If the second season of Banshee has proven any one thing in particular, it’s that showrunner Jonathan Tropper and his writing staff really do know what show it is they want to make. Announcing itself to the world with bouncing chests and bullet-riddled corpses, Banshee began as a peddler of sweet, nutritionless low-hanging fruit. With its gorgeous, frequently undressed cast, and a strong technical knowhow of action choreography, the show could coast on the unchallenging charms of being a pulpy guilty pleasure. This back half of Season 2, though, has seen Banshee work to prove its innocence, and it’s putting up one hell of a defense.
Considering you might be reading this just after watching the shattering end to this week’s Banshee, it’s going to be hard to talk about “Evil for Evil” in such a way that doesn’t trivialize the bleakness of the hour, while also conveying how freaking stoked we should about the heater the show is on. Stretching back to “Armies of Ones,” Banshee has stopped it with the detours, and finally started getting to the meaningful action. And I’m not just talking about semis careening into drug warehouses, or bareknuckle boxing on a moonlit highway; what’s making things click so well lately is the sense that we’re done winding up the characters and plotlines for the season, and finally get to see them let loose. And wouldn’t you know it: Banshee is a pretty damn fine show when its toys are playing together.
One of 2013’s best new shows (and our 8th favorite overall), FX’s The Americans returns for season 2 this Wednesday. Starring Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys as Russian spies posing as a married couple in early 1980s Washington, the series earned raves from critics and viewers for its blend of thrilling espionage and equally intense relationships.
Now that’s more like it. Much as the slow start to Banshee’s second season has had me pining for the days it would just do one-off episodes (like last week’s enjoyable British invasion), “Ways to Bury a Man” is the first time since the tail-end of season one that it's felt like all the stuff surrounding the procedural escapades is cohering into an exciting whole. This time last year, we had the episode “Wicks,” a fine enough bit of backstory-fill that was ultimately self-contained. A year later, with a slew of new characters and dynamics set up, Banshee is finally at the point where its main plot can begin in earnest: a war between Hood and Kai Proctor that’s going to smash a semi through what little veil of normalcy this town had left.
Banshee decides that now's the time to let new fans jump in on the action. It's a strange choice, but not altogether unwelcome. Plus: Bizzaro Jason Statham!
Woof, this is going to be a divisive one. For some, this week's Banshee will be a cathartic and long-awaited chance for the show’s central relationship to take spotlight. For others, it’ll be the episode they skip during future rewatches, because nothing happens, and it’s a talky nothing at that. Marking the halfway point of the season with a detour is a bold choice, and the unexpected change of pace and focus will no doubt ruffle feathers. Even the title of the episode seems committed to the hour’s aggressive push against what typically constitutes a Banshee viewing experience: two to three action scenes, a weekly A-story with various ongoing Bs in the background, an overstuffed cast, and some explicit as all get out T&A.
So, how about that car wreck? At the certainty of sounding glib, is there anything much to really discuss this week on Banshee that doesn’t have to do with that magnificent, four-wheel barrel roll? Okay sure, a fair number of important plot points did get established by episode’s end: Lana’s killer set a land speed record between arrest and execution, Chayton Littlestone was freed from police custody on a technicality (seeing as being a fugitive means you’re technically not under arrest), Alex decided he didn’t need his big badass sister protecting him, and Ana caught up with a mad man from hell, now on wheels.
