Banshee Turns a (Sharp) Corner in Ep. 3

For the complete back story on Banshee characters, make sure to check out welcometobanshee.com.

I had thought that Banshee would have trouble improving after watching the Season Two finale, Bullets and Tears. Where could they possibly go from there that could give us more action, more emotion, more tugging of our hearts? Well, this episode is the answer to that question.

If you haven't yet seen this episode, here's a quick recap you can read on your way back from the moon, cause everyone down here already knows what happened. We will discuss the details afterwards.

Hood's visitor turns out to be FBI Special Agent Phillips, who takes Hood on a road trip to New York. Along the way both are taken by Brantley, who has a score to settle with Jason Hood. While Hood is having a (not very) friendly chat with Brantley, Brantley's men are sent to dispose of Special Agent Phillips, and without his men to protect him... Well, this is Hood we're talking about. After tossing Brantley out of the semi they are traveling in, Hood rescues Phillips, and makes his peace with him. Let me briefly digress here and point out that the vault combination numerology of 5-13-69 can be found here, in the Interstate 513 mile marker 69.

Meanwhile back in Banshee, Nola, who in the previous episode warns Chayton that he underestimated Proctor, doesn't heed her own words and attacks Burton at the Proctor house. Something in the Longshadow family genes makes them think they can come out ahead in dealings with the Proctor clan. We will discuss the fight further along, but needless to say, Nola lost.

At roughly the same time, Chayton's brother Tommy Littlestone and 4 Redbone gang members decide to hurt Proctor by shooting up the Savoy men's club, where Dep. Brock Lotus is getting sage advice from his favorite stripper Sapphire. Brock of course calls for backup, and with the help of Dep. Kelly and Dep. Raven, the Redbones are defeated.

Returning home, Hood goes to Siobhan Kelly's trailer, to find her listening to his 15 year old interrogation tape (which can be seen more at welcometobanshee.com), and she is visibly pissed at Hood and wants to know just who the hell he really is.

That's the quick surface details of this episode, BUT, the really interesting facet of this episode is the fundamental sharp turn that so many of the characters and indeed even the show itself made in aspects that we shall discuss further here.

Burton vs Nola. This fight was touted as one the best prior to the episode airing, widely discussed online, and not only lived up to its expectations, it exceeded them and still had shock factor to spare. Banshee insiders have stated that it took over 14 hours to film the 3 minute segment, and I have to say that it was time well spent. I watched this scene multiple times and even once in slow motion, and it was absolutely flawless in its choreography, facial expressions, and continuity. Hats off to Mathew Rauch, Odette Annable, and the entire team effort, for a great job. Being a smartass, I have to wonder if Nola's headstone with have a cherub shaped like a Rolls Royce hood ornament, perhaps Proctor will provide it for her.

This was NOT however, the most brutal fight we've seen on Banshee. Carrie vs Oleg was far more brutal, and from memory I'd have to say longer. Hood vs the Albino was equally as bloody of a battle. What makes this fight so unique in bloody Banshee is that for the first time ever, we had two characters fighting, and we were all rooting for both/each of them. Everyone watching this fight has a positive emotional connection to both Burton and Nola, they were fan favorites battling to the death. Sure Oleg, the Albino, even Rabbit had fans, but we all knew they were bad guys, and bad guys get killed off. Watching Nola fight Burton was more like watching two friends fight. This alone makes for a turning point in the series.

I'd have to wonder after that... How many more battles will our emotions have to contend with that feature fan favorites killing each other off. Banshee fans better stock up on the Liquor, or Ativan, or Kleenex to get ready for the rest of this roller coaster ride.

Furthermore, I'd have to question Burton's safety now. He has killed off two people that Hood was attached to, Jason and Nola (remember, he did sleep with Nola), and that can't be healthy in the long run. He has also now pissed off Chayton, another powerful adversary, although given how poorly the Kinaho tribe fares in Banshee battles, this isn't something we lose sleep over.

