The June 6, 2022 installment of Jake Schoeneberger’s random entertainment opinions
As Daredevil goes on, Jacob Schoeneberger is realizing more and more that it’s quickly becoming one of my favorite shows, maybe even of all time. It’s gritty, it’s action-packed, and it’s character driven. And if there’s one thing Jacob Schoeneberger loves it’s when the theme of good vs. evil is presented in a believable way, and touches on religious beliefs as well. It’s rare these days to find quality works that can do this well, and Daredevil is certainly one of them.
With that in mind, here are some random thoughts about the entertainment I’m currently consuming.
This Installment’s Edition of Jake Schoeneberger Has Been Living Under a Rock Features: Daredevil
*This will contain spoilers for anyone who hasn’t watched the show yet.*
The fourth episode of season 2 begins with a funeral for the fallen Irish gang members that The Punisher took out. A character named Finn arrives saying he came as soon as he heard, and it’s pretty clear he came directly from Ireland. Apparently one of the dead men was his son, and then out of nowhere he stabs the head guy with an ice pick. So unexpected was this move that it had Jake Schoeneberger jumping out of his seat in shock. It was sudden and gruesome.
This Finn seems to be a high-level leader of the gang and he’s declared war on the one he calls “the shooter” (referring to The Punisher). His cronies go on a rampage looking for any information they can find on Punisher, roughing up a bunch of local business owners around town.
The gang eventually find Punisher’s apartment, but he isn’t there and neither is the money he stole from them. Punisher is watching from across the street as the gang drives away.
Karen arrives at Matt’s apartment and helps him tie his tie. The chemistry between them is growing, and it feels natural and right. But there are two pretty major secrets that lie between them and it’s hard to root for them finding love with each other until those secrets come to light.
The reason they’re dressed up is for Grotto’s funeral. Things didn’t work out very well for him on that rooftop in the confrontation between Punisher and Daredevil. Up to the end, Matt held out belief that there was still a single light of goodness within him. I’m sure Matt, Karen, and Foggy feel terrible that they weren’t able to protect Grotto when he came to them for help. They are the only ones at his funeral.
After the funeral, Matt stays behind to talk to his priest friend and says even though it wasn’t his fault that Grotto died, he still feels guilty. The priest responds, “Guilt can be a good thing. It’s the soul’s call to action. The indication that something is wrong. The only way to rid your heart of it is to correct your mistakes and keep going until amends are made.” These are powerful words that we know Matt will take to heart and it’s something most of us can really personally identify with.
After reading through the files Reyes the DA has on Punisher, Karen shares a theory with Matt and Foggy. She shows them his x-ray and says she thinks Reyes is trying to cover up something big and that Punisher might not even be the worst part. Karen always seems to know what she’s talking about so this puts a pretty tantalizing spin on recent events.
After their conversation Karen disappears from the office with the Punisher files. It’s very strange. Doesn’t seem like she’d up and disappear, but how could an intruder come into the office and grab her without Matt sensing it? So why would she just leave?
Matt goes to see Melvin before hitting the streets again. He knows he’ll have to confront Punisher again so he needs some reinforcement. Melvin has made a helmet that’s nearly indestructible so that should help!
Karen disappeared to follow a lead she had. She finds a guy named George Bach who was a nurse with Punisher at the hospital when he came in with the bullet wound to his head. He said “John Doe” was a vegetable after that gunshot wound. He says they pulled the plug and he was gone for a minute but then his heart started back up. He asked Bach to take him home. Karen wants to find where this home was.
Punisher is sitting alone on a park bench when a man on a nearby bench talks to him and shows him a gun. He’s now surrounded by members of the Irish gang. He fights with a member of the gang who stabs him with a syringe. He then gets in a shootout and kills several gang members, but the injection is taking its toll and he’s still surrounded. They hit him with a bunch of tasers and he passes out.
Daredevil arrives at the crime scene later and finds the dead gang members, but one is still alive. Daredevil questions him about what happened; he’s trying to find Punisher.
