We’re a little less than halfway through The Punisher’s second season and “Nakazat” (the Russian word for “punish”) is the episode where things finally feel like they get going. Better late than never I suppose? Most importantly, this is an episode that puts Frank front and center. I’m on record as carrying very little about the question of whether or not superheroes kill people. But that’s more so about non-lethal superheroes questioning whether they want to kill someone for the first time (a.k.a. all three seasons of Daredevil). The question of whether Frank will ever stop killing is a much more interesting one to me. If Frank’s soul hangs in the balance based solely on one act of murder, he’s long gone by now. Instead, The Punisher asks a different question: What would redemption look like for Frank Castle?
Frank has left a lot of people alive lately, starting with the Russian gym owner/gang leader Kazan in the previous episode. This time around he spares the life of a child porn-enabling photographer after Amy argues his crimes are only borderline worthy of the death penalty. And Frank also spares the life of Russian crime lord Nikolai Poloznev on behalf of Poloznev’s teenage daughter. That two of those people (Kazan and Poloznev) wind up getting murdered by John Pilgrim anyway is certainly an extra wrinkle in Frank’s newfound worldview.
“Nakazat” also offers this season’s most explicit exploration of Frank as a dad, a.k.a. the best and most interesting version of Frank. That’s always been the subtext of Frank and Amy’s dynamic, but this episode brings it to the forefront, as Amy can’t stop asking questions about Frank’s daughter Lisa. Amy argues that it’s healthy for Frank to imagine Lisa living a life into adulthood (she would’ve just turned 15), but that seems more like a way for Amy to build up her own father/daughter relationship with Frank. The scene where she gets him to teach her how to disarm someone is the best use of their dynamic yet, one that shows off Frank’s inherent paternal warmth as well as the stoic mask he puts on to prevent him from getting too close to anyone.
Amy still isn’t entirely working for me as a character, however. She’s supposed to be a teenager pretending to be an adult, but she comes across more as an adult pretending to be a teenager. I also can’t quite get a handle on how successful she’s supposed to be as a con artist. The first few episodes seemed to imply her skills were severely lacking, as both Frank and the small town sheriffs immediately saw through her act. Here, however, she’s a full-on mastermind, especially when she pulls a sleek switch from waitress to school girl as part of Frank’s plan to capture Poloznev. It’s a really fun sequence, but it feels out of line with the skills she’s shown in the past. And just where did she get that nifty reversible skirt? We already know she can’t sew, so I have to assume that means Frank made it for her. Helping your kids with crafts? Another total dad move.
The Poloznev heist sequence is zippy enough that Amy’s shifting skillset isn’t a massive issue. And director Jamie M. Dagg brings some appreciably elegant direction to this episode, particularly in the wide tracking shot when Frank takes Poloznev to a pier to execute him. It’s a scene that serves an expositional purpose—we learn Amy’s photos are of the Schultzs’ son David, who’s hiding the fact that he’s gay in the lead up to an eventual presidential run—but writer Christine Boylan fills it with great character beats as well. We barely spend any time with him, but Poloznev immediately feels like a three-dimensional character (Dikran Tulaine’s grounded performance really helps there). And it’s a scene that challenges Frank’s murderous worldview in a way that still feels true to who he is. Frank’s not trying to save his own soul, and he doesn’t particularly sympathize with Poloznev’s situation. He’s just doesn’t want an innocent teenager to lose her father.
The biggest theme of the episode is control. Frank is learning to control his murderous impulses by listening to an emerging sense of empathy that’s developing within him. Meanwhile, Madani, Dr. Dumont, and especially Billy are all seeking a sense of control in response to the traumas they’ve faced. Watching Billy rebuild his life offers some insight into the path he took the first time around. It’s easy to imagine past Billy creating Anvil Securities as a way to harness the camaraderie of military service while making money in the process. This time around, however, he takes a slightly different route, forming a criminal gang rather than a security company. (The group doesn’t have a name yet, so I immediately dubbed them “Billy’s Boys.”) It’s another standout performance from Ben Barnes, who’s getting an interesting opportunity to essentially play an alternate universe version of the character he played last season. Like Dr. Dumont says about cops and criminals, sometimes it just takes a slight shift to set someone off on a whole different path.
Stray observations
- I don’t understand why Frank and Amy had to go through so much pedophilia-related rigmarole to get those photos developed, when the images would almost certainly look entirely innocuous to a random photo developer without a encyclopedic knowledge of up-and-coming presidential candidates and their publicly declared sexual orientations. Or just, like, pay a non-pedo photographer to use their studio?
- Relatedly, how the hell does Amy know how to develop photographs? Do they teach you that at teen con-artist school?