Hood's (not so) Secret. Opps, looks like the cat is out of the bag. FBI Special Agent Phillips dropping of evidence in Siohban's lap is possibly the worst outcome as far as Hood is concerned. The show takes another twisty turn with us wondering how Hood explains his way out of this. Just when we thought Siohban was domesticating him too. It's been said that a secret can't survive more than one person knowing it, this twist makes it more like six that know Hood's past.

The Beard Grows. Who would have figured that Matt Servitto growing a beard would result in the stick falling out of his ramrod straight ass and he'd turn into the character he has? Obviously the producers did, because he is becoming more of a mainstay with each passing episode. I absolutely loved the interplay between Sapphire and Brock. My only comment would be what did the make up department do to Emmy Argo, she is a much prettier girl that that stripper was. We look forward to seeing Brock grow even more in further episodes.

A Family Affair. Hats off to the trio of Ulrich Thomsen, Jennifer Griffin, and Alpha Trivette for a heartwarming family reunion scene. As much as it wasn't a long scene, it was exceedingly well acted. Watching them work reminded my of a harmonious symphony of well played facial expressions where few words are needed.

Chasing bad guys. Emily Lotus, played by Tanya Clarke, seems to be chasing after more bad guys that the Banshee Sheriffs Department. First she gives Burton an extra long touch while patching his wounds, then she gets down on her knees for Proctor (mind you, he was kneeling as well). It will be interesting to see who she catches first.

Okay, that's all I got for now. Great job to all the Banshee cast, crew, and production staff on this episode. Now let's see you top this one!

Banshee Twitter Links

List of Banshee cast, directors, writers, et al, with links to their twitter accounts. Not all cast members listed are series regulars, some are "dead" characters. Some accounts are quieter than others. If I missed anyone, my apologies, send me a tweet @wmwpres and I'll add you.

Don't forget to check out the official Welcome to Banshee website.

Shameless plug: If you want someone to talk Banshee incessantly with, follow me on twitter ;-)

Today I was bored, so I added the persons Klout score (indicator of on-line influence) next to their name. n/a indicates no Klout score found. Klout scores can be found at Klout.com

Antony Starr @antonystarr 66

Ivana Milicevic @ivanamilicevic 79

Ulrich Thomsen @UlrichThomsen 61

Frankie Faison @FrankieFaison 53

Hoon Lee @MisterHoonLee 65

Matt Rauch @mattyrauch 64

Ryan Shane @rainyshaney 57

Chelsea Cardwell @ChelseaCardwell 51

Rus Blackwell @RusBlackwell 54

Matt Servitto @MattServitto 62

Demetrius Grosse @DemetriusGrosse n/a

Trieste Kelly Dunn @TriesteKDunn 64

Lili Simmons @Liliflower33 67

Ben Cross @actorbencross n/a

Anthony Ruivivar @AnthonyRuivivar n/a

Deja Dee @dejadeetv n/a

Christos Vasilopoulis @christvas n/a

Odette Annable  @OdetteAnnable 79

Alpha Trivette @alphatrivette1 47

Geno Segers @genosegers 63

Afton Williamson @therealaftonw 52

Stephanie Northrup @StephanieNrthrp n/a

Samantha Worthen @samanthaworthen n/a

Langley Kirkwood @langleykirkwood 55

Tom Pelphrey @TomPelphrey 59

Tanya Clarke @TanyaClarke22 52

Jennifer Griffin @JennGriffin1957 n/a

Ricky Russert @RickyRussert n/a

Gil Birmingham @gilbirmingham n/a

Harrison Thomas @HarrisonThomas_ n/a

Joseph Gatt @MeetJoeGatt 52

Griff Furst @GEFURST n/a

Eddie Cooper @MrEddieCooper n/a

Andrew Howard @andrewhoward69 n/a

Sheena Zadeh @sheenazadeh n/a

Cherie Daly @CherieDaly22 52

Steve Coulter @coulter28 n/a

Greg Yaitanes @GregYaitanes 81

Loni Peristere  @lperistere 53

Jonathon Tropper @Jtropper 61

David Schickler @davidschickler n/a

Adam Targum @adamtargum 52

Magnes Martens @magmartens n/a

Gary Cotti @bansheegary n/a

Bud Kremp @BUDKREMP n/a

Sean McNulty @theseanmac n/a

Methodic Doubt @MethodicDoubt n/a

Looking for some feedback... if you would like to see a list of Fanshees (we the fanatical fans of Banshee) so you have some ideas on who you may like to follow, drop me a tweet.

