Television – The Punisher (Netflix)

*Slight Spoilers* 
How simple is the Punisher concept? A Special Forces soldier comes home from the war to his loving family. While on a picnic in Central Park, they get caught in the crossfire of a mob hit and are killed, he barely survives. Vowing revenge, the soldier devotes his skills to a new war, taking down violent criminals and mobsters in a variety of permanent ways. That’s the story of Frank Castle, Marvel’s Punisher. It’s so uncomplicated.

Not for Marvel TV though! Marvel TV has never met a creative concept they can’t mangle for politically correct television. I really looked forward to this show—how could anyone get it so wrong? First, these Marvel Netflix shows are too long! That is on them, Punisher could have easily filled a hundred episodes with the right ideas. Instead, Marvel TV is addicted to one major storyline (with several boring sub-plots to eat up time) over the magic number of 13 episodes. The first episode of Punisher is pretty good, the last is excellent. The rest drag like hell. Were the writers as bored as the rest of us? If they were it certainly shows.

Jon Bernthal rarely dressed as the Punisher

Actor Jon Bernthal’s performance as the Punisher is good. However, the writers have no idea who the character is. They are too absorbed with their themes of guns; good or bad?, American military veterans and shady government operatives. And NO ONE comes out well. While some of the characters and storylines are layered. ALL soldiers and former military are portrayed as insane, evil or suffering from PTSD. At least no one is all three. Well, except for the psycho serial killer who kills everyone he wants to before the Punisher fails to stop him. Oops, spoiler. The most weak and sniveling of these ex-military villains OF COURSE wears an NRA shirt. Is there any other way for a Marvel writer?

One of the most iconic symbols emblazoned on the Punisher is the painted skull he wears on his chest armor. It’s been a part of his gear from day one. It’s a big part of what makes Punisher the Punisher. Marvel TV loves to ignore everything that makes a hero iconic, so they pretty much do away with this too. I think he wears a half-painted skull on his chest in maybe two of the thirteen episodes. Marvel TV thinks all cool costumes or icons need to be limited to the last five minutes of a show’s last episode. Don’t want to fans to get any service, you know! That might cause them to watch it or recommend it to others. Conservatives might end up watching the show. Can’t have that!

The worst part of Marvel TV’s Punisher is the slow, unevenly paced storytelling. The first episode, where Frank Castle is reintroduced from his run on Daredevil, is all right. The last episode, where Frank takes on the military bad guy back in Central Park, in full Punisher regalia including his chest skull, is great. Of course in the show it’s the military, not the Italian mob, who kills Frank’s family, another stupid idea. Episodes 2 through 12 are not all terrible, but have little to do with the Punisher. We have military hijinks, Department of Homeland Security politics, highly corrupt government officials doing bad deeds, and endless yawn-inducing similar scenes. And what is the Punisher doing? Romancing a co-worker’s wife. Sitting in his concrete bunker and squinting menacingly. Oh, and in episode 8, Punisher and his partner Micro talk about their feelings for an hour and then Micro shows Punisher his penis. Really.

Writers, for a much better show, read a Punisher comic (something I’m not sure anyone connected to this show actually did). Doing a show the opposite way would have made for a much better experience. Make the main plot about the Punisher, and sub-plots about all the political intrigue. Make it more episodic—maybe Punisher against a different bad guy every few shows—and make the military thing the overall subplot that resolves in the last show. They could have done this and kept the first and last shows pretty much intact, while adding a lot more Frank Castle action along the way. But no, instead the audience has to be bored by endless sub-plots and social commentary, while the star sits in a bunker and looks at computer screens.

Overall the Marvel TV’s Punisher was a massive and boring disappointment. There were good moments along the way, and when it hit the fan things got violent and the right folks got punished. The Punisher even wore his skull once. But there is massive room for improvement here. Again, try reading any Punisher comic by Dixon, Ennis or Baron and just follow the outline. Is it really that challenging?  

Rating: **½ stars out of 5