This month, we’re doing daily reviews of the second season of Daredevil. Check back daily for the latest review.
Dogs to a Gunfight is the only episode of Daredevil to engage with the Punisher on a philosophical level, and it does so only fleetingly.
This is largely because the Punisher still exists as an abstract menace at this point in the narrative. The character stalked through Bang, but was largely remote. The Punisher gets a bit more to do in Dogs to a Gunfight, but is still largely unknowable to the audience. The name “Frank Castle” has yet to be uttered. Although his victims all fit a pattern that will be articulated in Penny and Dime, and expanded upon in The Man in the Box, those facts are concealed from the audience.
Coming up with these puns on a daily schedule promises to be a pun-ishing endeavour…
As such, deprived of characterisation or development, Dogs to a Gunfight can present the Punisher in his purest form. The Punisher is a man with a gun who kills bad people. That is a fairly potent vigilante motif, particularly in the current social and political climate. The Punisher is a very loaded concept, tied into broader questions about justice and violence in a way that is more relevant than undead ninja assassins or blind radar-guided superheroes. The Punisher is something very primal and very basic; but also something unsettling in the modern world.
Watching Dogs to a Gunfight, there is a sense that the Punisher might easily have provided a window into a broader cultural debate. Jessica Jones was able to use Kilgrave to jumpstart a clever and insightful discussion about gender issues, so it makes sense that Daredevil might be able to use the Punisher to spark a discussion about contemporary cultures of violence. Unfortunately, it seems like the show sees this discussion coming and runs very quickly.
“The Punisher’s just a mad dog. I want whoever let him off the leash.”
Filed under: Television | Tagged: daredevil, gun control, guns, plotting, punisher | 4 Comments »
