What I’m Watching: Banshee

Banshee: Season 1, Episode 7 “Behold a Pale Rider” (B+)

Let me tell you, Banshee is a terrible place to live. Dava especially is going to grow up with some serious problems, mainly because she’s witnessed her boyfriend die, her mother nearly sexually assaulted, and now had her life threatened with a gun literally to her head. There’s no one quite as awesome as Lucas, who gets himself betrayed and left for worse than dead by Carrie, then manages to break free and the first place he goes is the school where the hostage situation is playing out, where he walks right in, kills one hostage taker, and then kills the other. He’s a force to be reckoned with, and he definitely doesn’t seem like a cop. I’m not sure which reaction was more startling – Rabbit’s fury at not finding Lucas in the motel room, or his shock at seeing Lucas walk right past the camera out of the school on TV, something I feared would happen when Lucas saw the hostage situation playing out while he was trapped. Banshee once again reasserted his existence as a small town when Brock told one of the hostage takers that he was a year behind him in school, and both the mayor and the District Attorney always seem to be connected to every big event in town. Emmett performed commendably during the robbery, calmly reciting a prayer while preparing for what he thought was certain death. I liked Lucas’ response to Kai during their conversation: “I’ve never had much patience for people who quote scripture.” While Lucas has avoided being indebted to Kai thus far, I have a feeling that he’ll be just the person to help him out when Rabbit’s hitman catches up with him.