The Punisher 1.05: “Gunner”
The Castle is out of the bag. Agent Madani knows Frank Castle is alive, which means it’s only a matter of time before enemies start coming for him. Or at least that’s what Micro fears. Micro believes the key to their safety is figuring out who filmed the Ahmad Zubair murder.
Frank is back to ingratiating himself with the Lieberman family, who invite him over for dinner. As much as I question Frank’s tactics, it’s obvious Micro’s son could use a father figure and Frank might be able to fill that role.
Surprisingly Madani does not sell out Castle to her supervisor but is visited by Karen Paige who is trying to find out more information about Wolf and the coverup. Madani knows about her past involvement with the Punisher and turns the interview back on her. Karen warns her not to pursue Frank, but that seems unlikely given her next move is to look into the men who were at Zubair murder. Her partner Sam pushes her to tell the truth about Frank, but eventually, he agrees to give her a week to find him.
Karen tries to knock sense into Frank, telling him that killing the people responsible will only make them martyrs. She pushes him to do a real investigation, telling him she wants “there to be an after,” but he’s too afraid of losing her like he did his family. It’s an emotional moment after seeing Frank so closed off this season.
The focus switches back to finding Gunner, but Rawlins from Frank’s military days (who seems to be Agent Orange?) is also on to him. He sets up Frank to get taken down in an ambush which kills Gunner and leaves Frank mortally wounded.While the scene goes on a little longer than needed, there is an interesting use of first person POV with them cutting in body cam footage.
Unfortunately, in all of this, he also forgot about dinner at the Lieberman’s.
The episode ends with Agent Madani hooking up with Billy Russo. Not exactly the character development I was hoping for.
Other Thoughts:
- Frank needs to chill with demasculinizing Micro. It’s beneath him.
- I hope Karen plays a bigger role this season. Just as in Daredevil Season 2, her relationship with Frank does a great deal to humanize him.
- Best Micro moment of the show: Micro takes out a tasty-looking sandwich in the car while Frank is eating tuna. “Did you make me one?” “No…I thought you liked that stuff.”
Keep reading to find out what happens next.