History Series / ThePunisher2017

* BittersweetEnding: Season 2 ends on a more somber note compared to the surprisingly peaceful closure of season 1. [[spoiler:Frank remains live and uncaptured, having [[BecomingTheMask fully embraced his Punisher identity]] by killing crime full-time, and he and Dinah manage to finally kill off Billy; putting an end to his spree of terror and marking Frank as the SoleSurvivor of Operation Cerberus. He had also managed to put an end to Testament, killing both the Schultzes while letting Pilgrim live to drop out and watch over his two children. However, Frank has shunned all chances of living a civilian life again as a result of becoming a full-time vigilante, even declining Dinah's offer to let him work for the C.I.A. [[BreakHisHeartToSaveHim He also had to cut ties with Amy to keep her safe]], giving her the cash to move far away. Now with his family and brother figure dead, and all ties with all surviving allies severed, Frank is truly alone, and yet at peace with himself.]]

** Madani is bedridden for several days following [[spoiler:Sam's death at Billy Russo's hands]].

* SemperFi: Frank, Billy Russo, and Curtis Hoyle are all former members of the Marine Corps. Frank and Billy were Lieutenants, and Curtis was a Corpsman.

* {{Gorn}}: The most brutal series Marvel has put out so far, with Frank both dishing out and receiving some gruesome wounds. Taken UpToEleven with [[spoiler:Billy Russo's disfigurement]], which is out-and-out NightmareFuel that must be seen to be believed.

** David's attempts to keep Frank stabilized after he gets shot by a FriendlyFire arrow from Gunner. He tries pumping Frank with antibiotics and fluids, which won't do shit while the arrow is lodged in Frank and infested with bacteria.
except that fluids and antibiotics are exactly what David should have done as fluid resuscitation is helpful for both the hypovolemia from blood loss and fluid problems from infection, and the antibiotics would help Frank's immune system fight the infection, even with the arrow still in him, especially since David is not qualified to do surgery to remove the arrow on his own. Also from this scene: David quite rightly sanitizes his hands before treating Frank... and proceeds to rub them dry on his pants.

* AdultFear:
** Frank has to face life after outliving his wife and his children.
** Sarah is helplessly watching her son Zach turn into a rage-fueled bully in the absence of his father.
** Karen, still reeling from the death of her boyfriend in Midland Circle, wants to help Frank out of the cycle of revenge she believes he’s trapped in so that he won't go down the same path that Matt did.
** David not only has to see his children suffer, he can only watch as Sarah starts to consider moving on after his “death” with a very dangerous man.

* SomethingCompletelyDifferent: None of the characters in ''The Punisher'' display superpowers or "sci-fi" weapons of any kind, a first among any show or movie set in the MCU. Really, the only thing that would tell you that aliens invaded New York City a few years ago and that superheroes exist in this world would be Ben Urich's old "Battle of NY" and "Terror on Harlem" framed front pages on the back wall of Karen's office.

''The Punisher'' is a Creator/{{Netflix}} ([[ChannelHop and later]] Creator/DisneyPlus) original series, based on the Creator/MarvelComics character [[ComicBook/ThePunisher of the same name]]. It's set in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse — like most other shows produced by Creator/MarvelTelevision — alongside ''Series/{{The Defenders|2017}}'', ''Series/{{Daredevil|2015}}'', ''Series/{{Jessica Jones|2015}}'', ''Series/{{Luke Cage|2016}}'', and ''Series/{{Iron Fist|2017}}'', [[SpinOff spinning off]] from ''Daredevil''.

On February 18, 2019, it was announced the 2nd season was going to be its final one as the series was canceled alongside ''Series/JessicaJones2015'', effectively killing off the final original Marvel shows on Netflix.

