History Awesome / ThePunisher2017

** Frank's {{Ironic Echo}} during the above sledgehammer fight: "[[PreMortemOneLiner I'm gonna]] [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown find a home]] [[DropTheHammer for this]]."
** Bonus points to the talented editor who synchronizes Franks' [[DropTheHammer sledgehammer-fu]] with the crashing beat of Music/TomWaits' ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Fju9o8BVJ8 Hell Broke Luce.]]''

** Hell, the first three that he takes on in the bathroom of the bar he [[CurbStompBattle curb stomps]] using nothing but just his belt as protection from the knife attacks.

--> '''Frank:''' [[note]]''(in response to being told he's a dead man by Rawlins earlier while being tortured, and referencing Micro thinking that the skull of his outfit isn't a thread to others but a ''memento mori'' for himself)''[[/note]] You're wrong. ''(stabs Rawlins rapidly and repeatedly in the throat)'' ''I'm a reminder.'' ''(BAM)''! ALL! ''(BAM)''! MEN! ''(BAM)''! DIE! ''(BAM)''! ''(BAM)''! ''(BAM)''! ''(BAM)''! ''(BAM)''! ''(slowly glances at Russo, who silently nods, then firmly plants his thumbs into Rawlin's eyes, and digs DEEP, before letting loose an animalistic roar, and then collapses)''

!!Meta and unsorted

* After the mass shooting in Las Vegas and several other incidents of gun violence, many were calling for the show's release to be cancelled from fear it would be glorifying gun culture with a quasi-fascist edge like the Punisher in comics has long been accused of glorifying. Instead, the issue was tackled dead-on with the characters of Lewis Wilson, O'Connor, and Senator Stan Ori; a story arc that spans the entire season was added specifically as a thoughtful meditation on the issue that allows both sides equal arguing time, and specifically points out just what makes Frank something more than just the RightWingMilitiaFanatic he's often painted as.
* Creator/JonBernthal said he based his version of the Punisher on [[https://youtu.be/bWpK0wsnitc this]] [[Film/DirtyLaundry short/sequel]] to the 2004 movie.
* Other than the eight episode ''Series/TheDefenders2017'', the MCU Netflix series before this one all faced accusations of suffering from EndingFatigue as they struggled to stretch their plot over thirteen episodes. ''The Punisher'' finally breaks the pattern and was heralded as being the first of the shows to fully stick the landing and fill all of its time well.
** And they did it by adding in a B Plot, which actually works well within the A Plot without detracting from it or ''feeling'' like {{Filler}}, and which also raises some pretty intelligent points related to the overall themes of the show.

* After an entire season of CIAEvilFBIGood, Deputy Director Marion James, Rawlins' direct superior, subverts this trope: when she learns the extent of Rawlins' dirty business, and that Rawlins has a plan to use Russo as a scapegoat to take the blame and keep the CIA clean, she reluctantly agrees, then says that afterwards, Rawlins will ''immediately resign'' from the agency, saying that there is no place for him there anymore. Rawlins initially says that this gives him no reason to comply, then James turns it around on him: if he doesn't, she will ''personally'' turn Rawlins over to the Department of Homeland Security, whatever consequences to herself, the agency, or the country be ''damned''. William Rawlins is the archetypical evil spy that people associate with black ops CIA, but Marion James is ''not'' that person.

* Frank beating the crap out of Pilgrim in the junkyard.

* Madani and Frank's car chase, which in quite a rarity for this day and age is done entirely with real cars.

--> '''Frank:''' [[note]]''(in response to being told he's a dead man by Rawlins earlier while being tortured, and referencing Micro thinking that the skull of his outfit isn't a thread to others but a ''memento mori'' for himself)''[[/note]] You were wrong. ''(stabs Rawlins rapidly and repeatedly in the throat)'' ''I'm a reminder.'' ''(BAM)''! ''(BAM)''! ''(BAM)''! DIE! ''(BAM)''! ''(BAM)''! ''(BAM)''! ''(BAM)''! ''(BAM)''! ''(slowly glances at Russo, who silently nods, then firmly plants his thumbs into Rawlin's eyes, and digs DEEP, before letting loose an animalistic roar, and then collapses)''

* You have to give [[spoiler: Carson Wolf]] credit. He gives Frank a hell of a fight despite being a JerkAss and being about a decade older.
* Frank's BatmanGambit following that scene as well. [[spoiler: Knowing full-well that he wasn't likely to get information from Wolf through a typical interrogation session, he leaves his hands loose, as well as only loading one bullet into the gun. When Wolf "disarms" Frank, he proceeds to monologue about how they set him up, giving Frank everything he needs before turning the tables back on his target.]]

* Frank's team is caught in an ambush [[spoiler:courtesy of "Agent Orange" not caring that his intelligence pretty much shows it is an insurgent trap. [[OneManArmy He annihilates dozens of insurgents single-handedly]], [[CombatBreakdown going from assault rifle down to secondary weapon (a shotgun), side arm, captured weapons]] and eventually ''his fists and a rock''.]] It's no wonder Colonel Schoonover was willing to speak so admirably of Frank at his trial, even if it was partially to deflect Frank's suspicions.
* Frank punching "Agent Orange" so hard ''his eye basically explodes''. [[spoiler:Agent Rawlins carries the scar and a milky, possibly completely blind eye, for the rest of the season.]] It took ''three'' other soldiers to pull Frank off of him, and this is after Frank is bloodied, beaten, and exhausted by the Crowning Moment listed above.

