Marvel & Netflix’s The Punisher Recaps by Penny – Episode 12; Home

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Frank is at Homeland being interviewed on camera by Diniah. He’s a tad impatient with her needing him to answer a few things by the book because of the protocol they need to follow for witness testimony recordings, but he reluctantly complies and talks all about Project Cerberus, his and Billy’s involvement in it, and Rawlins running it. Micro meanwhile is comforting Leo, explaining his fake death was a clearly failed attempt to keep her and Sarah and Zack sage, and swears he’ll get them back. Leo asks what if he doesn’t? Micro has no answer. When it’s Micro’s turn to talk on camera for Dinah, Micro says he’ll give her the video and answer all her questions if and only if she helps him rescue Sarah and Zack from Billy. He tells her he used to believe in justice like her but he’s come to realize the only real way to take down bad guys on Rawlins and Billy’s level is to beat them at their own game. Dinah says she doesn’t believe that. Micro says she will. Then we flip back to when she was interviewing Frank and she asks for details about Amehdi’s murder. Frank tells her the truth. They took him in front of his family, tortured him then shot him. Dinah asks if Billy pulled the trigger. Frank says no, HE did, and it “doomed us all”. Dinah is completely in shock, and asks him to repeat that. He says yes, HE shot Amehdi, and that’s what doomed everyone involved. Opening credits.

Micro and Frank are waiting for Billy and his crew to show up for the exchange. Frank tells Micro no matter what, don’t freak out and stick to the plan. Micro tells him he doesn’t need to be here for this. Frank says he’s no way going to let Micro’s family be hurt. Micro says he knows he can be difficult but he will ALWAYS remember what Frank is doing for his family. Russo’s goons show up with Sarah and Zack, and they’re both in shock when they see Micro. The goons strap gas cans to Sarah and Zack and stab holes in them to leak gas as they walk as a precaution to make sure they don’t try anything stupid. Billy phones Frank and tells him to start walking, as Billy is at a nearby high vantage point with a sniper rifle. The goons push Sarah and Zack to start walking and Frank and Micro do likewise. Sarah reaches out for Micro but Frank keeps him on plan. Then Dinah and a team pull up and a gunfight breaks out. Frank is knocked out and taken by Billy’s men, Zack and Sarah make it to Dinah, and Micro is shot and seemingly killed before Billy’s men can get him to their van too. Billy orders them to leave with Frank and shoots out Dinah’s tires so she can’t follow.

Frank is dreaming about dancing with his wife at their wedding when Billy wakes him with some smelling salts. He demands Frank tell him how to stop the countdown. Frank says ask Micro. Billy says Micro is dead courtesy of sloppy Homeland shooting. Frank tells Billy he’s going to kill him, even while ziptied to a chair. Billy gloats that Frank doesn’t get the privilege to think he can still win this, he can only decide how he’ll die. Frank asks Billy if HE killed his wife and kids. Billy says no and wishes it never happened. Frank reiterates Billy WILL die, and Billy reiterates Frank will. He aasks Frank what happens when the timer hits zero. Frank says all kinds of good shit.

Dinah is waiting over a bodybag, and as I suspected, Micro isn’t dead. He was rigged with Hollywood gunshot packs to convince Billy he got killed. Dinah takes him to his family, where Sarah starts crying and punching the shit out of him for letting her think he was dead for a year. He lets her until she breaks down and just hugs her, and soon the kids join in. He just holds them all close and tells them how sorry he is. Meanwhile Billy and Frank are still talking and Billy is still being a smug dumbass goading Frank how much better he is. Frank just says Billy threw away his honour and became everything he used to hate. Rawlins comes out of the shadows and, predictable coward he is, is more than happy to beat on Frank while he’s restrained when we all know he’d run shitting his pants if Frank stood up. Frank focuses on memories of fucking his wife to endure the beating and holy fucking mood whiplash. Billy meanwhile actually looks uncomfortable watching the beating.

Micro is trying to explain everything to his wife. Why he had to disappear after Wolfe “killed” him, what he was trying to accomplish, keeping them safe, trying to win, spending a year in a basement in a bathrobe. She asks him where Frank is. He says he gave Frank his word he’d honour his wish to die. Or kill Rawlins and Billy. Whichever happens first. Sarah says she hopes he does because they deserve it. Dinah snags Micro and wants to know why Frank’s tracker was found left behind at the exchange site and demaands to know where he is. Micro says he and Frank have given Dinah everything she needs to bring Rawlins and Billy to justice so leave Frank to his desired fate. Dinah asks if Micro knows Frank pulled the trigger in Afghanistan. Micro says yes and it haunts him. He says Frank is willing to die because he isn’t sure he deserves to live.