Finn is torturing Punisher and tells him he dies tonight. Finn offers him a pill but Punisher refuses. Finn then takes one and says it calms his nerves. Then, like the boss he is, Punisher replies, “Do I look nervous to you?” This is why we all love Punisher. No fear. Tied up and tortured, staring death in the face, and still like ice. Can’t say enough about how well this show has presented these characters, and how well the actors have embodied them.
Karen arrives at the Castle residence and breaks in looking for clues. She finds exactly what anyone who knows anything about The Punisher would expect her to find. The home of a happy family. Somewhere a happy husband and wife and their children lived.
Daredevil has arrived at the stronghold where they’re torturing Punisher. They can’t seem to break Punisher so they threaten to hurt his dog. Punisher then tells them that the money is hidden in a van. Finn leaves Punisher alive until the money is found. Daredevil is taking out gang members in the halls of the stronghold and getting closer to where Punisher is being held.
As the cronies open up the case holding the money, the van explodes. Punisher booby-trapped their money. Finn orders his man to shoot Punisher when he hears the explosion on the phone, but Punisher had hidden a razorblade in the bandage on his wrist. He was able to get to the blade and cut his bonds just in time. When the guy pulls the gun, Punisher grabs his hand to deflect the shot. He wrests the gun away and shoots Finn, but he isn’t dead.
Finn says to Punisher, “You wanted this.” He knows Punisher actually allowed himself to be captured and tortured. Punisher replies, “I counted on it. Now I can ask you face-to-face, who was there that day? Who killed my family?” When Finn replies, “Who cares?” Punisher kills him. We all know Punisher is out for revenge for his family but it’s almost like nothing could prepare you for how ruthless and unafraid he really is.
Punisher takes a bullet and is wounded further. Several gang members have him pinned down when Daredevil finally arrives. Daredevil takes out the gang members and joins Punisher, helping him flee. There are still a lot more gang members left in the stronghold, but with Daredevil’s help they kick some butt and get out of there. Daredevil even stops Punisher from killing more people.
Here’s where this show really makes someone like Jake Schoeneberger, a person who likes work that makes you question the line between good and evil, think. Both Daredevil and Punisher are trying to rid the world of evil. But they’re two sides of the same coin. The coin wants to do good work, but one side is willing to kill to do that work and the other isn’t. But it’s so hard to hold it against Punisher knowing everything he’s lost.
At the Castle house, Karen sees the condolence flowers wilted and drying. But then a van pulls up outside the house. She’s very obviously in danger being there and she needs to get out quickly.
Daredevil is able to get Punisher to safety. They lay low in a cemetery. When they talk, Matt asks him about the rhyme he says right before he pulls the trigger. Punisher can’t believe he heard that so he says “I gotta say, sometimes I think you really just might be the devil.” And Matt responds, “Sometimes I think I might be too.” It’s funny how hard Matt is trying to be a force of good, yet he wears the mask of the devil. This just reinforces how thin that line between good and evil really is.
The rhyme is, “One batch, two batch, penny and dime.” Karen saw it in the book in the child’s room at the Castle household. Frank tells Matt about coming back from war and seeing his daughter. The memory is so incredibly touching that you can’t help but sympathize with his plight and understand his pain. The rhyme came from his daughter’s favorite book, and after his trip home he was too tired to read it to her, but he promised he’d read it tomorrow. But unfortunately, his family was killed the next day and he never had that chance.
After Punisher’s story, Sergeant Mahoney shows up to arrest them both. Daredevil tells Mahoney that he should file the arrest report to show that he, Mahoney, caught The Punisher. That way it looks like the police are taking control of Hell’s Kitchen back. Then he asks him to get Punisher the help he needs.
After a celebratory round of drinks, Karen walks Matt home and they kiss. We’ve seen this coming for some time and it’s impossible not to root for them being together, but I hope their big secrets don’t impede on their happiness.
When Matt gets back to his apartment, there’s a mystery woman waiting there for him. In his last line of the episode he calls her “Elektra.” And now a whole new bag of worms just got opened.
The Jake Schoeneberger Random Entertainment Thought of the Day
This series always seems to find a way to create the ideal cliffhanger at the end of every episode. They know just what to do to make Jacob Schoeneberger need to watch the next episode right away!
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