It took awhile i know, but finally i could review the great performance of Jon Berntal as Frank Castle. And after watched the whole season two times, it's more than enough to give a decent review.
Jon Bernthal nailed Frank Castle. Marvel is well known for making great casts and this is no exception. One thing i could guarantee before watching the show is that he would give intensity to the character due to his previous performances in other roles, specially as Shane in the Walking Dead.
The credits aren't only for Bernthal, sure he did his homework, he read Punisher comics to get into the role but we have to mention the writers.
The showrunners Doug Petrie and Marco Ramirez deserved the other 50% of the credit, due to their research and writing the Frank Castle (Punisher) i care the most, and the one i was expecting to see not only in the TV but in comics too.
In my opinion part of the success of this portrayal was because we saw a humanized Frank Castle and the source material (comics). The showrunners make sure to add tons of elements from comics (which i will list below in the Easter eggs list).
Bernthal gave such an intensity to the role that i have never seen on screen if we compare to the previous Punisher portrayals (Dolph Lundgren, Thomas Jane and Ray Stevenson).
In this series, Frank Castle is hunting down all the gangs that were present in the day his family was killed. And he rampages all the gangs looking for answers.
The first four episodes are entirely focused in Frank Castle where his motivations and objectives are explored by his interactions with the criminals or during the moral/physical fights with Daredevil.
Until episode four, Frank Castle actions might look like a villain in some ways (for those who don't know the character) but in this back, everything spins around at his favor when at the cemetery he talks with Daredevil about the story of "One Batch, Two Batch. Penny and Dime". The last story he never told to his daughter before his family was killed. At this point we get to know more about Frank Castle... His feelings and his human/vulnerable side.
It's important to mention Frank's relationship with Karen Page. Page admires Frank, she doesn't approve his actions but she believes that he is a necessary evil to fight crime. Both character have a weird chemistry between them. Sometimes it looks like a father/daughter connection and some other times they can be brother/sister and there are times it seems that both can make a relationship more than friendship.
Page is essential to aid Frank on his quest to find the responsible for his families deaths. Frank is the only character he trusts the most and we will see it many times through the season.
The action scenes are unbelievable in this season and we were presented with a very skilled Frank Castle in hand to hand combat.
The fights with Daredevil, the infamous prison fighting scene which is by far the best fighting scene ever in Daredevil.
There was a big answer to be explained during this season that i hope that it will be explained in the Punisher series.
What happened in Kandahar to Frank and his team?
Another thing that i wanted to see on screen was that Frank used the law to bring down those who were responsible for the deaths of his family. He used all the legal resources and the law failed.
SPOILERS AHEAD!!
At the end of season Frank Castle accomplished his mission. He eliminated most gangs involved in the massacre of his family and he even get rid of the man behind the meeting of the gangs...
Blacksmith aka Colonel Schoonover, Frank's former colonel.
Overal Rate: 9.5 out of 10
Complete list of Easter eggs
MAX
Directly from the comics, Max was imported to Daredevil season 2, after Frank rescue him from the Irish mob who used him for dog fights. Similar fate was used in the comics too. Frank adopt him to guard a secret warehouse.
FINN COOLEY
Fin Cooley is another character imported from comic books. More precisely in Punisher MAX written by Garth Ennis. In the series there is "a" Finn and everyone who read Punisher MAX soon related to this character from the comics, like in the series he is the leader of the irish mob.
Frank shoot his face in point blank it would be hard to explain how he could survive the shot but it would a good way to know why he had a mask like in the comics.
MICROCHIP
In the last minutes of this series, Frank goes home and breaks a frame with him and his buddies from the marine and takes this CD with the name "Micro".
Micro or Microchip was the code name of Linus Lieberman, a long time partner of Frank who is an excellent hacker and weapons supplier. Microchip was friend of Frank, who most of the times was the only link Frank had with a human being. Aside from the criminals he kills every single day.
I'm almost certain that Microchip will appear in the upcoming Punisher series.
CELL BLOCK D
Cell Block D, was the cell that Frank met Wilson Fisk in the series. It's the same name of a Daredevil arc, when Frank went to prison to get Matt Murdock out of there when his identity was known to the public.
Colonel Schoonover
Colonel Schoonover appeared in the series to testify in court how good man Frank Castle was.
He is Blacksmith too. The main man behind the drug deal between the three gangs that killed Frank's family.
In comics he was responsible for many casualties during war when Frank was his Captain and was a drug dealer too.
Rooftop Scene
This epic scene was taken directly from "Welcome Back, Frank" during Ma Gnucci's arc.
But there are a few differences from the comics and the tv series.
In comics Daredevil tries to shoot Frank when he threats to shoot Dino. The problem is that Frank removed the striker and Daredevil couldn't shoot him to stop. This scene generated a lot of controversy between fans of Daredevil. He wouldn't shoot Frank to stop him.
In the tv series he shoots the chains and managed to free himself from it and try to stop Frank. This is more "Daredevil's way".
Quick References
The number of the trial was 1986-4447. 1986 was the release date of Circle of Blood by Steven Grant and Mike Zeck. Circle of Blood was the beginning of the first solo series based on the Punisher.
They gave the name of this trial "People vs Frank Castle", the exact same name as the Punisher arc from the mini-series written by Marc Guggenheim and Leinil Yu. The Trial of the Punisher.
Some prison scenes were taken from the Punisher run by Nathan Edmondson and Mitch Gerads.
During the Schoonover's testimonial in the trial he described perfectly the scene from Punisher MAX: Born.
When Frank by himself clear the landing zone against 32 enemies.
Specially when he said how he found Frank with a pile of dead bodies around him.