Billy is mopping the blood off of Frank’s face, trying to gaslight him about how everyone who’s died is dead because of Frank, like he and Rawlins had NOTHING to do with any of it. He tells Frank to just give in and stop fighting, to die like a soldier. Frank appears to cave and tells Billy to make it quick after he stops the timer. He has his muscle carry Fran over to the computer in the chair and unfastens one hand just like Frank once did with Micro. He also tells Frank they found the gun he’d hidden under the computer table. Frank enters the password and does the retinal scan. This APPEARS to work to Billy and Rawlins, but as it was Frank’s eye and NOT Micro’s, it triggers the live broadcast Micro told Frank about. Rawlins gloats that he’s disappointed Frank gave up so easily, and for all of Billy’s bragging about finding the gun Frank hid, NO ONE realized there was a knife taped underneath the very chair Frank was tied to, a knife he can now reach with one hand free. He stabs Rawlins in the cheat with it and manages to knock him over with Frank on top and Frank bites into Rawlins’ neck. Billy pulls him off and Rawlins kicks Frank into unconsciousness and back to his dreamstate with his wife.

Frank dreams the wake-up dream he’s had all season, but this time in a dark room with only the bed lit up, and instead of seeing he himself murder his wife as she cheerfully goes to make breakfast, he remembers the actual conversation they had. She worries he’s not really here because with every deployment he leaves a bigger and bigger piece of himself behind, and she needs to know if home for him is here or back in Afghanistan. As she cries he says it’s here and that he’s not going back, he’s home for good now. This time the dream ends with them cuddling as he promises her he’s never leaving them again.

Billy is telling his hacker to wipe the PC while Rawlins beats the shit out of Frank, screaming that everything he did was greater than Frank and Frank will know pain and fear for taking things from him and his last words will be “PLEASE”. Billy says they did what they needed, the harddrives are wiped, now it’s time to end it. He promised Frank he’d end it quick. Rawlins refuses, saying he needs to make Frank suffer for what’s been taken from him. Billy wants to know exactly what that might be. Meanwhile Micro gets Dinah to let him use her work PC and brings up the live camera feeds, showing Rawlins beating on Frank. He says this was Frank’s plan. He promised Frank the chance to kill them both but in case he couldn’t they’d have a back-up plan that would trigger the live feed to start recording so Dinah would have more than enough evidence to bury them bot. But watching the beating Micro reconsiders his promise and asks Dinah to put a stop to Frank’s torture before it’s too late.

Rawlins meanwhile continues beating on Frank, telling him not to die until he begs for it. He’s completely lost it. Billy tells him so. He was say was home and clean and everything would have stayed that way had Russo not had Frank’s family killed. Rawlins makes his fatal mistake and tells Billy he’s just a tool like Frank was, a patsy who does the dirty work while great men like him make all the plans, and that he’s only clean because he allows him to be, that he’s kept Billy’s forged discharge papers and various other evidence that can burn Billy at any time. Billy smiles and, knowing full well it will likely mean Frank is going to try to kill him to, pretends to hold a gun to his head while cutting the ziptie keeping Frank’s hands secured behind his back. Rawlins pulls a gun on Billy and says Billy will NOT rob him of his revenge because Frank owes him an eye. Once he’s clipped the zipties in secret, Billy relents, calls Rawlins a sick man, and backs away.

Frank sees his wife again but this time it might actually be her soul, asking him to choose. It’s time to either come be with her or the kids, or stay here being a monster. Rawlins meanwhile makes the mistake of administering adrenaline to Frank to make sure he stays alert and awake when he cuts Frank’s eye out like the seriously sick POS he is. Frank lets go of his wife’s hand, making his choice. He is home. He snaps the zipties and kicks Rawlins off his feet. Rawlins is terrified like the cowardly bullying pencil pusher he is, and stabs Fran in the gut with the knife he was about to cut Frank’s eye out with as Billy watches. Frank takes the knife out and guts Rawlins, stabs him at least a dozen times, beats his face in, and finally brutally kills him by pushing his thumbs deep into Rawlins’ eye sockets.

Billy gloats and is about to leave Frank to die when he hears Frank laughing and say Billy’s gonna be SO pissed when he figures it out. Billy is about to ask him what he means by that when he hears gunshots and Dinah barking orders at a SWAT team. He realizes Frank has somehow one-upped him and is about to shoot him dead when he himself gets shot and runs off. Dinah orders some of her men to chase down Billy while Micro begs Frank to not die. He tells Dinah they need to get him NON-Hospital medical help, because Frank deserves justice after getting HER justice. He begs Frank to wake up and yell at him for breaking his promise. Frank is in his dreamstate one last time, which is now completely dark and empty except for him. He wakes up and says “home”. End of episode.

Penny is a now divorced intersexed disabled lesbian in BC Canada. She's been watching wrestling and reading comics since she was a kid, and knows her stuff. She lives with her pets and passes her free time writing, drawing, doing paid photoshop work (including logos done for Pulse's Own Mike Gojira), and is a part-time Queer model.