The Punisher series premiere review: 3 AM

The Punisher arrived on Friday, with all 13 episodes out. Let’s start from the beginning, with a review of “3 AM.”

If you desired The Punisher to be a superhero series that related to Daredevil or Luke Cage, then you may be disappointed. If not, then this will be an intriguing ride for you through a corner of the Marvel TV universe.

“3 AM” did nothing to show that it’s part of the Marvel-Netflix world. It felt like a standalone show about a man, Frank Castle, who was emotionally rattled by the actions of his past, from the death of his family to the people he killed in the opening few scenes.

Throughout the epiosde, flashbacks were shown of Frank’s family, with the memories can’t leave his head. It looked like whatever Frank did to right others’ wrongs didn’t work and haunted him as well, since he can’t stop thinking about the events.

We learn that “Frank Castle” is no more, as he was presumed dead in Afghanistan. He’s under the “Pete Castiglione” alias and works in construction. His co-workers, if they can even be called that, mock him for never talking, using derogatory terms while he took the verbal punishment.

Frank encounters the new guy, Donny. He seemed different from the others and even wanted to befriend Castle. When that didn’t work, he desperately looked for a way in with the other construction workers. So, he voluntarily paid a $344 bar bill and accompanied them on a robbery, to steal money from a group called the Gnuccis — presumably an Italian mob — although it wasn’t confirmed.

Meanwhile, we get introduced to Dinah Madani, a war veteran and member of Homeland Security. She started to looked into the death of her friend, Ahmad, while he was in Afghanistan, in a situation we don’t know much about, yet. Dinah potentially went through her own traumatic experience in the war and looks like she’ll be a major player as the series continues.

Let’s get back to those construction guys. Headed by a man named Lance, they robbed the Gnuccis but it was problematic from the start. Donny was nervous and fumbled stealing the money, even being told by one of the Gnuccis to stop and leave before it was too late. Well, Donny dropped his wallet and ID on the floor, which gave him away and ended things there. The construction crew left, and things escalated.

Lance wanted to kill Donny because he thought the Gnuccis would look for him, so they brought him to the construction site and dropped him into a cement mixer, turning it on and leaving him to die. Frank happened to be there, too. How? Why? As the episode noted in the first few minutes, he often stayed overtime or arrived earlier than everyone. Whatever the case may be, he was there and beat the living daylights out of the three construction workers, killing and dropping them into the cement mixer. It was an answer to their provocations from earlier that included them wanting to attack or kill Castle (he heard their conversation about the Gnuccis).

Afterward, Frank left the bag of cash for Donny, but spraypainted “Leave Town.” So, there’s compassion from the titular character, who looked out for someone he didn’t want a friend in. He followed up by arriving at the Gnuccis basement hideout and killed all of them.

• It surely doesn’t sound like a Marvel-Netflix series, right?
• I’m looking for a future episode to be full of military flashbacks. If not, a few will be loaded with them.
• Curtis was an interesting character and someone who Frank seemed comfortable talking to. Maybe the only one. Look for him to return.
• By the episode’s end, we know Homeland Security and the Gnuccis (if any remain) will be after Frank.
• That man you saw at the episode’s end? That was Micro!

Next: 50 greatest super heroes in comic book history

Stay tuned for more reviews of The Punisher.