Although it's been a while since I watched the second season of Daredevil, the show that introduced Frank Castle into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, watching the first season of The Punisher was surprisingly easy to catch up on Castle's background and character. Because the situation with his family's killers was more or less wrapped up in Daredevil, this sees him teaming up with 'Micro', a computer analyst for the NSA who, like Castle, is presumed dead.
Together, they examine (with extreme violence) the wider network of people in the military, intelligence, and criminal justice systems responsible for what Castle did in the military and the wider conspiracy behind his family's murder. Jon Bernthal is excellent in the title role, a physically intimidating and brooding screen presence who also shows the anger and pain which drives him on, making his Manichean worldview and contentment with extrajudicial executions understandable. I'm not sure whether to go on to the second season soon or whether that will require watching Runaways and Cloak & Dagger, shows which will require a short/trial subscription to Disney+ and Prime Video, respectively.
As I was unsure whether to continue watching The Punisher, I began watching the second season of His Dark Materials, thinking the full thing was on iPlayer. When the fifth episode finished and there weren't any others, I realised the BBC was putting it online week by week not, as they have done with other shows, available to stream in its entirety when the first episode airs. If I'd known this a few days ago, I would have waited a few weeks to watch all seven episodes without a break – that's something I'll do next year, probably after re-watching the first season.
I'm enjoying this a lot and credit goes to the writers, directors, and art department for creating the multiple worlds in which the action takes place, and the actors for their committed and involving performances.
Absent anything to watch and with an hour or so if wanted to go to sleep, I decided to watch the second season of The End of the F***ing World, which I'm thoroughly enjoying and, after watching the first four episodes last night, plan to finish watching this afternoon.
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