Cinemax’s Banshee
Season 4, Episode 3: “Job”
Directed by Everardo Gout
Written by Liz Sagal

* For a review of the previous episode, “The Burden of Beauty” – click here
* For a review of the next episode, “Innocent Might Be a Bit of a Stretch” – click here
 This episode starts four months previous. Job (Hoon Lee) is being tortured with ultraviolet lights at high intensity. A man behind him is goggled, talking to him in a low voice. Then he forces Job to stare into the lights, causing him pain. This is one desperate situation.
Slowly in the room where they’ve stashed him, Job goes crazy. All his captors do is beat and torture him endlessly. Each type of torture worse than the last.

 

Then there’s Kurt Bunker (Tom Pelphrey) – twenty months ago, he was in the burn unit still recovering from the vicious attack his brother Calvin (Chris Coy) inflicted upon him. Brock Lotus (Matt Servitto) went to see him and comfort him as he made it through. Shows you how tough Kurt is, as well as how caring Lotus can be to his friends
Jump to three months ago. Hood (Antony Starr) is lying in bed with the gunshot wound he suffered, as Rebecca Bowman (Lili Simmons) takes care of him. She removes the bullet. She gives him medication for his fever and infection.
Cut to the present. Hood is deeply affected by Rebecca’s death. After all that happened, she was just about the one person left he could count on in his isolation. Their storied history since his arrival in Banshee held weight. Meanwhile, Carrie (Ivana Milicevic) shows up with their old buddy Fat Au (Eddie Cooper). They’re trying best they can to figure out where Job is being held. A guy named Leo Fitzpatrick (Dennis Flanagan) comes up on their radar; the one who took Job in the Season 3 finale.
Over with Kai Proctor (Ulrich Thomsen) and Clay Burton (Matthew Rauch), we finally see confirmation of Deputy Nina Cruz (Ana Ayora) working behind the scenes for the new Mayor of Banshee. They’ve got a deal going, one that gets better for her as time passes. At the same time, Burton doesn’t like her while Proctor gives her the benefit of the doubt.
Elijah and Miriam Bowman (Steve Coulter/Samantha Worthen) want their daughter’s body, as the police are still holding it. Although they plead with Brock to release it so they can bury her properly. Lotus is a good guy, he tries to placate them by saying he’ll do his best. He means well. Compared to Hood, obviously, he is miles different. Partly, I do think he realizes how dificult the job is after coming in from Hood’s time there. Something about a guy going balls out all the time like him sort of puts things in perspective. At least now the Banshee Police Department is acting within the law.
Mr Fitzpatrick is lecturing to a class in an auditorium. Afterwards, he sees Carrie, Au, and Hood waiting. This leads to a chase through subway trains and platforms. Eventually, though, they get him bundled up in a van. Seventeen months ago, we’re back with Kurt. We see him and Calvin’s wife Maggie (Casey LaBow) – she comes to try and help him out a bit with groceries. This is clearly where their forbidden love affair began. She shouldn’t have been visiting, but her hate for what Calvin did to his brother drives her to Kurt. In present day, Calvin starts to get suspicious of his wife, where she is all the time not answering her phone. So the race is whether Kurt can figure out how to get Calvin put in jail, something similar, or if his brother figures out their affair.
Over with Sugar (Frankie Faison) at the bar, Hood and Carrie have Leo so they can interrogate him. They want answers on Job, and set in trying to get them. Leo, for his part, plays coy. Not a smart idea. There’s no telling how far they’ll go. “You took our friend, we want him back,” Hood explains. After some persuasion by Fat Au, the information starts flowing from Leo. Turns out Job’s been transported to a black site somewhere, an “autonomous” run facility. They can’t get in, but there may be a way to buy Job back from these people. Hmm. There’s trouble already: Job is scheduled to “go dark“, which means nothing good. So the team has to roll. Now.
Concerning Rebecca’s death and the possibility of a serial killer, Sheriff Brock Lotus gets information from the coroner – most definitely a serial. Worse, it seems that Brock is getting further and further convinced Hood is involved.
Proctor heads to a diner. There he ends up paying for a young woman’s pie when she can’t  buy it herself. They sit and eat together. He ends up taking her home and giving her a place to stay. Can’t tell yet, but likely a way to try and assuage his guilt for not ultimately being able to protect his niece.
 In a black van Job is transported to an old rundown mill of some sort. There, he’s made to walk into the nearby woods led by men at gunpoint. A car pulls up and he’s finally safe in the arms of Hood. Only a minute later armed men are surrounding them all. Seems Leo isn’t that trustworthy when all is said and done. However, Fat Au has things handled. Above in the wings waiting are men with rifles, picking off the would-be captors, and everything is settled quick. Although, Leo gets away like a greasy snake. One leftover man gets shot in the head by Job in a nice cathartic moment of revenge.
At Kai’s place, his new house guest decides to rob as much as possible from him before heading out. If only he hadn’t caught her. Her ungratefulness leads to his true feelings of resentment towards Rebecca coming out – “I gave you freedom. I gave you a place to stay. But that wasn‘t enough,” he screams, choking the girl. She gets away, but more of his character keeps on coming out bit by bit.
At prison, Calvin meets with Randall Watts (Chance Kelly) – big head honcho of the Brotherhood. He isn’t happy with how things are going on the outside. He wants Calvin to get his shit straight, or else things will start to change, something bad will happen if the leadership isn’t properly executed. Those neo-Nazis sure are particular.
With Job safe and sound, the crew heads back to Sugar’s bar. Job is obviously damaged. There’s no telling how long he may be affected by what happened to him. The worst part is that all their money’s gone, in order to spring him. Between it all the cops show up to arrest Hood – for Rebecca’s murder. They have his blood in her car, as well as the fact she was pregnant with Hood’s baby. WOW! WOW! That is a spectacular development.
Amazing sequence as he gets the perp walk. Hood, the former sheriff, the criminal, the thief, the falsely accused murderer. After so long, he’s going back into the system. That can’t be good. In any sort of way. At the same time, Job tries to adjust to life again. Everyone is left wondering where to go next. No clear path forward anymore. Excited for the next episode, “Innocent Might Be a Bit of a Stretch” – many big things are shaping up to come. Including more of the serial killer, out murdering in the night. Almost halfway through the final season. Christ, will I ever miss this damn show.