The Madman said:
Finished the season and it was pretty good. I liked the Punisher, he was great, but found the plot really started to unravel near the end as well. It just felt like the show was trying to balance too many things at once and inevitably a few of them got left behind: For example the whole 'Blacksmith' thing which was just nonsensical. Why is this guy doing what he does? Why's he got a vendetta against Frank? Did he kill the DA and if so why? How's he so good at what he does that he's pushing around everyone else? Why are his drugs so much better than the competitions? What's with the hut armory? Was that the 'Blacksmiths' hideout and if so why was it there with all that stuff? Coincidence that Frank stumbles across it?
Frank stumbled upon the weapons cache at the house of his former CO, who was the Blacksmith. He makes a speech about the way they were treated when they came home, which may not be the best explanation for getting into drugs, but it's addressed. He also says Frank wouldn't follow orders or some such, but the vendetta is more ass-covering. Frank is convenient in that his vengeance has already been covered up by an incompetent DA. The hit on the Da was part of a coverup to get at the people who knew about the sting, and Frank makies an awesome scapegoat.
A lot of the rest can be explained with military training and connections, and so I'm not sure it needed to be spelled out.
Then there are other things as well, which I imagine will be answered later on: What's with the super deep hole? Why did those patients want to give all their blood and die? What's the deal with the double autopsy ninja? Who donated to the hospital to shush everything? What's with the train full of dirt? Was it just to remove the dirt from the hole in secret, and if so why? If it was a trap for Daredevil how did they know to expect him?
Some of these can be addressed. The Double-Autopsy Ninja is likely part of The Hand having beaten death. Not only mentioned, but demonstrated in the BBEG for the season. Delving into speculation, but Elektra's probably going to come back as a villain as this borrows story beats from the comics, where they mind controlled many people in the past. Including Daredevil. This will likely be brought up, and so will likely serve as an explanation for why the patients were "willing" to be bled dry. Hole hole really does explain the dirt, and I'm assuming the hole itself will be coming up next season.
Most of these are explained. Whether they're explained well is another question. The big speculation here is mind control, and that's a pretty mild plot point.
Side note: with Hogarth showing up, it'd be kind of cool if it turned out the mind control the Hand uses stems from recovered research based on Kilgrave or some similar connection. This is speculation (or fantasy) and not answering a question in itself, just saying.
Etc, Etc. So yeah, lot's of plot stuff. I wish the show had been a bit more focused with a singular plot thread instead of multiple different ones, which is what it felt like. A single stand-out villain would have been great too since that's something this season lacked compared to previous Netflix Marvel shows, but still overall very entertaining.
Even with most of those questions explained, it felt too unfocused. They're trying to set up Punisher for his own series, plus establish Kingpin as a player again, deal with the social repercussions of Matt's actions, establish Elektra, further establish The Hand, and deal with a conspiracy theory. I think this is all hard to cram into 13 episodes anyway.
But yeah, still a good season. And while I prefer Jessica Jones, Daredevil doesn't give me panic attacks watching it, so I'd rather watch it.
