Viewer Log: The Punisher ep 6

I'm going off the rails on a crazy train!

General Zod, Prince Orm, Bucky Barnes, Scar, Goneril Lear, Regan Lear, Edmund Gloucester, Claudius, Brutus, Peter Pettigrew, Obadiah Stane, Loki, Anakin Skywalker, Saruman the White, Ben Solo, Jason Todd, and Harry Osborn. What do all of these characters have in common? I’ll reveal this in the conclusion. Let’s get to it.

Frank, seek professional help.

This one opens to a pleasant dream. Frank, high on pain killers and low on blood, has a dream/hallucination of him having a nice dinner with his family and the Liebermans. Things shift to full on nightmare mode when a kill squad storms in and… well… kills them all. In reality, Frank has multiple GSW’s, cuts and an arrow in his shoulder. He’s also got an over 100-degree fever, because, why not? Micro, not having any other option, enlists Curt to help save Frank.

Curt, with a little help from Micro, is able to pull the arrow out of Frank and get the rest of his wounds dressed and cleaned. Once Frank is stable, Curt rounds on David, demanding why he couldn’t just leave Frank alone. David doesn’t give him a straight answer, and Curt leaves in a huff. A short time later, Frank wakes up, babbling about burying Gunner. David does his best to calm Frank, telling him that he took care of Gunner.

At the Veteran Therapy Session, Curt his dealing with the usual issue that is O’Connor. The crusty veteran is basically just being a dick and using his experiences as justification for said dickishness. Curt, clearly shaken by seeing Frank laid up, isn’t having any of it. He asks if O’Connor had seen Lewis, the young vet that’d been struggling, but O’Connor is dismissive.

Meanwhile, Madani is having a… rough week. She and Russo, whom have been fraternizing, had a fight when the latter discovered some files the former had taken to her apartment. They’re all files on Castle. She and Stein learn about Henderson, the fact that he is dead, and that there was some kind of massive shoot out on Henderson’s property. Madani had some blood tested, and it comes back as a match for Castle. With that evidence in hand, she and Russo have a clandestine meeting, where she uses that info as leverage to try and get Russo to work with her to save Frank. She needs Frank to testify about her open Zubair case, and Russo obviously wants to keep his friend alive. Russo doesn’t give her an answer as to whether he’ll help or not. Regardless, Russo starts broadcasting on multiple radio frequencies “Raven, this is Black Bird, respond.” Frank is Raven, Black Bird is Russo.

All alone, but together.

The Punisher and Micro have a bit of a bonding moment as they reminisce about family dinners over some microwave meals. It’s a very touching moment, showcasing what both men have lost, Castle forever, Lieberman temporarily. The topic shifts over to Russo, who continues to broadcast his message. David is clearly unsure of if they can trust Billy Russo, but Frank is adamant that Russo is family.

While that is going on, Curt bails Lewis out of jail. The young veteran had gotten into a scuffle with the NYPD for protesting. Lewis, while happy to be out, demands to know why Curt would help him after ruining his chances at ANVIL. Curt stands firm by the assessment, that Lewis isn’t completely stable and can not be trusted on the battlefield. He also let’s Lewis know that O’Connor is a liar. While the NRA enthusiast did serve, he didn’t sign up until 1977, and never even got sent over to Vietnam. Lewis leaves in a huff. A short time later, Russo arrives and starts asking Curt questions about Frank. He makes it clear that he knows Frank is alive and wants to make contact.

Curt reports to Frank and David. Curt basically begs Frank to at least talk to Russo and see if he can help. David wants to interject, but Curt says that he doesn’t have an opinion on this one.

Lewis arrives at O’Connor’s home and confronts him about his Military History. Lewis is absolutely disgusted to learn that O’Connor did indeed embellish his records and accomplishments. They get into a fight, with the younger man coming out on top. He repeatedly stabs O’Connor in the stomach, killing him. Oh, that is not good.

Frank does meet up with Russo at a clandestine meeting. Frank let’s Russo know about things, how Agent Orange, Schoonover, and the Morgue director were smuggling heroin into the US using KIA’s corpses. Russo, while horrified, tells Frank to back down, and offers to get his friend out of the country. New name, new face, the works. Frank asks for time to think about it and they set up another time to meet.

Later, Micro watches as Frank stomps by the Lieberman house. He apologizes to Sarah for missing dinner. He comes in and offers Sarah some advice. Basically, he says that while things suck now, and her kids might drive her nuts, but, those same kids will help give her the strength to keep moving forward. She asks if he found something similar to help him, but ne doesn’t give her a straight answer.

That night, Russo has a third clandestine meeting… with Agent Orange. He reports that Frank isn’t coming. Well shoot.

What a Twist!

 Did you guess what that list above meant? Yep, it’s a list of family and close friends that stabbed their family/friend in the back. A bit of stretch in places, I know, but I was trying to make a point. I’m all for trusting those ya love, but I’d have had to side with Micro on this one. Especially given the fact another person that Schoonover was someone Castle once trusted implicitly and was screwed by. As to Russo’s betrayal, got to say, saw it coming. Fiction has made me instantly distrustful of anyone that runs a Private Military Contract company. Just screams evil. I’m curious to learn if Russo’s partnering with Agent Orange is a more recent development or had he been in the CIA Agent’s pocket for a long time. I’m curious to see where they go with Lewis. The kid has had a rough time of things of late, suffering from his war scars, not finding a place in civilian life, being lied to, and, in his mind, repeatedly betrayed. Those sorts of things have a bad habit of breaking good people. Should be interesting, if nothing else.

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