''The Punisher'' is a Creator/{{Netflix}} original series, based on the Creator/MarvelComics character [[ComicBook/ThePunisher of the same name]]. It's set in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse — like most other shows produced by Creator/MarvelTelevision — alongside ''Series/{{The Defenders|2017}}'', ''Series/{{Daredevil|2015}}'', ''Series/{{Jessica Jones|2015}}'', ''Series/{{Luke Cage|2016}}'', and ''Series/{{Iron Fist|2017}}'', [[SpinOff spinning off]] from ''Daredevil''.

* BadassBeard:
** Frank's grown his beard out since he gunned his way through Hell's Kitchen. He shaves it off once he decides to return to being a vigilante, and because a diner waitress and Karen both tell him that the beard makes him look like a hipster.
** David has one that could give Danny Rand a run for his money.

* {{Foreshadowing}}:
** Someone mentions "putting the pieces together" to catch Billy Russo. You know, like a [[spoiler:jigsaw puzzle]].
** It almost seemed directed [[TvTropesWillRuinYourLife specifically at Tropers]] when Curtis called Russo "AManOfWealthAndTaste".

* SocietyMarchesOn: The entire plot of Season Two happens because a closeted U.S. Senator was under a threat of blackmail in case of his future presidential run. Later that very same year the first openly gay man announced his presidential campaign and did reasonably well in the primary season, receiving no signicant backlash because of his orientation.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome:
** The Punisher comics are very big on torture, with Frank usually subjecting his victims to all sorts of brutality to get them to squeal. When he tries it on Carson Wolf, who has a few years of experience from Gitmo, Wolf just says that torture actually yields dubious results, since victims will often say whatever their captor wants to hear just to make the pain stop. So Frank instead tries a different approach where he lets Wolf "disarm" him [[JustBetweenYouAndMe and gloat to him]], [[ItWorksBetterWithBullets not realizing that there's no bullets in the gun]].
** [[spoiler:Lewis]] tries to shoo the pet birds of an ANVIL agent he's killed out of their cage and out the window, so they won't just die of neglect. They're tropical birds, and it's a freezing November in New York City, of course they didn't want to go!
** On episode 4, Billy Russo delivers a RousingSpeech as a sales pitch to potential ANVIL recruits. Even though Russo is extremely unscrupulous, he still can't have a mentally unstable veteran on his payroll, as Lewis could potentially sabotage any assignment he's given and prove to be a huge liability. So Russo dumps Lewis once Curtis brings to light recent events at Lewis's home. Although Russo is genuinely apologetic in telling Lewis why he can't be hired, Lewis doesn't take it well.
** In the season 2 premiere during the bathroom fight, the male assassin is nearly as tough as Frank himself and shrugs off almost all the damage he takes...right until the moment his head hits the heavy porcelain sink so hard it breaks off, presumably killing him instantly.

* NotSoDifferent: [[spoiler:Lewis]] tries pulling this on Frank, even saying they should be working together. Frank's having none of it, since he considers [[spoiler:Lewis]] to be a coward for using bombs and injuring civilians, and at the moment holding Karen hostage, while Frank is rather more meticulous about choosing his targets, and tries to keep collateral damage to a minimum.

* InformedAttractiveness: Several people comment on Billy Russo's pretty face, which is an important part of Jigsaw's backstory.

* ItWorksBetterWithBullets: While Frank is attempting to beat a confession out of Carson, Carson manages to slip his bonds and grab Frank's gun. This, however, was part of Frank's plan; the gun is empty, and Carson gives up all the info Frank needs while thinking he has the upper hand.

* IdealizedSex: Frank's dream / hallucination of his wife while he's being tortured by Rawlins.

