The Punisher - Season 2

More psychology, faith, family and interaction between the main characters, all this at the expense of the brutal action and breakneck pace of the first season. Of course there's action here too, very decent in places, but the steroid-pumped rage and revenge for the deaths of the family has dropped by about 50 percent. Good casting in Frank as a teenager, an excellent take on the main antagonist, a mysterious priest, and a decently built complex underbelly of the "party of villains". However, the pacing loses momentum in the middle due to the more complex plot entanglements of multiple characters on stage. Frank doesn't steal everything for himself this time, but plays his part almost evenly with several other characters, though it's still true that his is by far the most interesting and absolutely pivotal. It doesn’t matter, it’s still bloody good stuff, but that intensive vengeance feeling of the first season is gone. (02/13/2019)

Jon Bernthal’s return to his role was excellently executed; I was quite surprised that after a little over a year, we already got a second season, which the creators managed to produce carefully without rushing at the expense of quality to release it as soon as possible. I appreciate that. I’m pleased with Jigsaw; Ben Barnes portrayed the character extremely convincingly, even though I know it differs slightly from the comics. The character of Father John was perfect, and he got plenty of screen time, which I initially didn’t quite understand, but after a few episodes, I realized that his "hero" boasts a very interesting origin, and his storyline ultimately captivated me the most. The return of other familiar characters was also gratifying. The story itself didn’t offer many moments I could criticize. The action remains classically brutal and bloody for The Punisher, with the bathroom and gym fight scenes being the best choreographed. The final episode was intensely climactic; I could hardly keep up with what was happening on screen. It would be very disappointing if Netflix decided to cancel The Punisher along with Daredevil. That would be a shame because the potential hasn’t been exhausted under any circumstances. The second season earns an 88%. (02/07/2019)

Frank once again did what he could, but far more shabbily than I would have liked. In addition to the typical silence on the trail during the filler parts, the random solutions to problems or, on the contrary, their creation are too much this time, and the stupid behaviour of some of the characters (Madani?!) doesn’t help at all. In the shadow of the third series of Daredevil, the lack of a steady creative hand really hurts, because even in terms of craftsmanship, it loses at least one, maybe two notches. Don't get me wrong, Bernthal continues to be a badass and works well with his girl sidekick, but he only fully capitalises on his qualities in the brilliant opening sequence essential to the entire Punisher. But there are 13 episodes... (01/30/2019)

The first two episodes had the makings of a great season, but the rest was pretty bad. Very uninteresting characters and the plot has nothing to engage the viewer with, be it the characters and the rest of the story and what actually happens next. Predictable, illogical and boring, purely benefiting from Jon Bernthal as the Punisher. The ending was boring, the season pretty much didn't even have a finale, the only scene worth mentioning is the fight in the gym. A terrible disappointment compared to the first season, which was uncompromisingly gritty and interesting. (01/31/2019)

The Punisher returns in full force and goes over the corpses again, though he is so torn up at the end that he is not far from dead himself. Jon Bernthal is so natural in this role that I can't imagine anyone else playing the Punisher today. I was a little annoyed that Russo was back on the scene, I wouldn't have minded at all if the priest played by Josh Stewart had more space, he does great things after The Collection and is more than solid as the bad guy. Dinah Madani as always is amazing and I can't get enough of her, Mahoney is annoying but fair, and the new character Giorgia Whigham was quite annoying at the start but I grew to like her in the end. A couple of episodes were slower, but in the end I was satisfied again and the final three episodes were really packed. 90%. (02/07/2019)