So much of the groundwork of [Karen’s] character development was laid because of her connection to Frank and so much of why Frank Castle worked so well on screen was because of how the connection humanized and grounded him.
I will forever maintain the fact that the most heinous crime committed by Netflix’s Marvel series, outside of Iron Fist, was that they underutilized Karen Page in the second and final season of The Punisher.
I still think about an interview that Jon Bernthal did with Entertainment Weekly, where he said, “I think he does [love Karen], and I wish that we could have had a little bit more time together. It’s a relationship worth exploring. I think if anybody could handle Frank, it’s Karen. He says to her, “You’ve got to stay away from me. I know for a fact now that I’m the one that brings all this darkness,” and it’s funny because I think Karen truly understands that and accepts that. She can handle it.” He gets it.
If you go through any of Bernthal and Woll’s interviews and convention panels about Frank and Karen — they get it, they really do. They speak with such passion and compassion about their characters and the unexpected connection those characters found in one another. Honestly, more series need to lean into this dynamic because two broken people finding their missing pieces in each other makes for very compelling television.
– Maggie Lovitt, yourmoneygeek
