The Punisher, episode thirteen

Madani waits in the apartment and sure enough Russo comes running in guns blazing. They duke it out. He strangles her and then flops down beside her. The Schulz are at home getting Pilgrim’s sons fitted for suits. They plan to get rid of Pilgrim and raise his kids. Anderson gets a call from his son. It’s not David though. It’s Frank. He’s going to kill David if he doesn’t get Amy back. He means business.

There is a knock on Pilgrim’s door. He checks it but no one is there. Then his phone rings. It’s the kids. He talks to them. Madani comes to and Mahoney is there. Russo is gone. Mahoney tells her what they found and what they know. She wants to be kept in the loop. When he tries to give her back her gun and badge she says she is done with them. Frank is in the trailer when his phone rings. It’s Amy. He meets her at the hotel and immediately starts a gun battle with Pilgrim. She stays in the hall and Pilgrim ends up actually getting her this time. He leads her to the garage while Frank ends up fighting cops in the other elevator. He manages to chase them but Pilgrim gets away.

Russo found a black market type guy to fix him up. He won’t go under but while the guy is pulling bullets, he passes out. The guy just looks at his cash. David and Curtis have a heart to heart about his parents and why the did what they did. Russo wakes up, unstitched in a dumpster. He just laughs. Frank goes back to the trailer. It’s empty. While he’s inside he gets a call about the trade. He says to come by. Then he tries to figure out what to do.

Amy is in the car with Pilgrim. She’s trying to talk to him and understand why he’s doing this. She points out that he’s being used. Mahoney is at an empty football field. Curtis shows up. With David. He returns him. Pilgrim and Amy get to the trailer. Frank tries to level with Pilgrim. He lets Amy go and Frank tells Amy to drive off. She does. That’s when Frank reveals that David is gone. He and Pilgrim start to fight. It drags on and Frank wins.

He’s about to deliver the final blow when Pilgrim asks him not to hurt his kids. That’s when Frank stops. Curtis wakes up to his phone ringing. It’s Russo. He’s in the basement where the group meets. He’s bleeding out and he doesn’t want to die. Dumont is still alive. She’s in the hospital and Madani stops by to visit. Really Madani just tells her Russo isn’t dead yet and Dumont asserts that he will save her. Russo is thrilled when the door opens.

It’s not Curtis though. It’s Frank. Russo is trying to talk when Frank just comes over and kills him. Hours later, Curtis, Mahoney and Madani come in and find him. They talk about what happened. Madani suggests she must’ve fired all the shots. Case closed. And Frank is in the wind. Amy shows up at the Schulz’s house and yells at them for a bit. When Eliza tries to go at her, Frank kills her. Then they threaten to go public with everything. They leave him with a gun and a bullet. As they get outside, they hear a gunshot.

Pilgrim is outside with his sons. The next day Frank waits with Amy for her bus to Florida. He tells her to take care of herself and gives her the number of a buddy of his. The guy will hook her up with diving lessons. They hug bfore she gets on her bus. Three months later Frank is on a stakeout. His phone rings. It’s a blocked number. Madani. She’s CIA now and offers him a sniper job. He’s already got a gig. Being the Punisher and taking out gangs. Which is just what he does.

So after all that Russo dies. I’m not sure if I’m satisfied with that or not. Dumont managed to live which is insane but I mean good for her right? I’m glad Madani lived too. I thought they were just killing off all the women in one big move. Thankfully they didn’t. So is Mahoney still looking for Frank or…? Also, how’s Beth? Anyone ever check on her? I’m concerned. I know this will be canceled like next week but overall it was a good season.

The Punisher, episode twelve

Mahoney calls it in. He’s bring Frank to the precinct. On the ride, Frank isn’t all that broken up about it. He tells Mahoney he just wants some sleep. Madani calls Mahoney but he tells her they can talk when he comes to arrest her. Then Pilgrim shows up in a cop car and opens fire. He runs the ambulance off the road. It goes off an overpass and overturns. Pilgrim gets out to look and stops up traffic. He pulls gun on a bystander and is just standing there when Madani plows into his car from the other side.

While she sweeps around to find him, he manages to get into her car and drive off. Frank gets himself out, resets his dislocated shoulder and is set to walk off. That’s when he sees fuel dripping and realizes the ambulance is going to blow up. He goes back in and gets Mahoney out. The ambulance blows up. Frank deposits Mahoney and then walks away. Pilgrim stops to check his wounds. Then he goes to the last place Madani’s GPS went.

