Front Toward Enemy

"People I went after, I stood in front of 'em. I looked them in the eye before I put 'em down. Not you. You're a coward."

- Frank Castle to Lewis Wilson

Front Toward Enemy is the ninth episode of the first season of the television series The Punisher.

Synopsis
Following a deadly explosion, Karen lands in a bomber's crosshairs -- and Frank isn't happy about it. Meanwhile, Curtis makes a grisly discovery.

Plot
Dinah Madani is seemingly crippled by guilt over Sam Stein's death. She talks to her mother about the operation, and she tries to help her daughter deal with her feelings. Frank Castle and Micro watch her through the window from a nearby rooftop in preparation for approaching her. As they watch, the street below is rocked by an explosion.

The new reports of the explosions show a birthday celebration at an ATF office. Thankfully, there are no fatalities, but two other explosions at other law enforcement offices claim lives.

The bomber, Lewis Wilson writes a manifesto and mails it to Karen Page. He believes that Karen will support him because of her defense of Frank Castle during his trial. Karen shows the manifesto to Mitchell Ellison, who insists on bringing in the FBI. Lewis wants Karen to print the manifesto as a call to arms, and threatens the paper and its staff if they do not. Karen wants to print the letter and a reply – Ellison agrees to print an editorial if the FBI allows it.

Frank and Micro watch the news where he states he hates cowardly bombers. Frank says they are putting their plan to contact Dinah on hold because of the current situation.

Rafael Hernandez visits Dinah and questions her about the false plans she submitted for the operation. He tells her that if the operation was in any way connected to her obsession with the murder of Ahmad Zubair, then he cannot help or protect her.

Karen prints her reply to Lewis, calling him a coward and terrorist. She is also a guest on a radio talk show, The Ricky Langtry Show, alongside Senator Stan Ori. During the talk show, Lewis calls in and threatens her. Frank is listening, and recognizes a phrase that Lewis say "sic semper tyrannis" and remembers that he heard it before at Curtis Hoyle's support group. He gets Micro to track him down for threatening Karen – who Frank now considers to be family.

Frank is not the only one to recognise Lewis on the radio. He tries to find Lewis, going to his home first and then to O'Connor's. There, he finds O'Connor's corpse and Lewis' bomb-making supplies. Lewis discovers him and the two fight; eventually Lewis gets the upper hand and beats Curtis unconscious with his prosthetic leg.

Micro finds Lewis' information, and Frank tries to find him at his father's home. He calls Karen and tells her to stay out of Lewis' way while he deals with him. Billy Russo encourages Dinah to return to work and to stop blaming herself for Sam's death. However, he mentions that Sam was killed with a knife, which Dinah seems to register.

Micro finds out that Lewis' cell was last at another address, and directs Frank to O'Connor's. He also says that Curtis is at the address as well. Senator Ori, a gun control advocate, hires Billy Russo to provide security for him.

Frank arrives at O'Connor's to find Curtis tied up and rigged with mines. Frank tries to find a way to disarm the explosives. Lewis, watching from a rooftop, calls him. Dinah finally decides to attend Sam's memorial and to tell the truth about the failed operation, no matter the cost to her career.

Frank can't figure out how to disarm the bomb. Curtis tells Frank to leave him and admits that he is living a lie. Despite looking like he has things together, she is as miserable and scared as the other veterans. Part of him thinks it would have been better to die rather than just lose his leg. Lewis has called the cops so that there will be a witness to the explosion, but Frank wants Lewis to tell him how to disarm the bomb.

Frank tells Lewis the story of how Curtis lost his leg, and how Frank was to blame for not shooting a suicide bomber in time because she was pregnant. Lewis tells him to cut the white wire then escapes. Frank disarms the bomb then flees before the police arrive. However, he is spotted and chased. Cornered by a squad car, Frank knocks out the two police officers and steals the cruiser.

Prior to attending Sam's memorial, Dinah is approached in a bar by Micro. He reveals everything about the Kandahar operation that she did not know; the drug-smuggling operation, Rawlins' involvement and that Frank was a witness.

News breaks that the Punisher is still alive – the cop car that he stole captured a clear image of him via its dash camera.

Cast
Main Cast:
 * Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle/Punisher
 * Ebon Moss-Bachrach as David Lieberman/Micro
 * Ben Barnes as Billy Russo
 * Amber Rose Revah as Dinah Madani
 * Daniel Webber as Lewis Wilson
 * Jason R. Moore as Curtis Hoyle
 * Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page

Guest Stars:
 * Shohreh Aghdashloo as Farah Madani
 * Tony Plana as Rafael Hernandez
 * Geoffrey Cantor as Mitchell Ellison
 * Rick Holmes as Senator Stan Ori
 * Dov Davidoff as Ricky Langtry
 * Jordan Mahome as Isaac Lange
 * Marlene Ginader as Producer
 * Pat Kiernan as Pat Kiernan (credited as Newscaster #1)
 * Roma Torre as Roma Torre (credited as Newscaster #2)
 * Kathleen Mary Carthy as Barmaid
 * Leajato Amara Robinson as FBI Agent
 * Vishaal Reddy as Aide
 * Valisa Tate as Birthday Girl (uncredited)

Locations

 * New York City, New York
 * Madani Residence
 * New York Bulletin Building
 * O'Connor Residence
 * Wilson Residence
 * Micro's Hideout
 * Royal Hospitality
 * ATF Field Office (video)
 * 10th Precinct Police Station (mentioned)
 * Columbia University (computer file)
 * Washington, D.C. (computer file)
 * Kandahar, Afghanistan (computer file, mentioned)
 * Baghdad, Iraq (mentioned)

Events

 * Bombings of New York City
 * Chase of Frank Castle
 * Ambush in the Abandoned Warehouse (mentioned)
 * Operation Cerberus (mentioned)
 * Assassination of Ahmad Zubair (mentioned)
 * (indirectly mentioned)
 * Duel of Harlem (newspaper)
 * Battle of New York (newspaper & indirectly mentioned)

Items

 * The Ricky Langtry Show

Vehicles

 * Frank Castle's Van

Organizations

 * United States Department of Homeland Security
 * New York City Police Department
 * New York Bulletin
 * Anvil
 * WNEX New York
 * WHiH World News
 * United States Army (mentioned)
 * United States Marine Corps (mentioned)
 * FBI (mentioned)
 * CIA (mentioned)
 * United States Marine Corps (mentioned)
 * FBI (mentioned)
 * CIA (mentioned)

Mentioned

 * Sam Stein
 * Sam Stein's Mother
 * Ahmad Zubair
 * O'Connor (corpse)
 * Clay Wilson
 * Maria Castle
 * Lisa Castle
 * Sarah Lieberman
 * William Rawlins

Trivia

 * Lewis' address is listed as Ingram Street, which is the same street that Peter Parker grew up on in the Marvel comics.
 * The episode title is referring to an M18 Claymore mine, which is a directional mine that fires a group of metal balls out of the front of the mine, it is used as an ambush weapon to take out enemy infantry moving through a killing field. The words "Front Towards Enemy" are stamped on the front of every Claymore mine.