It’s maybe that lack of a layer beneath the menace that’s (until now) made Rabbit a problematic presence for me. Perhaps, unlike Kai, Rabbit is too set in his ways to ever seem like more than a one-note character, one that the show had largely played out by the end of Season 1. As disappointing as it was to find out in the premiere he had improbably survived getting shot in the gut by Ana, “Homecoming” helps to put into focus what Rabbit’s continued existence has added to the season. Playing chess and monologue-ing have always been his most notable characteristics, but it’s while doing both this week that he show’s a surprising degree of self-awareness about his fate.
Part of the fun of Season 2 has been how it’s slowly flipped some assumptions we have about the shows heroes and villains. It’s not the bad guys anymore who seem to lack a broader perspective on things: it’s people like Hood and Ana. The constant threat of Rabbit’s return has caused both of them to live their lives like an ongoing emergency situation, and it’s been to the detriment of those around them. No matter how bad things get in your real life, it’s all pretty meaningless when the boogieman is seemingly waiting around every corner. When Hood does hear from Job, and sets out to get his revenge, he does so with barely a word to anyone. From both Siobhan and Brock, he evokes the same question about his identity, providing a satisfactory answer to neither. In his mind, these people are still just day-players in the Greek tragedy of a life he shares with Ana, and that’s why he seems largely unconcerned with how the narrative he’s written for his own life affects those outside it.
The same can be said of Ana, who can’t go on being Carrie Hopewell so long as Ana’s father is still alive. As soon as Hood even makes mention of Rabbit, she’s got one foot out the family homestead, trying to pass off the usual “there’s no time to explain!” reasoning on Gordon he thought he’d never have to hear again. In failing to be completely honest with him about her relationship with Hood (particularly in how Deva forms the centre of their little Venn diagram), Ana has pretty much torpedoed the trust she had rebuilt with Gordon and her family, which pains her, but not enough to keep from following Hood to New York. A commenter last week likened Hood’s behavior to that of an addict, and it’s hard not to apply the same to Ana as well: both are so consumed by this one obsession, they don’t have the self-awareness to see the damage they’re causing the longer they chase their rabbit.
Saving Job from a couple hitmen of the cloth is maybe the one useful thing Hood and Ana accomplish this week, and their prospects for the finale don’t look very encouraging. In their mind what’s to come is the ultimate showdown with the monster responsible for ruining both their lives, with revenge and freedom their reward should they succeed. What they’ll likely find instead is a sad, bitter old man who’s more ready for what’s to come than either Ana or Hood. Banshee has shown this season that the paths for its characters are often clearest only in their darkest moments, and considering the vengeful fog clouding Hood and Ana’s judgment, things are going to have to get mighty dark indeed before they can see the consequences of their actions clear as day.
- Stray Thoughts
-So, uh, just what the hell is up with Rebecca? Letting Kai get arrested last week, but then telling him Juliet is Hood’s informant? Sure, I guess I can buy she wants to keep both men in her life. But then deciding to help Juliet escape from Burton? This kid needs to pick a side, fast.
-Alex and the council leader he pulled a fast one on last week hash some things out over gruff manly talk about knives and sons. That the next scene is Ana talking about what real daddy issues look like makes Alex’s masculine inferiority complex look extra pathetic.
-“It’s just a concussion man. You get them everyday! The inside of your head must look like a Jackson Pollock.” –Job, speaking for everyone
-Another day, another FBI agent with ties to Hood who’s out to get Rabbit. This one is played by Wire-alum Reg E. Cathey, so he gets bonus points.
