What I’m Watching: Banshee (Series Finale)

Banshee: Season 4, Episode 8 “Requiem”

I think this is just about everything I could have hoped for as far as a finale for this show goes. It’s interesting to see that pretty much everyone gets a happy ending, but in this case that means plenty of bloody fistfights and beatings, and more dead bodies than men left standing. The most impactful one for me was Carrie and Job’s takedown of the cartel and Proctor with it, sealed memorably with the firing of a torpedo by none other than Brock. He truthfully is the character who has changed the most over the course of this show, transformed from being constantly told to shut up by Lucas and now fully cognizant of what lines need to be crossed in order to ensure that the bad people don’t win. I also like that Carrie and Job prioritize ridding Banshee of true evil when it doesn’t actually provide them with any gain. The revelation – or realization, as it was presented – that it was Clay who killed Rebecca was almost inconsequential, since he fought to the bitter end before whimpering and then getting his neck snapped by a disapproving Proctor. I like that Proctor went out shooting and that we didn’t actually see what happened, even though it’s impossible that he could have survived a machine gun battle when it was six against one. Kurt did everything he could not to kill his brother, and now it appears that Banshee, for the time being, is truly rid of all bad influences. I’m sure that won’t always be the case, but I’m happy to leave this fictional town better than when we met it. A remix of the show’s opening theme playing in the background as Sugar said goodbye to Lucas was the perfect way to go, and a fond way to remember this series, which I’d describe as the most violent show I’ve ever seen but also one of the most compelling. I’ll continue to recommend it to friends and casual acquaintances, and I’m sure that I’ll find myself watching clips of old episodes every once in a while. It’s been an experience, to be sure.

Series finale: B+
Series grade: A-
Season MVP: Matt Servitto as Brock
Season grade: B+
Series MVP: Ulrich Thomsen as Kai
Best Season: Season 1 and 2
Best Episode: “A Mixture of Madness”