The escape is on the news and Dumont sees. She doesn’t immediately tell Russo and he seems pissed. She confronts him about it but he talks his way out of it. Madani is at the scene talking to Mahoney. He seems surprised that Frank saved him but she’s not. Frank has a code. She steps away because she gets a call. It’s Dumont. She saw the news and wants to know more about Frank. Madani doesn’t really give her answers. She does pause at the way Dumont talks though.

In the end Madani offers to call if she hears any developments but as far as she knows Russo is in the wind and Frank doesn’t know about her. Speaking of, he kidnaps David Schulz. Pilgrim manages to find the trailer and goes in. Curtis is there. He denies knowing anything about Frank or Amy and it might’ve worked if Amy didn’t come running in. She escapes and hides while Curtis and Pilgrim tussle. Pilgrim is the one to walk out.

The vet gang is still hanging out when Russo shows up. They are mad at what went down. Russo tells them that this was always borrowed time. He gives them each a passport. He’s got one for Dumont too. Then he takes his cut and leaves. Frank gets back to the trailer. Curtis is still there but there’s no sign of Amy. Frank halls David inside and starts to question him. Pilgrim gets back to his hotel and gets in the elevator. Amy was hiding in his trunk all along. There’s a gun in the trunk too.

Frank talks David through what has happened. He realizes who could’ve done this but doesn’t want to believe it. Frank tells him it’s time to call his parents. Pilgrim is in his room picking pellets from the shot Amy got out of his arm. She’s in the hotel trying to find his room. Dumont gets an unexpected visit from Madani. She tries to act natural but she seems rattled. Madani questions the phrase she used. She keeps pushing. Russo is walking the streets. He stops and buys some flowers.

When Madani brings up her father, Dumont excuses herself to the bathroom. Madani creeps around snooping. She looks at Russo’s diary again. Then she tries to sneak up on Dumont in the bathroom. It doesn’t work. She was waiting. They fight. Dumont manages to cut Madani’s face with a knife before Madani throws her out the window. As Dumont is lying on the pavement, Russo gets home and finds her.

I mean I knew that something bad was coming. Russo was walking home all smiles like that. I just figured he’d get caught. Dumont was nuts but I didn’t want her to get killed. And that window shit was like the worst possible way to do it. Her biggest fear coming true. That’s harsh. I feel bad for Frank because he is so panicked about Amy but she’s okay.

The Punisher, episode eleven

Frank is in an ambulance being taken to hospital. He’s in bad shape. Mahoney is along for the ride. Curtis gets back, without Frank, and Amy has a lot of questions. Curtis doesn’t have answers. He just knows he killed someone and now he can’t be worrying about Frank. He needs time alone and a shower. Amy sees Frank on the news. She freaks out. Pilgrim is in bad shape. He calls home to talk to his wife, who he keeps hallucinating, and Eliza answers. She tells him that his wife is resting and that he should stay by the phone. He says he will. She was lying. His wife is dead.

Karen Page shows up at the hospital to see Frank. He’s asleep so she settles in to wait. When he wakes up she tells him that she can help. He tells her that he did it. He killed the women. Madani gets to the scene and Mahoney walks her through it. Frank broke his code. Maybe he didn’t mean to but he did so none of it matters now. She figures Frank might talk to her. She can find out about Russo and end it once and for all. He agrees to let her try.

In the hospital, Frank has a nightmare. It’s a nice dream about his family that ends in gunshots. Karen is there for him when he wakes up and he talks about everything that’s happened. Amy has made her way to the hospital and with a stolen nurse’s badge she gets into his room. Karen is still there but Amy ignores her in favor of trying to uncuff Frank. He’s not looking to escape though. Madani joins them soon enough and as they argue amongst themselves, Madani gets a call.

It’s Russo. She puts him on speaker. He just taunts Frank. He won after all. Frank is stuck and Russo did that. After he hangs up, Russo tells Dumont that this is on her. She’s okay with it. She tells him the next step is to run. Cops still want him. They don’t have a choice. He tells her that she does. She can stay behind. She tells him that she won’t. She’s alone without him. He tells her that she makes him happy. Madani and Karen talk about the case.

Madani tells her that based on the scene, things don’t add up. Amy leaves Franks room, chats with the guard and then goes into another patient room. Karen sweet talks a morgue tech into letting her and Madani see the bodies. The trajectory is off on the shootings. The women were executed, not caught in the crossfire. It wasn’t Frank. Eliza comes to visit Pilgrim. She tells him that his wife died. Russo gets a glimpse of Dumont’s scar on her back. He asks about it. He wants to know about it and about her.

