What I’m Watching: Banshee (Season Finale)

Banshee: Season 3, Episode 10 “We All Pay Eventually” (B+)

I think there’s a contractual requirement for this show that every season finale needs to involve a handful of the show’s characters marching in guns blazing to eradicate their latest enemy, with no thought given to the collateral damage or very public impression it may cause. Lucas showing up to the base and telling Stowe exactly who he was certainly classifies as bold, though it’s hardly surprising given what we’ve seen him do in the past. Bringing Gordon back to help with the prison break was a smart plan, and him getting caught in the line of fire and serving as the major casualty of the operation is especially tragic since his willingness to come along demonstrates just how far he had come to accepting the state of things in general and Carrie in particular. Lucas flashing back to Chayton with Siobhan as Stowe had a gun to Carrie’s head was worrisome, but I think all this may be showing him that violence is not the only way. That said, Job got grabbed by his number one fan, and it’s going to be difficult if not impossible to track him down. I’m curious about the introductory segment we got with David Harbour from “The Newsroom” as an elite military recruiter of some sort who got inside Lucas’ head in a way no one else has managed to, and to see how that will relate to the search for Job in season four. Kai made an important decision to side with the buyers he hadn’t most recently offended, and even let his new associate have some fun with his sword by slicing off his former competitor’s head, in a bit of gore that rates as gratuitous even for this show, coupled with an arm chopping too. Kurt’s plotline is just developing, and after a bit of anger management help from Brock, it looks like he’ll have even more to get his aggression going following the horrifyingly painful event we got a preview of, as his former brothers broke in to his home to burn his Nazi tattoos off so that he could truly be free of his past. The addition of his character is a sign that this show is continuing to transform and grow as it loses an alarming number of characters to a violent death. I’m eagerly awaiting season four.

Season grade: B+
Season MVP: Trieste Kelly Dunn as Siobhan