History Recap / ThePunisher2017S01E02TwoDeadMen

'''Carson Wolf:''' No. I don't think I'm gonna do that. ''[lowers himself back into the chair]'' Tonight's the night you're gonna die, Frank. The third times a charm. The frickin' Punisher? ''[scoffs]'' You're pathetic. I almost feel sorry for you. We knew exactly where you'd be. Exactly where to go to get you. You bored your squad shitless talking about your homecoming tradition. Picnic in the park, Frank? You really were your momma's little apple pie, weren't ya?\\

That night, as Frank is sleeping, he once again is awakened by the recurring nightmare of a masked Marine shooting Maria in the head. He opens his computer and looks at the CD that Micro had left behind for him. It's a video of several Marines, all wearing ski masks, standing around Ahmed Zubair, as a CIA official tries beating information out of him. After a while, the official tells the Marines to kill Zubair, at which point Frank steps forward and shoots Zubair in the face. The tape is enough to rattle Frank, who can't stop shaking. So the next day, Frank meets with Curtis to see if Curtis has heard anything about someone named Micro or accidentally let slip that Frank is alive to anyone, but Curtis assures him he didn't.

Frank, meanwhile, reaches out to Karen Page by disguising himself as a homeless man, and waiting for her to drop some cash in his hand as she walks by. Karen is surprised to see Frank, and especially the fact that he's reaching out to her, given the circumstances under which they parted. He uneasily admits he didn't want to risk her shooting him like the last time he showed up at her apartment. He follows Karen back to her apartment. [[Series/TheDefenders2017 Since the apparent death of Matt murdock at Midland Circle]], Karen has taken up drinking and even has a little shrine to Matt in her living room beneath the TV. Frank discloses to Karen what he knows about Micro, and, like with Curtis, asks her if she let slip his status as alive to anyone beyond Matt. Karen assures Frank that, aside from Matt, she didn't, and promises to see what she can find out about Micro. Frank leaves Karen a vase of flowers, which she is to leave in her windowsill to signal a meeting, if anything comes up. Before they leave, Karen spontaneously hugs Frank, relieved that someone from the good old days wants to make contact with her.

When Karen goes back to her office at the ''Bulletin'', she thumbs through the archives, asking for help from editor-in-chief Mitchell Ellison when she's unable to find anything about Micro. The name does ring a bell with Ellison. Apparently, there was a somewhat seedy conspiracy theorist a while back who approached the ''Bulletin'' claiming that some hacker by the name of Micro was selling government secrets, and was later killed while resisting arrest. When Karen presses Ellison for more details, he explains that he didn't run the story because the man's only source was a DHS agent who refused to go on record. Not only that, but Carson Wolf dropped by the ''Bulletin'' in person and made Ellison spike the story on the grounds that the story would interfere with vital DHS cases. Ellison still has a copy of the article in his office, and offers to give it to Karen if she stops acting like a bratty teenage daughter.

Micro, meanwhile, is brooding in his den, watching his wife Sarah, son Zach, and daughter Leo on cameras he's installed in his house, while also watching for Frank to appear on surveillance cameras.

Frank then goes to the Lieberman house and "accidentally" walks in front of Sarah's minivan as she's pulling into the driveway. Sarah takes Frank into the house so she patch up a cut from where his head struck the pavement. David is freaked out enough by Frank making contact with his wife and kids that he grabs a gun and drives over, intent on protecting his family from Frank. Frank takes the opportunity to look around the Lieberman house, after asking for a cup of coffee. He connects with Sarah over their shared grief for their lost loved ones. He also offers to check Sarah's minivan for any damage. He has no idea that David is sitting in his car outside, trying to call him, but is unable to because Frank removed the battery from the burner phone.

