- "You're Frank Castle, right? Frank Castle, the dead man?"
"Makes two of us now."
"You're more right than you know. You're not the only ghost in this town, Frank." - ―Micro and Frank Castle[src]
Two Dead Men is the second episode of the first season of the television series The Punisher.
Synopsis
A mysterious phone call force Frank's hand. Meanwhile, Madani goes digging for suspects and Curtis delivers a message.
Plot
In a flashback, Frank Castle takes his son and daughter on a ferry trip past the Statue of Liberty.
Castle goes to a diner where he orders food and reads a story about his massacre of the Gnucci Crime Family, written by Karen Page. While there, the waitress tells Castle there is a phone call for him. Surprised and suspicious, he takes the call. The caller claims to be another ghost and asks if Frank got the disc he left for him. While talking, Castle notices a flash of light from the rooftop opposite. After the call, Castle leaves the diner then races to the rooftop to confront the caller. Reaching the roof, Castle finds a flashlight pointing at a mirror. A cell phone hangs from the mirror with a note saying "Don't disappoint me." Castle looks across to the diner and sees the caller on the roof before he leaves.
Back in his apartment, Castle watches the Micro disc. The contents of the disc disturb and anger him – it is a recording of an incident in Afghanistan where he was part of Operation Cerberus and shows the murder of Ahmad Zubair. Castle visits Curtis Hoyle; only a few people know that Castle is alive and he needs to be sure that they have not divulged the information. He also wonders how Micro found him.
At the Homeland Security Headquarters, Dinah Madani tells Sam Stein that she received a recording of Zubair's murder, but that the evidence was stolen. She is of the belief that Colonel Ray Schoonover and Castle are in the video, but since they are (to her knowledge) dead, she wants to talk to Billy Russo who served with Castle in Afghanistan. Russo now runs a private military company, Anvil. She convinces her superior, Carson Wolf, to schedule a tactical training exercise to bond with the team.
Castle goes to meet Page to make sure that she has not told anyone about his survival, disguising himself as a homeless man. Page takes him to her apartment and they talk, with Castle convincing Page to help him find out who this "Micro" is. Page starts digging through the archives at the New York Bulletin and finds reference to a "Micro" but no story attached to it. Questioning Mitchell Ellison, she finds out that Micro was an NSA analyst who was leaking classified information. However, no one could corroborate the story and it was dropped completely when Carson Wolf asked them not to as doing so would endanger an ongoing investigation.
Micro watches his family while in his hideout, looking at them through secretly placed security cameras.
At Anvil Training Facility, Madani, Stein and group of Homeland agents go through the tactical exercise. Following the operation, Madani meets with Russo and begins to question him. Wolf stops her, but Russo invites her to join him for a drink.
Page meets with Castle having got the information he needs. However, before she gives the name to Castle, she wants to know what he intends to do. Castle promises that if Micro proves to be no threat to him, then he will not kill him. Page provides his name – David Lieberman. According to records, Lieberman was killed by Homeland Security while resisting arrest.
Castle heads to the Lieberman household, where he engineers being hit by Sarah Lieberman's car. Sarah takes him into her house to treat his injury and they start to take over their deceased family members. Micro watches on his computer and panics, calling Castle on the phone he left him. Castle deactivates the phone, causing Micro to head over to the house. However, he does not confront Castle.
Castle shaves his beard and hair, and when he leaves his apartment he changes his walk to throw off gait recognition software. Heading to Wolf's home, he attacks him and knocks him unconscious. When Wolf comes to, he is tied to a chair and Castle begins to torture and interrogate him about Lieberman's whereabouts. Wolf insists that torture will not work; Castle shoots him in the leg. During the torture, Wolf manages to free himself and grabs Castle's gun. While holding Castle at gunpoint, Wolf reveals some information about why Castle's family waskilled then pulls the trigger. However, Castle knew that torture would not work so had made sure the gun was unloaded. Wolf revealed the information with duress and then Castle kills him.
Madani and Russo drink at a bar, and their conversation turns to Castle and their time in Afghanistan. Halfway through, Madani receives a call to attend to Wolf crime scene. When she arrives, Stein tells her that with Wolf dead, she is the ranking agent.
Reactivating the phone, Castle is contacted by Micro. Castle, now with leverage, arranges a meeting. He sends Micro to a location, then calls him to send him to another location, and so on to ensure that he is not followed. The final stop is the cemetery when Lieberman was "buried." However, Castle has enlisted Hoyle to meet Micro. Hoyle tells him that Castle has rethought the entire situation and does not want to meet. Furthermore, if Micro tries to contact him again, then Castle will visit Sarah again.
