The Punisher, Season 1, Episode 4: Resupply
This episode is very... slow. That's not to say that it's bad, but this is perhaps where the Netflix formula pans out. I'm not pissed off that they took an hour to just essentially repeat the same Frank-and-David try to work better song and dance because I know I can boot up episode 5 immediately as opposed to wait another week. And besides, both actors bring a fair amount of acting chops into the table to make the hour at least entertaining.
There's a hilarious bit with Netflix Marvel's favourite punching bag, Turk Barrett, in the beginning, which I feel is the highlight of the show. I think it also somewhat displays Frank's line in the sand. Turk might be a scumbag who sells guns to criminals, and as we've seen him in Daredevil, Luke Cage and Defenders, the man's in bed with so many of the criminal organizations that are threatening New York City... but he doesn't actually fire the guns, and his business is more or less legal, so Frank doesn't leave him behind as a corpse. And, y'know, the whole bit with Sweet Sixteen, the pink sniper rifle for a gangster's daughter (which Frank steals anyway).
Essentially, this whole episode is engineered to bring the Punisher and Micro's little operation into conflict with Agent Madani's... FBI? CIA? Whichever one they are. Madani and Stein are setting up a sting to capture a bunch of gun dealers, while Frank is adamant that they only steal guns from criminals, so Frank goes off to hit said gun operation.
The actual action scene that lasts around 10 or so minutes at the end of the episode is enjoyable. Micro gets to do something and 'take matters into his own hands', as Frank keeps ribbing on him to do, and whacks Madani's sports car with his getaway truck. Frank pulls Madani out of the burning vehicle, telling her to stay out of his way... but inadvertently alerting the agent that he's alive. It's not particularly ground-breaking, but it's a thrilling action scene to cap off the episode and we get some great Frank, David and Madani moments in it all.
The scenes that lead up to the sting, though, end up feeling nothing but padding and repetition. Stein acts pissy because Madani doesn't value him, Madani's all suspicious and gets told off by a different senior officer to drop the Ahmad Zubair case, Frank tells Micro he's shit for relying on other people to do his work, Frank and Micro's wife have a bit of a moment as he helps fix things in the Lieberman household... which are all neat scenes, but don't really hold up the episode as super-interesting. I did like how Micro was near-vomiting when he first joins Frank into the little car raiding scene, really highlighting just how out of his depth with actual military action, as savvy as he is behind a computer screen directing everyone. I also like how, when dealing with low-level wusses, the Punisher isn't cocky or angry or anything like that... he's just so bored, in both his interactions with David or with the carjackers, like this is nothing more interesting than fixing a car headlight, and that adds a level of badassery to the whole thing.
There's also some B-plot about Lewis, the PTSD dude that nearly shot his dad last episode, and Curtis's attempt to get him to seek some medical help. Lewis joins Billy Russo's military organization, Anvil, and Curtis manages to talk to Billy and have him fire Lewis... I'm not sure where this is going, other than setting up Lewis as a possible antagonist down the line? This feels pretty weak, to be honest, and reeks of the same problem that Riot had in Jessica Jones, except Lewis is far less interesting than Riot was. It's not bad, but just like the Madani/Stein scenes (and Madani never felt interesting before this episode), it just really fails at catching attention beyond the superficial fact that the scenes are happening.
Overall, a slow and perhaps weaker link in the Punisher, but one that I really can't find much fault in other than pacing.
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