* SurprisinglyyRealisticOutcome:

* RealityEnsues:
** The Punisher comics are very big on torture, with Frank usually subjecting his victims to all sorts of brutality to get them to squeal. When he tries it on Carson Wolf, who has a few years of experience from Gitmo, Wolf just says that torture actually yields dubious results, since victims will often say whatever their captor wants to hear just to make the pain stop. So Frank instead tries a different approach where he lets Wolf "disarm" him [[JustBetweenYouAndMe and gloat to him]], [[ItWorksBetterWithBullets not realizing that there's no bullets in the gun]].
** [[spoiler:Lewis]] tries to shoo the pet birds of an ANVIL agent he's killed out of their cage and out the window, so they won't just die of neglect. They're tropical birds, and it's a freezing November in New York City, of course they didn't want to go!
** On episode 4, Billy Russo delivers a RousingSpeech as a sales pitch to potential ANVIL recruits. Even though Russo is extremely unscrupulous, he still can't have a mentally unstable veteran on his payroll, as Lewis could potentially sabotage any assignment he's given and prove to be a huge liability. So Russo dumps Lewis once Curtis brings to light recent events at Lewis's home. Although Russo is genuinely apologetic in telling Lewis why he can't be hired, Lewis doesn't take it well.
** In the season 2 premiere during the bathroom fight, the male assassin is nearly as tough as Frank himself and shrugs off almost all the damage he takes...right until the moment his head hits the heavy porcelain sink so hard it breaks off, presumably killing him instantly.

** Season 2 borrows heavily from both the ''Kingpin'' arc of ''ComicBook/ThePunisherMAX'' and ''ComicBook/SuicideRun'', two story arcs from different periods in the Punisher franchise.

* SurprisinglyHappyEnding: For a comic adapting the Punisher, and drawing the most inspiration from ComicBook/ThePunisherMAX at that. [[spoiler: David is reunited with his family, Curtis makes it through alive, and most surprisingly, Frank is at the very least trying to get better.]]

** Lewis is in love with the Latin phrase ''sic semper tyranis'', ("thus always the tyrants") to the point that it's a clue telling Frank and Curtis that he's the bomber when he uses it while calling in to threaten Karen on the radio.

* MeaningfulName: John ''Pilgrim'' is a devoutly religious man and in a very transitive spiritual state.
* MenInBlack: Frank primarily wears black, both symbolizing his pain and sorrow, as well as because of its practicality in stealth operations.

* BittersweetEnding: Season 2 ends on a more somber note compared to the surprisingly peaceful closure of season 1. [[spoiler:Frank remains live and uncaptured, having [[BecomingTheMask fully embraced his Punisher identity]] by killing crime full-time, and he and Dinah manage to finally kill off Billy; putting an end to his spree of terror and marking Frank as the SoleSurvivor of Operation Cerberus. He had also managed to put an end to Testament, killing both the Schultzes while letting Pilgrim live to drop out and watch over his two children. However, Frank has shunned all chances of living a civilian life again as a result of becoming a full-time vigilante, even declining Dinah's offer to let him work for Homeland Security. [[BreakHisHeartToSaveHim He also had to cut ties with Amy to keep her safe]], giving her the cash to move far away. Now with his family and brother figure dead, and all ties with all surviving allies severed, Frank is truly alone, and yet at peace with himself.]]

* AndStarring: And Creator/DeborahAnnWoll

* DoubleTap: The Punisher ''is trying'' to kill his enemies. During firefights he makes sure to finish off injured and incapacitated targets by shooting them directly in the head - ruthlessly, methodically, almost mechanically, without a split-second's hesitation. He isn't going to give them a chance to retreat and regroup. If he has sufficient time, he even makes sure to give headshots to targets that have ''stopped moving'' because he already emptied a clip of ammo into the rest of their bodies - not out of anger, but to make sure they're fully neutralized so he can focus on the next threat.

* {{Adorkable}}: Frank's amazingly awkward reaction to [[spoiler:Sarah's]] impulsive kiss is priceless.
-->'''Frank''': Look, I'm flattered—\\
'''[[spoiler:Sarah]]''': Well, you should be. You're the second guy I've kissed in fifteen years.\\
'''Frank''': Oh boy.

* ActorAllusion: In one scene, Russo is shown reading ''Literature/ThePictureOfDorianGray''. Russo's actor, Ben Barnes, played the title character in a film adaptation of the same novel. Fittingly, both Billy Russo and Dorian Gray are men whose pretty looks hide their evil nature.