Banshee S3 Ep 2 - Random Thoughts

The judging factor of tonight's Banshee was that when the ending credits rolled, I was thinking...that can't be over with, it only felt like 20 minutes. Non stop action blended with seamless stitching of character development sure does make time fly by. As I tweeted at the end "Banshee is too much like sex...great while it lasts but over for the week way to fast ;-)"

This weeks episode starts out with a new Intro sequence. I'm a bit more a fan of the traditional safe and photo Intro, but hey, it's always good to try something new. Interestingly, they show the Proctor Meats logo on the back of the truck, with a real (no 555) phone number. Even has a Pa. area code.

Then we see Col. Stowe and Carrie in the Diner. Stowe brings new meaning to the phrase "box lunch". Interesting to watch as he leans in as if to kiss her afterwards, then suddenly pulls back...as if to say they both know where his lips have been.

A new character is introduced, Tom Pelphrey, as Kirk Bunker. Welcome to Banshee Tom! We only see him briefly in this episode, but if I were a betting man (which I am in fact), I'd say we are going to be seeing a lot more of him in future episodes. He plays a reformed skinhead, well spoken and articulate, and most important, he only has a passing relationship with a razor, making him a natural fit in the BSD. Hood likes him, he's a sure thing for deputy.

Rebecca goes badass when some young punk drug dealer goes too far with his insults to Uncle Kai. Pops his kneecaps, sparking a gun battle where Burton first stabs with a blade, then draws a Uzi style machine pistol and fires a perfect vertical burst. Good to be prepared Burton! This scene along with several others, shows just how much Rebecca (Lili Simmons) has grown into the dark side role and she plays it with a certain sexual sadistic passion. Note to self: avoid eating Proctor Meats for a week or so, I don't think they disposed of them bodies by burial.

I loved the scene where Ulrich Thomsen visits and takes away his Mom, played by Jennifer Griffin. Very sad to see her character dying off, but nonetheless well played by all involved, including Alpha Trivette as Israel Proctor, Kai's Father. The music score made me reminiscent of Truth about Unicorns, and fit like a glove.

I have a small lack of understanding as to why Chayton (Geno Segers) only sends two Redbone gang members to bring back Kai and Rebecca, surely he knows that the trusty Burton is ever present at the Proctor house. Live and learn, or in the case of them Redbones, perhaps not.

Col. Stowe's true character comes out a bit more, as he very carefully reverses his Annapolis ring so as to not get it dirtied or damaged as he savagely beats a PFC in his command that had attempted to embezzle a small amount of cash.

Lili Simmons in the pool is hot! I'm not sure if that's her white bikini she wore in past episodes, or just a bra and panties, but either way, she makes as good a sexual impact as she would without the clothes on. In true Banshee style, scenes of her seductive swimming are intermingled with scenes of Chayton in a Kinaho sexual ritual. This is where the Resbones arrive to grab Kai and Rebecca, and well, let's just say that Burton removed his glasses, we all know what comes next.

Brock Lotus - there is a reason you are single. You have as much husbanding skills as Hood has parenting skills. Hilarious how he thinks of food so fast off his ex-wife, and then springs into action when his radio calls for him to attend at the Proctor house. Equally telling is how fast Hood responds to a similar call while he is casing the tunnels under Camp Geona. Hood is really developing into the role of sheriff. As Job (Hoon Lee) says, Baby this whole fake sheriff bullshit is getting in the way of your real job. And in a Banshee-ish coincidence, Emily Lotus is now the care nurse for Leah Proctor, now a resident of the Proctor house. Can you say "awkward" around the house?