Once Frank gets back to his quiet apartment, he shaves his head, seeing no need for the "hipster" look, while having flashbacks of being with his family in the park. He then heads to Carson Wolf's fancy house with a gun and ski mask at hand, and breaks in by crawling in through the chimney. He then surprises Wolf as he comes home from work. After a drawn out fistfight, Frank overpowers Wolf and ties him to a dining room chair using his necktie. He tortures Wolf for information, but Wolf is defiant, saying he's learned from time at Gitmo that torture is ineffective. Nonetheless, he lets slip that David was a perceived traitor who was killed resisting arrest. The whole time, Wolf manages to loosen his restraints, and eventually is able to undo them enough to free himself and grab Frank's gun away from him. Wolf rips off Frank's ski mask and goes pale at seeing Frank's face. He is in disbelief that Frank is just unable to die. In fact, he almost feels sorry for Frank, 'cause Frank gave them everything they needed to come after him by droning on and on about his homecoming tradition of going to the park with his family for a picnic. Frank asks how David factors in to all this, and Wolf reveals that they thought Frank had sent him the tape of the Zubair execution. He prepares to shoot Frank in the head...only to find the gun is empty as Frank just used the last round when kneecapping him. This gives Frank the opening to charge Wolf, and after a quick struggle, he breaks Wolf's neck.

The next day, Frank gets a call from David on the burner as he's eating breakfast at another diner. David is impressed at Frank's ability to throw him off the trail, and reveals he located Frank by watching for a group of bad guys to drop dead. Frank decides to smoke David out, and find out where he's living. With help from Curtis, Frank spends the day sending David on a wild goose chase around the city. The chase ends at Mount Zion Cemetery, where David has a grave marker erected for him. David approaches his grave. After a few minutes of waiting, Frank doesn't show up, but Curtis, who has a message from Frank: Frank isn't interested in what David has to offer him, and if David does anything to Curtis, Frank will pay a visit to David's family. Seemingly rejected, David returns to his car, and drives back to his den. Only on his return does he realizes that Curtis was distracting him while Frank hid himself in the trunk of David's Impala. As David chuckles in humble defeat at Frank's ability to outsmart him, Frank knocks him out.

-->'''Carson Wolf:''' Holy shit! You don't know how to die, do you? This is rich. ''[laughs bitterly]''
-->'''Frank Castle:''' You gonna read me my rights?
-->'''Carson Wolf:''' No. I don't think I'm gonna do that. ''[lowers himself back into the chair]'' Tonight's the night you're gonna die, Frank. The third times a charm. The frickin' Punisher? ''[scoffs]'' You're pathetic. I almost feel sorry for you. We knew exactly where you'd be. Exactly where to go to get you. You bored your squad shitless talking about your homecoming tradition. Picnic in the park, Frank? You really were your momma's little apple pie, weren't ya?
-->'''Frank Castle:''' [[LetMeGetThisStraight What are you saying?]] You killed my family to get to me?
-->'''Carson Wolf:''' Misdirection. A good player hides his hand, Frank. [[SerialKillingsSpecificTarget We figured if there were enough dead bodies, nobody would really care to look close enough at any given one of them]]. It was a calculated risk. You understand, right?
-->'''Frank Castle:''' And Lieberman. What about Lieberman? Who is he? ''[Wolf stands up again]''
-->'''Carson Wolf:''' We thought you were the one that sent him the tape. Now close your eyes, Frank. [[MercyKill I'm gonna do you a favor.]] You're gonna see your family really soon. ''[Frank doesn't close his eyes]'' No? Suit yourself. ''[Wolf pulls the trigger...and the gun clicks empty]''
-->'''Frank Castle:''' [[ItWorksBetterWithBullets Gun's empty, asshole.]]

* ShoutOut: Wolf's house incidentally is the same house that was used in ''Film/JohnWick'' for Marcus's death.

* WoundedGazelleGambit: Frank lets himself get hit by Micro's wife Sarah so that he can get into her home and learn about Micro. It also coneniently gives him a limp, which throws off Micro's gait recognition software.

* RealityEnsues: Micro tries to get Frank on his side by acting all mysterious and all-knowing, but it only freaks Frank out since he has no idea who David is, what he wants, or how he found out Frank wasn't dead. After he calms down, Frank decides to go after David, messing with him like he did to Frank, treating him as his enemy.

