‘The Punisher’ Recap: ‘One Bad Day’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

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​I have to admit, that I was supremely excited to settle in and watch the next episode of The Punisher, simply because I was dying to know what particular elements of revenge ‘One Bad Day’ was going to explore and let me tell you now, it didn’t disappoint me in the slightest when it comes to said exploration. Because revenge is a complex and powerful emotion/concept in its own right, and while we understand precisely why Frank is all about a sense of payback, something that is rarely explored when it comes to this notion, is what finally drives a person to be okay with vengeance and that’s precisely what this episode dug into, by way of Agent Madani.
 
After all, if anyone has a solid reason to give into their dark side a la Frank, it’s Madani. Because Billy did indeed do her wrong, and in essence, her encounter and relationship with him, cost her plenty, physically and emotionally and morally, and it was just fascinating to see her grapple with right and wrong during her recovery in the hospital, and also in present day, since we learned her moral compass has been challenged for some time, to the point where she is outright concerned that’s she losing her way. It’s why we saw her press Frank early on in this tale to not cross the line and put Billy down with impunity, but despite her best efforts to stay on the right side of the moral line, she still stepped into some ambiguous places, which brings us to the exploration of what drives someone to finally cross the line.
 
If anything, Madani learned that fear and anger are the two great engines in driving one into the darkness since she was working with Frank and Curtis out of the fear that Billy would hurt the three of them, or other people and well, we need not say more in regard to her anger because we fully understand the genesis of that. But what matters more is that she finally came to realize that giving into the fury and embracing it and justifying it is what allows for someone to become lost in its power, and that realization came about just by watching Frank do his thing to one of Billy’s new lackeys and that allowed for her to find her moral code once again and try to talk some sense into Frank, with little luck of course and this exploration and search for Billy led to the most stunning moment in this tale.
 
For Billy’s big plan in this episode was to conduct a robbery, an act that actually led to some welcome levity in this tale thanks to a brief showdown between Billy and a saucy manager who wasn’t having his crap. But I digress, because what is more important when it comes to this particular sequence, is that Frank finally revealed himself to Billy, complete with his Punisher garb and all, which instantly froze Billy and seemingly brought a flood of bad emotions and fragmented memories to the forefront of his mind and that was, quite the brilliant decision when all is said and done. Because by making himself known like this, the Punisher will become the sole focus for Billy, allowing for Frank to finally deal with his old friend and enemy as he sees fit.
 
In the end however, I was truly impressed with this episode since it brought about the perfect balance of action and character development and I really am digging the new direction this series is headed in since it really is offering up so many unique moments and concepts to explore and it really is giving these characters new life and incredible depth on the show and well, I definitely need more. Season two is simply sucking me in, and it really is starting to look like the final showdown between Billy Russo and The Punisher is going to be an emotional and powerful moment, the kind that outright shatters an audience since it will feature two broken brothers, settling the ugliest of scores. Until next time. 

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