Hood and Billy Raven head to the reservation to look for Chayton, with the completely expected hostility from local tribe members and tribal police. Nothing unusual here.

The scene where Carrie's redneck customers from last episode return to the diner is epic. Here I am just waiting for Carrie to kick his ass (again), and who should walk in looking for some apple pie, but Nola, yet another BBB (Beautiful Banshee Badass). Redneck is just lucky she wasn't carrying her tomahawk tonight. The two beauties chatting across the counter while sipping scotch and apple pie and trading long looks had a certain sexual tension to it, we'll see how it plays out in upcoming episodes.

This episode ends with Hood's daughter Deva (Ryann Shane) coming to hang out with her Dad at his place, behind The Forge, where Hood does his best to reject her. After she storms out the door, probably 30 seconds goes by and a knock on the door brings Hood to open it. We hear what sounds to me like a short bolt action sound, and an aww shit look to Hood's face. We can only hope that Deva had time to get clear.

 Same as last week, this episode was masterfully directed by Loni Peristere. I'm really liking the job he does.

This part is amended midweek after much twitter discussion between myself and a number of Fanshees.

Who is at Hood's door? This is probably the biggest question we are all left with after episode 2. Considering the classic Brock Lotus quote from Armies of One "Holy shit, is it just me or does every scumbag with an automatic weapon come to Banshee to shoot you", the number of possibilities seems endless.

Armies of One is a good segway to this after seeing a few promotional videos for episode three. Remember the gangster that Jason Hood stole money from? Well, looks like he hasn't forgotten about that money quite yet. His name is Brantley, and he comes looking for Hood with a vengeance. Betting on him or his men being at the door seemed like pretty good odds...

Until one reads the plot description of episode that is. 

Lucas’ secret is threatened when he’s arrested by FBI Special Agent Robert Phillips (Denis O’Hare), but both men end up at the mercy of Raymond Brantley (Shuler Hensley), a mob kingpin with a deadly mobile agenda. Against Chayton’s orders, Tommy Littlestone (Ricky Russert) spearheads a second strike against Proctor at a local gentlemen’s club. A revenge-minded Nola Longshadow (Odette Annable) mixes it up with Burton (Matthew Rauch) at Proctor’s mansion.
Written by Justin Britt-Gibson; directed by Magnus Martens.

Sounds to me like it was an FBI agent at his door. We will find out Friday!

Banshee - my thoughts

Hello again.

One of the things I want to do is discuss a few of my favorite TV shows here, and Cinemax's Banshee is hands down my favorite. I am a fanatical fan, collectively we are known as Fanshees. Some might argue that my love of this show would make my opinions too biased towards favoritism, I would argue that instead, my anticipation of the show's greatness makes me more critical than the non-connected watcher as I have a higher expectation level.

If you have not yet watched this episode, this post has many spoilers - be forewarned!

First, a few basics...

Banshee is a Cinemax production, meaning that if you don't like sex, violence, profanity and all the realism that accompanies it, don't bother watching. The target audience is adults who want escapism and freedom from the constraints of network shows. That's not saying the skin and blood is the draw to the show, the richness of the characters and great plot lines are. It is a noir adult comic book that comes to life on the screen.

Mixing this outstanding job of writing/acting/casting/special effects/editing/et al with the phenomenal social media presence the cast and crew have with their fans, makes Banshee combined with Twitter one of the most unique viewing experiences that one can have. I watch a lot of TV and spend a lot of time on social media, and I can honestly say that no other show even comes close to the live tweeting sessions of Banshee that leaves everyone involved exhausted at the end of the night. Multiple factors contribute to this social media success... Banshee showrunner Greg Yaitanes is noted to be a highly tech savvy guy, he is an angel investor in Twitter and uses technology in the shows production to high extents, e.g. using Google map views for scouting. The cast, who coincidentally seem to have zero problems getting twitter verified, are all on board with live tweeting and actually conversing with the Fanshees. The social buzz this creates is amazing, considering that as a cable show the audience size is smaller than most unsuccessful network shows, and yet still manages to trend in Twitterland every week.

