The Punisher Season 2

When the smoke clears the Punisher has stood taller than the other Netflix shows, with Daredevils coming in a very close second. I am not sure how I will even bring myself to watch the 3rd season of Jessica Jones. Which is a shame as the first was pretty good. The second season finds the show still apologizing for being from a comic book, even though Jigsaw's gang wore masks. Jigsaw was a pretty big disappointment. They gave him a few scars and called it a day so not even coming close to the movie version. Where the show does work is in some of it's grittier moments and the raw fighting style of Castle.It is often more depressing than it is dark.

There is less cross over with the Marvel Universe as a whole , which is a mistake on their part. If it is in the same world as Luke Cage, when how far removed should Stilt Man be ? He does wear the skull a little more this season. He has his van. But I think the depiction of him from the 2nd season of Dare Devil. They did bring up online why does this ignore the events of Infinity War? While I don't need this to have happened, I think a vigilante like Castle would have proved more needed in a world run rampant after half the population disappeared. What does that look like on a street level. Half the police force would be reduced it could be like Mad Max anarchy in the street with the Punisher being the one who is left to clean up after it.

Instead what we got was another gangster tale that could have been from any true crime show. What did set it apart is knowing what the identity or persona of the Punisher does to people . The skull was an effective tool to get into Jigsaw's head and made him even crazier from the ptsd it instilled .The show was not boring it kept me watching , but like many of the Netflix mishaps , it tended to go off into side stories of characters that were not the Punisher and not as needed. This could have been invested in something that would have been more engaging in the Marvel world around it. Even pulling from other ties like how the Owl was created in Daredevil and never fleshed out . Worth watching if you are fan of the character as he has really settled into the role so here is hoping for a season 3. Not holding my breath.

Jessica Jones Season 2

It is not only wishful thinking for the Comic Book Resources review to call the second season of Jessica Jones a gift to women , but warped thinking. While there is echoes of the #metoo phenomena in the story line the directors insist this was a coincidence and it had been made way before that. So that leaves us with a heavily female  cast who are addicts, alcoholics, whores, backstabbers, murderers  and the worst of humanity be it male or female. Jones herself was made less likable. He angst worked well in the first season and alright in the train wreck that was Defenders. The best thing about this season might have been Whizzer or the wink to the Ringleader, though both resembled their comic personas little. Aside from that even Foggy Nelson didn't make it feel that rooted in the Marvel Universe. The reason for this is also the main crux of this season's bad guy.

The first season stood out as it was the first time we had really seen a villain with this kind of power set. Not only was Killgrave charismatic in ways Micheal B Jordan's praised villain failed at , but aside from Loki, we had not seen one this devious. Here they pulled one out of their ass that doesn't even exist rather than pulling from the deep treasure trove of the comics. We got her mom. Whose powers were just amplified version of Jessica's falling back to the mirror image cliche the movies are stuck in. If they wanted to do that they could have at least used Titania. Speaking of a gift to women, having a mom with no qualms about beating the shit out of her daughter is certainly something for women to aspire to. But she was on the top of the worst humans list.  This is not a bad place to be for a villain, but , it would have been more interesting if Jessica had gone in to see a court ordered shrink and it turned out to be Moonstone.They could have stuck with the weapon x like we got our powers all the wrong way theme and worked in Jessica Drew. Drew getting her start as a villain could have worked.

Then there is still no Hell-Cat when this season would have made the most sense. Walker also became less likable this season. The story much like that of Luke Cage felt like it was stretched thin over the course of the 13 episodes and that they ran out of things to say midway into it. The ghost of Killgrave was a neat touch that disappeared . I think the fact Jessica Jones was never meant to be a headliner shows in this season as they milked the character for everything  she is worth when not in the Avengers or with Luke Cage. Black Panther's directors should take not of this going into a sequel as they blew their wad on the first movie as well. This season was still a little better than the first season of Luke Cage or Iron Fist, but then you are saying of all the rotten fruit this one is drawing the least flies.