We start off with a little
excavation. Veteran kid with obvious PTSD, Lewis, spends the day digging out
and reinforcing a foxhole. Why? To sleep in. Apparently. That is so very sad. I
hope someone looks after him, I’d hate to see another character reenact the
death of Septimus Smith. And now I’m thinking about Mrs. Dalloway again.
Damn it. Let’s get to the plot, hopefully lots of violence will get that dull,
dull, dull, dull story with a violent ending from my brain.
 |
| Is it wrong that a part of me wanted him to pull the trigger? |
Frank assaults a man that is living
out of a cargo container. Don’t worry, it’s just Turk. You know, the sleazebag
from Luke Cage. Apparently, he’s gotten
into arms dealing since the last time we saw him. Frank came to steal a few
supplies from him, but, unfortunately the intel they got was off. Turk didn’t
get he small armories worth of guns and ammo, and instead only has a single, pink
rifle with no bullets. Frank knocks him out and returns to base. At base,
Micro is watching his family via the camera network he has set up around the
house. I think we’re supposed to take this voyeur thing as a sweet, touching
moment, but I just find it incredibly creepy. He’s interrupted by Frank’s
return. Frank is rather miffed at Micro about his information being off, but
the computer wiz just says that he only knows what the cops know. As they’re
the ones that he keeps hacking.
Meanwhile, Stein and Madani are
working on a couple of cases. Well, Stein is working on getting the guns Frank
was after from a group of Greek mobsters, while Madani is still more focused on
Wolf’s murder. They’re interrupted by the arrival of their boss’s boss, Rafael Hernandez.
Hernandez was apparently the one that had recruited Madani way back when, and
is just stopping by to give her a reality check. He basically tells her that,
Wolf’s murder is being handled by another department, and that he wants her to
keep her nose to the grindstone. Did I use that expression right? I mean, he
wants her to focus on the job’s she’s assigned to, as they’re what’s going to
get her into a position where she can do some good. She agrees, extremely
reluctantly.
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| I'd be willing to bet that Curtis never thought he'd be counseling someone in a foxhole after leaving the army. |
Okay, now I’ll cover Lewis’s story
in one paragraph. Ready? Go! Lewis is visited in his little fox hole by Curtis.
Curtis, trying to be helpful first and foremost, advises Lewis to restructure it
slightly, as if it’s all level he’ll probably end up drowning when it rains. Lewis
tells Curtis to sod off, essentially, and that he’s going to join the Private
Military Contractor (PMC) Anvil. He wants to go back to the war, where things
made sense. Now I’m thinking of The Things They Carried. It’s a better
story then Mrs. Dalloway but still pretty depressing. After hearing a
very, very supervillainy speech from Russo, Lewis excels in training. He pushes
himself hard, and yet also takes the time to push his fellow applicants to
their limit. Which is good. But, Curtis has doubts. I guess Russo called him in
for a consult. Curtis feels that Lewis, while motivated, is a ticking timebomb.
Russo, despite his own reservations, cuts Lewis. Lewis is clearly furious about
this and storms off. Huh, hopefully that won’t bite anyone in the butt.
Micro is looking into getting Frank more guns.
It must be kind of frustrating to be one of the few superheroes that can run
out of his weapon of choice. Just saying. Frank, needing an outlet, takes the
time to clean the guns that they have. He even cleans Micro’s pistol, as part
of a passive aggressive attempt to make Micro feel bad about not performing proper
maintenance. And that will be the only time the phrase ‘passive aggressive’
fits Frank Castle. They’re interrupted in their conversation by a call from
Sarah Lieberman, Micro’s wife. Apparently, she needs Frank to sign a “I won’t
sue you” document before her insurance will pay for the repairs. Micro is
clearly not happy about this situation, but tells Frank quite… hm… do I want to
say frankly (in an open, honest, and direct manner) or Frank-ly (in a Frank
Castle like manner, i.e. being an asshole) … Frank-ly that he’s not going to
help until his family’s car troubles are resolved. What a classy guy.