She knows everything about him but he’s got nothing. They killed people together. He needs to know more. He asks about a reference in her notes on him. She tells him. It was her father. He was a vet too. Vietnam. He struggled and there was no one to help him. When she was a kid, she heard her parents fighting one night and got up. Her father hugged her and told her he loved her. Then he jumped out the window with her. She lived and he died.

Eliza tells Pilgrim that its because of Frank that he wasn’t there with her. Pilgrim isn’t so sure. Frank never hurt him. He seems to be second guessing the whole thing. The guards switch. New cop tries to kill Frank. Amy jumps in and he tries to kill her too. Madani comes in and knocks him out in the nick of time. Karen explains to Frank that it was a setup. Russo is the monster. Now he’s willing to run but he tells Karen she can’t come with. They have a moment.

Then it’s time for the plan. Karen leaves and starts pulling fire alarms. The patients are moved and everyone else leaves. Madani helps Frank leave in a police uniform. The cop is in the bed in his place. Amy makes it out. Karen does too, though Mahoney sees her. Pilgrim is at the hospital too but he gets to Frank’s room too late. Frank and Madani are outside when he finally catches up with them. He’s not willing to listen. Instead he cuffs Frank to the inside of an ambulance and drives off.

So that was like a really clever escape. I’m impressed. Also Dumont is just a sociopath. She deserves Russo. I can’t believe either one of them really. They are just insane. I like Karen but overall I feel like she was pointless here. Madani could’ve sorted that out. Amy to the rescue.

The Punisher, episode ten

Frank and Russo and all the rest of the guys in their unit are beating the crap out of each other in the rain and mud. They are loving it. Present day Frank is in the rain with Curtis watching some building that’s being guarded. Someone has Curtis in sniper sights. It’s Russo. 24 hours earlier, Dumont offers Madani a glass of wine and she accepts. They talk about being friends. Madani has an issue, a sort of survivor’s guilt. She wants to lock Russo up for killing her partners. The conversation turns to understanding Russo by understanding Frank.

On the roof, Frank tells Curtis that he didn’t mean to bring him into it. They talk about how things were and what they would change if they could. Frank just misses the guys. The brotherhood. He knew they were all nuts but over there he had their backs. Pilgrim is all bloody. He snorts some drugs and reflects back on the fight. He got roughed up by the group of them but he walked away and the rest of them didn’t. He even got the better of his old friend. Back in his room he patches himself up.

During their wine and chat, Madani and Dumont talk about helping Russo. Can he be helped? They argue about whether or not Frank is the same as Russo. Frank continues to watch and gain intel. Pilgrim ignores a phone call, snorts some more stuff and then bothers his hotel neighbor. Frank meets back up wih Curtis and they go over what they know. Russo is keeping the vets happy with drugs and women and money. That’s what Frank is taking away.

Frank figures it doesn’t matter because in the end, Russo is always alone. Pilgrim is drunk and preaching to a hooker that’s giving him a blow job. Frank and Curtis are ready to roll in. They have a plan. Russo continues watching from afar. Pilgrim is drunk and losing his shit. Madani and Dumont talk about motivation. The latter thinks Russo is a product of his environment. Madani talks about how this ends. If she locks Russo up, will he understand that she won?

Dumont wants to know why that matters. Will that be enough for her? Madani isn’t sure. She wants him dead. Dumont turns it around. How does that make her different from Frank and Russo? Frank and Curtis check in one last time. He’s going to move in. Flashes of Frank and Russo fighting. Frank gets stabbed. Russo rallies his troops. He gives them a rousing speech about how they are kings and that Frank is trying to jeopardize that. He needs them to fight.

The women keep talking about what is happiness and what it means. Frank walks into an ambush. He gets trounced. Russo doesn’t fight though. He just taunts Frank a bit and then tells his guys to finsih him. Russo leaves. Curtis gets into a firefight of his own outside. Frank fights back and wins. He gets an automatic weapon and then chases Russo. Curtis shoots one guy in the leg.

Inside Frank can’t get a clean line on Russo. He sees movement in an upstairs window in the direction Russo went so he fires. Then he runs up and finds out it wasn’t Russo. It was all the girls they party with. He killed them. Curtis has been trying to help the guy he shot but he bleeds out. Madani leaves and Dumont turns around. Russo is there waiting. Dumont tells him how to break Frank. Prove he’s not better than you. Police come in and find Frank with the bodies and the gun.

