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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mel O&#039;Drama" data-source="post: 330669" data-attributes="member: 23">The Punisher Season Two (2019) <img src="https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.blackfilm.com%2Fread%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2019%2F01%2FThe-Punisher-Season-2-key-art-768x1138.jpg&f=1&nofb=1" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="width: 558px" /> Roadhouse BluesAt the rate I've been watching the MCU, ten days can be a long time. It being summer and all, I’ve been away from this universe for perhaps a week and a half, but it feels like a lot longer. I don’t know if it’s this series in particular, the wider Netflix MCU or even just television in general, but I really struggled to understand a lot of what was being said. Between the accents, the mumbling (this is a series full of mumblers) and the music drowning out some dialogue I really feel like I was having to fill in a lot of the gaps myself.Added to this is that this is a skein, of which this is only one small, unhurried part, and it’s difficult to get a sense of what Season Two of The Punisher’s “thing” is. What will be its USP?And its tone? What is the story about? At this point it’s all unclear. This is quite pleasing as seasons that begin this way have generally ended up being the most rewarding in the long run.While there are fleeting cameos from Dinah Madani (yay) and Billy Russo (boo. I’d forgotten he was still alive), this first instalment is essentially a fresh story with all new, previously unseen characters, which feels like a bold move. As of yet, I’m not enjoying one of the new women and I’m undecided on the other.With her surly attitude, Amy Bendix initially came across as a poor man’s Jessica Jones. By the latter part of the episode when she was being pursued and ended up in an awkward partnership with Frank I found her thoroughly enjoyable. It could swing back, but I currently feel I like Amy.Meanwhile, after an introductory scene which looked as though she was there as wallpaper, Beth Quinn quickly seemed to emerge as the key female lead. A deal clinched by her shagging Frank, as important new characters so often do in these opening episodes (think Luke Cage in the first Jessica Jones episode. Or, indeed, Misty Knight in the opening Luke Cage). This was looking problematic for me. Alexa Davalos seems a decent actress much of the time, and I found her interesting to look at in a Mary Crosby kind of way. But she also overused affectations so that her performance became a blur of lip-biting, hair tossing and throat-clearing. Because of this, the character hadn’t clicked with me and because she featured so heavily in this first instalment I wasn’t looking forward to the remaining twelve hours. I’ve now seen, however, that Beth only appears in two episodes, and suddenly the season is looking bright again.There have been a couple of over-choreographed fights, that were enjoyable in their own way, but involved a lot of “hoooarr”-type roars with every punch thrown by the dull, faceless attackers. It is very clear that Jon Bernthal is in the thick of it doing a great deal of his own stunt-work which is impressive, and it’s also plain that he’s spent time rehearsing them as they looked really good.As for Frank himself - he’s as reliable as ever. I’ve mentioned him very little because he’s also as enigmatic as ever. A very good thing in my opinion. I’m looking forward to exploring different facets of his persona this time round.</blockquote>

Verification: Who played JR Ewing?