Former Force Recon officer Frank Castle, known throughout New York City as "the Punisher" after exacting revenge on those responsible for the death of his family, uncovers a larger conspiracy that begins to haunt him.
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In the fallout of the events of Daredevil, Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal) has taken a new identity and gone into hiding. Still mourning the loss of his family, and occasionally suffering PTSD from his time in the military, he eventually finds himself wrapped up in a conspiracy sprung up by the ghosts of his past. With the help of Micro (Ebon Moss-Bacharach), a mysterious man keeping surveillance of the city, and the hindrance of Federal Agent Madani (Amber Rose Revah), Frank must find and kill the man at the center of it all, Agent Orange (Paul Schulze).
Unburdened by the rest of the slate, The Punisher's tone has a stark contrast to what's been shown before. The violence depicted here is far more bleak and pungent, with Frank often brutalizing his enemies. Yet, even with this violence, there's a disconnect when most of the scenes are backed by a rousing popular song. This almost aggrandizes Frank's brutality. That might be an appropriate approach for this particular kind of character, but it's not like this series was produced in a vacuum. It's hard to detach the series from its inherent political messages when dialogue goes out of its way to remind you of its "realistic" approach to modern politics. Perhaps emphasizing a story about someone suffering from PTSD, acquiring a ton of guns, and dealing his own form of "justice" was ill timed?