Fucking Dumont. My god. That was so fucked up. She sacrificed those girls. She is fucking evil. That destroyed Frank, killing innocent girls like that. I mean really. She is the most clearly evil person on this show it seems. There’s got to be more to her backstory. I just. No one is above the law Detective Maggie Sawyer is really playing them like this?

The Punisher, episode nine

Frank gets back to the trailer. He sees where Amy shot at Curtis. He announces himself and then heads in. Madani and Curtis are just waking up and Amy tells Frank that Madani wants to bring him in. He takes the gun from her and Curtis asks where he was. Frank tells them he went to have a chat with his wife. He can’t stop because this is who he is. The other side doesn’t care about the law. Madani isn’t happy about that.

Russo and Dumont have some more rough wild sex. He and his crew have also been running raids on drug dens. They are taking the money, drugs and weapons. Dumont knows he won’t give it up but she wants them to plan for after. Especially with the money. They can go anywhere. Together. He and the guys drink and party after another successful run. Pilgrim meets with Anderson. He knows there is a lot of scrutiny when Frank is around but he wants this done. Pilgrim is still on board.

Amy and Curtis listen to radio frequencies for the raid situation. They hear that a team is on the move. Curtis calls Frank and he rolls out to intervene. He gets there and takes a few guys down. Then he steals a phone. Anderson meets with his son David. This is the future of his political aspirations. He wants David to come home and meet some donors. Pilgrim goes into a club and talks to a guy about tracking Frank and Amy. He wants them alive. As soon as he leaves, the guy calls someone and says that he just saw a ghost.

Curtis asks Amy about her life and she starts to talk about marine salvage. He figures she is just messing around but she tells him she means it. He’s gotta go to his group so he tells her to sit tight. She is done being alone though. She wants to go with him. He won’t let her so after he leaves she grabs some of Frank’s cash and heads out. Russo broke into Madani’s place and slowly looks around. He finds his journal. Frank goes to a bar. The bartender is on of the girls that partied with Russo. Frank wants answers.

She plays dumb so he pulls out the stolen phone, and the thumb needed to unlock it. She freaks out and tells him what she knows. He heads out and a bunch of goons follow him. There’s a bounty on his head. $5 million for him and the girl. The leader thinks they can take him but Frank wins. He leaves the leader alive to talk. Madani gets home and settles in. As she pours a drink Russo makes his presence known. He has her gun and he wants answers.

He knows that she will have them so he pushes and she tells him why everyone hates him. He sold them all out. He left Frank for dead covered in the blood of his family. Now Frank will stop at nothing to even the score. Russo isn’t worried. Then he taunts her a little before leaving. Amy goes to a friend’s house. The friend, Shan, asks a few questions and then says that she can hook her up with an ID. Curtis meets with the vets and tells them he needs to know where Russo’s gang is running out of. They’ll help.

Frank gets back and finds Amy gone. He calls Curtis and tells him about the bounty and asks about Amy. He’s worried now. He calls her and tells her that he’s willing to send her away. She says that she’s with a friend but he asks how much she trusts the friend cause she’s worth a lot of money. Amy looks around nervously. Russo goes back to Dumont and tells her everything he knows. He tells her about his visit with Madani and then she shows that she’s nervous. She wants to run but he wants to finish the job.

Pilgrim is at his hotel when he gets a call from the guy. They’ve got a line on Frank and Amy so he tells Pilgrim to come down. Shan of course ratted her out and has some thugs coming for her. She’s not in the apartment though. They start looking through the building. Frank shows up and starts taking them out. Amy is cornered with one guy left and Frank closing in. The guy threatens her but she manages to disarm and shoot him. Frank comes in and kills the guy and leads her away. She goes back and gets her stuff and they head out.

Madani goes to Dumont’s place. She was invited to talk about Russo. Dumont pretends that he’s worried he might come around looking for answers. Madani tells her that he already did. They talk about him and Frank being free of the burden of guilty. Dumont offers her a glass of wine and Madani agrees to stick around. Pilgrim gets to the club but it’s not for news on the bounty. He is the news. A guy he used to run with before he was reformed is there. He tries to talk about the old times but Pilgrim isn’t interested.

So his old friend brings in some of his buddies so they can teach Pilgrim a lesson. He needs it to go full circle so he can be redeemed. Frank and Amy get back to the trailer. She feels awful about shooting that guy but he tells her not to worry about it. He got what was coming to him and they will sort this out.

