3 AM

"Look, you got half a life left to live, my friend. If you don't, you might as well be dead." "Oh, I am dead, Curtis. You didn't hear?" "Bullshit. You got a name, a passport. As I recall, Frank Castle's dead. Pete Castiglione, he's got a life."

- Curtis Hoyle and Frank Castle

3 AM is the first episode of the first season of the television series The Punisher.

Synopsis
Former Marine Frank Castle takes the law into his own hands while struggling to come to terms with his traumatic past.

Plot
In rural Alabama, the Punisher chases down two members of the Dogs of Hell, forcing them off their motorcycles and then running them over with his truck. In Juárez, the last member of the Mexican Cartel arrives home to a hero's welcome. Across the border in El Paso, Texas, the Punisher kills him with a single round from a sniper rifle. At JFK International Airport, the last survivor of the Kitchen Irish, Mickey O'Hare tries to flee to Dublin, Ireland. The Punisher tracks him down and strangles him with his own tie. With his family avenged, the Punisher burns the vest he spray-painted the skull onto.

Six months later, Frank is working construction in New York City under the name of "Pete Castiglione." Keeping to himself and working his anger out by destroying walls with a sledgehammer, he is hassled by other workers led by Lance who thinks he is not all there. Lance also hates the fact that Frank's constant work from early to late is making them all look bad and resulting in less overtime. Frank does not rise to the bait, even when they knock over his lunch pail and tread on his sandwich. The new guy on the crew, Donny Chavez, tries to befriend Frank, but is kept at arm's length.

At a veterans support group, Curtis Hoyle helps other veterans through their trauma, including Lewis Wilson, O'Connor, and Isaac Lange. Frank listens outside. Once the group leaves, he talks to Curtis, who is an old friend from his days in Afghanistan. Curtis encourages Frank to let the Punisher stay dead since the whole world believes it anyway.

At the New York offices of United States Department of Homeland Security, Dinah Madani meets her new partner, Sam Stein. She is annoyed that she was transferred from Afghanistan to stop her looking into the murder of Ahmad Zubair, a local police officer. Although discouraged from investigating the murder, Dinah asks Sam to get her all the information they have on Colonel Ray Schoonover and Frank Castle.

Donny Chavez tried to ingratiate himself with Lance and his friends by offering to buy the first round at a local bar. However, he gets stuck with the whole bill. During the night, Lance tells Paulie that he needs to do another job since he is in debt to a loan shark from the Gnucci Crime Family. The next day at the construction site, Paulie tells Lance that they can hit a high-stakes card game run by the Gnucci's, figuring that Lance would love to pay the loanshark off with their own money. Scut is injured on the job, forcing Lance and Paulie to recruit Donny to help them out. Frank overhears everything but does not involve himself, even ignoring Scut's accident.

Dinah meets with her mother, Farah Madani. Over a glass of wine, they have a frank conversation about what Dinah hopes to achieve.

Frank tries to read in his apartment, but flashbacks and visions of his wife's murder compel him to return to the construction site and continue working. Lance, Paulie, Donny, and Leo rob the Gnucci card game, but during the heist Donny drops his wallet revealing his ID for all to see. Fleeing the scene, Lance decides to kill Donny so he does not rat them out once the Gnuccis catch up with them. They beat him up and throw him in a hole being filled with cement. Seeing the commotion, Frank uses the sledgehammer to kill Lance, Paulie, and Leo but not before Lance reveals the location of the card game. Frank throws a rope down to Donny who hauls himself out of the cement to find the bag of money tied to the end with the words "Leave Town" written on it in blood.

Frank heads to the card game location where Tony Gnucci is preparing to go after Donny, starting at his grandmother's house. Frank kills them all. As he leaves, someone watches him on surveillance cameras, identifying him by "gait recognition mode."

Cast
Main Cast:
 * Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle/Punisher
 * Ebon Moss-Bachrach as David Lieberman/Micro
 * Amber Rose Revah as Dinah Madani
 * Daniel Webber as Lewis Wilson
 * Jason R. Moore as Curtis Hoyle
 * Michael Nathanson as Sam Stein

Guest Stars:
 * Shohreh Aghdashloo as Farah Madani
 * C. Thomas Howell as Carson Wolf
 * Delaney Williams as O'Connor
 * Jordan Mahome as Isaac Lange
 * Kelli Barrett as Maria Castle
 * Aidan Pierce Brennan as Frank Castle, Jr.
 * Nicolette Pierini as Lisa Castle
 * Jon David Casey as Mickey O'Hare
 * Christopher R Ellis as Moose
 * Lucca De Oliveira as Donny Chavez
 * Chris Critelli as Lance
 * Tyler Elliot Burke as Paulie
 * Jason Hite as Leo
 * Ben Rezendes as Scut
 * Kacie Sheik as Rhonda
 * James J. Lorenzo as Tony
 * Jason Nuzzo as Older Airport Suit
 * Evan Johnson as Young Airport Suit
 * Raul Torres as Cartel Sicario
 * Michael-Scott Druckenmiller as FDNY / Paramedic (uncredited)
 * Jonah Falcon as Recruit (uncredited)
 * Roger Brenner as FDNY / EMT (uncredited)

Locations

 * Alabama
 * Juárez, Mexico
 * El Paso, Texas
 * New York City, New York
 * JFK International Airport
 * Murphy's
 * Linello's
 * Micro's Hideout
 * Castle Residence (dream)
 * Central Park (flashback)
 * North Carolina (mentioned)
 * Dublin, Ireland (mentioned)
 * Iraq (mentioned)
 * Kandahar, Afghanistan (mentioned)

Events

 * Assassination of Mickey O'Hare
 * Rescue of Donny Chavez
 * Massacre at Linello's
 * Massacre at Central Park (mentioned)
 * Assassination of Ray Schoonover (mentioned)

Vehicles
To be added

Organizations

 * Dogs of Hell
 * Mexican Cartel
 * Kitchen Irish
 * Almeida Concrete Pumping and Equipment
 * United States Department of Homeland Security
 * New York Bulletin
 * New York City Police Department
 * Gnucci Crime Family
 * United States Marine Corps (mentioned)
 * (mentioned)

Mentioned

 * Donny Chavez's Grandmother
 * Donny Chavez's Father
 * Donny Chavez's Mother
 * Ahmad Zubair (photo)
 * Ray Schoonover

Trivia

 * Frank goes by the identity of "Pete Castiglione". In the comics, Castiglione is actually Frank's full last name.
 * Micro's last words at the end of the episode, Welcome back, Frank, are a reference to the Punisher comic book story arc Welcome Back, Frank, which also included the Gnucci Crime Family.
 * The title of the episode, 3 AM, is also the title of song of the american rapper . The song is about Eminem going on a killing spree after being possessed by the devil.
 * Frank is reading  by, a compilation of articles that the iconic author wrote between 1931 and 1937. The title essay relates to the haplessness of life and the author's own crack or loss of hope.