If this was a standard episode of Banshee it would be a pretty damn good one. We got bruising action, surprising tenderness, some punch-the-air Job badassery, a cliffhanger ending that made me jump and the terrible consequence of all Hood and Carrie’s choices; their daughter being dragged into it and forced to kill to save herself, a moment that was beautifully shot and scored to be just as hard hitting as such a huge development deserves. Look, I won’t deny that the ending was effective and that this was the first week where I felt slightly engaged in seeing where the Satanic cult stuff was going, but until I see otherwise I can’t shake the feeling that the killer isn’t going to have an enormous impact on how this all ends. Sure, maybe he’ll influence Hood emotionally or something, but a show like Banshee can only come to a close focussing on the characters who drew us in in the first place, and probably in the Hood/Proctor showdown the series has seemingly been building to from the start. Right now, though, the series would have to do a huge amount of work in the two episodes remaining to make that showdown feel credible. That said, Proctor’s blatant attempt to kill Carrie and how close that came to killing Deva does give a pretty credible reason for Hood and crew to have to take him down. Let’s just hope the serial killer doesn’t get in the way of that showdown feeling earned. Two episodes. Less than two hours. That’s all that is left to tie all of this up. Let’s take just one moment to consider what has to be resolved before the curtain closes over Banshee for good. Proctor has to face off with the cartel, Bunker needs to deal with the Neo-Nazis, the killer has to be disposed of, the corrupt deputy needs to go and that’s to say nothing of the myriad character relationships demanding resolution. At this point Banshee should be doubling down on all of that. I know I sound like a broken record and that I’ve been saying things to similar effect the last couple of weeks, but with every passing episode seemingly doing nothing to secure a satisfying ending, the concern becomes more pressing. The looming finale is a Sword of Damocles that can’t help but hang over every episode, no matter how strong the merits of those episodes might be. I’m still holding out hope that Banshee will go out in style, and I think it is possible that the final two episodes could provide a fitting finale, but that possibility is dwindling fast, and another episode without clear urgency would be more than enough to doom the show. Still, on the evidence of Only One Way A Dogfight Ends, Banshee still has the potential to deliver gripping, powerful and exciting television. Let’s hope that potential comes to life in the ways that counts on the home stretch. Read Gabriel’s review of the previous episode, A Little Late To Grow A Pair, here.