Frank, meanwhile, reaches out to Karen Page by disguising himself as a homeless man, and waiting for her to drop some cash in his hand as she walks by. Karen is surprised to see Frank, and especially the fact that he's reaching out to her, given the circumstances under which they parted. He uneasily admits he didn't want to risk her shooting him like the last time he showed up at her apartment. He follows Karen back to her apartment. [[Series/TheDefenders2017 Since the death of her boyfriend at Midland Circle]], Karen has taken up drinking and even has a little shrine to Matt in her living room beneath the TV. Frank discloses to Karen what he knows about Micro, and, like with Curtis, asks her if she let slip his status as alive to anyone beyond Matt. Karen assures Frank that, aside from Matt, she didn't, and promises to see what she can find out about Micro. Frank leaves Karen a vase of flowers, which she is to leave in her windowsill to signal a meeting, if anything comes up. Before they leave, Karen spontaneously hugs Frank, relieved that someone from the good old days wants to make contact with her.

When Karen goes back to her office at the ''Bulletin'', she thumbs through the archives, asking for help from editor-in-chief Mitchell Ellison when she's unable to find anything about Micro. The name does ring a bell with Ellison. Apparently, there was a somewhat seedy conspiracy theorist a while back who approached the ''Bulletin'' claiming that some hacker by the name of Micro was selling government secrets, and was later killed while resisting arrest. When Karen presses Ellison for more details, he explains that he didn't run the story because the man's only source was a DHS agent who refused to go on record. Not only that, but Carson Wolf dropped by the ''Bulletin'' in person and made Ellison kill the story on the grounds that the story would interfere with vital DHS cases. Ellison still has a copy of the article in his office, and offers to give it to Karen if she stops acting like a bratty teenage daughter.

Frank then goes to the Lieberman house and "accidentally" walks in front of Sarah's minivan as she's pulling into the driveway. Sarah takes Frank into the house so she patch up a cut from where his head struck the pavement. David is freaked out enough by Frank making contact with his wife and kids that he grabs a gun and drives over, intent on protecting his family from Frank. Frank takes the opportunity to look around the Lieberman house, after asking for a cup of coffee. He connects with Sarah over their shared grief for their lost loved ones. He also offers to check Sarah's minivan for any damage. He has no idea that David is sitting in his car outside, trying to call him, but is unable to because Frank took the battery out of the burner phone.

The next day, Frank gets a call from David on the burner as he's eating breakfast at another diner. David is impressed at Frank's ability to throw him off the trail, and reveals he located Frank by watching for a group of bad guys to drop dead. Frank decides to smoke David out, and find out where he's living. With help from Curtis, Frank spends the day sending David on a wild goose chase around the city. The chase ends at Mount Zion Cemetery, where David has a grave marker erected for him. David approaches his grave. After a few minutes of waiting, Frank doesn't show up, but Curtis, who has a message from Frank: Frank isn't interested in what David has to offer him, and if David does anything to Curtis, Frank will pay a visit to David's family. Seemingly rejected, David returns to his car, and drives back to his den, not realizing that Curtis was simply distracting him while Frank hid himself in the trunk of David's Impala. As David chuckles in humble defeat at Frank's ability to outsmart him, Frank knocks him out.

** Armed figures in SWAT gear appear to be moving in on Micro's hideout, only for it to be Dinah and Sam doing their anti-terrorist training.

* WoundedGazelleGambit: Frank lets himself get run over by Micro's wife Sarah so that he can get into her home and learn about Micro. It also makes him limp, which fools Micro's gait recognition software.

* VehicleVanish: Frank disappears behind a passing truck as he attempts to chase Micro down. Unlike other examples it's a deliberate use of this trope as the truck is passing between Frank and where he (incorrectly) thinks Micro is--the next shot shows Frank racing up the stairs to the roof, where he only finds a torch shining on mirror to give a fake 'glint'.

