You Probably Recognize Amy Bendix On 'The Punisher' From Another Big Netflix Series
The way the first season of The Punisher ended left Frank Castle more or less on his own. His identity was changed to Pete Castiglione and he left New York City, planning never to return. His accidental partner in crime, Micro, went back to his family and probably wasn't about to get caught up in another adventure. When viewers pick back up with "Pete," he's a thousand miles away, in a bar called Lola's, trying to keep a low profile while playing the man just traveling through until he meets Amy. Who is Amy Bendix on The Punisher? Warning: Spoilers for The Punisher Season 2 follow.
Castle actually turns back to Lola's for another round because of the bartender he meets, Beth. But Castle also spots another girl he saw there the first night, a blonde with a backpack, and she's about to be in a whole host of trouble as an entire gang preps to lay the beatdown on her.
Fans of Netflix will recognize the actress who plays this blonde girl, who the show names as "Amy." She's Giorgia Whigham, who plays Kat in Netflix's 13 Reasons Why. Her new character is nothing like Kat, though.
The name "Amy Bendix" does appear in the Punisher comics, but she's an obscure character, a random bystander who nurses an injured Castle back to health, and in turn, he rescues her from her assassins. That's not the character here.
This Amy is a grifter — a teenage hellion who got herself in all sorts of trouble, with a variety of IDs and aliases, always claiming to be a different age as it suits her. She lived in a group house run by Fiona, the type who farms teenagers out for small-time illegal hustles. Until the day Fiona got her kids involved with the Russian mob. Amy came home with their dinner only to discover everyone she ever knew or loved was dead.
By the time Frank is done defending Amy in their first meeting, he's killed 13 people and Beth's been shot in the shoulder. So much for having a relationship. Castle leaves Beth at the hospital and takes the girl, who insists her name is Rachel, and the two of them head out on the run with Frank using the girl as bait to bring in the bad guys.
Frank doesn't trust Amy at first (and for a good reason), but slowly, the two of them grow to have a bit of a father-daughter relationship. After all, they've both experienced something close to the same thing. Frank's family was murdered in front of him. Amy's family bled out to death in front of her while she cowered under the bed as their assassin looked for the one kid he missed.
Both understand the urge for revenge. Frank even tutors Amy in how to deal with the fallout from this line of work. It may not be the sort of family either was looking for. But it slowly dawns on Frank if his daughter had lived, she'd be just about Amy's age by now, and it seems like the truth has hit him. He'll do whatever is needed to keep this kid safe.
