Cinemax’s Banshee
Season 1, Episode 8: “We Shall Live Forever”
Directed by Greg Yaitanes
Written by Jonathan Tropper

* For a review of the previous episode, “Behold a Pale Rider” – click here
* For a review of the next episode, “Always the Cowboy” – click here
 Carrie (Ivana Milicevic) and Hood (Antony Starr) spend the night in bed together, making love. Can’t mean anything good when it comes to Carrie a.k.a Ana’s husband Gordon (Rus Blackwell). That part sucks. But it is absolutely refreshing to see these two back together, after everything has happened. Carrie sees his scars, all that he’s endured.
And yes, at home Gordon’s wondering where his wife went. He tries to find anything to explain her recent, odd behaviour. Simultaneously, Hood is trying to convince Carrie that the person she is only serves as a cover now, she is a mask. Ana is her real identity. However, Carrie’s not accepting it. She remembers her husband. She says her and Hood in bed was only “goodbye” and nothing more than that. Even further, Hood knows that Deva (Ryann Shane) is actually his daughter, not Gordon’s, which I suspected yet still find shocking. Lots of drama comes out of this one lie. She says he ought to leave, forget them. If not, Carrie tells him: “I‘ll kill you myself.” Cold as ice.
Out in Amish county, Rebecca (Lili Simmons) is being shunned and sent away by her family. For those who don’t know this is a regular practice if someone turns their back on the religion and the community, their ways. Likewise, everybody there turns their back. Obviously we’ve seen this already with her uncle Kai Proctor (Ulrich Thomsen), whose own banishment has been going on a long time, his being shunned still fresh every time anyone from the community out there sees him.

When Carrie goes to leave Hood’s place, she finds herself confronted by one of Rabbit’s men, Olek (Christos Vasilopoulos). He has orders to take her in for a chat. So when he puts Carrie in the trunk, things look grim. Until Hood interrupts things.
Kai is taking his niece Rebecca in. He tells her about the time he stopped “turning the other cheek,” involving his anger and a ball-peen hammer. That precipitated his shunning and basically began his violent life, I imagine. Kai’s an interesting, intimidating character. He doesn’t even have to be physical, though we know he can be when needed. His presence sometimes is enough, and that’s testament to Thomsen as an actor; he is a spectacularly talented individual. On the other side of things, Rebecca is now in a world she’s never seen, one she does not understand. But going from Amish to living in a luxury home, fuelled by the money of a gangster uncle, is certainly a culture shock. We’ll see how that affects her. For those who’ve seen the entire series, you’ll know the trajectory even better. Still it is interesting to watch play out. Later in the pool, she’s surprised by Clay (Matthew Rauch) and his creepy staring.
Now Carrie and Hood have got Olek tied up. The tables have turned. Only thing is, does Rabbit already know where Olek has gone? Did he check in with the boss? If so, that means Papa Rabbit knows where his little daughter Ana is, so that ain’t good. We find out afterwards Olek hasn’t made calls, checked in at all. They’ve got time.
Poor Gordon is gone mad at home still trying to find anything relative to his wife’s aloof attitude as of late. I feel terrible that he’s there stressing his brain, all the while Carrie and her past is coming back to haunt her, her family possibly. Either way, Hood assures he won’t let anything happen to her family, despite their differences.

Hood: “Carrie Hopewell was never built to last. You‘ve been on borrowed time since you got here and you know it.”
While Hood has to get rid of Rebecca, coming for comfort and a chat, at his place Olek and Carrie talk. Turns out, he loves her. Always has, or at least for a good long time. So instead of coming to any sort of agreement, the two old Ukranian friends go at it like two cage fighters. Hood discovers Rebecca feels further rejected by his not wanting her around while things are dangerous; maybe worse, Clay sees the two of them together are she locks one on Hood’s lips.
In the hospital, Kai goes to see the eldest Longshadow as he prepares to pass on. Alex Longshadow (Anthony Ruivivar) doesn’t approve, though his father and Kai were close. And at this point in time it’s Alex who takes over for the tribe. We can already see they won’t have a good working relationship like Kai and the father.
Back at Hood’s place, Carrie fights hard against Olek. For his part, he doesn’t take it easy on her. Neither does she on him. They kick the living shit out of one another in a well choreographed fight for a while. Until they stab each other.
Kai tries to talk with his family out in Amish county. He makes very clear they are only allowed to stay there and tend their land because he allows it to be so. The mean streak in Proctor is evident. Although, nobody’s willing to budge or bend. Not an inch. Kai and his father come face to face, speaking for the first time in decades. We end up seeing bits of the past come up, as Kai rages from the deepest part of his heart a moment before walking away. Olek (to Carrie): “You betrayed your family. You don‘t deserve to have another one.”
Deva finds her father Gordon in his room. The place is torn apart. He’s smoking weed, something he usually only does to quell the pain from his shoulder war wound. His daughter is worried about him, obviously. He plays the strong dad, though, trying to promise her everything will work out. But will it, Gordon?
While his niece is in the shower, Kai drags her out and tries throwing her to the curb. He thinks she was banging Hood. There’s a terrifying moment where Kai pins her to the bed, on top of her as she’s still naked. On the edge of incest. This is no good for anybody. At least he walks out, but… that’s eerie. All the same, she covers up and runs to him to try apologizing. Everything is upside down for her after being kicked out of the Amish county. Eventually, Hood gets back to find Carrie bleeding out. He picks her up and takes her out, life still left inside her, as Olek lies presumably dead on the floor in a streak of crimson. Wild, beautiful, or violent episode? All the above.
After the credits, Alex Longshadow watches his father die on the hospital bed. Then a look in his eyes spells trouble for Proctor, maybe for himself.
 Loved this episode. Raw and fun. Next up is “Always the Cowboy”, the penultimate Season 1 finisher.