In the Banshee recap for the final season premiere, Hood returns after a two-year disappearance, Proctor is now the Mayor and his niece Rebecca, has been murdered…
By Michael Stets — Staff Writer
A lot has changed inside the walls of Banshee since the conclusion of Season 3, but all the characteristics and traits the Amish town in Pennsylvania is known for have remained intact and true to form.
The first episode of Season 4 begins two years after the Camp Genoa shootout, which resulted in Mayor Gordon Hopewell getting killed and Job kidnapped. New faces are introduced, some surprising details are revealed and the town’s mythology continues to grow and expand.
The Return of Hood
Brock—who is now the Sheriff—is checking GPS coordinates in the woods when he stumbles upon an abandoned cabin. Once he steps inside, and much to his surprise, he is greeted by Hood, who is wielding a shotgun. We learn that Hood—now full mountain man with a huge beard and long hair—has skipped town for almost two years running and no one had heard or seen him since.
“Just like old times eh? Except no one is bleeding … yet.”—Brock says to Hood
They head to the new Banshee Police Department (RIP Cadi) and Brock informs Hood that Rebecca has been murdered and her last GPS coordinates matched the cabin he just found him in. The murder is similar in nature to two others that occurred in the last year and a serial killer may, in fact, be on the loose. Brock is suspicious of Hood and considers him a person of interest. Hood maintains his innocence and informs Brock the cabin is on Proctor’s property, but no one knew he was staying there. We learn through a flashback that Rebecca found Hood holed up in a motel on the outskirts of town where he went off the deep end in a drunken bender filled with suicidal thoughts. She was the one who set him up in the cabin. Those two have a history and although they didn’t always see eye to eye they looked out for one another in their own unique way.
Back at The Forge, Sugar is just as surprised as Brock to see his old friend and lets it be known that he is still quite upset with him for fleeing and turning his back on his friends while Job was still missing. He borrows a car (an old school Dodge Charger) from Sugar and although he no longer wears the badge, it’s clear he’ll be investigating who killed Rebecca.
“You look like something out of the bible,” Sugar tells Hood.
After returning to the cabin to cut his hair and beard, Hood heads to the crime scene where Rebecca’s body was found and crosses paths with his old nemesis, Kai Proctor, who is now the Mayor of Banshee. Antony Starr and Ulrich Thomsen don’t share the screen often, but when they do it’s fantastic. The mutual respect is still there and it’s ironic that Proctor is now part of the local government while Hood is on the outside. The two engage in some small talk, trade a few barbs and basically come to an agreement on working together to find Rebecca’s killer. Since Proctor is now the mayor he tells Hood he is somewhat hampered in his ability to clarify matters. Proctor gives Hood a place to start and man to speak to: Aaron Boedicker in the Foothills. Hood pays him a visit and tunes him up, forcing Boedicker to spill information on his nephew LJ, who was sleeping with Rebecca. Hood encounters a group of crazed locals, but Brock shows up in time to bail him out of trouble.
Carrie, the Town Vigilante?
Carrie Hopewell is having a difficult time coping with the loss of Gordon. While the two were in the midst of a divorce, and she was still caught up in shenanigans with Hood, Carrie still loved the former mayor and they were both holding out hope of reconciling. Carrie is now seeing a therapist (surprise motherf***er, it’s Erik King aka Sgt. Dokes from Dexter) and while she’s not talking through her problems, she’s blowing off steam in the streets.
Two members of the Aryan brotherhood were released from the BPD and unfortunately for them they crossed paths with Carrie in an alleyway. She has knowledge of what crime they committed and that they got released and as they approach her, she beats them both quite viciously with a blackjack and stomps and breaks their hands. Carrie is going through it and fits of violence seem to be a tonic to help her release some of the pain she is still going through from the death of Gordon.
Brock stops by her house and informs her that Hood is back in town. Those two are magnetically drawn to one another, so things should get interesting once they come face to face.
The Feuding Bunkers
Last time we saw Deputy Kurt Bunker, he was getting his Neo-Nazi tattoos torched off at the hands of his brother Calvin, who happens to be the leader of the Aryan brotherhood in Banshee. While that’s complicated enough, it’s about to get even more murky as Kurt is now sleeping with Maggie Bunker, his brother’s wife!
Calvin for Kurt outside his house to speak with him and make things right, but Kurt won’t have any of it. He spent two months in a burn unit thanks to his brother and he has written him off. This relationship won’t end well, especially if Calvin finds out about Maggie sleeping with his brother.
Some issues may also arise with Proctor since his right hand man, Clay Burton, caught some Redbones gang members selling drugs where they weren’t supposed to. It turns out the Aryans were hired protection and were supposed to make sure that didn’t happen. As a courtesy, Clay brought the drug dealer to them where Calvin crushed his head in a vice. Burton warned them not to slip up again. Calvin is a ticking time bomb. While asking his boss to leave work, he envisioned killing him in front of the whole office.
Is Job Alive?
In last year’s season finale, we learned about a mysterious man named Dalton, who years ago recruited Hood, into an elite, off-the-grid, military unit, which explained where Hood learned his deadly hand-to-hand combat skills, among many other abilities.
In one of Carrie’s flashbacks we see her and Hood break into Dalton’s house in attempt to find Job’s whereabouts. Dalton tells Hood he was responsible for delivering Job and that he should know that his friend was as good as dead as soon as he was captured. Hood kills him before escaping with Carrie back to The Forge. Emotions flared up during a heated discussion and much to the chagrin and disapproval of Carrie and Sugar, Hood says it’s over and there is nothing more they can do to find Job before walking out. This explains the tension with Sugar and the likely imminent anger headed his way from Carrie. It seems in Hood’s eyes, he exhausted his efforts on reaching the only man who would’ve given them a decent chance at finding their missing friend.
Who Killed Rebecca?
It’s clear despite Brock saying Hood and Proctor are both persons of interest, that neither one is responsible for her death. The mayor and Hood had several recollections and remembrances of her during the episode. She is the third victim in the last year and the FBI will now be headed to Banshee to open an investigation. That will be spearheaded by Agent Veronica Dawson (Eliza Dushku), who should make her debut in next week’s episode.
In the post-credits scene, Rebecca can be seen driving up to Hood’s cabin during the day like she has something to tell him, but she ends up driving away. Later that night she drives up again looking frightened and shook up and in need of Hood’s help. Her assailant grabs her and she screams as the scene fades to black.
There you go Fanshees. Season 4 is off to a solid start and the story lines have started spinning their webs. Brock has the job he’s always wanted, but will he be able to handle it all? Is Job alive or dead? Can Hood and Proctor remain at peace? When and where will the serial killer strike next? How long until the Bunkers are at each other’s throats? The table has been set on what should be another action-filled, bullet-ridden, and blood-soaked season where the interwoven narratives should crescendo into another explosive ending where it’s more than likely several characters will meet their maker. One episode down and only seven more to go. Talk to you next week.
Music:
The track played in the closing credits is “Pronia” by Strange Wilds.
