Banshee Review: “Evil For Evil” (Season 2, Episode 8)

If asked to diagnose that which ails the town of Banshee, most would point to a guy like Kai Proctor and say “there’s your problem,” but “Evil for Evil” thrillingly shows that Hood is in spitting distance of Kai’s corrupt crown, before making the sweet taste of Hood’s success curdle in your mouth. Even if kept of focus, the shit-eating grin (forgive the lack of poetry, Sugar) Hood has when Kai asks about the warehouse explosion and sabotage to his slaughterhouse makes it clear Hood is enjoying himself too much. Kai’s not one to cry over spoiled meat, and wisely choosing not to retaliate, but foolishly assumes Hood’s not willing to fight even dirtier. On a tip from Julia, Hood pays a literally unwarranted visit to Kai’s wine cellar, where he finds some very nice vintages of assault rifles, and enough religious paraphernalia and medieval weaponry to start a crusade.

Hood’s disregard for judicial process has certainly been questionable up until now, as events usually transpire in such a way that he’s ultimately able to justify bending the rules. Invading Kai’s home marks a new low though, as while Kai is more deserving of a jail cell than anyone, Hood is acting entirely free of the usual exigent circumstances of a ticking clock or a hostage. Instead, he’s obstructing the law such that Kai is essentially setup for an arrest, and Julie is put in immediate danger. How does Hood sell us on this? The same way he always does: by making corruption fun as hell.

How can you not get giddy when Hood reveals to Kai that he knows what’s behind his secret passage. The bust is a real corker, not just because of how delightfully coy Antony Starr is in the scene, or how quickly Ulrich Thomsen devolves into a seething mess, but because this sort of scene never happens. Having Rebecca stumble upon Hood during his initial afterhours inspection is the exact sort of scene meant to give Kai the chance to move his stash, and leave Hood holding the bag of empty evidence. In terms of dramatic structure, the hero and villain usually clash at the end of the second act, leaving our hero at their lowest point., yet, as the season heads into its own endgame, Hood has delivered a brass knuckle sucker punch so powerful that Kai suddenly seems the underdog.

So where’s the blowback? Surely Hood won’t be able to pull off a coup d’état without some harm coming his own way, but that will have to wait for another week. “Evil for Evil” is crueler for instead focusing its punishment on those close to Hood, saving the worst for the unlikeliest target. Hood’s bullishness barely takes into account what pain his actions will cause for himself, let alone those around him; when he talks with Kai at the bar earlier, his confidence is undercut by a fear in Sugar that comes from knowing what it’s like to be a civilian caught in someone else’s warzone. Siobhan and Brock know that Kai’s arrest is a big win, but they recognize it’s one achieved through legal and personal compromise.