[Locke.]

After exacting revenge on the people responsible for the deaths of his wife and children, Frank Castle uncovers a conspiracy that runs deeper than New York's criminal underworld. Now known as the Punisher, he must dig deep into the conspiracy to discover the truth about injustices that affect more than just him and his family. Assisting the vigilante in his quest to fight criminals are best friend Billy Russo, who runs private military corporation Anvil, and former NSA analyst Micro, who shares common enemies with Castle and helps him as part of a so-called marriage of convenience.

Youtube video

Currently has 76% on Rottentomatoes which is higher than Defenders,
Iron Fist, and Daredevil Season 2. Reviews seem to say it starts a little slow but gets a lot better as it goes on.

[Locke.]

6 episodes in and the show has really lived up to my expectations, and I've been waiting for another Punisher standalone for bloody years. Has pretty much everything I wanted from the show, and the parts that do sometime lack (didn't like the car chase in Episode...3?, and the FBI plot isn't always the best) are made up for by Bernthal's performance as Frank, definitely the strongest performance in the MCU so far.

[Tom4784]

I watched one episode yesterday and thought it was decent, meant to watch another today before work but I slept in late so couldn't.

I hope they don't forget the heart of the character that they established in Daredevil, Jon Bernthal's interpretation of the character is the best I've seen because he brings such heart and pathos to a character that more often is portrayed as nothing but an avatar of murder.

[BBUKAUSFAN]

Already finished it, was for me the best marvel series on Netflix by far. Really enjoyed the story lines through and how it all played out in the end, the gun fight where very well done.

[Locke.]

Yes, finished it last night and it's my #1 too. Absolutely brilliant. I was a little worried beforehand that they'd tone down the violence because it's a Marvel show, but bloody hell it got pretty brutal towards the end. Bernthal was really born for this role, I thought Thomas Jane was pretty good in the 2004 film but he's been blown out the water here.

I loved the first half of the season but in the second half every episode felt like a finale, couldn't stop watching. Was up until 7am with it yesterday. Well, today.

[Tom4784]

It was okay, the performances were great, the dialogue was decent and the issues were well handled but the overall plot was riddled with tropes and I thought it covered territory too well traversed in Daredevil S2. The first half of the season was quite boring too.

Spoiler:

Russo might had potential to be a good villain but his heel turn was obvious from his first scene and they made his motivations far too weak to care, the other villain was as generic as can be.

The best two episodes were the ones when they were dealing with the terrorist, everything else felt like a replay of Punisher's arc in Daredevil. The side characters were mostly forgettable and the Hacker's family were painfully cliched (right down to the arsehole kid who sells the hero out).

Overall I'd say it's better than Iron Fist but weaker than the other Marvel Netflix shows. It had the talent but the story was too hackneyed and boring in parts.

Jessica Jones remains the best Marvel Netflix show and it's not even close.

[Locke.]

Great to see this is still the highest rated Marvel show on IMDb, will probably stay that way now

[Tom4784]

I can't imagine why, it's incredibly generic.

[Locke.]

Sounds like you're in the vast minority in those thoughts

[user104658]

Originally Posted by Dezzy

It was okay, the performances were great, the dialogue was decent and the issues were well handled but the overall plot was riddled with tropes and I thought it covered territory too well traversed in Daredevil S2. The first half of the season was quite boring too.

Spoiler:

Russo might had potential to be a good villain but his heel turn was obvious from his first scene and they made his motivations far too weak to care, the other villain was as generic as can be.

The best two episodes were the ones when they were dealing with the terrorist, everything else felt like a replay of Punisher's arc in Daredevil. The side characters were mostly forgettable and the Hacker's family were painfully cliched (right down to the arsehole kid who sells the hero out).

Overall I'd say it's better than Iron Fist but weaker than the other Marvel Netflix shows. It had the talent but the story was too hackneyed and boring in parts.

Jessica Jones remains the best Marvel Netflix show and it's not even close.

