In the latest episode of Banshee, Hood comes clean and tells Brock about his criminal past, Job tracks down Leo, and Clay takes on the Aryan brotherhood.
By Michael Stets — Staff Writer
As Banshee races to the finish line, some secrets will be kept while others may get let out of the bag. Two episodes are not nearly enough time to put a bow on all of the story lines taking place in the Amish town filled with surprises and deceit, but just as some more bodies will drop, several truths will also be brought to light. That is a safe assumption, but as always, there will assuredly be some surprises waiting around the corner.
In this week’s episode, Hood and Brock find themselves in unforeseen circumstances, which leads to them having a chat about his past life as a criminal. It’s a comforting release and a bit of a purge for Hood, whose secret is only known by Carrie, Job and Sugar. Others have suspected there was always more than meets the eye, but Hood never told them anything that would confirm their suspicion. Brock presses him and it seems the burden of keeping it all hidden has to be lifted to some degree so Hood lets it rip in a gripping scene between the two.
But will the former Sheriff ever reveal his actual real name?
Let’s find out as we recap Episode 7.
Finish what you started
Carrie visits her psychiatrist, Dr. Hubbard, who wants to get to the bottom of the cuts and bruises she is now brandishing. Those are, of course, from the fight she had with Deputy Cruz while her house was being invaded by Proctor’s henchman last week. The doctor tells Carrie he will grant her leniency in what he reports as far as regaining custody of Deva and Max, but only if she comes clean about what’s really going on in her life. He wants to speak with her off the record because he’s a father and he understands her love for her children. When she fills him on some of what is happening, he advises her to finish what she started so that she can be the mother she needs to be going forward
Not your typical advice from a mental health professional, but it seems Dr. Hubbard has taken a special interest in Carrie and truly wants to help her.
Later on in the episode, Carrie is waiting in the back of District Attorney Mark Franklin’s car. She knows he’s been letting criminals off the hook for Proctor to protect his criminal enterprise. She tells him to tell her everything, before informing him he will quit his job and then skip town.
Bunker goes full American History X on his boss
It’s safe to say that Calvin Bunker has now gone completely off the rails. Last week he stormed into the bedroom naked and bloody after beheading his father-in-law (#BunkerJunk was last week’s sub headline) and proceeded to rape his wife. The deep rooted anger and psychosis of the Aryan leader as been alluded to several times over the first six episodes, and now it’s begun to bear some murderous fruit.
This week Calvin is furious that he still can’t get ahold of his wife Maggie, who took their son Hank and fled after enduring a sexual assault on top of living many years in fear of his true capabilities. Calvin is screaming into the mirror in the bathroom at his place of employment when his boss walks in and asks incredulously what it is that he’s doing. Incredibly poor timing for his sake as Calvin decides it’s as good a time as ever to rip his shirt off and reveal his “white power” eagle tattoo. Once his Asian boss sees that, his face is overcome with extreme fear. It’s a scene very reminiscent of the movie “American History X” when Ed Norton’s character shows off his tattoo to his mom’s boyfriend and says “see this? It means ‘not welcome.'” Calvin unloads on his boss and beats him to death by bashing his head into the floor, all while shouting racist names at him. He let’s out a primal scream and then spits on him in disgust. The proud Neo-Nazi exits the bathroom and strolls through the office while all the employees look on in horror at the bloodied and tattooed Calvin they never knew existed beneath a shirt and tie.
Chris Coy has done a fantastic job this season in his portrayal of a truly disturbing, violent and maniacal man.
Clay Burton is off his leash
Proctor’s No.2 has been as loyal a solider as any criminal kingpin could possibly imagine. He was willing to fight to the death and absorb multiple blows from a hatchet before ending Nola Longshadow’s life last season, and has taken part in a few other messy battles along the way. Usually Burton only takes action if it’s absolutely necessary because most of the time a head nod or deep stare will let the opposition know there is a line they need not cross. However, when the glasses come off, you know it’s go time.
