There have been no shortage of revelations dropped thus far on The Punisher, but those banks might’ve been broken after this latest episode. After learning Amy’s true past, Frank used his brains and brawn to uncover why Pilgrim continues to pursue them. The timing is right, as Pilgrim prepared to arrive in the city. As if NYC needed more firearm specialists. Sides are being drawn and a combustible clash is looming. Some nightmares are doomed to come to life.
Be The Dealer
Amy and Frank discuss their next step over a game of three card monty. Every path leads back to Amy’s contact Sergei, who just happens to live in New York City. Seems like the next logical step, but Amy uses her grifting skills to try to convince Frank to not play a game he can’t control. That’s not an option for him. He’ll just have to make himself the dealer.
Frank employs Turk to make contact with the Russians in the hopes of making a deal. Amy asks if Dinah can help them as well. Dinah freaks and tells Frank he has 24 hours to get out of New York. He takes the warning to heart as he follows Turk to the Russians operations base, a gym, and watches their leader, Kazan, take Turk hostage. Frank doesn’t know that Sergei is dead and Kazan believes Turk is working for Sergei’s killer. Frank smells the double cross from a mile away and waits for Kazan’s heavies to leave before entering the gym.
Hauntings
The skull continues to dominate Russo’s dreams, causing him to awaken enraged. Krista tries to calm him, telling him to engage the feeling but pause when agitated. It’s sound advice that Russo completely disregards. He’d rather ask Krista why she didn’t call the cops on him. She has no answer other than she felt it was the right thing to do. He recognizes she is the only person who cares about him right now. What he doesn’t recognize is the evidence of past trauma in Krista. She has scars on her arm, likely from cutting, and has a severe fear of windows and heights.
Nightmares and trauma aren’t exclusive to those under the doctor’s roof. Dinah is plagued by nightmares of Russo that keep her on edge. She keeps chugging along though, approaching Curtis as he prepares for his veterans support group. Curtis is happy to answer her questions, but not until the meeting wraps. He invites Dinah to sit in. One vet named Jake doesn’t take kindly to her presence, labeling her a tourist. She details her violent, bloody past, eliciting an apology from Jake. Curtis tells Dinah that Russo is a product of greed rather than of war and the Frank should’ve killed him at the carousel.
Pilgrim prepares to head to New York after giving himself a severe lashing in the name of atonement. Anderson and Eliza Schultz need him to finish the job, but Rebecca’s condition continues to deteriorate. She tells him that she wishes for his face to be the last thing she sees before passing. Pilgrim chokes up at the remark and Rebecca promises to be there waiting when he returns.
Buddy Up
Jake seems to be a pretty popular guy. After overhearing one of his sessions with Krista, Russo seeks him out at a local bar. They bond over their military service and booze, though Jake likes some of the harder stuff as well. They share a common mindset that disturbed military men like themselves aren’t society’s problem. Society itself is the problem. It seems that Russo has a kindred spirit. Jake tells Russo that he knows who he is and that it’s a pleasure to meet him.
Two Thumbs Up
Frank confronts Kazan and his muscle in the hopes of chatting about the photos in his possession. Kazan has no desire to talk, believing Frank to be Sergei’s killer. He instead sicks his bodybuilder friends on Frank. Frank withstands the beating, taking them all out until only he and Kazan remain upright. Kazan, now willing to talk, tells Frank to look for Nikolai Poloznev if he wants answers.
Frank returns to the apartment and tells Amy about Nikolai. A quick search reveals how large of a player he is, linking him to the Russian president and state police. They have their next target and leave Dinah’s for a safehouse set up by Curtis.
It isn’t long before Pilgrim arrives in town. He walks into the night after killing Kazan and his men, dead set on finding Frank and Amy.
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