WiC Watches: The Punisher season 2
By Corey Smith
Episode 202: “Fight or Flight”
The first episode of season 2 started off with a bang, but in the second episode Frank and the still-unnamed damsel in distress pause for a moment to catch their breath and hole up in a cheap motel. After arguing the rates with the front desk clerk, our damsel books the pair a room, where Frank tends to his wounds. Our protagonists don’t trust each other very much, but at least she reveals her name — Rachel — and helps pull a bullet out of Frank’s ass.
After a nap, Frank questions Rachel, who tries to convince him that she’s simply a college kid caught up in something she doesn’t understand. Of course Frank doesn’t buy it, but he can’t dwell on it too long because there are plans to lay. He rents the room behind their current one and immediately busts a hole through the wall. Frank is preparing to be tracked down by our creepy preacher guy.
Creepy preacher guy has not been idle, and visits bartender Beth in the hospital. Without being explicit about it, he threatens to hurt everyone who sent Beth a get-well card, which is enough to get Beth to give up Frank’s alias. Preacher Man tracks Frank, unemotionally, methodically. He gives me that feeling you get when you ask someone a question and they just stare at you. He’s creepy.
Before we get back to Frank, we get our first extended look at Agent Madani and Billy Russo. And while there’s still a lot of season to go, Madani’s storyline is already boring. Madani is traumatized by Russo’s betrayal in season 1, and is self-medicating her way to a suspension after refusing to believe Russo is actually suffering from memory loss. Billy Russo’s trauma at Frank’s hands feels genuine and far more entertaining. Ben Barnes plays the part to perfection, navigating Russo’s memory loss and bleeding frustration.
But back to our heroes, Frank’s home improvements come in handy when the Preacher Man’s thugs show up. As the group busts into the motel room guns blazing, Frank emerges from his homemade hiding place and eliminates most of them in a matter of seconds. The female thug from the bathroom brawl in Episode 1 survives, and as the duo brawl in the parking lot, local cops show up and take everyone directly to jail. Frank attempts to warn the local sheriff about what’s coming, but he is rebuffed, and after contacting Madani and being similarly turned away, we have the setup for our showdown in the next episode.
All and all, “Fight or Flight” is a solid episode, although it lacks any “wow” moments. The seasonal plots are moving along nicely, and Russo’s angst is extremely watchable. It still remains to be seen if his memory loss is genuine. The action is solid as always, if ever so brief. Bernthal continues to impress, and I’m more intrigued by the preacher every minute we spend with him.