* RageBreakingPoint: In a flashback in the beginning, Frank gets angry with his son and grabs him by the face when he tells his sister that Frank is just fighting in the war to kill a bunch of ''Hajjis''.

* VehicleVanish: Frank disappears behind a passing truck as he attempts to chase Micro down.

* BaitAndSwitch: Frank has a bouquet of flowers for Karen, and it initially seems like they're his way of offering his condolences for Matt. Only for him to then establish that he wants her to put the flowers in her windowsill when she has information on Micro.

* BadassGrandpa: Carson Wolf may be in his 50s, but he still holds his own in a fistfight against Frank for a while.

* TheCoronerDothProtestTooMuch: Karen's article about the poker table shootout is headlined "5 Dead in Little Italy Murder-Suicide", given the way Frank killed the head of the crew with his own gun.

* WrestlerInAllOfUs: During his fight with Carson Wolf, Frank spears him and a few seconds later, hip throws him onto a table.

Frank, meanwhile, sees the flowers in Karen's windowsill, and meets with her at a park bench by the East River. Karen hands over the information she gleaned from Ellison, including Micro's real name, David Lieberman, and his home address. She is uneasy, saying she'll only help Frank as long as he doesn't kill anyone.

In the meanwhile, Dinah and Sam are spending their morning walking around the reflecting pools at the 9/11 Memorial, talking about how the attacks and the War on Terror have changed things. The conversation eventually turns to Ahmed Zubair and Frank Castle, and Dinah explains why she's certain that US Marines are responsible for Zubair's death: she was sent a video by an anonymous source that showed Marines torturing and executing him because they knew he was a police officer. Unfortunately, Dinah doesn't have the video in her hands because it was stolen from her in Kandahar. She's also convinced that Wolf has been told by people up on high to keep her away from the Zubair case explicitly because she'll find something that could hurt the careers of a lot of very powerful people. On the bright side, Dinah has found one guy from Frank's old unit who resides in New York City at the present time: Lieutenant Billy Russo, who, since being discharged, has opened up a private military contractor firm called Anvil. Since Wolf doesn't want Dinah anywhere near the Zubair case, Dinah gets him to allow her to see Russo under the pretense of getting some training, as Anvil has facilities for law enforcement training exercises.

Frank, meanwhile, reaches out to Karen Page by disguising himself as a homeless man, and waiting for her to drop some cash in his hand as she walks by. Karen is surprised to see Frank, and especially the fact that he's reaching out to her, given the circumstances under which they parted. He uneasily admits he didn't want to risk her shooting him like the last time he showed up at her apartment. He follows Karen back to her apartment. [[Series/TheDefenders2017 Since the death of Karen's boyfriend Matt Murdock at Midland Circle]], we can see that she's taken up drinking and even has a little shrine to Matt in her living room beneath the TV. Frank discloses to Karen what he knows about Micro, and, like with Curtis, asks her if she let slip his status as alive to anyone beyond Matt. Karen assures Frank that she didn't, and promises to see what she can find out about Micro. Frank leaves Karen a vase of flowers, which she is to leave in her windowsill to signal a meeting, if anything comes up. Before they leave, Karen spontaneously hugs Frank, relieved that someone from the good old days wants to make contact with her.

Frank then goes to the Lieberman house and "accidentally" walks in front of Sarah's minivan as she's pulling into the driveway. Sarah takes Frank into the house so she patch up a cut from where his head struck the pavement. David is freaked out enough by Frank making contact with his wife and kids that he grabs a gun and drives over, intent on protecting his family from Frank.

Frank takes the opportunity to look around the Lieberman house, after asking for a cup of coffee. He connects with Sarah over their shared grief for their lost loved ones. He also offers to check Sarah's minivan for any damage. He has no idea that David is sitting in his car outside, trying to call him, but is unable to because Frank took the battery out of the burner phone.

