Banshee – Season 1, Episode 2: “The Rave”

Cinemax’s Banshee
Season 1, Episode 2: “The Rave”
Directed by S.J. Clarkson
Written by David Schickler & Jonathan Tropper

* For a review of the pilot episode – click here
* For a review of the next episode, “Meet the New Boss” – click here
After a beautifully crafted, action packed pilot, Banshee forges on heavily.
This episode begins with Hood (Antony Starr) waking up from dreams of his former life. Plus, he’s sleeping on the floor; signs of a con more used to being in a prison cot than a real bed. He runs to keep in shape, but also runs to be free, and to run from his memories. Hood is a complicated, complex man. His flashbacks show us a time before, with Ana/Carrie (Ivana Milicevic) when they’ve decided to go against Rabbit (Ben Cross). He’s optimistic back then: “Everything‘ll be fine,” he says. But we know there’s no truth in that.
Always dig how the credits change from episode to episode, even the theme itself has little variations from one to the next, then back again. Love the score all around it is really an awesome part of the aesthetic overall.
Kai Proctor (Ulrich Thomsen) has got his drug operation running smoothly under a tough thumb. A sleazy young guy is in charge, Chris Hanson (Toby Leonard Moore). He does things on the side, too. That’s sure to piss Proctor off eventually. Doesn’t make it any better that Hanson gets information on a farmhouse from an Amish boy; this won’t sit well with the community, nor with Proctor I don’t think. Seems Hanson’s got a bit of a party planned.
Speaking of planning, Hood is still planning to infiltrate Carrie’s life, one way or another. He busts in on her day job showing off houses. They share a kiss briefly, but she shakes him off. She wants to live her new life. One that involves delinquent Deva (Ryann Shane), her devious little daughter who’s spending her time with shady characters – her, a girlfriend, and Reed (Hunter Garner) end up meeting Hanson, whose danger both creeps Deva out and kind of interest her, too. This only spells trouble.
At the station, Deputy Brock Lotus (Matt Servitto) butts heads with Hood, not happy to have been passed over for Sheriff. Meanwhile, Proctor and Hood have a little get together. The butcher-cum-gangster brings a little Kobe beef as a gift. Seems the Moody brothers won’t be happy with Hood for the shooting of Cole. It’s a “serious problem” in Kai’s mind. He tries to get the new Sheriff Hood in his pocket, basically. But Hood’s keen on doing things his way.
Job (Hoon Lee) is still helping his friend, though, pissed about not having been reimbursed yet for all the damage caused by the new Mr. Hood. Love the character of Job. He’s odd, quirky, and sassy as all hell. Then on top of all that he is a perfect hacker.
More Carrie secrets come out. She meets a man in a darkened building, they fight tooth and nail. In fact, they meet regularly. This is how she keeps her skills up. The character development on this show is incredibly well done in only two episodes. We get a wide breadth of things coming at us from all directions, a lot of characters setup in quick succession, and properly, as well.
Sugar Bates (Frankie Faison) is interesting in his own way to boot. He and Kai have their casual relationship as sometimes allies, sometimes friends, which is slightly threatened with Hood living above him by the bar. Hood’s really put a wrench into Sugar and his existence. Hopefully it won’t prove too dangerous. The Moody Brothers aren’t too happy with Hood. He manages to put a cork in that for the time being, proving time and time again he is one hard ass bastard. Pretty slick with the ladies, too. He doesn’t have to do much before falling into bed with a beautiful woman. One Rebecca Bowman (Lili Simmons) finds him irresistible. So naturally, they get busy.
Hood: “You‘re the second woman to hit me today”
Kat: “I bet that‘s a slow day for you”
More quick flashes back – Hood sacrificed himself so that Ana could get away, as police crowded them in the forest during their escape with the diamonds. And so their story, their love, the betrayal, it all gets thicker.
And that bothers Ana, in her new life as Carrie. It weighs on her, the guilt of carrying on without him and moving to Banshee, starting a fresh life. She has her own life to deal with, as Deva skips school and husband Gordon (Rus Blackwell) tries holding their family together.
In regards to fresh lives, Hood isn’t adjusting well to paperwork. At least Deputy Siobhan Kelly (Trieste Kelly Dunn) is there to give advice and help him along.
The young Amish boy from earlier is found out by his father, Elijah Bowman (Steve Coulter). He reports the upcoming rave, as well as introduces his daughter – Rebecca – now clad in her Amish dress. Yowzahs, Hood! Rumspringa for sure.
So now Hood and the deputies are suiting up to head off the big rave. Using his unshakable hardness and not-give-a-fuck attitude, new Sheriff Hood decides to go inside undercover. He ends up coming across an overdose – Deva’s friend Reed. Tragedy has struck Banshee, as the drugs at the farmhouse party are causing big time troubles. When the deputies storm the place, Hanson makes off before Hood can catch him. A chase with some of the others there ensues, and Deputy Emmett Yawners (Demetrius Grosse) saves Hood with a few choice gunshots.
What’s super interesting to me is that Hood is a criminal, yet he takes the identity of a cop. Then even further starts to actually semi-enforce the law. An incredibly fun, different premise for a show. And that decision is tested many times once things progress, in different ways. There’s also the act he may be Deva’s father, so he feels this care for her and tries to help her whenever possible. Even when it puts him up against Deput Lotus, he isn’t too impressed with the new boss in town.
Mr. Hanson has his own troubles, worse than Hood and the police. He’s in the grasp of Proctor, a boss whose disappointment nobody hopes to stir up. All the drug problems in Banshee are this guy’s fault, so Kai doesn’t appreciate the rave, the death of Reed – who happens to be son of a State Senator. And Hanson doesn’t last too long, as he’s chased down by one of the dogs and torn apart off-screen.
Bringing Deva home, Hood gives her an almost fatherly talk about death, watching someone die, so on. Hood reveals he saw a kid die on railroad tracks, whose death he precipitated by daring him to beat a train across them. A heavy, loaded moment, especially when Hood tears up seeing this girl, likely his daughter, in so much pain. Beautifully, really. Such a great episode with more spectacular writing. Tragic, if she is his daughter, to watch Hood see her in the arms of her current father. He loves Carrie, and already you can see a love for Deva as his own. So much backstory and depth to these characters.