* Frank and [[spoiler: Gunner]] taking on Rawlins' fully-equipped hit squad using nothing but a bow and arrow, weaponry later acquired from the operatives, as well as [[spoiler: Gunner's traps and Micro's support from above.]]

* [[spoiler: Lewis killing O'Connor, while Lewis turning to violence is tragic, it's hard to argue that O'Connor didn't [[AssholeVictim have it coming.]]]]

* Rawlins barely responding to [[spoiler: Frank's sniper shot bouncing off the bulletproof glass an inch from his face]]. The calm and stoic response he has to being [[spoiler: a single pane of bulletproof glass]] from death is amazing.
** And right before [[spoiler:his attempt at Rawlins' life,]] Frank mutters a phrase under his breath. [[spoiler:That one phrase, that motivated him to continue to kill.]]
-->'''Frank''': [[spoiler:One batch.]] [...] [[spoiler:Two batch.]] [... ...] ''[[spoiler:Penny and dime.]]''

* [[spoiler: The fight between Lewis and Curtis, it's made clear that the latter only lost because of his prosthetic leg and because he was only trying to subdue Lewis as opposed to maiming or killing him. Even ''after'' Lewis rips his leg off, he's still fighting back and arguably only loses because he's flat on his back without any way to get back up. Even more, Curtis successfully keeps Lewis away from his prosthetic leg for quite some time, expertly defending his main weakness.]]

** Not even mentioning the fact, that, prior to the stairwell escape, [[spoiler:Billy ''shot him in the head.'' It was a grazing wound yes, but '''damn''', it didn't even slow Frank down.]]

** He begins the firefight by [[spoiler:throwing the fucking ''head'' of a merc towards his comrades. With a grenade attached to it. Which then '''explodes.''']]

** After he's done, he picks up one of the phones the mercs had with them to call [[spoiler:Billy]]. [[spoiler:Billy]] does not sound surprised in the slightest.
--> '''[[spoiler:Billy:]]''' *Beat* "Fraaaank..."
* After an entire season of CIAEvilFBIGood, Deputy Director Marion James, Rawlins' direct superior, subverts this trope: [[spoiler:when she learns the extent of Rawlins' dirty business, and that Rawlins has a plan to use Russo as a scapegoat to take the blame and keep the CIA clean, she reluctantly agrees, then says that afterwards, Rawlins will ''immediately resign'' from the agency, saying that there is no place for him there anymore. Rawlins initially says that this gives him no reason to comply, then James turns it around on him: if he doesn't, she will ''personally'' turn Rawlins over to the Department of Homeland Security, whatever consequences to herself, the agency, or the country be ''damned'']]. William Rawlins is the archetypical evil spy that people associate with black ops CIA, but Marion James is ''not'' that person.

-->'''Mahoney:''' You're not the only one who gets to be [[CrazyAwesome crazy!]]

** How Frank fights deserves a mention. He takes hits, sure, [[RealityEnsues and gets pretty battered from being heavily outnumbered]], but he fights dirty, and uses the momentum of every blow he takes to launch an attack on someone else.

* Creator/JonBernthal said he based his version of the Punisher on [[https://youtu.be/bWpK0wsnitc this]] short/sequel to the 2004 movie.

--> '''Frank:''' [[note]]''(in response to being told he's a dead man by Rawlins earlier while being tortured, and referencing Micro thinking that the skull of his outfit isn't a thread to others but a ''memento mori'' for himself)''[[/note]] You were wrong. ''(stabs Rawlins rapidly and repeatedly in the throat)'' ''I'm a reminder.'' ''(BAM)''! ALL! ''(BAM)''! MEN! ''(BAM)''! DIE! ''(BAM)''! ''(BAM)''! ''(BAM)''! ''(BAM)''! ''(BAM)''! ''(slowly glances at Russo, who silently nods, then firmly plants his thumbs into Rawlin's eyes, and digs DEEP, before letting loose an animalistic roar, and then collapses)''

--> '''Frank:''' [[note]]''(in response to being told he's a dead man by Rawlins earlier while being tortured)''[[/note]] You were wrong. ''(stabs Rawlins rapidly and repeatedly in the throat)'' ''I'm a reminder.'' ''(BAM)''! ''(BAM)''! ''(BAM)''! DIE! ''(BAM)''! ''(BAM)''! ''(BAM)''! ''(BAM)''! ''(BAM)''! ''(slowly glances at Russo, who silently nods, then firmly plants his thumbs into Rawlin's eyes, and digs DEEP, before letting loose an animalistic roar, and then collapses)''

** Doing so ''dislocates his shoulder'', yet he still manages to save Karen and escape a building packed full of cops... ''[[CrazyPrepared by sliding one-handed down a zipline to another opposite building]]''. Oh, and he has a piece of shrapnel the size of a tea saucer embedded in the same arm. Honestly, this version of ThePunisher is redefining MadeOfIron.

* Other than the eight episode ''Series/TheDefenders'', the MCU Netflix series before this one all faced accusations of suffering from EndingFatigue as they struggled to stretch their plot over thirteen episodes. ''The Punisher'' finally breaks the pattern and was heralded as being the first of the shows to fully stick the landing and fill all of its time well.

* The fight between Billy and Frank. Jesus, the amount of Punishment it takes to bring these two down is fucking terrifying. Not to mention it's ''Series/{{Daredevil}}''-level of choreography, devolving from tear gas and assault rifles to pistols to knives to bare hands to broken glass.