Obviously, contains massive spoilers for The Punisher season one.
The Punisher is back for a second and likely final season at Netflix. It’s been over a year since we last saw Frank Castle in action, so ahead of season two, here’s a look at what happened in his debut solo outing and where the characters – at least, the ones we’ll see again – were left…
Plot
The first season of The Punisher sees Frank Castle continuing his hunt for the men who killed his family, after discovering that the man he previously dealt with – his former commander, Colonel Schoonover – was part of a much wider conspiracy inside the CIA. Drawn back into a vigilante life, he finds himself tracking down “Agent Orange” and his former brother-in-arms, Billy Russo, who are both wrapped up in it.
Along the way, Frank partners with “Micro”, another victim of the conspiracy who faked his own death to focus on bringing it down. As Frank and Micro partner up, they are tailed by government agents including the obsessive but brilliant Dinah Madani, who is clean – though her bosses may not be.
As you’d expect, Frank eventually takes down Agent Orange and his subordinates, culminating in a final battle which sees Russo and Frank face off in the funfair location where Frank’s family was originally killed. After beating Russo and smashing his face into a mirror, Frank delivers him to Madani whose investigations have put her on Frank’s side.
With the conspiracy beaten, Micro is free to return to his family, and both he and Frank are pardoned by the authorities. Assuming, of course, that Frank stays out of trouble.
No prizes for guessing how that’s going to go…
Returning characters
Frank Castle
We last saw Frank attending a PTSD support group, having acknowledged that he was… unwell. Of course, part of the problem was that having achieved some kind of justice for his family, he just didn’t know what to do next with his life. Whatever happens next, you can be sure Frank probably won’t be pursuing justice for his family as his primary goal, but it remains to be seen whether this rather optimistic ending will be undone as he spreads his war on crime to everyone else, or whether he’ll be dragged back into a fight against his will.
Billy Russo (Jigsaw)
When we met Billy he was the head of a “private security” firm called Anvil and living the sweet life free from his past. Once a close friend of Frank, he’s set to be one of the main villains of this series, even though he starts it comatose. Russo has lost everything he treasured – his job, his good standing and his looks – it’s safe to say he’s going to blame Frank for that.
Dinah Madani
Although she helped bring down the conspiracy, Medani paid a lot for her crusade. Hooking up with Billy Russo certainly didn’t help when she found out he was bad – especially because he killed her partner, Agent Sam Stein and then tried to shoot her in the head. If and when Russo wakes up, Madani’s going to be ready to take him in. Will she be keen to partner up with Frank, however? Probably not, since she was the one who got him his new life. That’s not something you can keep doing for a person after all…
Karen Page
Having already developed a rapport with Frank after he came into conflict with Daredevil, newspaper reporter Karen Page helped Frank out several times in the past and is sure to do the same again in Punisher season two. Of course, Karen was fired from her newspaper in Daredevil season three, and assuming Daredevil isn’t going to continue anywhere else this could be the character’s final appearance.
Curtis Hoyle
One of Frank’s few loyal friends from the military, and one of the few people who knew he was alive when the rest of the world didn’t, Curtis also ran the PTSD group Frank attended. Frank saved his life multiple times, including from Russo. Again, when Russo wakes up and can’t find Frank, it’s likely he’ll go to Curtis first. He might even just go there to settle a score…
The Punisher season 2 will debut on Netflix on Friday 18th January.