I don’t want Madani to be killed. I like her. I also don’t know what Dumont is up to. I’m working under the assumption that Russo is out with his buddies so he might come home and get pissed. I really don’t understand the point of the Pilgrim story here other than Frank needs to look after Amy. It adds nothing to this.

The Punisher, episode eight

Russo loses his shit but he is finally able to connect the dots. The skull is Frank. That’s who did this to him. Frank has to duck through an alley to dodge a sniper. He keeps going and Curtis takes out the sniper. Frank and Russo end up at odds. They fire on each other. The cops show up and Russo and his crowd turn and fire on them too before taking off. Frank runs and Mahoney follows. He tracks Frank down and is ready to take him in. Curtis intervenes and they get away. Back at the warehouse, some of the crew give Russo a hard time.

He kills them and then takes all the money and leaves. Frank and Curtis talk about Russo. He really doesn’t remember anything. They hear a call on police radio about the warehouse with the bodies. Mahoney is responding, and so are they. Dumont is in her office when there is a knock on the door. It’s Russo. He’s back. He has nowhere else to go and is willing to beg. After a bit of inner turmoil she lets him in. He tells her that the skull is Frank. He doesn’t grasp it but he logically knows this is the case.

Amy is cooped up and going stir crazy. She paces and reads and just can’t sit still. Frank sneaks around on the crime scene and hears Mahoney. The hostage, who was in on it, and another guy are dead. Frank goes back to the car and tells Curtis that they have to go. Curtis is just pissed. It’s not normal to have to kill your friends. They go back to the trailer and Amy plays a trick to test her fighting skills. Frank loses his shit and then he and Curtis take off again.

Mahoney goes to Madani’s place. He’s sick of the dead ends. He wants her to bring him Frank or he’s going to bust her for real. Russo is still having trouble getting his head around everything but Dumont is there for him. She tells him that now he can get past the nightmares. It’s the best day of his life. Then she kisses him. Frank is beating the shit out of Jake trying to find out about Russo. Curtis pulls him back and tells him he’s acting like Russo. He leaves. He goes out walking in the rain, thinking back to his fight with Russo on the carousel. Russo said they were the same.

Russo and Dumont are sitting around watching the storm too. He thinks that she has lied to him and betrayed him. If he can’t trust Frank he can’t trust anyone. He snaps and she tries to reign him in. It doesn’t work. He smashes a ton of stuff and then holds her up against the window. She tells him that she has love for him and that this isn’t a lesser him. He starts to cry and she comforts him. Amy is cooking when she hears a car. Nobody yells so she fires the shotgun.

It’s Curtis though. He yells at her for almost shooting him but he seems mostly angry with Frank. She offers him food. Russo meets with what’s left of his gang. He’s got the money but it’s just chump change because he wants them all to band together to form a brotherhood to take what’s theirs. Curtis and Amy are eating and talking about Frank and Billy when there’s a knock on the door. It’s Madani. She can get Curtis a deal if he turns Russo over to Mahoney. That would sell out Frank too. The three of them talk about dealing with Frank. He’s at the cemetry.

So yeah Dumont is bonkers too. That was fairly obvious but this confirms it. What are Curtis and Madani going to do? They need to protect Amy either way. She’s just stuck now. Do we have to deal with the Pilgrim plot? I’d rather it just go away. How’s Beth?

The Punisher, episode seven

A year ago, Madani is in a hospital bed after Russo shot her in the head. She’s answering questions about Russo and the investigation, spinning a tale to keep her job and save Frank. That’s something she’s got to deal with forever now. Present day Madani fights with Frank about the difference between easy and necessary. There’s no other way for this to end. Curtis says the same thing. Madani goes about her business but she flashes back to back to when Russo shot her. She gets in the shower and flashes back to having sex with him there.

Speaking of having sex with Russo. That’s what Dumont is doing. It’s rough too. They are hurting each other on purpose. They see the connection between pain and pleasure. She’s got scars of her own. She tells him they are from a fall when she was a kid. That’s enough for him. She gets ready for her day and she’s all smiles. The mood changes quickly though when Russo comes out in his coat. He doesn’t want her in trouble so he’s leaving. She yells at him but he doesn’t stop. He leaves and she watches him from the window.

Madani checks in with the tech. No hit on Pilgrim. She’s got ID on everyone else in the shop though. Frank and Curtis go by the apartment where his friend lives. No sign of Russo but they may check out the bar the vets frequent later. Russo is with other vets planning a raid on a bank. They keep practicing. He even has them all staying in some abandoned warehouse together for the night. Frank and Curtis stake out the bar and talk. Frank was finally settling down. He tells Curtis about Beth. Jake the vet is going through withdrawal. He ducks out.

