The Devil, you say? ‘Banshee’ nears the end of its run and starts to clear the decks of some of the story-strands that have played out so far this season…
“We’re not going to do that ‘condemned men confess their sins shit’…”
After the climactic end to the previous episode, Lucas (Antony Starr) and Brock (Matt Servitto) have heard Veronica’s phone-message just as she was assaulted and kidnapped by the devil-worshipping acolyte Lilith (Jennifer Landon). Naturally, they are eager to piece together what and where that happened… knowing that time is the biggest factor and Veronica won’t have long to live. Veronica knows that too and is in no mood to sit around and wait – though her efforts may not be enough if she can’t talk as well as she profiles others.
Kai Proctor is not having a good day – Calvin Bunker took his drugs causing him more headaches and complications for Kai and his ambitions. Dealing with his own demons, Calvin Bunker might not be having his best day either, something Proctor will want to make sure continues.
And despite trying to avoid the conversation, some home truths are going to be shared between characters – including ‘Lucas’ confessing to Brock that he’s not the man everyone thinks he is…
The penultimate episode of Banshee feels, for the most part, like a finale itself with many story-lines reaching their climax.
Though the Satantic murder story has always seemed at odds with what Banshee does best, the tone of the episode does feel like the series is playing to its strengths of not its subject-matter. Characters react badly and brutally, but there’s at least a through-line on their motivations and the overlapping story-threads don’t feel too forced, happy to remain separate and parallel or entwined only as needed. The ‘Lucas’ confession to Brock towards episode’s end seems both overdue and yet unneeded in the context of the episode, summing up the history of the character through the series, though it’s old information to loyal viewers and one that feels like an inevitable portent to a fateful end. One can see how Brock has a full ‘D’oh!‘ reaction to it all. Once more, though, the production yanks our chain as to Hood’s real name.
Ana Ayora’s Officer Nina Cruz has hardly been used this season, despite being introduced only a few episodes ago – and has already outlived her usefulness it seems. Cruz is taking a long hot shower after narrowly surviving the assault on Carrie’s home. Ironically, she doesn’t survive the shower as Clay Burton literally severs any link between her ill-judged attempt at murder and her illicit involvement with Proctor.
Though the series and town are full of tough guys it’s often Matthew Rauch’s Clay Burton and his almost emotionless devotion to duty and his employer that comes across as the most cold and deadly, it’s always a bad sign for someone when he removes those glasses His killing of Cruz is cold – his handling of the Nazi thugs – somewhat off-camera – is just as efficient if proportionally bloodier.
After the house attack and daughter Deva nearly becoming another casualty, Carrie (Ivana Milicevic) is starting to wonder – with some reason – if it’s worth fighting to get her kids back when blood and mayhem so often play a part in her life, much of it to do with the fact she never stopped loving Lucas. Banshee’s stories rarely leave their main players unscathed or uncompromised and it’s interesting, if not entirely believable, that Carrie’s shrink (Dexter’s Erik King) essentially gives her off-the-record ‘permission’ to do what ‘needs to be done’ to put a stop to the threats against her.
Amid the considerable darkness, Satanism doesn’t lend itself to jokes despite Veronica’s observations at the absurdity of the cabal’s methods, there’s still time for classic Banshee humour between the likes of Job and Fancy – especially at the expense of Brock’s less-than-effective, by-the-book policing ability in the information and retrieval side of things. All in all, it’s a strong enough outing, clearing the decks of Banshee‘s ill-fitting would-be devils and allowing the town’s better angels to get their hands dirty for an inevitably foreshadowed finale where different kinds of personal demons are waiting (though, hands up, admit it… who thought in that very last shot, those eyes were going to open?).
9/10
