Banshee Season 2 Episode 2

As usual, Banshee plays fast and loose with dramatic tension and borders being extremely impossible, even for a show that bends the term to its will willy-nilly in just about each and every episode. The episode continues to follow the fallout surrounding Rabbit’s invasion of Banshee and Kai’s ongoing war against Alex Longshadow.

Lucas Hood’s struggle with his dual role of Sheriff of Banshee and professional thief seems to be drawing to a close, but by the end of episode two, it would seem that the affair will play out slowly and carefully.  Frankly, if the quality level is maintained then Alan Ball and company will have no trouble retaining viewership.

The episode plays perfectly upon the repercussions of both the last season and the previous episode. Hood and Carrie real as both get some sort of comeuppance, Carrie heading off to jail and Hood struggling with the fact that he alone is responsible for it. Starr and Milecevic  brood and grimace as is appropriate for a show of such pulp nature. Frankly speaking, this entire arc is handled with more depth and care than many ‘serious’ shows can achieve. This may be attributed to the fact that the show being on Cinemax is free from the pressured to deliver critical applaud, allowing it free reign to experiment. This pays off in spades as Starr is given room to breath and go beyond his character’s simple genre limitations.

Meanwhile Kai and his niece are dealing with the brewing war with Alex Longshadow and the reservation. Thomsen as usual brings the appropriate dread to his presence as he uses his banked favours and wide reaching power to threaten and intimidate and ever unsure Lonshadow. The writers wisely use this as a moment to re-establish the fact that Kai is not merely just some backwater hillbilly crime lord, but rather a man who makes the best of his situation without ever once outreaching his depth. On a side note my personal theory is that Kai will meet his doom by the end of the season, from what looks to be an ever desperate Lonshadow, leaving his niece, Rebecca, to take charge of the family business. 

Beyond that the episode seeks to expand the side characters plot lines further. Deputy Lotus ‘ suspicions of Hood grow further based on his brief but necessary exchange with proctor. The scene also gives us insight into how things worked before Hood’s arrival, with the BSD asking the right question but not actually caring what the answer is. It will be interesting where Lotus’ loyalty ultimately lie. Meanwhile deputy Kelly must deal with her abusive ex-husband. It plays out in a very typical fashion, that said it properly serves to establish the idea that everyone in Banshee has their secrets and frankly it serves to give even more of the side characters depth and feeling.

The culmination of Kelly’s issues with her ex-beau are fantastically played out side by side with Carrie’s first day in jail. Both are required to prove a point and both do so with a bang. This is not just sexy girl violence that a show of this pedigree usually thrive upon. The violence on display shows these women as not just sexy killing machines, but rathe, people. They don’t fight in tights, they don’t grunt in a sexy voice. They fight like animals, they fight to survive and they get hurt in the process. The two fights seem to encompass and overlooked part of the show, strong women. Yeah the show has a lot of nudity, but it doesn't shy away from also making the women badasses, ones who do it in everyday clothes rather than the skin tight sexified outfits Hollywood is typically used to.

Sadly though the episode has its share of failings, mainly ones come from the trappings that the show itself has established upon itself. Firstly, the use of jarring cinematography. The show loves to establish anxiety or unease through a series of disorienting shots, which typically is fine, but this episode seems to overdo it well past the best before date and it does it all in one sequence. When Carrie finally goes to jail, we focus on Hood’s anxiety issues due to reliving his own first day in jail. Problem is, we've been there and done that and the jarring camera work does more to distract than enhance the sequence. Secondly, Kai Proctor already had Hood rescue his daughter to his desire not to send his ‘army’ onto the reservation and yet he seemed to have no trouble slipping into Alex’s house late at night to prove a point later. If he was always capable of this then why not do it in the first place and save the favour owed by Hood for later, when this turf war escalate. Minor gripe? Maybe but it has the scent of the show begging to break out of its trappings only to willingly resubmit to them for the sake of expediency.

Overall this was a fine episode to add to the series lexicon. It won’t bring converts over, but it most definitely will reinforce the loyalty of the viewers it already has.