- It shouldn’t need to be said, but I genuinely think there are so many other versions of this story that would add a sexually charged element to Frank and Amy’s dynamic, and I would just like to say god bless The Punisher for not doing that.
- In terms of dubious sexually charged relationships, however, we do get an assault/kiss between Billy and Dr. Dumont.
- An all-caps note I took while watching this episode: CURTIS IS THE REAL HERO OF THIS SHOW. His relationship with Jimbo (the veteran with glasses) is so, so sweet.
- I would watch a whole episode that’s just Frank proudly saying, “Atta girl.” I also really enjoyed his casual “Bang, bang, listen to me” while training Amy.
- Powerful Russian agents controlling the U.S. President? What a fantastical scenario The Punisher has dreamed up!
44 Comments
I just got around to watching the pilot and I have to wonder: What is with these Marvel Netflix shows that they always seem more interested in promoting a band then telling a story? The bulk of the pilot takes place in a bar and everyone talks about how great this band is and they play, quite literally, SIX different songs throughout the episode. Luke Cage used to pull this shit all the time. Constantly cutting back to the singer on stage. It’s the worst, most obvious form of padding and probably of cross promotion and corporate synergy.
It’s not uncommon for a serialized show to have a central set at a bar that has shifting musical acts (The Bronze being the most famous, but Piper’s bar in Charmed and many others qualify). Luke Cage did it much better because the music was part of the soul of the show, and all the better for it. With Punisher, I feel like Jonny Bernthal likes the band that was playing and just asked if they could center an episode around a roadhouse bar. It’s not a bronze-type location and there hasn’t been any live music continuing on as of yet.
It made more sense in Luke Cage, as it was a method of promoting the culture of Harlem. It could still be annoying. Here, it makes no sense, and adds nothing to the platform. It could have been funny. The band could have been killed in the bar fight, and then there could be a running joke about Frank Castle being the man who killed/contributed to the death of Shooter Jennings. Chyrons in the background on tvs could have evolved that sad circumstance into a movement over time. Extras could wear shirts with #shooter’s shooter. Frank could chase/run from bad guys through a Shooter memorial march. That would have done more to cross-promote than the first episode.
Cheo Hodari Coker (Luke Cage showrunner) was a music journalist. It’s in his dna. It’s the only Marvel show that really leaned into it like that.
And it seemed a lot more organic there than it did in punisher. But still, I’ve never seen TV shows where they let so many songs go on for so long.
jfc, get over this non-issue. I don’t want to imagine how you’d get when you see an Apple logo on a laptop on every show on TV
The pace of these shows is slow enough as is. If the first episode is being padded out with song after song it’s a bad sign of things to come. A shot of an apple logo doesn’t slow the plot.
But you have such a vivid imagination.Nope, not following I just happen to watch this show too.
Yes, Amy’s rapidly expanding criminal skill set (3 card monte, quick change disguise, film development) is remarkably convenient. What teenage girl in 2019 has even seen a roll of film, let alone developed a negative?Curtis may be the hero of the show, but considering how many members of his group have gone rogue or joined criminal enterprises, I’m surprised he’s still in business.
I’m pretty sure they were black and white pics and I’m sure you could find a youtube video on how to develop those. It’s pretty easy. I took a photography course in high school and they taught us that the first day in less than an hour. The hardest part is transferring the film to the developing canister because that has to be done completely by feel, in the dark. After that it is about as hard as doing laundry. A better question may be why they didn’t use digital. It would have been just as easy to send an SD card to whoever wanted them, or send the photos by email. Heck, you might be able to use an eye-fi card and get the photos as they are taken or within minutes afterwards.
The 3 Card Monte trick she was using is a pretty easy skill to learn as well. I learned that in college well enough to fool my friends about half the time. It is harder to learn to cheat by palming a card so the queen disappears, but they showed that she was playing fair.And the quick change disguise was removing a bobby pin and flipping a skirt around. Also not that difficult. 5 minutes of practice or less. The more impressive part was the planning so that it was done at a time when she could blend in with a herd of passing schoolgirls.
I’m not claiming any of those skills is difficult to learn. The point is she didn’t display much criminal/confidence artist acumen or even street smarts to begin with and these are three random skills to just have on hand. Also, Amy can’t sew and she’s also new to NY, she wouldn’t even know where to get a reversible skirt (with the exact same pattern as the nearby Catholic school or the fabric to create one. The writers could have set this up better.
It is up to you what you choose to suspend your disbelief for. For me, it’s all the gunfights that go on for five or ten full minutes in NYC with no police showing up until the plot requires it.
Its not so much suspension of disbelief as executing details that establish a characters behaviors and abilities. Amy’s skills are plausible, just not supported well narratively. An actual good example of building character through establishing abilities is the way the show depicts Amy’s developing gun and disarm skills.
