I guess all it took was a little patience.
After an entire half season of having all of its characters embark on all of their various plot threads from the ground up and following them as they meandered around New York like they were fucking blindfolded, it finally seems that Netflix’s The Punisher show has finally gotten itself some focus. After countless arguments and endless moralising between Frank Castle and Micro; repetitive musings from Madani between sexually using Billy Russo; and a bizarrely aimless side plot featuring Lewis Wilson’s rapidly fraying war veteran, the show now – in its seventh episode, no less – has seemingly moved all of its pieces into a formation that means they all can start shifting in a way that belatedly brings everything together.
Hey, I wouldn’t say we’re out of the trenches yet, but with Micro’s on the same page, Frank positively itching to kill someone, Madani finally achieving a breakthrough and the villains naking their moves, it looks like we just might be getting a Punisher show after all.
After near endless planning and discussion (e.g. arguments), Frank and Micro are now ready to put their plan in action and target the next chain in their link to discover the identity of Agent Orange and the weakest link that they can find is that of Colonel Morty Bennett. As Morty was key leader of Castle’s Kandahar strike team, Cerberus, and is something of wimp with some extreme sexual proclivities under his belt, Frank figures that he’ll instantly fold under pressure.
Meanwhile, after spotting one too many unpleasant coincidences plaguing her investigation, Agent Madani correctly assumes that her office has been bugged by a person or persons unknown (actually Agent Orange himself, William Rawlins) and with Stein, actually discovers the listening device. Also making some headway in their life – although in a completely different direction – is the rapidly deteriorating Wilson who, after killing the two-faced O’Connor after a struggle, is deeply considering eating a bullet for his troubles. However, after some words of support from his father which he misconstrues, the frazzled young vet channels his talents and attention in some worrying new directions – such as making some homemade bombs for reasons unknown.
Back with Frank, we find him rapidly starting to get back into his old, Punisher mindset as he prepares to take a giant step toward avenging his family once and for all and giving Micro his life back. However, while he admits there’s going to be something of a conundrum if any innocent soldiers attempts to stop him, matters become infinitely more complicated when it turns out that Agent Orange has second guessed them once again and a squad led by a masked Billy uses Morty as bait to take Castle down.
While I’m not so wound up by The Punisher’s slow pace as to believe that it’s issues can been sorted out in a single episode, Crosshairs still proves to be a huge leap in the right direction for anyone desperately hoping that the show manages to once again invoke the energy of the character’s introduction in Daredevil. For a start, we thankfully ease up on some of the more melodramatic plotlines as Frank and Micro set their eyes on the prize and get their vengeance tour on the road proper. It’s not that I dislike the stuff involving the Lieberman family, but too many times it’s diffused tension with the kind of drama you would usually find in an episode of The Days Of Our Lives and draggged out the animosity of the leads when the show could have been far more fun if they’d gotten on the same page sooner. Well, they’re on the same page now and with their renewed vigour, there’s a sense that the other plotlines are starting to take their lead and get to the point. It’s also nice to see the show having Frank tackle his worries about whether to take a hard line against any innocent soldier caught in the crossfire. Yes, Castle is a brute when it comes to crime, and while he’s not above giving a good guy the odd flesh wound, it’s nice to see that he draws the line at plugging men simply following orders.
As surely one of the more random plot threads, the radicalisation of Lewis Wilson has passed under the radar to suddenly become a rather engrossing story. Now a murderer and armed with the utter belief that no one can help him in whatever his quest is expect himself, there may be something of an intriguing secondary villain lurking in the wings. Galvanised by nothing but endless betrayal from everyone from his government, to Curtis, Russo and the late O’Connor, the intense story of an intense, lost man as he wages a one-man war of terror against anti-gun lobbyists. The fact that he’s an obvious counter point to Frank himself may be as obvious as the nose on your face, but seeing as the series has needed to step up the pace for the last two episodes at least, another antagonist (especially a tragic one) is more than welcome.
Elsewhere we find Madani finally getting some right answers too as she finally figures out why her investigation keeps hitting bizarre brick walls. I have to say, considering that the character is a nicely layered creation that has more than her share of interesting wrinkles (mother issues, stubbornly confident, sexually liberated), I’m frankly surprised that the show hasn’t actually done more with her other than remain one step behind everyone else. Still, the fact that she’s catching on after figuring out that her office has been bugged means that she’ll hopefully get back to having a more active role after spending multiple episodes sifting through the aftermath.
Even the bad guys are becoming more proactive, with Rawlins continuing to take a larger role as the arch villain of the piece. But while he’s concocting plans, traps and ambushes in order to ensnare, or at least throw off Castle, a telling discussion between him and Russo manages to nicely lay out exactly why Castle bothers him so much. Simply put, the fact that it was Frank who busted his eye means that he actually made Rawlins feel the hopelessness and fear that he himself offers the victims of numerous tortures and interrogations and as a line of reasoning into why the antagonist does what he does, its simple and believable. Even the fact that the writers gave underling Morty a sizable sexual kink feels like they’re drawing from the comic arcs that injected a vein of black humour into proceedings. However, considering that Billy Russo is destined to play a much bigger role as a big bad, it still feels like the show is holding back on him despite now exposing him as a willing henchman who is more than happy to kill his former friend – but now that things are moving, this should also soon gain momentum.
The fact that a series that should have been a fast paced vigilante show has taken this long to get to the point will always stick in my craw a little, but hopefully this slower part of the season is now over. Whether The Punisher can actually get back to the heights of his Daredevil stuff or even the first episode of this season will remain to be seen – but if it does, the change started here.
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