Banshee: Season 4 (All Episodes)

April 1, 2016 6:17 PM - Season 4 (Full Season)

A succession of people getting punched right in the goddamned face.
posted by DirtyOldTown (31 comments total)

Yay! (Um, silly question: they're not all out now, are they?)
posted by TwoStride at 9:00 PM on April 1, 2016

Nah, but given that we rarely saw many comments at all on these last year, a single thread seemed to make more sense.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:12 PM on April 1, 2016 [1 favorite]

Ok! Now that I've seen the premiere, things I liked:
1) Banshee's back!
2) Mayor Proctor is actually a kind of fun twist
3) Sheriff Brock, who actually deserved the job
4) The Sarah Palin t-shirt on one of the hillfolk surrounding Lucas at the end of the ep

Things I hated:
1) Rebecca's death. Is everyone that Lucas has slept with, aside from Carrie, going to die?
2) THAT JOB IS STILL MIA. If this isn't (happily!) resolved this show will be dead to me
3) Lucas's hair, both in Mountain Man mode and then trimmed.Terrible to do to such a hot actor
posted by TwoStride at 9:59 PM on April 1, 2016

*(I mean, happily resolved for Banshee, which... may be asking a bit much. But still!)
posted by TwoStride at 10:00 PM on April 1, 2016

I'm so not ready for this. I'm way behind on my viewing habits as it stands. I wish they could have held off until the summer slowdown. On top of that, I'm not wildly optimistic about what I've heard, and can't say I'm looking forward to Eliza Dushku, as I prefer more unknown actors on this series. But if/when I get a chance to catch up, I'll try to comment, just so there's another body contributing. Thanks for starting the thread and posting the show.
posted by sardonyx at 10:00 PM on April 1, 2016

Yes, I have grave concerns about Dushku, who seemed wooden and terrible even in the like 5 seconds she had in previews they've been running.
posted by TwoStride at 10:01 PM on April 1, 2016

I thought they were going to go all final season of Breaking Bad when they started with that time jump. Kind of relieved it was more of a reshuffling than a mystery.

I'm not sure about introducing a serial killer. Unless it's Proctor's bow-tied henchman finally going around the bend.

I want Job back so much.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 6:13 AM on April 2, 2016

Killing off Rebekah was disappointing. But then there was the way they kept flashing to her corpse. I can see an argument that was problematic/exploitive. But I think the intent was to show they don't take it lightly at all. She wasn't a morbid sex object frozen in time with a little blood. She was a puffy distorted corpse. The way they insisted you confront that over and over was grim and unflinching and made clear that this would be a major driver of this season.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 6:17 AM on April 2, 2016

Still not really behind that, but I can track their intent at least.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 6:21 AM on April 2, 2016

I don't think it's bowtie dude--he had too much of a crush on Rebecca to leave her like that.

I'm betting it'll be the Nazi-deputy's Nazi brother.
posted by TwoStride at 8:19 AM on April 2, 2016

I have an outside speculation that Rebecca's killing is a copycat and not actually the same killer as the other women.

Also, Job was surprisingly ripped for being stuck in some sort of solitary black site prison, so I guess they must let him exercise in his non-torture time.
posted by tautological at 2:26 PM on April 10, 2016

JOB IS ALIVE!

I could watch several seasons of Carrie as a vigilante.

It was nice to get the backstory behind Rebecca's beef with the meth hillbillies. I was this close to rewatching old stuff to see if I'd missed anything.

The scythe to the hand bit was goddamn brutal.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 2:08 PM on April 11, 2016 [1 favorite]

Eeeeeeeeeeee JOB!

And I. Love. Sugar. And Fat Au! Saving and planning FTW!

I'm hoping that's the last we see of Cherry/Jennifer and Proctor's creepy-sad search for a replacement.
posted by TwoStride at 7:58 PM on April 15, 2016

Also: am feeling like my enthusiasm is going to dim greatly next week with Dushu's arrival on the scene.
posted by TwoStride at 7:58 PM on April 15, 2016

"It's about motherfucking time."

Also: HOLY SHIT Rebekah was pregnant with Hood's child? WOW.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:32 AM on April 18, 2016 [1 favorite]

It's kind of great that two of the actors who've been taken most for granted on this show are getting the meatiest stuff in the final season. Rebekah and Job's storylines are the heart of the season.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:33 AM on April 18, 2016 [1 favorite]

Yeah.... not super happy with Dushku's character.