Frank goes over to the Lieberman
house, while Micro watches over the cameras. Apparently, the Lieberman kids are
handling their current household situations in two very different, equally unhealthy
manners. The son, Zach, is being a passive aggressive little pain in the ass.
He actually tries to shoulder bump Frank to show off how ‘macho’ he is. And the
daughter, Leo, (yes you read that right) is taking on as much household
responsibilities as she can. That’s better way to handle it, but at like 14,
that’s a good way to get yourself burnt out on life, fast. Frank helps the
family unclog their disposal, and offers to fix the car himself. Seems like
Castle might be going a bit native at the Lieberman house.
Micro is able to hack Homeland securities
data base right around when they’re planning to hit the Greek’s arm deal. Stein
has a plan that Madani improves upon, and Micro gets all the data on it. After
showing the info to Frank, who was spending time tuning a guitar, he claims
that they need wheels. We then cut to some criminal types torturing a pair of
dudes. Well, finishing torturing one, and starting to torture another. Frank
comes in, and in classic Punisher fashion, distracts them for a moment with a
dummy grenade and then mercilessly un-alives them. He brings Micro in after finishing
the last guy. Shockingly, David Lieberman doesn’t take the sight of the carnage
super well. He’s just barely able to bite back vomit. They steal a car. Micro
gives Frank a look when he hops in a Mustang, to which Frank replies “Always buy
American.” Hold on a second. Say Ma, if you’re reading this, turn to Dad and
tell him I think he’d like Frank Castle. Give him no other context.
 |
| It's amazing how much a flamethrower helps in decision making, isn't it? |
Frank finishes prepping their ride
just before Homeland begins their sting operation. Micro tries to back out of
the field work, but Frank pretty much guilts him to helping. Basically, he throws
Sarah’s words at Micro, stating that he was never the type to get his hands
dirty, and that’s got to change. They head out. Micro turns on some really loud
techno music after hacking Homeland’s comlinks. This provides enough of a
distraction for Frank to hop on the truck and steal it. He leads Homeland’s
tail car around a bit, before parking in an empty lot. When the agent’s arrive
and pop the back door, he’s got a flamethrower in hand. He tells them they have
five seconds before their either wet or fried, they choose wet. Frank and Micro
meet. He has Micro take the truck while he uses the Mustang. Unfortunately, Madani
choses to go after them in her own vehicle. Frank leads her from Micro using
the Mustang. Which feels like an odd choice for her. You’re choosing to play
tag with the Mustang, rather then try to chase down the much slower truck? How odd.
They end up playing Chicken, which is ended with Micro T-boning Madani’s car
with his truck. Frank tells Micro off before pulling Madani from the wreck. She
wakes up enough to recognize him. He takes her gun, before warning her to stay
out of his way.
This episode had a nice mix of
action and character moments. We see both sides of Frank Castle here. The savage
killer, as well as the kinder family man that I think a huge part of him still
wishes he could be. There’s a moment where he’s chatting with Sarah, and seeing
how hard the Lieberman’s have it now that Micro is in the wind, when he offers
to help fix the car. And that’s after fixing their garage and garbage disposal.
Now, a lot of times, I’d see something like that, real world or in fiction, and
think that he’s angling for something. Like leverage on Micro, or something.
But that’s not the sense I get from Castle. It just feels like that, he sees a
family in need, and regardless of how he feels about Micro, he can’t stop
himself from helping them where ever he can. Frank, once, was a very good man,
and despite the level’s he’s sunk to, to do what he thinks is justice, he still
has that spark of humanity that refuses to go out. I’m also rather surprised
that I enjoy Lewis’ story arc. I mean, most of the time I’m bored completely by
TV original characters and their stories, but this kid is just too tragic to
dislike. He is lost, unsure of where he stands in the world now that he
literally can’t be a soldier anymore. Which is especially interesting since his
time as a solider is what clearly broke him. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is
a tricky bugger, isn’t it? I’m almost as curious about how his story will turn
out as I am about The Punisher and Micro’s. Next time, I’ll either cover Black Panther, or the next episode,
depends on when I get to the theater.
Twitter: @BasicsSuperhero
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