Second, what happened prior to Season 3...

Banshee revolves around an unnamed thief (Antony Starr) and his girlfriend Anna (Ivanna Milicevic) who attempted to screw their crime boss Rabbit (Ben Cross) who happens to be Anna's dad, out of a rich score of diamonds they are buglarizing. The thief is caught and sent to 15 years in jail, but not before allowing Anna to escape with the haul, and a new identity provided by noted hacker Job (Hoon Lee).

Flash forward to the end of the thief's jail term, he contacts Job and finds where Anna is now living, a small town called Banshee, in Pennsylvania. The thief, while in a bar owned by Sugar Bates (Frankie Faison) kills several hoodlums who murder Lucas Hood (Griff Furst), sheriff to be of Banshee, a man unknown to any locals. The thief then decides to assume the identity of Lucas Hood and become sheriff himself.

The thief, now known as Lucas Hood spends the next two seasons either getting himself in shit or getting himself in bed with most everyone he meets, including the ex-Amish local crime lord Kai Proctor (Ulrich Thomsen), his niece Rebecca (Lili Simmons), and henchman Clay Burton (Matty Rauch); the local Native American tribe, most notable among them Chayton Littlestone (Geno Segers), Alex Longshadow (Anthony Ruivivar), and Nola Longshadow (Odette Annable); his deputies Brock Lotus (Matt Servitto), Siobhan Kelly (Trieste Kelly-Dunn), and Emmett Yawners (Demetrius Grosse); and his ex-girl Anna, now known as Carrie, her husband Gordon Hopewell (Rus Blackwell), and daughter Deva (Ryann Shane). All the time hunted by Rabbit, at the end of season 2, Rabbit is defeated and dead, and a sense of normality begins to return to Banshee.

That's the short version of seasons 1 and 2, needless to say there is a lot more plot than the summary I have space or scope for.

Third, the meat of the story, Season 3, Episode 1...

(Pardon me for about an hour while I re-enjoy watching the show)

Okay, back again ;-)

We start the episode out in true Banshee fashion, with a bang, literally. Hood, Brock, and Siobhan are chasing one of Emmett's killers through a deserted area. Catching up to him. He does the wrong thing...he tells them that they will never be able to pin Emmett's death on him. Surprise...Brock Lotus grows a pair and fires first, followed quickly by a determined looking Siobhan, then finally by Hood with a shotgun. Justice, served up Banshee style. People have said that they think this will affect Brock the most, but I seriously doubt this. You could see the distaste for the skinhead in his eyes and wrinkled up nose.

Jump to this seasons first intro, combination 5-13-69. We'll see if the numerology gets solved this season by a fan, I have my doubts. Savvy Fanshees know to watch the intros closely as they change every episode and give clues as to the characters development.

Next we have a blurred scene of Carrie banging someone. I'm thinking gotta be Gordon, especially when I see the Marine Corps tattoos, but no, it's the new guy, Langley Kirkwood, playing Colonel Douglass Stowe, one of this seasons antagonists. Carrie seems to have a thing for Marines, if I were 20 years younger, I'd post my old boot camp photo all over her timeline. As I am old and married, I only posted it once. ;-) And of course, we intermix scenes of Carrie and Col. Stowe, with scenes of Hood and Siobhan, in true Banshee editing fashion. I love how plot lines are intermingled in this show. Noteworthy here, both Antony Starr and Trieste Kelly-Dunn have their clothes somewhat on, a shift in direction from last season.

On the subject of Siobhan and Hood, it appears that Siobhan is trying to take ownership of him, telling him he ought to find a new place... we shall see how that goes, either it will cause tension, or next few episodes will have a scene with Hood in an apron doing dishes. ;-) This leads to a later awkward scene at Miles Diner, where Carrie is waitressing while Hood and Siobhan are breakfasting. One thing that hasn't been made clear in the story is just how much Siobhan knows about Hood and Carrie's past.