Vigilante!Carrie (and her handy informant Bunker) are increasingly ridiculous and absolutely wonderful.
posted by TwoStride at 8:16 PM on April 22, 2016 [1 favorite]

The incongruity of Anastasia/Carrie's taken name in Banshee creates the very real possibility, when combined with her vigilante activities, that someone could yell out (accurately): "OH SHIT, YOU GUYS! WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE! IT'S CARRIE HOPEWELL!"
posted by DirtyOldTown at 2:02 PM on April 23, 2016

I don't buy the methhead agent.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 2:07 PM on April 23, 2016 [1 favorite]

So does the serial killer dude have some kind of skin condition? Or are those implants intended to convey a demonic look?
posted by DirtyOldTown at 1:07 PM on April 24, 2016

I forgot to add that I'm so disappointed that In Plain Sight's Marshal Marshall left the service to become a serial killer.

And yeah, I think that he's going for demonic horns with his forehead look.
posted by TwoStride at 7:12 PM on April 29, 2016

Agent Dawson zeroed in on Hood's non-cop mentality, prison habits, and criminal tendencies a little quickly. She also specifically said she uses drugs and sex to convince marks that she's outside the law and on their side. And we know for a fact from the phony dead husband story, she is willing to lie to ensnare people.

Maybe she knows exactly who Hood is, or at the very least, has sniffed out he is a collar very much worth getting, and this is her long con to nail him for good.

This episode was legitimately nerve-wracking because if there is a show on all of television that would kill the hero's primary love interest, their daughter, his best friend, and/or his most respected peer in a single episode, surely that show is Banshee with only two eps left.

No one is safe.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:09 AM on May 7, 2016 [2 favorites]

I'm at least happy to see Job on his way back, a little more snark each time! If he doesn't survive the season I will be very, very angry!

I dislike everything about Dawson's character and normally wouldn't mind that she got nabbed by Satan Horns, but seriously, the dwindling amount of time between Lucas having sex with a woman and that woman being marked for death is getting pretty ludicrous.
posted by TwoStride at 6:22 PM on May 7, 2016

On the one hand: yay Job is all the way back!!

On the other hand, this episode was completely incoherent, plot-wise. It offered a bunch of individually satisfying scenes, but it really felt like the writers were all, "shit, only one episode after this so let's wrap up some plot points in no particular order."
posted by TwoStride at 9:05 AM on May 14, 2016

Holy shit. That 360 pan away from and back to the action as bowtie killed the Nazis. Wow.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:23 PM on May 16, 2016

Bummer they didn't hold he shot of Calvin walking down the cubicle aisle or longer. It was a beaut.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:28 PM on May 16, 2016

Holy shit, Job's revenge. Wow.

Also, nice to see him fabulous again.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:42 AM on May 17, 2016

That was the kind of finale we would have considered good before the Golden Age of TV. It didn't sew together the entire serial of the show in a thesis-stating kind of way, like some of the grand finales of the last decade. Instead, it closed out a more scattershot, less unified show by serving up one last batch of scenes and stories that left everyone pretty much where it felt they should end up. It was well done and there was fan service galore. But it didn't have the resounding satisfaction of seeing a grand scheme come together at last.

B- for me. I'm happy but not at all wowed.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:28 PM on May 20, 2016

On a gloating tip, I called both Burton as Rebecca's killer and Dawson knowing exactly who Hood was.

It was true to the show that we never got his real name but it was still a bummer.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:31 PM on May 20, 2016 [1 favorite]

Yes, good call DOT!

I cannot believe they didn't give us Lucas's name--I totally thought it was going to come when he said "Bye, Anna" to Carrie...
posted by TwoStride at 7:00 PM on May 27, 2016

Came to this 4 years late to the party; I had heard about the series via Hoon Lee's Job character (starting from Hoon Lee being in 'Warrior.') but didn't really get around to watching.

Semi-binged it over the holidays, just finished it.

I recall DOT being an apologist that this show is Good in an earlier thread - I absolutely agree, but less the apology.

Much better than it needed to be and hit all the notes that a Skinemax show requires. Not a fan of the torture scenes, but that's a testament to how well they were done.

Of course, the ridiculously superhuman recovery times and degree of recovery - but what's a little supernatural regeneration when nobody cares about dozens of dead bodies showing up every other week? Above average fight scenes, but the small female-on-male ones felt generic, like a UFC reduction of viable moves in a size/ mass imbalance.

