Kandahar (episode)

"He said Kandahar was like nothing else. He said the lines were blurred."

- Curtis Hoyle to Billy Russo

Kandahar is the third episode of the first season of the television series The Punisher.

Synopsis
Frank skips the subtlety while interrogating Micro. Brutal memories of secret missions shed light on Frank's past.

Plot
Micro wakes up to find himself naked and restrained to a chair with zip-ties. Frank starts to interrogate him until a three-minute countdown starts. Micro reveals that it is a fail-safe system – if the countdown reaches zero, then it would trigger explosives in the building that would kill them. He needs to enter a code and retinal scan.

In a flashback, Micro is with his wife, Sarah. He talks about the disc he received, showing the murder of Ahmad Zubair. Micro feels that he needs to do something about the content, while Sarah is worried about what would happen if he fails to follow protocol. In the end, Micro uses an anonymous email account to send the recording to Dinah Madani. Later, while in traffic with his family, Micro sees federal agents closing on the car. He runs, and is followed to the river by the team led by Carson Wolf. While Sarah watches, Wolf begins insisting that Micro has a weapon when he doesn't, and shoots him in the chest. Micro falls into the river. However, the bullet struck the cellphone in his shirt pocket, saving him.

Billy Russo stops by Curtis Hoyle's support group with a donation. Curtis believes that Billy should attend the group so that the other veterans can see what can be achieved by former military members in civilian life. Billy, on the other hand, wants Curtis to join him at Anvil, considering him the best corpsman he ever served with.

At the hideout, Frank continues to interrogate Micro. In flashback, Frank and Billy are shown in Afghanistan receiving a briefing from "Agent Orange" and Colonel Ray Schoonover. They have been handpicked to join Operation Cerberus, an elite squad of soldiers drawn from various units. Later, Frank and Billy meet Gunner Henderson.

At the veteran support meeting, Lewis Wilson talks about a friendly-fire incident. O'Connor gives him a pamphlet about the NRA and the constitutional right to bear arms. At Lewis' house, he is having trouble sleeping. When he father enters the room, Lewis draws a gun and fires, narrowly missing his father.

At the hideout, the timer starts again. Frank calls Micro's bluff – he has searched the building and found no evidence of explosives. Micro relents and says the timer will actually broadcast surveillance footage from the lair to the media proving that Frank is alive.

In Kandahar, Ahmad Zubair is murdered. Frank digs the bullet out of Ahmad, while Gunner Henderson begins to express doubts about the mission while burying the dead police officer.

Curtis and Billy visit Frank's grave and drink to his memory. Billy expresses regret that Frank did not ask for help when he avenged his family. Curtis mentions something that Frank had said to him recently; Billy picks up on it, but Curtis brushes it off as a conversation they had after Curtis lost his leg.

Dinah and her mother talk. Later, at the United States Department of Homeland Security, Sam Stein gives Dinah evidence that Carson Wolf had $30 million in off-shore bank accounts. Dinah asks Sam to sit on the information as she doesn't trust anyone.

At the hideout, Frank lets Micro reset the countdown. However, Micro uses the distraction to inject Frank with heroin. Frank collapses. When he comes around, Micro tries to convince him that they need to team up. In Kandahar, Frank receives a surprise – Maria has obtained Bruce Springsteen tickets for them for when Frank returns home on leave. Frank and his team are briefed on a mission by Schoonover and Agent Orange. Frank thinks it is a trap from the start but his fears are disregarded. The mission goes to hell – Schoonover loses his arm and the team is pinned down. Frank, desperate to get back to his family, goes into a rage and clears the exit allowing them to withdraw. As the team is being treated in the medical tent, Agent Orange only wants to know if they killed their target. Frank attacks Agent Orange, leaving him blinded in one eye. As Billy calms down Frank, he tells him that he is getting out – and that Frank should too.

Micro tells Frank that Cerberus is totally off the books. No record of it exists, meaning that it was not approved by Congress and therefore illegal. Frank agrees to work with Micro on one condition – the targets are all killed, with no exception or pleads for a trial, which Micro agrees to.

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
 * Paul Schulze as William Rawlins
 * Jason R. Moore as Curtis Hoyle
 * Michael Nathanson as Sam Stein
 * Jaime Ray Newman as Sarah Lieberman

Guest Stars:
 * Shohreh Aghdashloo as Farah Madani
 * C. Thomas Howell as Carson Wolf
 * Ripley Sobo as Leo Lieberman
 * Kobi Frumer as Zach Lieberman
 * Clancy Brown as Major Ray Schoonover
 * Tim Guinee as Clay Wilson
 * Kelli Barrett as Maria Castle
 * Jeb Kreager as Gunner Henderson
 * Delaney Williams as O'Connor
 * Jordan Mahome as Isaac Lange
 * Shezi Sardar as Ahmad Zubair
 * Benjamin Hey! as SWAT Officer

Locations

 * New York City, New York
 * Micro's Hideout
 * Homeland Security Headquarters
 * Farah Madani's Apartment
 * Lieberman Residence (flashback)
 * Kandahar, Afghanistan (flashback)
 * Silicon Valley, California (mentioned)

Events

 * Attack on David Lieberman (flashback)
 * Operation Cerberus
 * Assassination of Ahmad Zubair (flashback)
 * Ambush in Kandahar (flashback)
 * Attack on Carson Wolf (mentioned)

Items
To be added

Vehicles
To be added

Organizations

 * United States Department of Homeland Security
 * Anvil
 * United States Marine Corps
 * Cerberus Squad
 * NSA (flashback)
 * CIA (flashback)
 * New York City Police Department (mentioned)
 * FBI (mentioned)
 * United States Congress (mentioned)

Mentioned

 * Jack Kimber

Trivia

 * The words on the scrabble board in the tent in Kandahar are: die, tits, swarm, armor, fubar, murderous, intent.
 * Ben Barnes' character, Billy Russo is reading The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde in the bunker scene. In 2009, Ben Barnes played Dorian Gray in the film .