Punisher Season 2

Out of boredom as much as anything, I watched Season 2 of The Punisher on Netflix a couple of weeks ago. Probably spoilers because who cares? It's a Punisher series, you know how things end. People get shot in large numbers.

It was OK. I didn't exactly like that the season starts with the girl on the run and mysterious religious guy who kills a lot of people, which I was interested in, only to be sidetracked onto the whole mess with Billy Russo, Agent Midani, and Billy's extremely unprofessional therapist/psychologist Dr. Dumont. There are points you almost forget the "pilgrim" is supposed to be out there, somewhere, hunting them down. The urgency he showed in killing a crapload of people, in staging an Assault of Precinct 13 on some podunk-ass sheriff station, vanishes like a fart in the wind the moment things move to New York City.

Also, the way Pilgrim never answers anyone's questions gets really irritating. Mostly because no one ever calls him on it. They ask his name, or where he's from, and he just walks away or asks a question of his own. You think someone would point out how rude that is.

I was intrigued by the idea Billy didn't remember exactly what happened to him or why. In fact, I'm not sure he ever actually remembers that Frank smashed his face into glass because Billy was responsible for killing Frank's family. That could have been an emotional scene. Or a hilarious one, depending. Billy just being gobsmacked to learn he did that.

Agent Midani seems marginally more competent than she did in Season 1. I mean, she eventually figures out something is up with Dr. Dumont, and manages to not die against a furious Billy Russo. I'm not sure what to make of her decision to switch from Homeland Security to the CIA at the end of the season. A decision made apparently because she hated having to play by rules and laws. 

I know that in a Punisher story, there's going to be a certain amount of support for ignoring laws and human rights, given that the main character is a mass murderer. Like that saying about how all war movies are pro-war (which I don't think I agree with, necessarily). The characters that should ostensibly object - Midani, Detective Mahoney, probably Karen Page who shows up again in one episode - all come up with some convoluted reason or another not to. 

(Well, Mahoney may not have excused it, so much as he was too beat to shit to stop Frank escaping, and he didn't want to just shoot a man in the back. Surprising turn from a cop.)

Not sure you want a situation where Frank's success doing whatever he wants in turn encourages other characters to behave similarly. At least, not when that involves joining the CIA, with its history of destabilizing governments, assassinations, abducting people and throwing them in hidden prisons.

At least Curtis, Frank and Billy's old Marine friend, has a valid reason to work with Frank. He's terrified of Billy, and doesn't appreciate Billy gathering up disgruntled veterans and convincing them to pull heists.