Marvel's The Punisher Season 2 Review: 6 Ups & 4 Downs

Downs...

4. Yep, 13 Episodes Is Still Too Many

It's a common criticism of Netflix's Marvel shows - and a lot of Netflix dramas in general, for that matter - but the old problem rears its head yet again in The Punisher Season 2.

The season gets off to a strong start, as Frank (once more going by the name Pete) is making his way across America, meets Amy, and gets into an explosive bathroom brawl that begets a bigger mystery, kicking off the season in style.

After that, though, The Punisher has to keep finding ways of slowing things down, because there isn't enough story for its 13 episodes. It leads some plodding episodes where you can hear the wheels being spun, and characters not taking the decisive action they ought to because if the show isn't ready for them to move on. It's the kind of stretching and stalling that we're accustomed to, but that just makes it all the more frustrating when it could be solved by cutting down the episode count (or, failing that, having shorter episodes).