Banshee "A Fixer of Sorts" Review: Yes, No, Maybe

Banshee S03E03: "A Fixer of Sorts"

You know, I find it pretty satisfying to write about the themes of a given episode of TV, or to dig into a show's character arcs. Thinking about the medium on that level can be fun, especially when series are really rolling. But you know what else is fun? Typing everything in all caps because HOLY CRAP WHAT AN EPISODE OF BANSHEE THIS WAS. This was only the THIRD episode of the season, you guys. Not a penultimate episode, not a finale—we're not even a full third of the way through. If you were trying to get someone hooked on Banshee and wanted to introduce the show with an episode where the serialized portions wouldn't pose too much of a problem, "A Fixer of Sorts" would be a perfect episode start with. It had everything Banshee does so well—great fight sequences, weird villains, dark humor, so much violence, and some surprisingly powerful emotional moments.

Let's start with the fun stuff. That fight between Burton and Nola was one of the show's best yet, and a very early candidate for best fight sequence of 2015. We know that Banshee's creative team produces these tremendous fights on a regular basis, but this one worked so well because of the movement (around the driveway, into and out of the car, etc.), the editing (the interspliced flashbacks to both characters' previous traumas were a nice touch), and the extended length.

There's something to be said for a fight that just doesn't let up, growing increasingly violent and emotionally resonant along the way. Moreover, that this one featured two supporting characters, neither of whom is absolutely crucial to the macro story, and was still so well-developed as a fight and as a piece of storytelling is impressive, and speaks to how well Banshee knows how to do Banshee things. Based on some of the discussion I've seen in the comments over the last couple of weeks, I'm sure many of you are sad to see Nola go, and I'm right there with you. Odette Annable made great contributions to the series. It does, however, feel like Banshee's focus is steadying on Chayton and the Redbones, so that perhaps made Nola more expendable. Quite the way to go out, huh?

The other extremely fun portion of this episode involved Hood being kidnapped twice, which is another one of those Banshee things that might seem a little goofy in theory but when executed properly, further complicates up an already messy life and secret. We quickly learned that the person on the other side of Hood's front door was FBI Special Agent Phillips (Denis O'Hare), who was tasked with looking into Racine's death and stumbled into the web of confusion that is Lucas Hood. But of course that wasn't enough; Hood escaped Phillips' grasp, only to be immediately captured by the enormous Brantley, the man who Jason Hood stole from long ago, and the man who sent the deadly Quentin to collect back in Season 2's "Armies of One."

To top it all off, Brantley's HQ wasn't a dingy lair, or an exquisitely decorated mansion, but instead an... exquisitely decorated moving semi truck. Throw in some classic Hood "Fuck you, I'm not talking" posturing, monologues about ledgers, electrified Dr. Doom-like gloves, and multiple mini-fight sequences, and you have yourself one hell of a collection of scenes. Everything about Hood's kidnapping-within-a-kidnapping had me cackling with delight. I'm constantly impressed with the innovative ways that Banshee manages to dress up situations and stories that are familiar to this genre, and "extended interrogation, followed by a shootout, all inside a big rig" is up there near the top of the list.

More impressively, these sequences weren't just fun or violence for the sake of either. They were steeped in character history, proverbial bills come due, or both. I've often written about how Banshee does a good job of consistently bringing consequences to Hood's door; there's always someone who knows a portion of his secret and threatens to jeopardize everything he's made happen in Banshee. Additionally, the show never forgets its history or the mistakes of the characters Hood has encountered in his attempts to cover his own behind. "A Fixer of Sorts" successfully weaved both of those elements together, as both Phillips and Brantley appeared looking for Hood, but also looking for answers about other people (namely, Racine and Jason). Stories like this, even if they're just one-offs because Hood routinely overcomes amazing obstacles and survives torture, continually reinforce the idea that the past always catches up with these people, no matter what names they assume or what jobs they take.

And never was that more true than at the end of this hour, when Hood had a brief moment of humanity and decided to let Phillips live, only for the FBI agent to inform him that the master file on Hood had been delivered to the Banshee Sheriff's Department, and therefore into the hands of Siobhan, perhaps the biggest part of Hood's new life in Banshee. "A Fixer of Sorts" did a fine job of reusing the interrogation footage from Hood's initial arrest years ago, to the point where I thought it was a kind of emotional punctuation in the moments where the character was under duress. Instead, that footage, along with a few brief flashes to Deva and Siobhan, underscored everything that Hood could lose in an instant if people like Phillips and Brantley keep showing up, and they will. Now, one of the other proverbial shoes has dropped and Siobhan knows stuff—not necessarily the truth, because truth dosn't really exist when it comes to Hood, but key information that's going to significantly alter the foundation of their relationship, and maybe the show itself.

I'll repeat it again for emphasis: "A Fixer of Sorts" was only the third episode of the season. There are still seven more! It was also an episode without Carrie, Banshee's female lead (who was importantly missing from Hood's memories); without Colonel Stowe, a character we presumed to be a major antagonist for Season 3; and without a significant action from Chayton (unless you count killing a deer), another individual who will continue to play a big role. Even without those three, "A Fixer of Sorts" delivered one awesome sequence after another and set the table for more trauma, of both the physical and emotional variety. What a show.

NOTES

– I didn't mention it up top, but shout-out to Antony Starr, who did a little bit of everything in this episode. He was a smart-ass tough guy throughout and more emotionally vulnerable at the end. He's a great leading man.

– I would happily watch Sugar and Job set out on little side missions for 45 minutes every week. The chemistry between Hoon Lee and Frankie Faison is lovely.

– It's worth mentioning that Chayton's little brother Tommy led a poorly organized crusade against Proctor at the strip club, leading to his death at the hands of new deputy Billy Raven. I'm sure that'll go over great with big brother, and the Kihano tribe in general.

– One of the best comedic moments in the show's history came right before that big shootout, wherein Brock told Raven that he needed to have a drink with an old friend and the camera immediately cut to him getting a lap dance and talking to the stripper about his tumultuous relationship with his ex-wife. Great, great stuff there.

– I just knew that Hood was going to throw Brantley out the bottom of the semi, but that didn't make it any easier to watch. Quite the violent episode, huh?

Did you love "A Fixer of Sorts" as much as I did? what happens now?