'The Punisher' Recap: 'Two Dead Men'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

The more time I’ve had to ponder upon the series premiere of Netflix’s iteration of The Punisher, the more I’ve come to appreciate it. After all, this is a premiere that in essence, moved in the slowest of fashion and put nothing forward about the plot, but managed to engage all of us with Frank Castle’s personal plight. I mean think about it for a second, outside of a brief discussion at Homeland Security about Frank, there really was no buildup, structure or introduction to the overreaching story in ‘3 AM’, and that’s quite a feat.
 
However, that kind of storytelling simply isn’t sustainable, at least, not for a Marvel themed story. Which means that the next chapter in Frank’s harrowing story, ‘Two Dead Men’, takes the time to assemble a bigger plot filled with bigger threats for The Punisher to face. But, serious credit is due when it comes to the Writer’s Room and the powers that be behind the scenes, simply due to the fact that the depth we all thoroughly enjoyed in the first episode is still present here, and for proof, look no further than the fact that we actually find Frank afraid in this episode.
 
Yes, you read that right, Frank Castle is scared in this tale, and all of that is thanks to a mysterious man named Micro who makes contact with Frank early on in this story and lets him know that he’s fully aware of Frank’s past and well, I loved this segment of the story. It’s just so rare to see anyone have leverage over Castle and to see him in full on panic mode, asking everyone he knows as to whether or not they betrayed his trust, and seeing him on the run and keeping an eye over his shoulder in this fashion…is downright heartbreaking to say the least. But clearly, Micro makes a grave mistake in putting Frank Castle in a corner and it doesn’t take long for The Punisher to strike back. 

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​Because after enlisting Karen’s help on the matter, all kinds of information on Micro comes to light. First and foremost, Frank discovers that Micro’s real name is David Lieberman and David was once an intelligence analyst for Homeland Security and was supposedly killed while resisting arrest for leaking intel. This leads Frank to pay a little visit to Carson Wolf to learn more about the man and unfortunately for Frank, this visit seems to reveal that he has in fact…been a pawn in way, since his family may have died as part of a larger conspiracy to conceal an ugly secret for the United States Government. What that secret is exactly, will have to wait for another time, since Frank still had business with Lieberman.
 
In fact, dear David quickly learned that it is never wise to back The Punisher into a corner and make demands of him since Frank took the time to visit the Lieberman household and meet David’s wife. Something that completely and utterly struck fear into Micro before Frank launched the next phase of his little vendetta against the man by changing his look to evade Micro’s surveillance of him before finally being able to get the upper hand and play a stressful cat and mouse game with David to teach him a lesson and of course…to finally get face to face with the man on his own home turf…
 
So, if anything, I have to say, I’m quite intrigued by what Wolf had to say in this particular tale, because it’s clear now from all of his actions over the past two episodes that there is some serious truth when it comes to what he told Frank. Something stinks behind the scenes and it would seem that this conspiracy is going to permeate the first season of show, and it should be fascinating to learn what exactly got Frank’s family killed. Either way, this was in my eyes, another quality episode. I loved the fact that this story didn’t let up on the emotional weight surrounding Frank by finding a way to weave it into an episode filled with adventure and revelations and it just goes to show that The Punisher is determined to be a unique viewing experience. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m ready to learn more about what’s going on behind the scenes in Frank’s world, so I’m off to watch another amazing episode. Until next time.  

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