I thought the first episode was gritty, dark, violent and interesting. After that it just became a chore to sit through, boring, messy and just uninteresting and most importantly not dark.
Yeah, it wasnt what I had hoped for either. Just being better than iron fist shouldn’t be the bar that’s aimed for.
shareHow was it not dark? It had some of the goriest moments in the Netflix shows. And while the other Netflix shows had a decent amount of levity, this show hardly had any aside from a few moments with Micro.
shareYeah, I thought the first episode was a solid 7/10 and with a violent, action-packed ending, I thought for sure things would pick up in the subsequent episodes...boy was I wrong! It continued to get more boring.
shareAgreed. First episode was a 7+, then towards the end it was 2-3 at best. I felt like I was studying for a test trying to get through it. They fit MAYBE 5 hours of material into 13 episodes.
shareThe first five eps really blew me away. Then there was a great deal of filler. And it never really recovered the momentum it had. Pretty uneven show.
shareThe last 3 episodes were as consistently brutal and action-packed as a Punisher live-action adaption should be. I grant you that we didn’t get to see a totally unhinged and deadpan Frank Castle for most of the show, albeit in my mind making him as one-dimensional as he is in the comics - showing him killing criminals every other scene - wouldn’t make for a particularly investing show. Sure it runs slow on action but being somewhat of an origins story, it simply made sense to get lots of character development with a conflicted Frank... After all, after we saw a more familiar version of the comics Punisher at the beginning of the show, Frank thought he was through with seeking vengeance and wanted to move on. He tried to live normaly as best as he could but was then reluctantly pulled back to the life he couldn’t escape. Call this cliche and tedious but I found his “journey” and eventual transformation into the real Punisher again worthwhile.
With all that said, the PTSD scenes with that lunatic Wilson did slow things down. Were there dull and fairly silly moments in it? Of course. Was it uneven in tone? To a certain degree. And you can argue that putting emphasis on Frank’s relationship with Lieberman and getting involve with his family was unnecessary. But unlike focusing on Wilson, the storyline with Frank and David had to happen in order to establish this duo’s friendship and trust, and of course to give our “hero” an opportunity to be human (plus those scenes are well-handlded). The most problematic thing about it, to me, was its messaging on gun control. It was muddy. Though I guess that focuses on a gun-wielding protagonist in modern times, its commentary on this was probably bound to be messy.
Ultimately, I have no major gripes. While I hope and expect things to get more thrilling and uncompromising in season 2, this 1st season was no-holds-barred and it had a compelling Frank Castle.
I get what you're saying as far as the comic Frank making for a very samey show, but I don't think how they've handled it was the right route either. It's just boring and doesn't feel real at all. The Thomas Jane movie (and 'Dirty Laundry' short follow up) is still the only screen Punisher for me.
shareI understand. I thought season 1 was slow but mostly in a good way. I figured it was building up to be something bigger. In comes season 2... and while I didn’t dislike it, the whole thing felt no different than season 1 apart from a couple of episodes. In other words, I expected more. I am nevertheless a fan of the show and found the best episodes of this last season to be fantastic.
Regarding the Thomas Jane version, that’s a no for me. Don’t get me wrong, I always liked the movie/short and Jane’s portrayal. But overall, his Punisher didn’t scream, well, true Punisher to me. I far prefer Ray Stevenson and Jon Bernthal’s more faithful interpretations. The quality and grittier tone of their movies+shows aside, both Ray and Jon brought a perfect animalistic nature to the role (and more) that Jane’s version seriously lacked in my view.
Moreover, as infamously over the top as Stevenson’s movie was, he was simply the real deal as The Punisher. He gave the impression that he was a tormented person, yet when it came down to it he punished his enemies like 2004 Punisher didn’t come close to. And not only did he make the most barbaric and effortlessly badass movie Punisher, but he also LOOKED and arguably breathed the role better than any of the other Punisher actors.
This.
It went into something off. And what was with that sex scenes with Dihna and that guy? Almost every episode.
I liked a lot about the whole show. Being a Punisher fan since the 80s, and having been disappointed before, I was not expecting much. The first episode plodded along until the end, then it blew me away. It lulled a bit in the middle, but came around in the end. Overall, I liked it.
shareAgreed, I hated episode 1 and was happy the rest of the season was much better. They really could have deleted episode 1 and the season would have been elevated. The rest of the season 1 was waiting to see the kid he helped in ep 1 show up and be somehow redeem ep 1, but alas, nothing...
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