Painful memories take ahold of Russo. Frank’s frustration frightens those closest to him. Madani receives a visitor bearing a warning.

Talk about an episode that starts off strong and then crashes from there. In the review for the last episode, I said it reminded me a bit of The Town and Heat and this episode’s beginning delivers on that with a gun battle in the streets of New York City. It’s a solid start to the episode that quickly goes off the rails after about 15 minutes.

From there, the episode goes back to the issue of people debating what they should do. It’s clear that Russo needs to be taken down one way or another, so stop debating and just do it. There’s also the fact that Frank had a person who could tell them where Russo’s base was and they let him go after becoming aware of the robbery plan. There’s no follow up? Russo isn’t worried his guy ratted him out? And where’s the NYPD through all of this? The Marvel Netflix shows have a habit of depicting them as rather incompetent.

It’s an episode that starts strong and just fails to deliver the further it goes along. The end has some promise but beyond that, this is an episode where you come for the gunfight in the beginning and can bail after.

Overall Rating: 6.5

Madani’s quest to ID Pilgrim hits a wall. Russo and his crew put their plan into action. Frank encounters someone from the past.

Things get a little better with this episode and shocker, it’s due to the fact it focuses on one thing! Russo’s plan for a robbery is what everything revolves around and it’s Frank and Curtis running around the stop him.

The episode is simple and its simplicity is what makes it work. This is all about the build up to Russo being confronted by Frank as the Punisher and the episode is a solid one in that way with a decent payoff towards the end. That’s partially because it doesn’t go over the top in what happens. Russo is hit with his trauma which causes him to freeze. There’s no crazy heroics. That comes from elsewhere.

The episode stands out because it’s focused on one thing. It doesn’t juggle too many things in the air and by doing that it can make sure what’s present is top notch. And it is. The robbery has a decent amount of humor about it. It’s tense. And, we don’t know how it’s going to end.

The episode feels a bit like The Town with a little bit of Heat thrown in. It knows what it is and doesn’t deviate from that. And for that, it stands out from a rather uneven second season.

Overall Rating: 8.0

Amy (formerly Rachel) develops photographs that point to a conspiracy. Russo reads his own report. Madani’s story about Russo comes under fire.

Things are moving forward in this episode which is frustrating in so many ways. This is a season that feels like it has a bit too much going on and not enough focus on one thing to make it enjoyable enough.

We now know what’s on the photos. We also know how those photos were going to be used and what for. There’s also Billy Russo building a group which is odd since this guy’s face is all over the place but no one seems to be turning him in to the police. Then there’s Frank with Amy/Rachel and this theme of his daughter coming back.

Going with one plot, things would be a bit stronger but nothing really feels like it has enough time being dedicated to it to fully explain what’s going on or make a whole lot of sense. Sure, this is a story that plays out over 13 episodes but like comics, you have to judge the individual episode and issue as well as the overall arc. Both suffer from decompression spreading out the story over too many episodes and issues.

Then there’s the “discovery” of Billy Russo and the result? To do things as difficult as possible. About half way through the second season and at this point, I’m hoping this is it.

Overall Rating: 6.75

As Pilgrim’s past comes into focus, Frank and Rachel find themselves in police custody, where they’re anything but safe.

Assault on Precinct 13, is that you? Frank and Rachel are locked up as Pilgrim and his mysterious group find them. From there a massive gunfight that’s entertaining and the only redeeming thing about the episode.

Much like the first two episodes, this third one feels like something we’ve seen before and is just a build up to an action sequence towards the end. Each episode so far has followed similar structural builds where 2/3 of the episode is slow and plodding while the last 1/3 is all action.

The season so far is an interesting one with about 1/3 of each episode being interesting. There’s this villain, a religious nut that alos seems to be a former white supremacist, but not much depth makes his mission to retrieve Rachel feel more like a horror slasher film than anything else.

There’s also the plot of Russo which feels like it could have been sped up to achieve the same result much earlier. He’ll eventually clash with the Punisher as the various plotlines come together.

There’s nothing bad about the series so far but there’s also nothing that really stands out to make it special either. It just is.

Frank and a reluctant Rachel go on the run as a menacing adversary gives chase. Meanwhile, Madani pays Russo an unwelcome visit.

On the run and being pursued by bad guys, the episode is a typical one that we’ve seen so many times before. The victim doesn’t want to cooperate with the hero thinking he’s a bad guy. The hero makes a stand in a hotel and uses a second room (we’ve seen this one multiple times alone). It’s a very paint by numbers episode but not necessarily bad.

There’s still a lot of amusing things here. For instance, Castle was hit by a bullet in the previous episode and that has to be dug out… of his ass. There’s some slight humor to that as Rachel must help. There’s also an emphasis that Frank is really banged up and hurting. He wasn’t exactly in the best shape to begin with but here he’s really jacked up. Unlike so many other heroes, we’re reminded that he’s human multiple times. He’s also an ass towards Rachel. Yes, we’ve seen that in other stories but again, it’s emphasized we’re not really supposed to like Frank.

There’s some bad as well and that mainly revolves around Russo who’s recovering from last season and may or may not be faking memory loss. With flashes of what happened in dreams, this entire plotline feels dragged out. It’d be so much easier and to the point to have him have nightmares of the Punisher and escape while pursuing revenge. We know it’s going to happen, speed things up, get to the point, and cut a few episodes.

Much like the first episode there’s a lot to like here and some things that are rather slow and dragged out. Much like other Marvel Netflix shows, Marvel’s The Punisher has issues getting to the point and find a steady pacing to really make it engaging. Two episodes in and it’s clear like so many of those shows before it, a shorter season would benefit it overall.

Overall Rating: 7.0

While driving through Michigan, Frank stops for a beer at a roadside bar. But staying out of trouble has never been his strong suit.

After a surprisingly strong first season, the Punisher is back for a second that has him wandering. He’s cleared of charges from last season and has no roots to ground him. And, it’s clear he’s looking for that, looking for a purpose. Stopping in Michigan he might have found those roots but trouble is not far behind when he gets caught up in an attempted abduction. A young woman is being pursued by individuals who either want her or something she has. It’s all mysterious for the most part.

That set up isn’t anything new, exciting, or all that interesting, it’s pretty standard. And honestly, the episode is fairly boring until the last 15 minutes or so when the fighting begins. And that fight is what’s needed to wake you up from the sluggish and slow start. It’s brutal, really brutal, and in many ways creative. It’s what the Punisher is about in some ways. It’s an over the top jolt to get you to take notice.

The episode revolves around Jon Bernthal in the title role. He grumbles and mumbles his way through his lines and as a whole there’s issues with that from multiple characters. While some are easy to understand, others are too quiet, too mumbly. But, everyone is good in their roles.

The episode isn’t necessarily bad start. When the fight breaks out, it grabs your attention, but it takes a bit to get going and spends a lot of time setting up where Frank/the Punisher is with things. Pacing seems to be the issue because that latter segment is the exact opposite of the earlier and maybe that’s on purpose. But, when there’s so much on tv to choose from, it may not have been the best choice.

Overall Rating: 7.0