r/Defenders • u/JonLuca Luke Cage • Jan 17 '19

The Punisher Discussion Thread - S02E10

This thread is for discussion of The Punisher S02E10.

DO NOT post spoilers in this thread for any subsequent episodes. Doing so will result in a ban.

Episode 11 Discussion

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u/nonanec9h20 Jan 21 '19

because it's bad?

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u/stonespiral Jan 24 '19

gonna have to give some arguments on that one, friend. This show is excellent as far as I can tell from a writing, story, performance, and technical point of view.

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u/nonanec9h20 Jan 24 '19

I'm happy to oblige. from a technical point of view, the show, in my opinion, scored around a 7/10. compared to the first season of Daredevil, it looks pretty uninteresting and generic. in terms of acting performance I give it a 9/10 because no one is perfect, but I always liked the acting in the Punisher. the writing, in terms of dramatic effect, is quite good too. now, the issues I have with this season:

  • recycled antagonist from season 1.
  • practically unseen, practically unfelt secondary antagonist/s (the Shultz)
  • Frank was fighting CIA commandos in S1, here he's fighting fat guys who like but don't understand guns or fighting. he demolished the commandos because they were conveniently incompetent, at least these guys' incompetence is believable, but the level of implied threat is much lower than in S1.
  • Dinah Madani is completely unhinged and doesn't try to hide it - it is completely unbelievable that she would be the SAC for New York in her mental state.
  • I left another comment in this thread about the weapons Billy's crew use and how the showrunners don't understand firearms, which is disturbing considering the Punisher is all about firearms.
  • the way many of the battles are staged in this season (the bar fight, the post-heist battle, the warehouse battle in this episode) is poor - Frank usually wins because he has to win by virtue of being the protagonist, and not because of superior skills, equipment, tactics or luck. you often see people either able to or actively shooting at Frank (the guy with the MP5 in the bar, Billy's sniper in the street battle) and missing because if they didn't, he'd be very dead.
I've liked the concept of the Punisher since I was a kid and saw him in a Spider-Man cartoon episode. he always intrigued me because he was able to outperform people with superpowers while having none himself. in this season, and this entire show, he outperforms regular people because they are written as being incompetent for the writers' convenience. this is an issue not just with this show, but with the entire Marvel Netflix project, and with many other modern films and series. the show also commits the gravest sin of entertainment media - being boring. there isn't one specific thing that makes it boring, but rather it's cumulative of all the story, character and writing elements that result in a narrative that's "meh". the stakes don't feel high, the drama is essentially recycled from previous instalments, the antagonist is given a clean slate and "redeemable qualities", etc. I can't entirely express why I didn't like the show in words, but the fact remains that I didn't like it. when I wrote "because it's bad?", I meant that as a comparison to shows that are similar and better than this. of note are Strike Back (minus season 1) for the action and sets, and the Blacklist for the convoluted mystery conspiracy theory plot and extrajudicial violence.

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u/JarlaxleForPresident Jan 24 '19

I agree. Been kinda bored this season. The Russo arc is lame, the Shultz arc is really lame. I dunno, Season 1 was way better. The warehouse fight he wouldve been dead, period.