Despondent, Micro returns to his hideout. However, it was a ruse – Castle used Hoyle's distraction to sneak into the trunk of Micro's car. Castle gets out and punches Micro.
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
- Paul Schulze as William Rawlins
- Jason R. Moore as Curtis Hoyle
- Michael Nathanson as Sam Stein
- Jaime Ray Newman as Sarah Lieberman
- Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page
Guest Stars:
- C. Thomas Howell as SAC Carson Wolf
- Geoffrey Cantor as Mitchell Ellison
- Ripley Sobo as Leo Lieberman
- Kobi Frumer as Zach Lieberman
- Kelli Barrett as Maria Castle
- Nicolette Pierini as Lisa Castle
- Aidan Pierce Brennan as Frank Castle, Jr.
- Shezi Sardar as Ahmad Zubair
- Jeb Kreager as Gunner Henderson
- Darlene Violette as Waitress
- Bill Walters as Flophouse Background (uncredited)
Appearances
Locations
- New York City, New York
- Graniteville Diner
- Frank Castle's Apartment
- St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church
- Homeland Security Headquarters
- Karen Page's Apartment
- New York Bulletin Building
- Micro's Hideout
- Lieberman Residence
- Anvil Training Facility
- Carson Wolf's Residence
- Pete's Diner and Grill
- Mount Zion Cemetery
- Statue of Liberty
- Bronx–Whitestone Bridge
- Pulaski Bridge
- Castle Residence (dream)
- Central Park (mentioned)
- Kandahar, Afghanistan (footage)
- Iraq (mentioned)
- Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (mentioned)
- Bagram, Afghanistan (mentioned)
- Basra, Afghanistan (mentioned)
Events
- Attack on Carson Wolf
- Chase of Micro
- Operation Cerberus (mentioned)
- Assassination of Ahmad Zubair (footage)
- Massacre at Linello's (newspaper)
- Frank Castle's War (mentioned)
- Assassination of Ray Schoonover (mentioned)
- Massacre at Central Park (mentioned)
- Duel of Harlem (newspaper)
- Battle of New York (newspaper)
- Attack on David Lieberman (mentioned)
- September 11 attacks (mentioned)
Items
- William Rawlins' Leather Gloves (footage)
Vehicles
Creatures
- Leviathan (newspaper)
Organizations
- United States Department of Homeland Security
- Anvil
- New York Bulletin
- Cerberus Squad (footage)
- Gnucci Crime Family (newspaper)
- CIA (mentioned)
- NSA (mentioned)
- United States Army (mentioned)
- United States Marine Corps (mentioned)
Timelines
Mentioned
- Ray Schoonover
- Hulk (newspaper)
- Abomination (newspaper)
- Farah Madani
- Hamid Madani
- Deep Throat
Music
| Song title | Artist | Location(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Ain't That a Kick in the Head? | Dean Martin | Carson Wolf grabs a drink and snack from his refrigerator, then is attacked by Frank Castle. |
| Misdirection | Tyler Bates | Carson Wolf discovers that Frank Castle's gun is empty, then Frank snaps his neck. |
| The Runaround | Tyler Bates | Frank Castle sets up a meeting with Micro, then sends him to a variety of different locations for him with time limits. The trail of locations ends at Mount Zion Cemetery. |
Trivia
- The title of the episode is a reference to variation of an Old English nonsense poem called "Two Dead Boys". Frank Castle recited this poem at the beginning of the episode.
- When Castle is seen lying on his bed reading F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Crack-Up, the camera shortly afterwards zooms in on the alarm clock - showing it's 03:00 AM. This is a visual quote of the books "...in a real dark night of the soul it is always three o'clock in the morning, day after day" and the title of the previous episode.
References
External Links
| Season One | 3 AM • Two Dead Men • Kandahar • Resupply • Gunner • The Judas Goat • Crosshairs • Cold Steel • Front Toward Enemy • Virtue of the Vicious • Danger Close • Home • Memento Mori |
| Season Two | Roadhouse Blues • Fight or Flight • Trouble the Water • Scar Tissue • One-Eyed Jacks • Nakazat • One Bad Day • My Brother's Keeper • Flustercluck • The Dark Hearts of Men • The Abyss • Collision Course • The Whirlwind |