Sugar Bates, waxing philosophically about how quiet things are in Banshee. Yea, we all know how long that will last. ;-)

Then Burton is knocking on Kai's door. Upon entering, he actually speaks a few lines, probably more than we've heard from him in ages. His delivery of lines is so smooth and dead in character that I feel he is the most underutilized person on the show, and really hope he gets more dialog in upcoming episodes. Of course, it's Banshee, so out from the covers pops a perky Rebecca. They go down to the basement to speak with a prisoner that was obviously being tortured by Burton overnight. Kai extracts the information he wants, and in an extreme act of cruelty, Rebecca gives the already tortured fellow a few last seconds of sexy before she too exits. Burton takes off his glasses, and we all know what that means.

Back at the Cadi, Banshee Sheriff Dept headquarters, where they have a new deputy. Dep. Billy Raven, played by Chaske Spencer is on the job. Interesting name choice... the Raven is the Native American God of tricksters, and we have to wonder just how long it will take Dep. Raven to find that the joke is on him. Brock seems to be more of a serious fellow this season, maybe something to do with the beard.

Shift to a park bench where Kai is sitting with his Mother, played by Jennifer Griffin. Ulrich Thomsen should earn an Oscar for the expression of guilt in his eyes when his Mother asks how her granddaughter Rebecca is. I don't think many actors could pull that look off.

Later, in the night around a fire in the woods where a number of Kinaho toughs are discussing change. Then from above, Chayton booms out his disagreement with his Godlike voice. That voice is so good that James Earl Jones wants to talk like Geno Segers. Geno doesn't need to act to make a living, he could rent out his voice for eulogies and political campaign speeches and make plenty of money. His character is one serious ass kicker and worth watching the show for that alone.

Back to Matt Sevitto as Brock... The man truly lives up to the Banshee traditions of banging the women like a manimal, great to see more people getting some. For those of you that love the backstory, be sure to visit http://welcometobanshee.com to watch the Origins series of shorts.

Good to see Ryann Shane and the newly married Chelsea Cardwell-Lentz back in action as Deva Hopewell (Hood's daughter) and her bestie Beaty. Not so good to see Hood giving parental advice on how to better burglarize a place. I guess when your Dad is a thief pretending to be a sheriff, your Mom is out banging Marines, and your Step-Dad is a few steps past the need for a 12 step program, you have some issues. Russ Blackwell plays the part of a man close to rock bottom well, we hope his character Gordon gets some help.

Onward to building up story lines for the rest of the season... Chayton informs a very terrified Rebecca that the Kinaho gangs will be coming for her and Kai, brazenly robs an armed military convoy with a bow and arrow, and in the ensueing investigation by Banshee Sheriff Hood, we get to what I believe to be the meat of Season 3, lots and lots of cash at Marine Corps Camp Geona. You can see the dollar signs in Hood's eyes while he is talking with Col. Stowe. This is one place that I felt a let down. As a former Marine, these guys didn't have a realistic look/feel of Marines. Chesty Puller would shit little blue bricks if he saw them. Probably I'm a bit more picky here than a civilian would be. Likewise, I was disappointed in the later grenade throwing scenes, I've tossed a few and know how heavy they are.

Have to give a shoutout here to Sheena Zadeh, wife of showrunner Greg Yaitanes who appears behind the counter of Miles Diner. Nice dig on Duck Dynasty lol.

So we end with everything in our universe back in proper alignment. All the pieces are in place for one hellova ass kicker season, and I for one can't wait until next Friday.

In conclusion, make sure to treat yourself to one of the best shows on TV next Friday night on whatever chanel carries Cinemax in your locality. Go to http://welcometobanshee.com and check out the extra content. Get your ass on twitter and join us for an experience you just won't have with any other show.

Introductions

Hello everyone!

After reading so many other people's good works, I have been inspired to create a blog for myself. My plan is to discuss the things I see and do in life, and hopefully entertain or provoke your thoughts. I will try not to be over wordy or too opinionated, but no guarantees. ;-)

See you here soon when I have a chance to develop some decent content.

Yours Truly,
Dave Weber