They are if you paid attention. Amy has shown pick pocketing, palming, stole the soda from the vending machine, claims to be able to make fake ids and yes if she can make a fake id then she probably knows how to develop film. Lets not forget she knew enough to actually get into the creepy kiddie porn studio which is a bigger mystery….
Don’t bother me with actual facts when I’m on a roll, man ;).
Other then stealing the soda from the vending machine, picking the lock at the motel, claims she can make fake ids, stole the handcuff keys from the sheriff’s deputy oh and she had what 6 or 7 different alias’…I mean other then that yeap no criminal skills have been shown before.
If you’re blackmailing someone, they’ll assume you have copies if you go digital. However, you can request the prints and the negatives for more security. Also child porn sentencing is based on each individual picture. If you have a harddrive full of pictures like Jared from Subways, you’re screwed. Easier to hide and dispose of film.
edit: Nevermind, others already made this point.
I learned how to develop film in a community college class. My ex learned working her school yearbook. The same hipster kids who listen to records and roll their own cigarettes would film old film retro.Also she offered Frank a fake ID back in the motel. Developing film would be a useful skill toward that end.
The film vs. digital was a strange, but I don’t remember if it was this episode or the next where she says she forges identities.Though there is probably an argument to be made for the film being a more secure method in general. Meaning as we learn what they were going to use the photos for, a digital image could be easily copied and stored, an undeveloped roll of film cannot.Also in forging identities some people may also not want digital evidence left behind. Burning negatives and physical scraps is something that you can confirm, digital is never truly destroyed (barring physically destroying hundreds of dollars worth of equipment, which profit margin).
Developing film (winding, processing, rinsing, hanging to dry) AND making prints (mixing chemicals, enlarging, processing, rinsing, hanging to dry) would also take much, much longer than it did in this episode.
Bit of a spoiler and completely unavoidable because its in the title. I didn’t read your article and now I’m gonna blocking AVClub from my news feeds. Damn it I liked you guys…
Not a spoiler. I think you misunderstood the review’s title. Maybe by now you’ve caught up and realized that.
One day you’ll get catch up and get it
One day I’ll resolve my dyslexia and understand what you’ve written. Till then I’ll practice deciphering the hidden sarcasm of comment board comedians.
I don’t know what Mike is talking about….
You think the title is spoiling Frank being Amy’s Dad? LOL. The title is simply referencing his long buried Dad skills.
LOL You think I didn’t know that. LOL
Nice save, Mike Phang.
overreaction much?
troll
100% agree on Frank and Amy. So glad they went father/daughter and not sexual as the subtext. Also 100% on Curtis. Honestly you could make a really great drama show around his life outside of Punisher events. Deglamorizing the military complex while at the same time supporting and building back up those tricked into it.
I know it’s something minor and probably a nitpick, but that scene at the start got me thinking, does Curtis have a job?I mean, the support group and soup kitchen stuff is all volunteer work, right?!I don’t know how much military disability compensation in the US is but is it enough for an apartment, a car and renting a pretty nice looking hotel room for an unknown amount of time?
He sells insurance
He’s mentioned a few times that he sells insurance.
The scene at the start just made me afraid they were setting him up to get fridged.
In season 1 he says he is an insurance salesman.
The shot of Frank and Amy walking down the street with all their stuff after leaving Madani’s apartment seemed to be an homage to The Professional.
Earlier in the season, Amy offered to make Frank a fake ID if he let her go. Developing film would be a skill necessary for that process. Besides it isn’t like developing black and white film is difficult if you have the right supplies. However, it’s hard to find places that develop film for you these days. Digital photography put most of them out of business the same way Netflix killed Blockbuster. So the kiddie porn guy was probably the most convenient option.
“It shouldn’t need to be said, but I genuinely think there are so many other versions of this story that would add a sexually charged element to Frank and Amy’s dynamic”
Oh, of course you do. And they’re all in your head, where they should have stayed. “Powerful Russian agents controlling the U.S. President? What a fantastical scenario The Punisher has dreamed up!”Is that the level of writing you expect payment for? Really?
Episode grade •89%+ Dad Frank+Character Development+FrankAmy dynamic
“Amy still isn’t entirely working for me as a character, however. She’s supposed to be a teenager pretending to be an adult, but she comes across more as an adult pretending to be a teenager.”Couldn’t agree more with this. This is the last episode I’ve seen and I’m still not convinced that Amy really is a teenager. And yeah the character isn’t working for me either. They kept her backstory so vague and mysterious that I found it more confusing than intriguing. I still don’t totally get it.Lastly, why in 2019 did Amy shoot those photos on film? The fuck?
I’m not sure she was the one who took the photos. I got the vibe that the kids group were just mules for it (and other things)
How did Pilgrim find out Frank’s real identity in this episode??