Egon Longshanks: 'The Punisher' Episode 5: 'Gunner'

This episode manages to not only follow up on the events of last episode, but also shifts its focus back to the larger arc that makes up the season's focus.

Madani now has a lead as she knows that Frank is alive. Of course, there are a myriad of reasons why she can't tell anyone. It does give her a reason to bring Karen Page in for questioning.

This was a bonus for several reasons. I've already praised Woll, and she's as good as always here. It also allows for some nods to the events of other shows. The biggest perk, however, is seeing an inquisitive journalist with a potential scoop go up against a federal agent attempting an interrogation. It was an interesting setup as both parties try to fish for information, but sadly, the scene doesn't live up to its potential. It isn't long before Karen more or less acquiesces. She lies, of course, but there could have been more back and forth with that one. Also, Karen's not a good liar. It seems obvious that she's covering. I don't know if Madani knows this and is just playing along, but I'd hope so. There were some pretty obvious tells there that a seasoned agent should have picked up on.

This also prompts Page to meet up with Frank one more time. It's a much stronger scene with quite a bit of emotional power behind it. Karen sympathizes with Frank, but doesn't want any more bodies piling up. She even asks the question of what Frank plans to do after, which he doesn't seem to have an answer for. As such, she pitches using an alternate strategy: letting the truth come out either by talking to Madani or letting Karen run a story and exposing what happened through the press. She did make some good points, but Frank isn't convinced. Still, points for trying.

Frank, meanwhile attempts to track down the guy who filmed the execution back in Kandahar. Like the AVClub, I'm not sure why it took them this long to think of it. Frank is able to instantly identify who the cameraman is too. If his memory were foggy due to the passage of time, maybe they could've made it more believable, but as is, it's just strange.

Despite the cameraman (the titular "Gunner" who ironically seems to prefer a bow and arrow) taking great efforts to stay hidden, it seems like everybody does a pretty easy job of finding him. It makes for a convenient action beat as a squad of troops are deployed to take the two out.

I'm torn on the "First person shooter" thing that the climax used. On the one hand, I wasn't digging it. Credit to the show for justifying it to some extent (the troops are wearing cameras on their helmets) but at the same time, I don't know if the show did enough with it. We would occasionally jump to the POV shot, but then jump out again. Considering Frank and Gunner's guerilla tactics, seeing it from first person could have been a cool, immersive trick. On the other hand, if they had done more, viewers might have complained that they didn't get to see enough of Frank in action. It's a double edged sword.

It was kind of surprising to see Frank killing the soldiers the same way he would a gang of criminals. You'd think that being innocent and fellow troops, that Frank would at least try to incapacitate them in a nonlethal fashion. Such was not the case.

In addition to action, the episode does provide some strong character moments. The bickering between Frank and Micro is fun, but the more family oriented scenes are some of the real stand outs. It was nice to see Frank bonding with Leo. It makes the later scene where he unintentionally stands the family up rather sad, as everybody was anticipating his company. With everything going on, I kind of forgot about that plot point, but it made for a nice emotional sucker punch when it did come up.

All in all, this was a decent episode. It still seems like its trying to pick up momentum and find its focus, but that could feeling could also be due to my sporadic viewing of the show. I've been mulling doing a rewatch of the MCU from the beginning. If I do that, perhaps a more "binge"esque strategy would work better for a show like this, we'll see how things play out. In any event, we're coming up on the season's halfway point so things should start to get interesting.