The next morning Madani meets up with her CIA friend who tells her to let Frank kill Russo. Frank and Curtis pick up Jake. They bring him home. Tie him up and question him. He doesn’t talk. He wants to fight back so Frank unties him and they duke it out. Frank puts a knife through his hand. Madani calls Frank off. They go into the hall to fight about tactics. He tells her to walk away. She doesn’t. Curtis patches Jake up and when Frank comes back in he waves the gun around. Jake tells him where to go. Outside Madani tries to stop him.

She let it happen once but she won’t do it again. Frank blows her off though. They get to the warehouse just as Russo and company roll out. They take off running. The money gets dropped off at the check cashing place. A minute later Russo and his gang roll in. The store owner isn’t about to let this happen though. She won’t open the latched door. One of her employees intervenes and opens it.

Curtis thinks a confrontation on the street is a bad idea but Frank wants to finish it once and for all. They get to the store just as Russo comes out. Frank is dressed like Jake so at first Russo doesn’t think anything of it. Then he takes off his mask and jacket and he’s in his skull shirt. Russo breaks down. The rest of the guys fire on Frank and he fires back. People die but not Frank or Russo. Eventually the robbers get away and Frank chases them in a stolen car.

I knew they were going to sleep together. Now she’s more upset that he left than she is about all the rest of the nonsense that came with it. I think that’s ridiculous. Also now they are just leaving bodies everywhere. Mahoney is going to be livid.

The Punisher, episode six

Frank and Amy got to see some guy. He’s a creep that takes pictures of young girls. Frank beats on him while Amy uses his equipment to develop her pictures. Frank doesn’t kill him but he does light the place on fire. Curtis wakes up in a hotel bed with his lady friend. He’s gotta get going but he tells her to stay and go back to sleep. He’s in the hotel for at least a week because of a “rodent problem.” He goes to help dish out chili to the vets. He gives one of the guys from his group a pair of glasses. He’s trying to get him back on his feet.

Russo gets back to the apartment. He quietly starts to walk down the hall. He sees that Dumont’s bedroom door is open and she is inside getting dressed. He stops to watch and she catches him and shuts the door. Amy and Frank spend the morning stalking their new target. They talk about his daughter but it messes him up. Dumont is going to work when Russo makes her tea. They talk about how clever he is and she asks where he was the night before. He tells her he was drinking with her patient, Jake. Talking to someone helped.

On her way out the door, she tells him to not leave. Then she tells him that if he does to not get caught. Frank and Amy are at Curtis’ place. He’s cleaning a gun and she wants to know why she doesn’t have one. Then she asks him to teach her how to take it. He does. Then she brings up his daughter again. He tells her he’s going out and he’ll call to her when he comes back. If he doesn’t call, then open fire. Then he leaves. Russo works out and then snoops around and reads Dumont’s file on him. He finds his mask and a gun. He takes it and goes out.

Curtis is in a parking garage when Russo comes up behind him. He’s trying to put the pieces together. He was told that he shot Curtis but he doesn’t remember. It’s hard for him because to him they are still brothers. Russo tells Curtis he’s not going back inside and that he doesn’t plan to hurt him. Pilgrim is in the city. He’s in a diner and at a hotel. Madani is leaving for work when there’s a knock on the door. It’s Mahoney. He wants to know who was at the carousel the night Russo was hurt. Her statement doesn’t mention Frank at all.

Mahoney doesn’t buy it though. He just wishes she would trust him with the truth. Frank and Amy move on their new target. Frank manages to gt him alone in his car. Madani goes for her regular coffee. Pilgrim is in the shop too and he follows her outside. She walks a few blocks before turning on him. He asks about Frank and the girl and when she threatens to arrest him he tells her that they will talk again soon. She runs back to the shop and tells them not to clean anything. Frank brings Poloznev to the docks. They talk about power.

Then Poloznev breaks it down for him. The world will soon be corporations, not countries, and the Schulz’s will be the ones running America. They’ve been grooming their son to be president but he’s gay so it won’t fly. That’s what the pictures are of. Frank tells him to get on his knees. Poloznev asks him not to shoot him in the face so his daughter can have open casket. That’s when Frank spares him. Russo goes back to the bar and hangs out with Jake’s buddies.

