Get a bottle and a glass. Pour a shot. Drink it. Pour another. Pull up a chair and let's talk about this week's episode of Cinemax's Banshee, Little Late To Grow A Pair. Episode #35 to be exact. Three more left. (Downs said shot and tearfully writes)...
One of the best things about this show is that it doesn't waste a second of your time. It packs every single Friday night with an hour of originality that includes giving each of its characters room to shine. As its fourth and final season unfolds on the dance floor, the fates of its most lovable and despicable characters starts to tick away like an old clock. Who lives? Who dies? Who gets burdened with the shame and guilt of loneliness? This hour perfectly exhibited that trait of versatility. Everybody got punched this week in some way or form.
Let's check in with our all our Banshee inhabitants.
LUCAS HOOD
Nobody feels worse than Antony Starr's "retired" sheriff Hood. How much can one man take? Remember this guy happy moments. Like flickers of light inside a very dark tunnel. He wanted to run away with Ana/Carrie(Ivana Milicevic) over 17 years ago. Their heist went wrong, he took the fall and walked out of jail 15 years later a changed man. A more deadlier one. After a few months in Banshee, he did so much harm that he retreated to the woods and grew a mountain man beard and was ready to slow drift away. He lost potential happiness with two women, got a lot of people killed and couldn't even bring down the notorious Kai Proctor(Ulrich Thomsen) and lost his closest friend(Hoon Lee's Job) and deserted his other ally(Frankie Faison's Sugar).
There's a series of great Starr moments in "Little Late To Grow A Pair". One where Lucas walks up his departed love Siobhan's(Trieste Kelly Dunn) trailer and pauses. Can he go in or will he have to retreat back into that layer of skin that protects the guilty and shameful. Lucas will never stop tearing himself apart inside for losing his last shot at redemption to a man he couldn't stop fast enough. It's in this moments that Starr amazes me. The New Zealand actor can convey decades of emotional guilt with a single soulful stare or look.
Why did Lucas have to go to the trailer? Well Proctor burns down his cabin. After getting dropped off by Agent Dawson(the sultry and dangerous Eliza Dushku, daring any living breathing soul to lock eyes with her), Lucas walks up to a burning home. Proctor didn't particularly like that Hood broke his promise to not touch his niece Rebecca but he won't kill him because he needs him to find the killer. Lucas can be hated, but even his sworn enemy can find a useful will in him. I am hoping this leads to the third round of Proctor-Hood fighting. As Hood screams at Kai, "Get on with it!"
Lucas aides Dawson in her investigation by saving her life in the underground sex club. A few crazy Satan lovers doing harm to themselves and little darling Veronica. After playfully rubbing up against Hood's past after dropping him off, the agent quickly sees how the Lucas brawn works up close and personal. By the episode's end, the two have agreed to fight this serial killer duo together. They are both messed up, doomed, and can go down together. Dushku really wears that leather jacket, doesn't she?
The other great Starr moment was where Lucas finally goes to visit Lee's Job at Carrie's house. These two have history. Warrior scars all around. Right when Lucas thinks Job is going to slam him for leaving him to be tortured for 18 months, Job reminds his friend who did the real time. Yeah, those 15 years Hood served don't get lost on Job for a second. The rapport between Lee and Starr is evident and has grown like a stubborn weed for four seasons. Hood saved Job when they first met, and over the years they've exchanged favors like regular pals. Just ones that constantly evade bullets and death. When Job tells Lucas that the past can stay there, Starr's face trembles and it's become a hallmark moment for the actor and this role. Wow.
Lucas saves some time this episode to slip into Brock's cruiser to talk, I guess. Brock knows Lucas isn't going to stop looking because he feels responsible and also finally gets the man to admit he didn't know about Rebecca's baby and pays him condolences there. Something that was totally mopped over by most last week was Lucas realizing he had an unborn child taken away from him. If that doesn't draw you into the hunt, nothing can.
Inside one hour, Lucas loses his cabin, reconciles with Job, teams up with Dawson, reopens old wounds with Proctor and also makes up with Brock. Busy hour for the man and Starr nailed all of it. He is the MVP of the episode. The man's done the heavy lifting on the show for four seasons.
KAI PROCTOR
The Amish gangster turned Mayor yet still drug crime lord had a busy hour. He had to deal with Randall Watts(Chance Kelly is a vicious dude) in order to get the drugs made to meet his Mexican drug cartel due date. He also has to deal with his family demanding the return of Rebecca's body by protesting in front of City Hall. He can't get the guilt of losing Rebecca out of his mind and also burns down his former Amish home as well as Lucas' cabin. Well, his cabin. The man's hands stink of gasoline and there's contempt dripping from his heart as he tries to do a number of things.
As I mentioned, the clock is ticking for a guy like Proctor. Someone who feels mortality starting to smile at him. Can he right all his wrongs and still make it out alive? No. He will go down fighting and have the mighty Clay Burton fighting next to him.
