Papercastl - Love At First Gunshot

THE PUNISHER | 1.02 — Two Dead Men

its so fascinating bc punisher s1 really clearly lays out how frank views relationships and it is insane. he’s really dismissive of the idea of casual relationships (you and your women to billy) so someone either is family (thus ensuring full and eternal commitment) or there is no romantic interest. this is why the idea of doing anything with sarah is so repugnant to him (he clearly says to david i would only ever be with my wife thats why i dont want your wife). which is why when he clearly does have romantic feelings for karen even though they arent in a romantic relationship he categorizes her as wife/family/etc. of course she has no idea that he feels this way as he never expresses it to her (except to say my family is gone which is why you must be safe which is in his eyes a sort of confession (at least of his ideology)). and hes so consumed with vengeance and admittedly terrified of returning home from war (and with everything we see of him home would be family which canonically is karen) that he is completely unwilling to be around her unless its to keep her safe for some future he hasnt even allowed himself to imagine. and its aggravating bc karen! like always! believes she is the one who cares the most! and why would she suspect hes telling ppl shes his wife when theyve never even kissed! bc thats insane!

I love the detail that Frank knows that Matt’s senses are enhanced but they’ve never had a conversation about it.  He asks Matt if he clocked the van of cops on the other side of the building. He tosses Matt the bullet with the punisher skull on it knowing he’ll catch it and be able to feel the indentation.

Frank and Karen

Daredevil Season 2 + The Punisher + DDBA

It's about devotion and obsession. It's ALWAYS about devotion and obsession. And hunger. It's love with teeth.

If you weren't watching Daredevil and the Punisher when they were coming out it may not be obvious to you-

But the Karen and Frank chemistry was an accident. They caught lightning in a bottle between two characters who never even interact in the comics, but the actors just go crazy in a room with each other.

And they assumed that the Punisher's audience skewed heavily male, that they'd refuse to watch anything not already established in the comics, and that they'd scorn any new plot where The Punisher feels love for anyone, so the writers/producers never fully went there. Even though they clearly know that Frank is made all the more interesting, all the more tragic, when he's not just wallowing in grief for a lost family- he's actively denying the potential of healing and love with a new person. He's consistently being offered a redemptive escape from the violent path he's chosen and he consistently denies it, even though it's clear as day how badly he wants it. That's a more interesting choice! It makes him more pathetic and self-denying, it shows him thinking that he doesn't deserve healing, it shows his conflicted awareness of his own morality, it makes him worse, it makes it clear that this character is tragic instead of aspirational.

So they gave as many hints as they could. The near kiss in the elevator, Karen's heartbeat, the dress Maria wears in his last vision of her (as he lets go of her hand) matching the fabric of the blouse Karen wore the first time he ever saw her, Karen insisting he try to love someone else instead of another war, Micro saying "that's my family that's my wife" and Frank responding "so is Karen." They made it as obvious as they could without actually saying it because they didn't want to piss off the fan base who wants Frank to be a static, stoic, one dimensional vengeance machine.

But now they're back after SEVEN YEARS and they're not fucking around. The first time they're on screen together it is Textually Acknowledged and Stated Out Loud that Frank Castle's heart does the fucking samba when he looks at Karen Page. Matt, the Human Polygraph Test, tells Karen that Frank loves her and that he knows how she feels about him too. (Not to even mention the way he looks at her and acts around her, because Jesus Christ, I have never seen anyone more obviously lovesick.)

This is wild. That's more than the writers really wanting to make it obvious but always hedging. That's more than the actors loading as much weight into each glance as possible because they're gunning for it so hard. It's not just hints, it's text. It's canon.

Frank rejecting Karen vs. Karen rejecting Frank

The Punisher, s2e11 | Daredevil: Born Again, s1e09

Braxton's "we gotta go get drunk" strut.

To note:

FR: concentrer /EN: focus

FR: écureuil /EN: squirrel

FR: pingouin /EN: penguin

FR: câlin /EN: hug