The guy Curtis helped with the glasses comes in. He’s getting towed and he lives in his car. They roll out and commandeer the tow truck. They beat the driver up and get the guy his car back. Russo tells him to switch out his plates and drive to Texas. Then they all want to celebrate and rob a bank. Madani gives all the flatware from the coffee shop to a tech for printing. Frank and Amy talk about the Schulz and their alt-right radical leanings. Then they go toe to toe about killing people. They need each other at this point. Pilgrim kills Poloznev.

After all that, the guy gets towed again. This time he calls Curtis and tells him everything. He mentions Russo which startles Curtis. He’s going to handle it though. He tells the guy not to say anything to anybody. Mahoney stops by Dumont’s place with a subpoena for all of the Russo records. As she gets the file, she talks to him about the commonalities between criminals and cops. When he leaves, Russo steps out. They argue about her now being a criminal.

He wants to know why he’s her newest pet project. She smacks him and he pins her down. She stabs his hand with a pen and he kisses her. Curtis has summoned Madani and Frank. The latter two start arguing about the Pilgrim issue but Curtis reigns them both in. He’s seen Russo and now this needs to be settled. Frank says he will do it, his way.

So Dumont will get with Russo because of Stockholm Syndrome or something? I don’t know if she’s into him or just wants to fix him. I can’t tell. I have no interest in this Pilgrim stuff. It’s a weird subplot. I just want to see the Russo stuff.

The Punisher, episode five

Amy is doing three card monte with Frank. She wants to know what the plan is. He doesn’t seem to have one so she mentions calling the Russian guy that had hired her band of misfits in the first place. She called him from Ohio and things went south. She mentions that he’s from New York. He figures that’s what he’s got to do. He goes to see Turk, who knows where the Russians are, and tells him to arrange an exchange. Money for the girl and the photos. They’ll know what that means.

Russo is tossing and turning having a nightmare. Also startling awake is Madani. She grabs her gun and looks around the apartment. She creeps into the living room. There’s no one there but she turns slowly and Russo is standing in her bedroom doorway. She startles awake for real this time. Dumont wakes Russo up. He’s angry and doesn’t want to talk about it. He just wants to kill it. She uses her training to calm him down. She gets him some more water and there are scars on her arm.

Madani gets home in the morning and finds Frank and Amy hanging out. She tells him about Arthur. He’s got no new suggestions and Amy mentions getting help with the Russians. Madani realizes that Frank is no use to her. She tells them to get out. Amy swipes her credit card before she storms back out to go to work. The captor is in his basement wiping himself while his wife sleeps and his kids play.

He gets a visit from his neighbor Anderson. He needs to go to New York and finish the job. While Amy buys a ton of stuff on Madani’s dime, Frank watches Turk go see the Russians about a deal. It does not go well. Russo is caught up in his head but Dumont snaps him out of it. She’s got him new clothes for the interim. They have to sort this out. He tells her that he isn’t going back.

Frank gets back to the apartment and rips into Amy for stealing from Madani. His phone rings. It’s Turk setting up a meet. He lies through his teeth and Frank knows it’s a trap. He’ll be ready. Russo gets out of the shower and hears Dumont in a session with another vet. He talks about going to his support group. Speaking of, Curtis is setting up for his when Madani stops by. She wants to talk to him about Russo and Frank. He doesn’t have time to talk but invites her to stay for the session.

She does and she seems to get a lot out of it. After they talk about ending this and finding Russo. Curtis doesn’t have anything to tell her. Frank rolls out and goes to the gym Turk went to. He watches a bunch of Russians leave. Russo goes to a bar and talks to the soldier that was in a session with Dumont. He was also in Curtis’ group. They start drinking together. Frank goes into the gym and beats a bunch of guys. He wants information and the gang leader gives him a name.

Russo and the vet are still in the bar talking about missing the service. They are drunk and the vet snorts some stuff. Then he admits that he knows who Russo is. Dumont is home working through some of her own issues. She opens the shades and slowly approaches the window. She looks out for a few moments and then steps back. Frank gets back to the apartment and gives Amy the name to look up. It’s a Russian billionaire currently living in New York. They head out to hole up with Curtis. Madani gets home to find them gone. The captor, Pilgrim, goes to the gym and shoots all the Russians.

What’s Dumont’s deal? There’s more to her. I get that. I want to know how it all fits in. I like Curtis a lot so I hope Frank doesn’t get him into more trouble. I also hope Madani can sort her shit soon.

