Marvel's The Punisher - Episodes 1-5 Review

With the characters' popularity in the second season of Marvel's Daredevil, the Punisher makes his way to the small-screen in this thrilling new Marvel/Netflix series...regrettably after a string of misses for the streaming franchise: Luke Cage received a lukewarm (get it?) response; Iron Fist was annihilated by critics and fans alike; while The Defenders was received positively, but was clearly hurt by Iron Fist's reception. Thus, as I sat down to watch the first few episodes of The Punisher on November 17th, I had some mild trepidation. This was a series supposedly delayed by Netflix after similar real-life events, and the critical response had been mixed in build-up to the series. What's surprised me in particular though was the lack of attention the series received over its opening weekend. While all of the previous Netflix shows had been the focus of Internet attention as soon as they released, The Punisher hasn't had any of that - perhaps because DC's Justice League has been the focus of many online articles and pieces, given its...interesting response.

So, the question is: is The Punisher any good?

I can definitely say the thirteen episode-length doesn't help the series right off the bat. What should be a more exhilarating action thrill-ride often feels quite slow and padding, and while this works well in the first two episodes...I'm up to episode five, and there's still no real momentum to the show. I had been hoping for something like The Punisher to be able to fill-up this time with awesome action set-pieces, but for better or worse we have more conversation scenes, and scenes tackling particularly complex themes and ideas. Is this to the detriment of the series? Yes and no.

I have to commend the writers for tackling these themes - which range for PTSD to even examining the lives of different veterans, and their own individual responses to returning home. The Punisher doesn't waste time on irrelevant side-characters, because the characters all feel like a part of Frank Castle's circle in some way. Sure, the show has too many characters, and if this were an eight-episode season of television I would expect a smaller cast, but to fill-up thirteen episodes, having a big ensemble cast actually works - it's just about giving them stuff to work with, and that's where the padding is felt.

For example, the third episode 'Kandahar' revolves mostly around Frank and David (AKA Micro) developing their trust and dynamic - as well as exploring David's backstory through flashbacks. This is a strong concept for an episode, but given how closed-off a character Frank is, the episode just seems to be wasting time until David will inevitably persuade Frank to work with him. There's no real conflict here, and the protagonist is very firmly set against the end goal of the narrative - making the pacing really drag at points. The characters are written well, but the episode needed to either be shorter, or throw in some much more interesting side-stories, or simply end this part of the narrative earlier. Give us this tense exchange between the two characters, complete with the flashbacks, and the get them together to do what they're going to do. For crying out loud, the following episode is about the two of them getting Frank's guns back - do you need an episode for each of these stories? Surely putting them into one episode would create more narrative momentum? However, I can imagine that if the writers weren't trying to cover thirteen episodes, they probably would choose to turn these two stories into one episode to keep the pace up.

As it happens, structure proves to be a problem with The Punisher...like it was a problem for Jessica Jones...and Luke Cage....and Iron Fist. Daredevil appears to be the only series not to suffer from this, but that's mostly because its filled-up the time well. Season 1 has Wilson Fisk, Season 2 has...um...Wilson Fisk again, but also Frank's own story, not to mention the Elektra and Hand storyline (that admittedly wasn't very well-handled, but not because of pacing issues). The Punisher isn't a slog to sit through, but it feels like what could have been something more akin to Marvel's John Wick ends up feeling like a more generic crime drama.

For some, the crime drama elements will work well, but considering the show is first and foremost an action series, it needs more momentum, regardless of whether we have whole episodes dedicated to action sequences or not. Or maybe the show is trying to be more mature, and not simply appeal to an audience more interested in Frank just beating up criminals rather than maybe or maybe not investigating a CIA cover-up.

In summary: the show is good, but it needs more momentum. I can imagine lots of people getting bored of the series very quickly, despite how strong (I felt) the first two episodes were. If everything picks up, I'll get more interested, but for now, I'm just waiting for something to really kick-off.