Such was the case this week when he headed over to Aryan headquarters to have a chat with Calvin. You see, Proctor found out the brotherhood had stolen a full shipment of drugs off of one of his trucks set for delivery to the Cartel, along with one of his man left for dead with a swastika carved into his chest. This kind of deed can’t be left unpunished and the heat is on as far as delivering to the Cartel. So Clay goes over to set things right. Eight of Calvin’s best men find Clay sitting inside awaiting their return and Proctor’s loyal lion takes them all out in swift and violent action. This scene was shot in a very creative manner with a rotating camera shot in 360 degrees to circle the full circumference of the room. It begins rotating away from the action while you hear what is happening. Then you see the other side of the room and as it rotates back to the fight scene, and all that is left are a pile of dead Neo-Nazis and Clay covered in their blood.
Clay means business and Calvin better bring in stiffer competition or he’s not going to have much a crew left to battle Proctor.
The Aryans weren’t the only victims of Clay this week. He killed Deputy Cruz in her own shower by slashing her throat. The price of failing to kill off Carrie in last week’s episode.To me, this was kind of a waste. I would have rather seen a longer fight scene between her and Carrie lead to her demise, but perhaps I”m alone in thinking this. Either way, the shower scene was a solid and creepy intro to Episode 7.
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain
Another well-executed scene in this week’s episode took place between Agent Dawson and Declan Bode. Dawson may be tied up and heading for death, but she’s not the least bit afraid of the killer. They have a chat and Declan even pours her a drink, which she has to sip through a straw due to being bound in rope. The highlight of the dialogue was Dawson telling Declan that she’s seen what’s behind the curtain too many times to actually be afraid of him and likens serial killers to the Wizard of Oz. The serial killer more or less tells her that she’s become too desensitized to know when she should be afraid, which would be now since his buddies are headed over to feast on her heart.
And the truth shall set you free
Brock tells Hood the FBI is mobilizing a task force to help find Special Agent Dawson, but Hood says she’ll be dead before they can ever find her. Brock informs Hood he’s awaiting word on receiving the phone records of Gail Westcott, who offed herself via fire at the beginning of last week’s episode. The thought being that perhaps one of her calls will lead to Declan Bode, who has Dawson in his custody. When Brock tells Hood he still has the phone, he takes Brock to The Forge so Job can work his hacking magic to obtain the phone records.
Brock and Job head to the house where Dawson is being held, but instead of finding where Dawson is, Dr. Quick gets the jump on both of them and before they know it they are unconscious and handcuffed in a hidden basement. Didn’t expect Hood and Brock to both get beat up with an old pipe wrench, but I won’t harp on it too much.
When they come to, Brock begins to press Hood about his true identity. Since he thinks they are both going to be killed, he wants to know who the former Sheriff really and truly is (don’t we all). Hood resists at first, but eventually he gives in and comes clean about his prior life, spilling the beans to a bewildered Brock on his sordid criminal past. Hood filled the Sheriff in on assuming the real Lucas Hood’s identity, his past career as an “infiltration specialist,” his 15-year jail term, and his relationship with Carrie, which led him to Banshee in the first place. Brock was in utter shock at learning all of this and mortified that he served as a Deputy for a criminal. Although Hood was living a lie, he reveals that he began to love being a cop. Brock did have a confession of his own. He told Hood how Bode almost killed him last week when he attacked him out back at the Banshee Police Department.
Here is a sample of some of the great dialogue from this scene in Episode 7, which was written by Adam Targum.
Brock: “Who are you? I know you’ve got a lot of secrets Hood. I’d be an idiot not to have noticed.”
Hood: “No. We are not going to do that condemned men confess their sins shit alright.”
Brock: “Yeah, I think that is exactly what we are going to do.”
Hood: “No we’re not.”
Brock: “Any minute now that door is going to open and something very bad is going to walk through it. Now don’t you want to meet this with a clean conscience?”
Hood: “No, shut the fuck up.”
Brock: “Come on Hood please? Listen, Just answer the fucking question for me.”
Hood: “I said drop it.”
Brock: “No. I’m not going to drop it. I want to know. Why are you here. Why would you become a cop.”
Hood: “Me, I’m not a cop. I never was a fucking cop.”
Brock: “What does that mean?”
Hood: “I”m not Lucas Hood. I saw him die. I picked up his wallet and I became him.”
Brock: “That’s not even possible.”