Once Frank gets back to his quiet apartment, he shaves his head, seeing no need for the "hipster" disguise, while having flashbacks of being with his family in the park. He then heads to Carson Wolf's fancy house with a gun and ski mask at hand, and surprises Wolf as he comes home from work. After a drawn out fistfight, Frank overpowers Wolf and ties him to a dining room chair using his necktie. He tortures Wolf for information, but Wolf is defiant, saying he's learned from experience that torture is ineffective. Nonetheless, he lets slip that David was a perceived traitor who was killed resisting arrest. The whole time, Wolf manages to loosen his restraints, and eventually is able to undo them enough to free himself and grab Frank's gun away from him. Wolf rips off Frank's ski mask and goes pale at seeing Frank's face. He is in disbelief that Frank is just unable to die. In fact, he almost feels sorry for Frank, 'cause Frank gave them everything they needed to come after him by droning on and on about his homecoming tradition of going to the park with his family for a picnic. Frank asks how David factors in to all this, and Wolf reveals that they thought Frank had sent him the tape of the Zubair execution. He prepares to shoot Frank in the head...only to find the gun is empty as Frank just used the last round when kneecapping him. This gives Frank the opening to charge Wolf, and after a quick struggle, he breaks Wolf's neck.

The next day, Frank gets a call from David on the burner as he's eating breakfast at another diner. David is impressed at Frank's ability to throw him off the trail, and reveals he located Frank by watching for a group of bad guys to drop dead. Frank decides to smoke David out, and find out where he's living. So he decides to spend the day sending David on a wild goose chase around the city. The chase ends at Mount Zion Cemetery, where David has a grave marker erected for him. David approaches his grave. After a few minutes of waiting, Frank doesn't show up, but Curtis, who has a message from Frank: Frank isn't interested in what David has to offer him, and if David does anything to Curtis, Frank will pay a visit to David's family. Seemingly rejected, David returns to his car, and drives back to his den, not realizing that Curtis was simply distracting him while Frank hid himself in the trunk of David's Impala. As David chuckles in humble defeat at Frank's ability to outsmart him, Frank knocks him out.

** It's easy to tell that Karen is still mourning Matt's "death", given how she's dressed in black and also is uneasy about what Frank will do with the information she gives him.

* DrowningMySorrows: While she doesn't say it out loud, it's pretty clear that Matt's "death" has driven Karen to start drinking.

Dinah and Sam spend part of the day at Anvil participating in a simulated hostage rescue. Sam accidentally "kills" one hostage, but Dinah assures him that this work is never clean. They are approached by Russo, who introduces himself to the two and propositions about potential government contracts with the DHS. Dinah takes this as an opening to start asking Russo leading questions to get info on Kandahar, but Wolf sees what she's doing and stops her. Dinah offers to meet with Russo off-duty to continue their conversation.

In the meanwhile, Dinah and Sam are spending their morning walking around the reflecting pools at the 9/11 Memorial, talking about how the attacks and the War on Terror have changed things. The conversation eventually turns to Ahmed Zubair's murder, and Dinah explains why she's certain that US Marines are responsible for his death: she was sent a video by an anonymous source that showed Marines torturing and executing him because they knew he was a police officer. Unfortunately, Dinah doesn't have the video in her hands because it was stolen from her in Kandahar. She's also convinced that Wolf has been told by people up on high to keep her away from the Zubair case explicitly because she'll find something that could hurt the careers of a lot of very powerful people. Fortunately, Dinah has found one member from the unit Frank served with who resides in New York City at the present time: Lieutenant Billy Russo, who, since being discharged, has opened up a private military contractor firm called Anvil. Since Wolf doesn't want Dinah anywhere near the Zubair case, Dinah gets him to allow her to see Russo under the pretense of getting some training, as Anvil has facilities for law enforcement training exercises.

