Liam Hoofe reviews the sixth episode of Marvel’s The Punisher…
Ever since Daredevil season 2, the midway point of a Marvel Netflix series has been something I dread. Daredevil season 2 fell apart when, halfway through the season, it shifted focus from Daredevil vs The Punisher onto The Hand and Elektra, then, Luke Cage made the same mistake, killing off Cottonmouth and replacing him with a cartoon villain in the shape of Cage’s brother. Maybe, the reason for this is down to the 13 episode structure of the shows, which, presumably, is a contractual issue. The Punisher, however, seems to have taken a different approach, with the first six episodes being shrouded in mystery, spending time building up characters and not giving us a clear antagonist. Episode 6, ‘The Judas Goat’ finally gets all those pieces together, and it finally looks as though Marvel may have gotten their pacing right with this one.
The episode opened with an excellent dream sequence. Frank and his family were having Christmas dinner around Micro’s house, just as the celebrations were getting underway, there was a thud at the door, and Frank finds himself tied to his chair. A group of soldiers then walk in and execute everyone in the room. It was a brilliantly put together sequence, one that highlighted Frank’s growing relationship with his partner and his family, and also, the responsibility he puts on himself for the past, and potentially, the future.
Frank and Micro were not necessarily at the centre of this episode but the time we got to spend them with them was important. The duo are clearly starting to care for each other, and Micro is clearly struggling to deal with leaving his family. One sequence, where he watched his son being horrible to his wife and daughter, before smashing one of his hidden video cameras, was great to watch and it was yet another example of the fine character work we have seen so far from this show. Also, is Frank trying to show Micro the importance of family? That certainly seems to be becoming the point of all of his visits.
This episode finally brought Ben Barnes’ Billy Russo to the forefront. Initially, focusing on his relationship with Madini, Billy soon realised that Frank might actually still be alive, and set about finding him. First, this led him to Curtis, and the two actors put together a great scene here. Barnes’ showed an intensity rarely seen from the actor in the past and his motives were brought even more into question following it. Finally, Russo and Frank were finally reunited, and Billy offered Frank an escape, telling him to meet him at the harbour at night and he would get him a boat out of the city.
This all led to the episode’s big reveal. After deciding he was going to stay around and fight, Frank no-showed at the harbour, leaving Billy waiting around with the boat. The episode ended with Billy getting back into his car, and talking to Agent Orange while unloading his gun. Billy has been one of the show’s more enigmatic characters, and while it is now clear he is going to be one of the leading antagonists, his motives still remain very unclear.
Lewis, the soldier fired by Russo in the previous episode, was also given a lot of screen-time in this episode, and his struggles to deal with the war continued to escalate. This week we saw him team up with O’Connor, another disgruntled vet who has been spouting rhetoric at Curtis’ meetings. Turns out, though, O’Connor is a liar, and Lewis, feeling betrayed gets into a fight with him and then ends up stabbing, and killing him. Lewis’ character is like a reflection of Frank’s, a boy who feels like he has been betrayed by a system that he has invested so much in. I’m not too sure where all of this is heading, but it’s an interesting storyline, even if O’Connor may have been a little over the top.
‘Judas Goat’ really give the show’s supporting cast a chance to shine, and shine they did. This was yet another great episode in The Punisher series, let’s just hope it doesn’t suffer a similar fate to a lot of Marvel’s other shows in the second half.
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