This is a very bittersweet episode of Daredevil. On one hand, this is easily the best we've seen of the Punisher thus far, but on the other, it's kind of the last we see of him as an antagonist to Daredevil's storyline. (That I know about.) It certainly ends on a hell of a high note, with Finn, a new head of the Kitchen Irish mafia, stepping in to head a major assault and finish the Punisher off as once and for all.
In the brief time we have with the character, Finn comes off as somewhat over-the-top and we never really get the chance to understand his motives enough to see him as anything other than cannon fodder for the Punisher. Even the brief scene where he appears to be mourning the loss of someone he cares about is undercut by him flying into a rage and tipping over the coffin of one of his men, ruining the attempts to find him sympathetic. (Him kidnapping Frank's dog and threatening to kill it doesn't help his case either.)
But, I guess the point of Finn was really not to be a compelling foe, just someone we want to see hurt. And to that effect, it works, as it's fairly satisfying when a captured Frank breaks out of his chair and empties a shotgun into his face. Anyway, the rest of the episode was fairly great. What was I talking about before I went on that weird rant about Finn?
Right, the rest of this episode. Finn rounds up men to capture Frank as he gazes upon the carousel where his family used to go when they were alive, and he naturally doesn't go down without a fight, leaving a trail of bodies for Daredevil to follow. Until then, we get a bit of interaction between Finn and Frank, where Jon Bernthal gets yet another chance to shine as he nonchalantly shrugs off Finn's torture and threats. You really get the sense that Frank doesn't care if he lives or dies, so long as he gets to take as much scum as he can with him. It's a chilling, somewhat cathartic scene when he gives up the location to the Kitchen Irish's money, only for it to be revealed to be a bomb.
When Matt arrives, we get another excellent fight scene as Daredevil and the Punisher take out the mobsters, including several bits of dark comedy as Matt repeatedly thwarts Frank's attempts to kill people, much to his annoyance. "No killing." "Boyscout." After the brawl, Matt takes Castle to the gravesite where his family is buried, and in what might be my favorite scene of the series, Frank breaks down as he admits why "One batch, Two batch." is a personal anthem of his. It's a heartbreaking scene, acted to perfection by Bernthal, who manages to perfectly mix both woeful and angry. Even Matt cries, and when the speech is done, Frank just kind of...slumps, defeated, just in time for Officer Mahoney to arrive and attempt to arrest the duo, with Matt, hoping to end the cycle of vigilantism he seems himself as responsible for, urging him to take credit for arresting Frank.
The episode ends on a hope spot, as a happy Matt celebrates with Foggy and Karen, and actually, finally, strikes up a relationship with Karen, only for an old flame (Elektra!) to show up, ending the episode on yet another strong cliffhanger.
Overall Score: 9/10
Notes:
*I swear, next episode I'm going to actually talk about Karen and Foggy in the main review.
*Finn was likely a reference to Finn Cooley, one of the primary villains of Punisher MAX's Kitchen Irish arc. If so, it's a very different change, given that Finn a) had horrific facial wounds and b) was a die-hard member of the IRA. Making him a mobster was a smart move, if you ask me.
*I really hope Punisher doesn't spend the rest of the season behind bars. It'd be a real waste, if you ask me.
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