Banshee "Snakes and Whatnot" Review: War of the Worlds

Banshee S03E02: "Snakes and Whatnot"

If last week's Season 3 premiere was about exhibiting the lingering effects of two seasons' worth of blood, gunfire, and trauma, the amusingly titled "Snakes and Whatnot" was about reestablishing the seemingly endless threats that swirl around Hood in his little pocket of Pennsylvania. The good news is that Banshee always does a fine job of building up or expanding on these threats, particularly in the way it represents the distinct and oftentimes warring subcultures involved—not to mention the way Hood displays purposeful indifference to their customs, directives, and tensions.

One of the things that consistently impresses me about this show is how easily it seems to expand its universe without losing sight of the core components of the story. While Season 2 jettisoned a big chunk of Banshee's macro narrative involving Rabbit and the fallout of Hood's prison term, it's not as if it left a gaping hole in the plot. That's partially due to the series' steady handling of the Proctor-Kinaho feud and the internal politics of both sides of that war, a layered story that's steeped in a much deeper history than we've seen on-screen. But it's also due to the show's ability to open up new sections of its world and make it feel as if they'd been there all along. Last season, we saw more of the Kinaho tribe and spent some time with Proctor's family, and now there's this military base and dirty mercs led by the deadly Colonel Stowe. Constantly building upon your storyworld each season is Television Storytelling 101, but it's not always executed as well as it is on Banshee, and "Snakes and Whatnot" was a real testament to that.

The episode showcased just how many competing factions and agendas are in play here. It was smartly structured to spotlight both sides of the aforementioned Proctor-Kinaho feud before launching into an extended sequence that's bound to have lasting consequences for the next couple of episodes.

In one corner, Rebecca's matriculation into something kind of evil continued, as she blew up Kai's somewhat-hostile negotiations with a rival drug dealer by almost immediately shooting the dude's mouthy son in the knees, simply because he acted like an asshole. The ensuing bloodbath—slow-motion action and blood splatter, in a slaughterhouse—was the kind of set piece that only this show can pull off, and of course it was a result of the kind of brash, misguided behavior that's come to define Rebecca lately. The best part was how Kai's resigned reaction gave way to some fear and confusion when he asked Rebecca to "finish what she started," and she did... with a bit of a smirk. That's pretty dark, and it revealed that maybe Kai has fostered something in his niece that even he can't explain or control.

In the other corner, Chayton and the Redbones plotted their attack on Kai and Rebecca for their part in Alex's death, and shockingly, that plotting involved a lot of violence. However, despite a relatively entertaining speech about Hitler's love for cowboys and indians, "Snakes and Whatnot" nicely used Chayton as more than just a big, blunt instrument. First there was that quick scene where he refused to let his younger brother participate in the snatch-and-grab mission at Proctor's mansion, presumably to protect him, and then later he shared a fascinating conversation with Nola about how to handle Proctor altogether. Both Chayton and Nola are outlaw figures among their own people, which is what makes them dangerous but also what makes them so interesting. Nola didn't find much value in Chayton's plan, given that Proctor and Rebecca pretty easily managed to disrupt the Longshadow family's hold on the tribe, but she also made it clear that she doesn't care about the vitality of the tribe itself. Thus, they have the same goals—revenge—but for slightly different reasons.

The conflict came to a head in true Banshee fashion, wherein the Redbones' infiltration of the quiet Proctor household was cross-cut with Chayton's ceremonial three-way with a couple of ladies. Just like in the slaughterhouse shootout that took place earlier in the episode, the scene made good use of slow motion and sound-mixing, and it was beautifully filmed as well (night shots in pools are just cool, okay?). Furthermore, it signaled that Nola was correct in her assertions that a couple of gangbangers weren't enough to defeat Proctor (well, Clay, but same thing), and revealed that, for as deadly and bloodthirsty as Rebecca has appeared at times, she still isn't ready for the perpetual stream of violence to literally show up on her doorstep. She was definitely shaken up by her aborted kidnapping, and justifiably so, but obviously her burgeoning killer persona is just that—a persona.

And who was stuck in the middle of the bloodshed? Hood, of course. His interest in putting an end to Proctor's criminal operations is one of those great long-simmering storylines, but Chayton and the Redbones are probably the more pressing issue at the moment, given that they're loaded with military-grade weapons. Nevertheless, I loved that Hood's reaction was not one of real concern, but irreverence for both Proctor and the Redbones. His pointed note to Kai that he hopes the two sides kill each other sooner rather than later is in the early lead for Season 3's best piece of dialogue.

Unsurprisingly, Hood used the Redbones' attack on Proctor Manor as an excuse to throw his weight around on the Kinaho reservation, which is seemingly one of his favorite pasttimes. The presence of new deputy and disgraced Kinaho member Billy Raven (Chaske Spencer) added a fun little wrinkle to this particular visit, if only to because we got to see Raven squirm at Hood's willingness to mouth off and fight whomever he wanted. (By the way, the two-on-12 fight? I liked Hood and Raven's odds.) Plus, their trip introduced us to a couple more new characters, Raven's old partner Aimee (Being Human's Meaghan Rath) and his asshole boss Yaz (Carlos Guerrero), both of whom fit right into the Banshee's world without much issue. In a similar vein to the show's exploration of the internal workings of the Amish community and the Kinaho leadership, it seems to be prepping additional stories involving the general populace of the tribe, and I'm all for that.

This week's other big expansion of course has to do with the stuff on the military base and the decidedly creepy Colonel Stowe. Stowe began this episode by performing oral sex on Carrie in her place of business and ended it watching TV naked, which is... quite the doubleshot. In the interim, he was dumped by Carrie, who's joined up with the old gang to take down the vault on the base, and beat up a younger member of his crew for stealing money outside the purview of his surely illegal operation that also involves stealing money. Just two episodes in, Stowe has been established as sufficiently eerie and deadly, which makes him the perfect Banshee antagonist. Shout-out to Langley Kirkwood for bringing the heat in the role.

Between the multi-layered Proctor-Kinaho situation and whatever's happening with Stowe and the base, Hood is dealing with quite the slate of awful people who would love to kill him. Throw in the ever-present tension between Hood and Carrie (they had a fun little spat this week about her relationship with Stowe and his with Siobhan), his stop-and-start dysfunctional relationship with Deva, and the planning of the vault heist, and the slate looks even more ominous. And we can't forget whomever the heck showed up at his door, gun cocked and presumably ready to fire. Remember last week when I said he was in relatively good spirits? That didn't last long, huh?

But it doesn't matter—regardless of who's on the other side of that doorframe, whatever is bound to happen with the onslaught of criminal forces, and however much personal upheaval lies ahead, I'm confident that Banshee will juggle it all without difficulty, because this is a show that just knows how to keep pushing to make its stories and characters better.

NOTES

– Gordon started the episode defeatedly making a pass at his co-worker and ended it by shutting down the hooker he himself had just called. Progress?

– I loved that final scene with Carrie and Nola sharing pie and Scotch and talking about their gun preferences and crappy dads. Any chance we could get a team-up sooner rather than later?

– Kai's mother has pancreatic cancer, so he's moved her into his home and also hired someone to care for her at all times. That's surely not going to end well.

– Brock's ex-wife really likes having sex with him, but wishes he would stop eating red meat.

– How about Hood's subtle suggestion that he wouldn't necessarily be opposed to he and Siobhan consolidating residences? That's something.

– Alright, so who was on the other side of that door? Let's hear those guesses, folks.