I dunno, I'd still put it above Cage and DD S2 to be honest... ironically, excluding the Punisher parts of DD S2, which were better than The Punisher.

But I agree about the retreading; it's a bit frustrating really. They sort of had him work through a lot of these issues in DD, only to start Punisher with him working through those exact same issues.

JJ does remain the best written Marvel show for me, with the best villain too, my only real issue with JJ is that her powers are completely inconsistent... they literally change in range and strength from episode to episode. They need to lock down what she actually can and can't do.

[Tom4784]

Originally Posted by Salah Claus.

Sounds like you're in the vast minority in those thoughts

I'm glad to be since the majority lacks taste, it seems.

[Tom4784]

Originally Posted by Toy Santa

I dunno, I'd still put it above Cage and DD S2 to be honest... ironically, excluding the Punisher parts of DD S2, which were better than The Punisher.

But I agree about the retreading; it's a bit frustrating really. They sort of had him work through a lot of these issues in DD, only to start Punisher with him working through those exact same issues.

JJ does remain the best written Marvel show for me, with the best villain too, my only real issue with JJ is that her powers are completely inconsistent... they literally change in range and strength from episode to episode. They need to lock down what she actually can and can't do.

Punisher had a bad first half and a poor supporting cast, Luke Cage had a bad last half and a good supporting cast. That's what puts Luke Cage ahead of it for me. When it comes to DD season 2, the Hand stuff was woeful but the Punisher arc was great as was Elektra before she became too ingrained with the generic ninjas.

I think inconsistent powers are a problem in a lot of Superhero shows, The Flash can run across the US in a second for pizza but can't dodge a punch to save his life for example. They go all out on big scenes without considering the consistency of scenes where powers are used where the budget is tighter.

[user104658]

Originally Posted by Dezzy

I think inconsistent powers are a problem in a lot of Superhero shows, The Flash can run across the US in a second for pizza but can't dodge a punch to save his life for example. They go all out on big scenes without considering the consistency of scenes where powers are used where the budget is tighter.

This was actually something that really bugged me in the recent DC crossover arc. Which I do think was generally great but... In the final episode Flash takes on Reverse Flash and, while Flash is now much faster, they're still running about the city and by the looks of them, it would take maybe 5 - 10 seconds to get across the city.

But then...

At the end of the episode, he shoots off to Star City to collect John Diggle and (also overlooking the fact that Diggle's organs would be liquidised by the G's)... He does that also in 5 seconds. Presumably something like a 400 mile round trip . I suppose MAYBE you could argue that most of his time is spent getting up to full speed so he's slower in a chase constantly changing direction, and faster over a long distance in a straight line? But still a stretch.

Same with the film really; flash can catch bullets with time to spare, and yet batman manages to stop him from falling by catching his ankle with a grappling rope? Wut? He wouldn't even be able to see him . WW is a little inconsistent too, given that she deflects bullets with the bracelet things which would mean she needs Flash / Superman-like reflexes and speed, and yet, in normal combat she doesn't have that sort of speed.

However... My main issue with JJ is that the inconsistency is actually a logical one with her powers and... Well... Physics. She has Luke Cage level strength but ZERO protection like the indestructible skin or bone density. Which means, if she hits someone or something at full strength, she would skin her hand and break her own hand and probably arm. I can accept her super jumps because you could argue that she takes the impact of the landing by bending her legs, and the super strength muscles act like suspension... But the impact of a full swing punch? She would be tearing herself apart . I need more info, it impacts my suspension of disbelief! The flash-batman-grapple was the only moment of JL that really did that... It's the same sort of thing. I have plenty of flexibility with what I'll believe but there's a limit

[Brother Leon]

Would only consider putting DD S1 up there with it. DD S2 maybe if it wasn't so focused on the Hand and more on Fisk and Punisher. All in all though, I've enjoyed all of their Netflix shows as JJ was cool and different and Luke Cage could have been great if the best character wasn't killed off early.