Marvel's The Punisher TV series - My impressions after the first half

Greetings, dear readers!

The last 10 years, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has grown rapidly and includes 19 films at the moment. But the whole branch of the series shot by Netflix deserves special attention: Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist. The serial universe exists separately from the cinematic and does not intersect directly with the characters and events on the big screen, but is crammed with different references and echoes to everything that happens in the cinema. So, all the series are just excellent, for example, the first season of Daredevil got 98% on Rotten Tomatoes (and this, in my opinion, one of the best series of the last five years). With the second season a little worse, but the audience was introduced to Frank Castle as an independent character. He liked both the authors and viewers that it was decided to shoot a separate spin-off about this anti-hero. The series was released in November 2017, but i finally got time to watch it just now. Below I'll explain my thoughts after watching seven episodes of the first season.

So, the first thing I want to say: before viewing the Punisher, I would recommend first to get acquainted with the second season of Daredevil, where he actually appeared. It explains the basic motives of the character, shows his connections with other characters who have some development in the solo series, and without knowing these things, you run the risk of viewing questions like "Why do this?" And "What's going on?". Well, before the second season of Daredevil, you'll have to watch the first one, otherwise you will not understand anything either :) That's such a complicated scheme turned out, but there's no way out of it.

The plot unfolds after the events of the second season Daredevil, Frank Castle went underground, but circumstances force him to resume the war with high-ranking criminals responsible for the death of his family. In general, this is the main motive that moves the character, both in Daredevil and in The Punisher. Now the Punisher works not alone, but paired with former ANB analyst David Lieberman (nicknamed Micro (Microchip in comics)) forcedly hiding from the authorities. In addition to the main storyline (the search for the perpetrators by Frank and Microchip), I noticed three more:

1. Agents of the Department of Homeland Security Dinah Madani and Sam Stein are investigating the Afghan case in which Castle is implicated. So far an interesting line, gradually coming into contact with the main one. Good characters and dialogs, enough screen time, do not tire. Let's see what will be closer to the denouement, how the characters will react to any plot twists.
2. Billy Russo, Punisher's best friend and fellow marine, now head of the military company Anvil. From the very beginning, he does not know that Frank is alive, he often crosses with agent Madani. An ordinary character, but his motives and goals are not completely clear. In his plot so far only the leadership of the military firm and attempts to learn something about Frank.
3. Another Frank's co-worker Curtis Hoyle. Knows that Frank is alive. Conducts small meetings for people whose lives are very painfully affected by the military service, helps them to adapt in society. In this circle there is one young man Lewis, and his line gradually turned into a separate one from these meetings. In fact, this is a very cool line, and Lewis is a good character that shows us how much military service can affect the psyche and life in general, when you simply do not find a place in an ordinary society. The plot in this line develops smoothly, but most of the moments are very tense, naturally you worry about the guy, because you know how bad he is and really afraid of what he might do. I wonder what it will all turn out into.

The first 4 episodes were awesome, saturated with events, keeping in suspense, and, most importantly, had a hell of a cool epic (i think i can say so for the scale of the series) ending. It seems that the authors have run out of fires further - the next 3 series turned out to be some tedious, did not happen anything interesting, minimum action, maximum chatter. Well, the scenarios for the episodes are written by different people, and they are shot by different directors. Perhaps this slight decline serves to equalize the plot branches, and then the most interesting thing awaits us. We'll see.

Separately, I want to say about the main actor, and this is John Berntal. Actor mainly plays in the movie on secondary roles. For example, you can know him by the role of Shane from the first seasons of Walking Dead (Lord, I have no idea what they are doing there at all, the 8th, the 9th season?) And for a minor role in "The Wolf from Wall Street" moustached criminal, I do not remember exactly). But taking him to the role of Punisher Marvel and Netflix hit the mark. The skin of the former soldier of the elite unit, John Berntal came just in time. Rough facial features (by the way, according to the data for the year 2013, the actor broke his nose 13 times), a hard low voice and some special fascinating spark in his eyes help the actor get used to the role of a ruthless avenger, who was heartbroken after losing his family. You believe him, you empathize with him, let him be so cruel and uncompromising. And you understand that violence is the only sure way to get revenge.

Thanks for reading this! The next post will be after the final review of the remaining series.