Marvel's The Punisher: 9 Reasons It's A Disappointment
2. Forgotten Plot Threads
Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll) returns in The Punisher, appearing just as she did in earlier Marvel outings. A journalist/key part of the plot early on (she's The Punisher's link to Micro), she means more to Frank Castle than any other human being alive, right up until he completely forgets about her.
Sam Stein is a Department of Homeland Security agent who did something to annoy his superiors. He annoyed them so much, in fact, that he had his career dead-ended. Partner, Dinah Madani quickly fast tracks her way to the top. He promises to someday reveal what he did to annoy the higher ups.
Yet by the time Stein is killed in a botched raid by Billy Russo, viewers know nothing more of Stein's past than they did in the very first episode. Then there's Senator Stan Ori, a staunch proponent of gun control whose cowardice under fire and false statement to the police is glaring, and promptly forgotten.
There are lots of forgotten plot threads in Marvel's The Punisher, and there's a question of whether they should have been there in the first place. Stein, for example, is little more than a way to move the plot forward, and we learn so little of him that his death at the hands of Russo holds little meaning.
Maybe answers come next season.