportant do things to people that are unimportant to the story does not build up a story that should be cared about.
On the topic of Curtis and other side characters this show does a great job with them. Amber Rose Revah did a fantastic job as Madani. I loved her character throughout the entire season. She went through the most change out of everybody this season going from someone who just wanted to find out what happened to her partner to someone who is working to take down almost the entire system and working with someone who operates outside of the law. David Lieberman and Sarah Lieberman (Jaime Ray Newman) were some of my favorite characters in the series. Ebon Moss-Bachrach did a great job as the main supporting character that added some needed humor and light to a show that doesn’t have much of it. Sarah Lieberman and the rest of the Lieberman family were portrayed pretty well. You could really feel that the entire family was desperate to have their dad back with Sarah and Leo immediately clinging to Frank and Zach despising him.
Although side dishes can be very good, a great main dish is the most important part and this meal does not disappoint. Jon Bernthal portrays Frank Castle perfectly. The grit and darkness that Jon brings to this role is exactly what was needed. The Punisher and Daredevil are practically opposites who want the same thing, and that is so clear in this show. He’s not happy and funny, which is perfect. In the scene where he is at the Thanksgiving table and everyone is killed, you can really feel his pain and suffering. Although he gets a little bit more soft and fuzzy with the Lieberman family and Madani, Frank Castle is alone. Jon Bernthal plays that one man army perfectly as throughout the entire season you seem him get close to people, but still chooses to do things on his own, seen with the fight in the basement and the carousel fight with Russo. Jon Bernthal was really born to play this role.
A show is only as good as its villain. Ben Barnes as the twist villain Billy Russo was fantastic. Although his motives aren’t completely clear and it feels like he is just trying to kill Frank so that Frank doesn’t kill him. The stakes also don’t feel that high, but other than those two stipulations Billy Russo was a very good villain. He felt like a match for Frank. Their backstory together was built up very well and you could feel the betrayal and pain that Frank felt due to Russo, which although perfectly shown through Jon Bernthal, if Russo and Frank’s relationship wasn’t built up so well that perfect acting would have been wasted. Russo thinks of himself so highly and is incredibly vain, so to end his story by taking away his face was a storybook ending.
To end I just want to add that the makeup artists working on this show did an absolutely amazing job. This show is not for the faint of heart as the makeup artists made everything look so real. There were several times where I was ready to puke due to how realistic the blood and guts looked. Other than almost puking I really enjoyed this show. Although not up to the standards of Daredevil, and it probably isn’t fair to compare it to Daredevil, they always will be.
8.6/10 ☆
7.9/10😁
Super dark and gritty is not for everyone and that is what this show is. If you’ve watched Daredevil and thought that was dark, that looks like a fluffy unicorn compared to this show. That’s not for everyone, but this a very compelling and emotional story which raises this show up drastically and I can’t wait for Jon Bernthal’s return in Disney’s version of the big, bad Punisher.
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