May I take a moment to personally say what a kick in the head job Matty Rauch is doing with Burton. Sure, there's the usual fights, stares and "Please Don't" glares that have gone on for a few seasons now but how about the "moments"? He had to stop Proctor today from unleashing a can of buttkicking on his former family. He got to rock a chainsaw. He got a shoulder tap from Randall. All the while, Rauch's suits and bow ties look perfectly exquisite. Rock on Burton.
BUNKER BOYS
Calvin Bunker. Chris Coy is adding depth to this character weekly. There are no clear cut villains on Banshee. Just men with different ways of living. Calvin is an antagonist and someone fans shouldn't root for, but it was hard to not feel something for him as he literally tore his best friend and ally in half, which helped Randall prove his worth to the Proctor gang. Calvin has to cross a line many don't. All for what? To prove his mettle.
It's a pleasure that in the end, Calvin takes his own path and stabs Randall in the neck. Here was a guy who may be the most despicable man in Banshee's history and the minute he gets out of prison, you know he has to be put down. He comes back into Calvin's life like a snake, slithering through his home and family. It looks like Randall's rule won't be happening and Calvin will continue to lead his own way.
This has major repercussions. Can Proctor still get his drugs in time? What kind of alliance will Proctor have with Calvin now that the man he made an agreement with is gone. Calvin has been stepped on for years and marched to someone else's beat. Now it's his time and he'll be swinging a wrecking ball. Bunker Madness!
Kurt Bunker is going to stand in his way and it is going to produce fireworks. The devilishly handsome and brooding Tom Pelphrey had a couple scenes but he made them count. First, he has to turn down Randall's offer to come back into the brotherhood. Standing there as stoic as ever, any Kurt Bunker fan had a moment when the tattooed retired Neo Nazi turned Deputy justice wielding muscle bound stood tall over his former boss. Pelphrey, like Starr, does a lot with a little.
There's another great moment between Bunker and Brock. Right as Randall holds court with his men, Kurt has a rifle aimed at his head. He knows the tornado of death that he will bring into a town and wants to stop him. Right in time, Brock stops him and unleashes a classic Matt Servitto speech. He wants to save Banshee and not destroy it. Killing even the worst of men won't help that. It's the reason Brock hates himself partially for delivering poetic justice to Hondo in Season 3 and tries to do better as sheriff. If not, Brock would have killed Kai already.
After the speech, The Bunker vulnerability(another signature touch of Pelphrey) comes out. "Okay....nice speech." These two are going to do great things together....if they live long enough.
JOB
The shaved head is back! Finally, Job shaves off the hair that only remind of him the constant and brutal torture. A torture that got so bad at one point that Job tried to take his own life and wasn't even allowed that. It teaches you that there are things worse than dying. A slower form of torture that doesn't just fry the soul and kills the physical part of yourself that you value most but your future as well. Job may have killed that man but the torture may never stop in his mind.
He also got to meet the deadly Deputy Cruz, who finally puts it together that Carrie is the one doing the vigilante destruction around Banshee that is causing Proctor so much harm. Cruz strolls up to Carrie home and finds Job waiting by the gate. These two coming together reminds of the small moment Job had with Nola outside Miles Diner. This one is more like a dance around the devil's tomb. He knows Cruz is there to come at Carrie and she knows he isn't just visiting.
Could that be Job slamming something into Cruz's head during next week's episode? If you watch the teaser close enough, he's doing something vicious. It would be interesting to see her get the upper hand on Carrie and Job do some saving. We shall see.
I am going to truly miss Lee's creation. Creator Jonathan Tropper and the many screenwriters may have put this idea together of Job, but the actor has blown fans away with his performance. He's a fan favorite for a reason because he plays this wild person to a tee and takes him in directions few saw coming.
Random Musings:
~We didn't get much Carrie this week. She handed Job a list of chores and ran off. After last week's thrilling flame thrower, she deserved a break.
~Lucas and Veronica have shared drinks twice now and haven't had sex yet. Now that is shocking.
~Rebecca's final days were tragic. She found a late unexpected love for Lucas, and yet she saw no real way to leave. Proctor drained her stashed cash and in a way put cuffs on her. A beautiful woman who had too much madness in her yet was mixed with just enough innocence to not allow her to shoot Kai there.
~The serial killer with the horns.....creeps me out. Good acting.
~Rest in peace Randall Watts. It was a pleasure to watch you work, Chance Kelly.
~How about the work Banshee trainer put in with Chris Coy? Man had to get naked to chop up Randall's body and I am sure the actor felt better standing on set in a ripped bod instead of just standing there naked? Bravo.
~Does anyone wear a dirty white t-shirt better than Pelphrey? Wow!
As we count down the hours to the inevitable Ana Ayora-Ivana Milicevic battle royal, what did you like most about this episode of Banshee? Tell me in the comments section below.
For those of you who read this like it was a load of French, please catch up. I have the first two seasons. Come on down to Arkansas. Bring whiskey. I'll pop the corn and wash you in Banshee. Stop waiting.
Have a good weekend, Fanshees.
