At looong last, we wrap up the first season of this series. It's had its ups and downs and this episode is, fittingly enough, a mixed bag.
There's a lot of great character moments to be had. While Frank and Micro don't share too many scenes together, the ones they do make an impact. The two have clearly become quite tight. Even though it seems like Micro's story is done and he is free to ride off into the metaphorical sunset happily reunited with his family, I kind of hope they find a way to keep him in the fold for the second season. The two play very well off each other and it was a consistent highlight throughout the season.
The confrontation that ensues when Billy brings Curtis into the fold is also a major highlight. As is the case with Frank, the dialogue between the two shows that Russo still holds their "band of brothers" bond in high regard. Despite holding the man at gunpoint, Russo acknowledges that he really has no quarrel with Curtis and is quite reasonable given the circumstances.
It's a shame we didn't get to see more of these three together. It would have had to be through flashbacks for narrative purposes, but it still would have been great to see more of it. Speaking of more flashbacks, this episode gives us one that shows that Billy was something of an honorary uncle to the Castle kids and was a close friend to the whole family. It's a great scene, but there should have been more of that throughout the season. I think it would have given even more weight to the conflict between the two.
I'm not sure what was making Russo so unhinged. He never went full Rawlins, but it was clear that his mind was getting away from him. The shot to his cheek seems a little flimsy as far as motivation goes. There is the fact that Curtis knew that Frank was still alive. On the one hand, Billy does say that another brother betrayed him, but the way the line was delivered it seemed more comedic than anything else. It does give Russo some wiggle room to be more overtly villainous as the episode reaches its final stages, but it was strange.
Also strange was the opening sequences. Billy goes on a killing spree to escape the cops. It's done somewhat well, especially considering Billy is so nonchalant about headshotting multiple cops. The slow motion walk away as he blows up the building behind him was a bit much, though.
Frank's medical treatment was also a bit of a stretch. After the severe wounds that he suffered, Madani's parents are able to bring him back with surprisingly little trouble. I remind you, they're not at a hospital at this point, but Madani's house. They just happened to have what they needed. I'm not sure how else you could have done it, but that seemed ridiculous to me.
As for the long awaited showdown between Russo and Castle, it's pretty well done. The carousel thing seems out of place at first, more like a Joker thing, but given Frank's history it makes sense. Billy isn't going for "carnivals are creepy", but dredging up painful memories for Frank to throw him off his game. Seems to work pretty well too from what we see.
The confrontation itself is also pretty intense. The gunfight didn't impress too much,though Russo does avert Stormtrooper marksmanship by actually hitting Frank a couple of times. Frank launching mortar shells to draw out his enemy was also a small highlight. The subsequent look on Billy's face as he hears them launch is pretty priceless.
Where the climax really kicks into high gear is when the two ditch the guns and put up their dukes. It's a well choreographed fight and Billy holds his own very well. It makes for a brutal and exciting final fight. Honestly, you could have taken the teen hostages out of the equation and it still would have had plenty of tension to spare.
It would have been a shame to kill off Russo just when he found his grove as an adversary. Thankfully, the episode splits the difference and leaves him in a coma. This way the writers can decide that his story is done if they want to do something else next season, or they can bring him back to keep the rivalry alive.
The episode ends with Frank going to a support group meeting and revealing that he's scared of the prospect of not having a war to fight.
It's funny, I thought that was going to be the driving force of this season's arc. It seemed like Frank had gotten his vengeance and we were going to see him find a new reason to keep fighting. Instead, the plot kind of backpedaled and brought back the conspiracy so that Frank could remain focused on avenging his family. It was one of the weaker aspects of the season as a whole.
In some ways, I get why the line is a wham moment. Frank is the type who needs a target. I'm sure a lot of vets have a similar mindset when coming back. The problem is that this is the MCU; there's plenty of things to fight. Even if there are no more ninjas, Hydra has a knack for popping up and I'm pretty sure Thanos is on the horizon; to say nothing of that whole "Endgame" war for Earth. There are a whole lot of aliens coming so I'm sure Frank'll be just fine. Even if he stayed street level, it isn't like there's any shortage of criminals. Of course, with the CIA agreeing to let him go back to his old alias, donning the vigilante attire might not be the best move; we'll have to see how the second season plays this.
Before that, though, we have a few other seasons to watch. Up next, I believe, is the second season of Luke Cage; I'm looking forward to getting into that. There's still quite a bit of Netflix MCU to cover, and it should have been covered already, but progress on getting caught up is being made. This is one to check off the list.
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