Frank, meanwhile, reaches out to Karen by disguising himself as a homeless man, and waiting for her to drop some cash in his hand as she walks by. Karen is surprised to see Frank, and especially the fact that he's reaching out to her. He uneasily admits he didn't want to risk her shooting him like the last time he showed up at her apartment. He follows Karen back to her apartment. [[Series/TheDefenders2017 Since the death of Karen's boyfriend Matt Murdock at Midland Circle]], we can see that she's taken up drinking and even has a little shrine to Matt in her living room beneath the TV. Frank discloses to Karen what he knows about Micro, and, like with Curtis, asks her if she let slip his status as alive to anyone beyond Matt. Karen assures Frank that she didn't, and promises to see what she can find out about Micro. Frank leaves Karen a vase of flowers, which she is to leave in her windowsill to signal a meeting, if anything comes up.

When Karen goes back to her office at the ''Bulletin'', she thumbs through the archives, asking for help from editor-in-chief Mitchell Ellison when she's unable to find anything about Micro. Ellison reveals that there was a somewhat seedy conspiracy theorist a while back who approached the ''Bulletin'' claiming that some hacker by the name of Micro was selling government secrets, and was later killed while resisting arrest. Ellison didn't run the story because the man's only source was a DHS agent who refused to go on record, and furthermore, Carson Wolf dropped by the ''Bulletin'' in person and made Ellison kill the story on the grounds that the story would interfere with vital DHS cases. Ellison still has a copy of the article in his office.

Frank, meanwhile, sees the flowers in Karen's windowsill, and meets with her at a park bench on the Brooklyn shore of the East River. Karen hands over the information she gleaned from Ellison, including Micro's real name, David Lieberman, and his home address. She is uneasy, saying she'll only help Frank as long as he doesn't kill anyone. Acting on this information, Frank goes to the Lieberman house and "accidentally" gets himself hit by Sarah as she's pulling into the driveway. Sarah takes Frank into the house so she patch up a cut from where his head struck the pavement. This alarms David enough that he grabs a gun and leaves the lair, intent on protecting his family from Frank.

Once Frank gets back to his quiet apartment, he shaves his head, seeing no need for the "hipster" disguise, while having flashbacks of being with his family in the park. He then heads to Carson Wolf's fancy house with a gun and ski mask at hand, and surprises Wolf as he comes home from work. After a drawn out fistfight, Frank overpowers Wolf and ties him to a dining room chair using his necktie. He tortures Wolf for information, but Wolf is defiant, saying he's learned from experience that torture is ineffective. Nonetheless, he lets slip that David was a perceived traitor who was killed resisting arrest. The whole time, Wolf manages to loosen his restraints, and eventually is able to undo them enough to free himself and grab Frank's gun away from him. Wolf rips off Frank's ski mask and goes pale at seeing Frank's face. He is in disbelief that Frank is just unable to die. In fact, he almost feels sorry for Frank, 'cause Frank gave them everything they needed to come after him by droning on and on about his homecoming tradition of going to the park with his family for a picnic. Frank asks how David factors in to all this, and Wolf reveals that they thought Frank had sent him the tape of the Zubair execution. He prepares to shoot Frank in the head...only to find the gun is empty as Frank just used the last round when kneecapping him. This gives Frank the opening to charge Wolf, and after a struggle, he breaks Wolf's neck.

* BadassGrandpa: Carson Wolf may be in his late 50s or early 60s, but he still holds his own in a fistfight against Frank for a while.

* ItWorksBetterWithBullets: Wolf tries to shoot Frank after disarming him, to no success. [[Film/{{Taken}} That’s what happens when you sit behind a desk. You forget things. Like the weight of a gun that’s loaded and one that’s not.]]

* JackBauerInterrogationTechnique: Wolf tells Frank that torture is not a useful tool in gaining information. Frank still tortures him for a bit, and subverts it as he's made sure Wolf's restraints are loose enough for Wolf to free himself. Because he intends for Wolf to then gloat to him not realizing he's holding an empty gun.

* PunkInTheTrunk: Frank gets to Micro's base by hiding in the trunk of his car, slipping in while Micro is distracted speaking to Curtis.