Hood: “I’m a lie Brock. I’m a fake. I was a thief. Not just a thief. I’m a fucking infiltration specialist. Diamonds, gold, art, anything I could get it. The places no one could get into, I got in. I had a good run but I got caught and I did 15 years.”
Brock asked Hood what his real name was, but the conversation was interrupted by Bode and Dr. Quick, who came out to greet both of them (We may never know what it is!). Bode informed them the doctor would be performing some surgery on them in order to have them blend in during the planned ritual when they carve out Dawson’s heart in the name of Satan. Bode returns to his lair and Quick readies his tools, but with a bit of luck Brock kicks the doctor who falls to the ground right in front of Hood. Hood locks the body modification doctor in a leg scissors/body triangle maneuver, which renders him unconscious. They grab the handcuff keys and break into Declan’s lair and begin to dole out some deadly justice.
Brock and Hood lay waste to all in the room while Dawson grabs a bone saw and cuts herself free. Hood wails away at Bode with a bat, but the satanist just laughs at him. Before he can deliver the death blow, Dawson yells for him to stop and then shoots Bode right between the eyes.
As the police arrive on the scene, so does Proctor. The Mayor asks Hood if Bode is, in fact, the man that killed his niece. When Hood tells him so, he quietly thanks him before walking off.
Job gets his revenge
Leo gets a huge surprise as Job is sitting in his office waiting for him. He tries to talk his way out of it and bribe Job with money, but Job is already a step ahead of him and let’s him know he already stolen all of his assets. Job thought about killing him, but instead of shooting him in the head, he let’s Leo know he’s given him his own identity. Now every crime Job has ever been linked to or suspected of all falls in Leo’s lap. As Job was a much savvier criminal than Leo and was easily able to find him, he walks off and tells Leo to have a “nice short life,” because the list he has pinned on him is a long one with a lot of angry and dangerous people attached to it who will be coming straight for him. A stroke of genius for the career computer hacker, who has gotten his groove back after being a shell of himself due to the two years of torture he endured after Camp Genoa.
Final thoughts
Ok Fanshees. The serial killer has been captured and killed, so we can cross that one off the list. With only one episode left we still have Kurt vs. Calvin set to go down, the Cartel coming after Proctor, and Proctor and Clay continuing their war with the brotherhood. That much we know, but what about Hood? Are he and Proctor going to collide over what happened at Carrie’s house? They didn’t have words when they crossed paths this episode, but maybe because it wasn’t the right time to hash things out. Carrie could also go after Proctor as well. We will have to wait and see. The last three season finales have failed to disappoint, so now that we head into the series finale, I’d expect it will hold up in comparison. We will sort out the casualties next week. Don’t forget to catch Damon and myself on this week’s “Television’s Most Wanted” where we will break down Episode 7 and try to make sense of it all and predict what may lie ahead.
Other notable moments
Kurt Bunker visited Maggie at Brock’s house and told her she needed to head out of town until everything blew over with Calvin. He wants her to go to a friends house who is an ex-cop where she will be much safer.
Proctor made a trip to Washington D.C. to visit a Senator, who he is also in cahoots with. An interesting new twist on things involving his dealings with the Cartel.
Brock recognizes Job at The Forge and recalls the shootout with Rabbit at the end of Season 1. Some funny back and forth banter occurred as Job made fun of the level of computer expertise the Banshee Police have.
Memorable quotes
“You need to finish what you started.”–Dr. Tim Hubbard
“You want to know the truth? I’m a liar.”–Carrie
“Oh honey, that ain’t your money no more.”–Job
“Sorry Kim but I’m not into girls.”–Dawson
“I’ve seen that look before.”–Job
“I was a cop and I liked it. I fucking loved it.”–Hood
“Just like old times.”–Sugar
“Mr. Bunker took something that didn’t belong to him. My employer would like it back.”–Clay
“I was getting up every day and putting on the uniform and eventually the lie took over.”–Hood
“I think you’ve taken down enough wizards to wonder if maybe they know something that you don’t. That maybe there are truths other than the ones you tell yourself and those truths have fucked you up so badly that you don’t even know when to be afraid.”–Declan Bode
Music
The song playing in the closing credits is called “Broken Town” by Frally Hynes featuring Asdru Sierra.