The Punisher, episode four

A guy gets on a bus in New York. He takes a seat. It’s behind Russo who he notices doesn’t have shoes and is covered in scars. The guy harasses him. Russo flashes back to his escape. When the guy gets off the bus, Russo follows and beats him up and steals his clothes. Madani brought Frank and Rachel back to her place and then went out to meet Gunner. She claims that she didn’t tell him about Russo but he’s still annoyed.

Rachel has a lot of questions that Frank isn’t interested in answering. He sends her to the bedroom while he takes the couch. He sees a news alert about Russo. She showers and then hides under the bed to cry. Russo heads to a bar. He cuts off his medical bracelet, has a drink and then sees the alert about himself. He flashes back to his time in the hospital. He was doing push-ups. Dumont talks to him about his progress. She tries to engage him by asking him to paint the mask he wears.

Madani comes home and talks to Frank about Russo. They fight about not being able to kill Russo and needing each other. Later that night, Frank leaves. Rachel is asleep under the bed having nightmares about dead bodies. People she was friends with. She left to get food and came back to find a massacre in their hotel room. She ran. Frank went to see Curtis and they talk about Russo where to track him down. If he’s not going to them for help, who would he go to?

Flashback to Frank and Russo sitting around in a park talking about baseball and growing up. Somehow Russo always ends up sitting in the bleachers at the baseball diamond thinking, he says. Sure enough that’s where he is now. He has flashes of “the skull” from his nightmares. Rachel wakes up and comes barreling out of the room. She yells at Frank for locking her in. Russo meanwhile pays a visit to someone from his past.
Rachel talks to Frank about what happened. She went to get tacos and came back to find the bodies. She hid when the man who did it came back. Telling Frank makes her skittish. She figures her cover is blown and she needs to run. That’s what Fiona would suggest. Fiona was the woman who gave her “jobs” in exchange for taking care of her and her friends. She settles back in to finish the story. She hid but wanted to run. The guy that did it was the same captor from before.

Before that her latest “job” had been taking pictures of guys at a funeral. She thought it was weird but now it doesn’t matter. She wants to split up and run. She knows someone that’s in the city. Frank tells her they can’t do that. He’s connected so they have to bring the fight to him. Russo seems unsettled with this guy Arthur. He tries to talk about the group home but Arthur isn’t all that interested. He tells Russo that “they” took every so he’s at the back of the line. Russo just seems unsettled.

Frank and Rachel are eating breakfast when Madani gets home. Frank brainstorms that Russo would have already killed her if he was faking. Then he mentions Arthur, the stickball guy, that Russo might’ve wanted to tune up. She’s ready to roll out when someone comes to the door. It’s Mahoney. He wants Russo’s diary. He knows she’s up to something but she plays it off and then heads out. Frank goes to take a shower leaving Rachel on her own.

Arthur basically tells Russo off for being ungrateful. He loved the kids. He was better than their parents and he ended up in prison. Russo keeps getting more emotional. Arthur wants to know why Russo is there and starts taunting him. Russo snaps. Rachel didn’t stick around the apartment. She went to an electronics store and used the display laptop to look up Frank. The saleskid sees and explains that she’s looking at the Punisher, a total badass who is presumed dead.

Madani goes to Arthur’s house. She sees the door is unlatched so she draws her weapon and goes inside. Sure enough Arthur is dead, completely battered. While she’s looking at the body, a floorboard creaks so she doesn’t hesitate to shoot. It’s not Russo. It’s Mahoney. She claims her visit had nothing to do with Russo. He starts to ask questions but she blows him off. Then he threatens to charge her. She tells him to go ahead and try.

Rachel goes back to Madani’s place. Frank lets her in. Now she knows his story. She asks if he feels better after killing the people that killed his family. He says sometimes. She tells him that her name isn’t really Rachel. It’s Amy. Dumont is home reading when there is a knock on the door. It’s Russo. He didn’t know where else to go. He followed her home. She asks about the blood on his hands and shirt.

She leads him to the bathroom to clean up. While he’s inside she picks her phone up and starts to dial. Flashback to after he decorated his mask. He’s been thinking about his brothers-in-arms. They were badass and had no fear. Now there’s a dark shadow on the edges of his mind. There’s fear and he thinks he deserves it. She tells him that he should open his mind to redemption because she will help him get there.

Russo comes out of the bathroom. Dumont didn’t call anyone. He wants the world to see his face, scars and all, because he wants to be the best version of himself and he wants her to help.

I knew Russo would end up at Dumont’s place. She is going to help him. She will probably also sleep with him. I want Mahoney and Madani to just work together for a change. Also, how’s Beth doing?