Deputy Yawner and Kelly's arcs were solid, and how they ended felt visceral. Kelly's ex-/stalker plot was super creepy. It's almost certainly just me, but all the white women looked so much the same I got confused when Hood started sleeping with Kelly.

Antony Starr - I joke that I'm mildly face-blind in real life but I thought he was Sullivan Stapleton of 'Strike Back' (another Cinemax property) and 'Blindspot.' I'm probably tripping, but I recall that Sullivan had some pretty serious injuries that cut short 'Strike Back' and he was inexplicably in a hand cast, also, on another show.

But then I realized Starr is No. Way. Holy. Shit. Homelander. in 'The Boys.'

The pancake makeup and change in hairstyle was very effective for a Young "Gary," (imdb trivia suggests that Starr whispered "Gaaarrrry" when he revealed his name in-show, as a joke, and not cannon) how he wore his beard and hairstyle (and body language) turns him into a total chameleon. Wow. Also, the Albino arc.

Ulrich Thomsen was good, the Kai Proctor character was hillarious, but also deep enough to care about. Ex-/ outcast- Amish turned brutal crime boss who got elected mayor and hated Nazi's who are prejudiced against ethnically Dutch cultural minorities. Who also liked beating the shit out of muk yan jongs.

Respect to the showrunners/ casting to have Ivana Milicevic. Gorgeous, athletic, also age appropriate. Assuming they broke with Rabbit (Zaiets - Ukrainian surname?) when they were mid-20s, 15 years later puts them all right around 40. villante!Carrie = awesomesauce. Totally believable about her character's mixed feelings for her gary!kid and gordon!kid and Gordon. Her guilt betraying Gary and getting caught out was strong.

I really didn't like the actor who did Deva, nor the character - but maybe that works out as to why Gary cared so much... although neither he nor Carrie seemed sufficiently fazed when she was taken away to her (paternal) grandparents in S04.

Frankie Faison (Sugar) was solid, Matt Servitto (Brock) also and really leaned into it - actor and character. Gosh, Tom Pelphrey is pretty, and did the ex-Nazi thing well enough. Chris Coy was also pretty perfect as the chinos+poloshirt Nazi. Lili Simmons (Rebecca) was good enough; looked good in heels and shooting guns. Matthew Rauch's Burton was creepy and avoided being a cartoon. Not the worst Eliza Dushku but I forgive her for her "The butler did it?!" line.

The native/ first nations/ Redbone storyline was cringey most of the time but damn, Geno Segers (Littlestone). Odette Annable's (Nola) athleticism is amazing and such a badass character. Perhaps over the top, even for this show.

--

Hoon Lee.

Blown away. Completely.

Kuddos to the writers/ showrunners not just making Job be "swish, drag queen! y'all!" but that the femininity was fundamentally the character - and that they can and often do code switch.

There's hamming it up either for fun or to deliberately make other people uncomfortable, but especially in the PTSD episodes femininity was just something that the character is.

I doubt his torturers knew the effectiveness bonus they had when they kept Job unwashed and ungroomed. It's an indignity, but so much worse than the torturers know.

Also, wearing super practical shoes/ clothing when on missions/ assaults in stark contrast to Dushku's Dawson character wearing way too tight pants and ridiculously stilleto boots.

I'm a little disappointed that the writers/ showrunners didn't give Job a romantic arc, I'm curious as to what cannon states is Job's preferred romantic gender, if any or none. I still haven't watched the "Origins" shorts, wondering if they address anything I've missed. In my mind, Job is attracted to Gary primarily because of respect for his competence (and thus, earning potential to Job, although it seems like Job doesn't need any help) but also a little bit on having a crush on Gary while knowing Gary would never be into that despite (in my mind) that Job's mostly into women who like women (qv. stepping up for Deva when Carries goes all WTF).

--

Sorry for the necro and long post; 'Banshee' is a good, smart, fun show with lots of good shit for lots of different tastes regardless of the ultraviolence/ ultrasex/ ultraconfrontation.

It starts with a compelling arc, has fun with it, weaves a few others (some successful, others not) into it, then finishes off with a lot of sadness, a bit of hope, and a horizon for the imagination.
posted by porpoise at 6:05 PM on January 21, 2020 [2 favorites]