Punch is well-written, well-acted, and well-directed. It’s also a show that never fully emotionally grabbed me. I could appreciated its slick visual look, all shades of grey and brushed metal, just like its steely, morally murky characters. I could enjoy its tight plotting, elaborate metaphors, and sharp timing. The cast is terrific navigating the script’s hairpin turns and landing its incisive dialogue. However, I always felt rather removed watching its endless double and triple crosses. The show claims that bigger concepts like “justice” and “the rule of law” are in play, but its craven, narcissistic characters mostly just claw at each other in a race-to-the-bottom battle for survival. There are token nods towards the idea of fighting for a better world, but the characters’ motivations are essentially personal, lowering the stakes and making it tough to justify their “unconventional” strategies. I also had a hard time buying that people would instantly switch from paragons of virtue to irredeemable scoundrels. Once folks started trotting down the primrose path to hell they seemed remarkably unconflicted about their choices, making them formidable opponents but not particularly believable human beings. The show’s overall worldview bothered me as well. Since making morally “good” decisions tends to get folks squashed like ants, the drama, perhaps unintentionally, leaves viewers with the problematic suggestion that, since the game is rigged and everyone is cheating anyway, it’s better to choose open corruption over hypocrisy. I’d personally vote for “not corrupt” but that isn’t presented as a viable menu option. There are lots of strong moments, but I wanted to care more about the final outcome, rather than being forced to pick, as one character put it, between a “bad person and a slightly less bad person.” Because even a slightly less bad person is still, well, bad.