“Real justice is personal. Sometimes the only way to get it is with your own two hands.”
For an episode that’s supposed to be a set-up for the finale, it still feels like a whole bunch of stuff goes down. That’s Banshee for you, constantly bringing the action and, more recently, the fantastic character work.
This season has brought a magnifying glass to Hood and Carrie’s lives, drawing parallels between two people who’ve been consumed by a deep desire for revenge, a desire to finish what they started by taking down Rabbit. Yet, we’re only now focusing on the guy–Rabbit’s barely been in this season thus far–which goes to show you just how powerful his pull is. Hood and Carrie are addicted to this life, and for them, this upcoming battle is an all-or-nothing endeavor. Never mind that they have people who do care about them at home, although arguably, Banshee was never really their home; it was more of a means to an end, just another step on a downward spiral.
Over the course of the season, we’ve seen how their actions affect those around them, from Emmett last week to Siobhan to Gordon and the rest of his family. There are moments of attempted reconciliation–Gordon and Carrie in an intimate moment, for example–but as much as Carrie’s pained by leaving behind her family, she was never not going to do it. She and Hood have held everyone at arm’s length, and while those people have started to realize just what’s been happening–Siobhan is a prime example this week–they’re in a state of limbo, left behind in space by two people they thought they knew, or at least were going to be able to figure out. People like Brock and Emmett are going to keep getting the same answers they’ve been getting all along.
Now, we’re barreling toward the finish line, with Rabbit waiting at the end. The episode does a nice job of humanizing him a bit, portraying a man who’s accepted his fate and will face off against Hood and Carrie with nothing to lose. For, although they’re our two “heroes”, people like Proctor–nice moment of weakness this week with his mother–and Rabbit may have a clearer sense of the world in front of them.
Bring on the finale.
GRADE: A-
OTHER THOUGHTS:
-The episode is bookended by two absolutely fantastic action sequences, the first one with Job and the second one with Carrie and Hood shooting up the hospital. I’ll miss these when the season ends.
-Some nice acting in the scene where everything blows up on the Hopewell lawn. Ivana Milicevic’s face when Gordon pulls out the gun is sublime, conveying perfectly the helplessness and the pain.
-“I don’t think I can do this anymore. I don’t even know who you are!” Groan. I did like Hood’s response, though, as well as the rest of the conversation (as mentioned above).
-Okay, so Longshadow and Rebecca kiss.
-The sex scenes are not very gratuitous now. For example, Carrie and Gordon’s intimate moment is very purposeful.
-These characters have really got a problem with going off and trying to solve everything by themselves. This week, Job attempts to single-handedly take down Rabbit.
-We had a lot of gun-cocking this week. Love it so much.
-I liked the look on the guy’s face right as he realized Hood was going to blow him away.
-Reg Cathey shows up as an FBI agent, and Racine gets name-dropped.
-Clay Burton continues to be quietly menacing, this week taking off his glasses and killing Sharpe.
-Finale predictions? Who’s going to die? Will there be any more exploration of Siobhan, Brock, Proctor, and others? How’s the whole Rabbit situation going to turn out? How awesome is this season? Etc., etc. Leave your thoughts below.
Photo credit: Cinemax, Banshee
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