It’s time for five thoughts on The Punisher’s “The Abyss,” the 11th episode of season two. This recap contains spoilers.
1. Karen Page returns.
Deborah Ann Woll’s portrayal of Karen Page is one of the things I’ll miss most from the Netflix/Marvel shows. Her Karen has strength and compassion unlike any other character in the Netflix shows. You have to go pretty deep to find someone else like her in the MCU, like Steve Rogers-deep.
So, it was good to see Karen Page return for what will likely be the last time and still play a significant role in the plot. The continuity between the shows is one of the things that made them feel a lot like their source material.
Farewell, Karen. You’re already missed.
2. Tell, don’t show.
We rejoin Billy and Krista back at her apartment, where they discuss how he exacted his revenge on Frank. The couple tells us what they did, why they did it, and how they feel about it. Both actors are more than capable of showing us how they feel, but the dialog spells it out for us, word for word. It almost felt like a scene between the two young lovers in the Star Wars prequels.
This scene crystalized the problem with Krista Dumont. She over-explains. Rather than wearing her heart on her sleeve, she reads it to you. This makes her seem insincere since her expression sometimes doesn’t match her words.
3. Vive la difference, if that’s your cuppa.
“The Abyss” opens with Frank despondent because he (believes) he killed three women at Billy’s Valhalla. He’s racked with guilt over having taken innocent lives. Frank has a “code,” as Madani has told us at least twice this season, and killing the women violated it. His reaction highlights the most significant difference between Castle in the comics and Castle on the TV show.
In the comics, Frank Castle is at war, and wars have collateral damage. While he would have made an effort to avoid shooting the women, the Punisher wouldn’t have collapsed in grief or turned himself over to the police if he did. Netflix Frank Castle isn’t at war, and it appears that even if he does embrace his mission at the end of the second season, he never will be. He’s trying to walk a tightrope, and he may be doomed to failure.
Netflix Castle isn’t the Punisher, at least not yet. That’s what makes the show still enjoyable, even with its flaws. He agonizes over what he (believes) he did, and Jon Bernthal makes the pain palpable. His surrender to the policeman that tries to collect the $5M reward is real, as he defiantly raises his arm for the shot.
4. The cop-out.
Frank needs a reason to continue, so Karen and Madani find that Billy killed the women before Frank got to them. It’s the easiest and most convenient way to get him out of his funk and back in the fight. But, he accepts the news too easily, without asking for so much as an explanation. Frank’s inner conflict, which dominated more than half of the episode, disappeared in seconds, which made it feel like a cop-out.
5. Pilgrim, finally?
Two episodes left, and it looks like Pilgrim might finally get involved in the main story. He missed Castle by minutes in the hospital at the end of “The Abyss.” He started out as a fascinating villain, but a big part of it was his preternatural calm. Now, before his first face-off with the Punisher, he’s already been bent, folded, spindled, and mutilated. He’s going to face him as a desperate man who needs to save his kids. A waste of a great villain.
That’s five thoughts about the 11th episode of The Punisher’s second season. What are your thoughts about “The Abyss?” Let us know in the comments.
