Round Two: Banshee

Banshee: Season 1, Episode 2 “The Rave” (B+)

After the thrilling pilot from last week, this second installment does not disappoint. It’s always a debate for me regarding how to refer to characters like our protagonist, who now is Lucas Hood but whose original name is something entirely different. I’ll opt to call him Hood since everyone else on the show does. He’s certainly making waves in Banshee, particularly with Matt Servitto’s Brock, who really hates him. Telling him to shut up when he chastised him for being late and then following it up with a warning not to make him ask twice is hardly the way to make friends, but that’s not Hood’s style. Punching out both of the bouncers at the rave was quite a strategy, and it’s clear that Hood is going to make a mark on his new town. Everything is rather incestuous in this small town, as Hood manages to have sex with the daughter of the friendly Pennsylvania Dutch patriarch who reported the rave to the police, and then he took home Carrie’s daughter after her boyfriend died at the rave. The entire rave scene was intense to be sure, as was the fact that Hood decided to show up at and eat the food from the wake for the man he killed. Kai continues to be a terrifically terrifying villain, slicing off one of his minion’s fingers before releasing his dog on him after giving him a slight head start. It’s a good thing that Kai likes Hood, otherwise he’d really have his hands full.