“aww! My Comfort Character Is So Soft!”

I thought that I was flyin' But I was crawlin' on my knees

—Blind Spot, Bruce Springsteen

Karen said no to the coffee because Frank is still choosing another war instead of loving someone (her). Karen said no to the coffee because if she said yes, it would mean Frank was trying to choose both. But The Punisher can only have war and if he tried to make room for love and war, if would only end poorly. She knows it. So she says no to the coffee until the day he can end the wars and stop Punishing and only choose love.

But she smiles, because she knows him even offering, even trying to have love with the war instead of just the war is progress.

THE PUNISHER (2019) One-Eyed Jacks - 2.05 dir. Stacie Passon.

One thing I am sad that they didn't bring up in the final is Karen's feelings about Matt taking a bullet for Fisk because Fisk is someone who has ruined her life and Matt's life countless times and you can't tell me she would have nothing to say about it and I understand that is why she came back but you aren't even going to show her reaction to it all and I don't understand why they couldn't have brought it up but I did find it interesting that Frank was the one who asked him why he did it

this has me in tears btw

t shirt that says i've misunderstood many social interactions

I loved that one scene where Karen is patching up Matt in the foreground, but it's Castle in the background the camera is focused on. Because he's eavesdropping. He's been wondering the same thing--why did Karen call him? And then he decides to act macho, chewing pain killers and making out like getting shot doesn't hurt because he's damned if he'll look weaker than Murdock in front of her.

And of course Karen sees through it with a single look, leaving him stumbling over his words. There's too many that need to be said, a crushing wave that dams up at the back of his throat. Maybe over a cup of coffee he could let the words seep out. They could start with a cup, then another. Maybe dinner after that. Make up for lost time...

the “stay safe” whisper? longing stares?? matt hearing their heartbeats and it dawns on him?? when he hears “blonde” over the radio and gets up and leaves?? frank helping matt because karen asked him to??

When the Smoke Clears

Frank thought pushing Karen away was the only way to keep her safe. Then the Snap happened, and he learned just how wrong he was.

___________________________________________________________

“You gotta walk away.  Right now. That’s what has to happen, you hear me?”

Frank’s voice is unwavering, but his eyes are pleading as he stares at Karen.  She’s standing at the foot of his bed like a sentry, her arms folded defensively across her chest.  She’s wearing one hell of a poker face, but the look in her eye is obvious.  He’s hurting her, and he hates himself for it. 

“You don’t get to do this,” she exclaims.  “You don’t get just… decide who gives a shit!  That’s not on you, Frank.”

“Not on me?”  He looks to the side, a huff of dry laughter rising from his throat.  “No, it is on me.”  Throwing off the scratchy hospital blankets, he swings his legs over the edge of the bed with more effort than he cares to think about.  

“Because I know you, Karen.  You’re strong, and you’re brave, but you’re so goddamn stubborn; you’ll do whatever it takes when it comes to me.”  He pauses, dark eyes boring into her. “Tell me I’m wrong.” 

But she just turns her head away, scoffing. 

“Yeah.” Frank hums. “That’s what I thought.”

He pushes himself to stand. More effort.  The cuts on his face and the bruises on his body weigh him down, but not as much as the knowledge of how he got them.  He’d been one-upped by Russo, played like a jackass; beaten.  Beaten so badly that Karen dropped everything– the good, stable life she’d been building for herself– to sit by his side and wait for him to wake up.  

“You put yourself before others,” he says.  “And I can’t let you do that.  Not for me.”

Blue eyes, alarming in their brightness, shoot toward him.  Karen motions toward the door, where Midani and Amy are probably waiting somewhere outside, hearing every word.  “So it's okay for them to risk everything, but not me?”  

It isn’t, but that’s beside the point.  This is different. Everything is, with her.

“What do you think’s gonna happen?” He growls.  

He takes slow steps in Karen’s direction. It’s like wading through water, trying to get to her, being drawn in and pushed back by the same current.  Part of him thinks it’d be easier to just lay down, let the current sweep him in, but he knows that life isn’t meant for him, not while breath still fills Billy Russo’s lungs. 

Frank allows his expression to harden.  He has to puff out his chest, show his teeth; be the monster everyone thinks he is.  

Everyone except Karen. 

When she looks at him, he sees something else behind her eyes.  He’s now sure what it is— or maybe he is and is too much of a coward to admit it— but he knows it's dangerous. Every time he sees it, sees her , his heart rattles a little harder against his ribcage; whispers things he knows he can’t have. That feeling has no place here. He needs to change her mind; make her see him like the rest of the world.  Maybe then she’ll walk away… so he doesn’t have to.

_____________________

Continue reading here.

Someone was saying that the whole triangle scene was the writers showing Frank as a third wheel in Karedevil, but I completely disagree. There is a huge difference between that scene and the one in which Karen and Frank are talking:

When Karen and Matt are talking, Frank is the focus and the topic, HE is the elephant in the room.

When Karen and Frank are talking they are the ONLY ones in the room. Matt is...just there. On the side... not even on the same frame. He is the third wheel not Frank.

The two very different framings speak for themselves:

Matt and Karen become more and more out of focus and then you can't even see them. And they don't talk about anything else other than....*cough* frank *cough*

And here Matt is all alone and looking uncomfortable hahaha. Not even on center frame. He is not in their world. Frank is the one that lets him in after excruciating silence and Karen's rejection of the coffee. And only does it to break the tension.