Bullets and Tears

Just as goofy as the episodes, with fake-looking unearned violence, but much more boring with all the scenes from the past cutting up the present storylines.

And again, it features really progressive bigots who spend their time going to drag clubs. How nice for people who use slurs against gays to spend their time and money drinking at a drag performance. Just like everything else in the rest of the show; very realistic.

My intelligence was as insulted as in every previous episode. Looking forward to the next 2 seasons.

Loved the first season, but season 2... all over the place.

The ending was the worst episode of them all.

From the scene in the church, highly unrealistic and cringe. The scene with Rabbit was again, very bad and anticlimactic. Don't want to spoil it too much, but I felt nothing. He shoud've died in season 1 ending.

Then the scene with Emmett, dumbest plot for a character so far. Not sure if it tries to be anti-christian or just idiotic, but makes 0 sense how it all escalated all of a sudden.

But the oscar for the dumbest thing written in this show is how Rabbit knew everything, like a fking mindreader.

I hope they got better writers for season 3, because this one was garbage.

I mean it can't be any better "Oh My God" So many Shooking scenes and the fights are incredibly Awesome.. Just Wow .. can't wait to see the others Seasons.

The second season of Banshee has its good moments, action sequences are overall well directed and there is a constant tension build up. I have appreciated the fact that the series did not entirely focused its attention on Rabbit, but took also a few detours, by gifting some captivating characters such as the Irish mob member in the episode "Armies of One", or Sharp in the chapter "Evil for Evil", where I had the chance to see the talented Joseph Sikora. I liked how they developed Alex Longshadow, but I feel that they could do more with Rebecca and Clay Burton. I really would like to see them a bit more central in the story, instead of being treated just as side characters. I hope that with the Ukrainian boss finally out of the picture, screenwriters will finally be able to do something interesting with Proctor as well.

Unfortunately, creators keep dragging the past of Lucas Hood and Anastasia by repeating information that the audience already apprehended during season one. There are a lot of montages, sequences and at times entire episodes that keep pausing the main narration for absolutely nothing. "The Truth about Unicorns" is just an example: nothing happens and just the last 10 minutes are worth mentioning. On the other hand, there are other episodes that instead are really entertaining and dynamic. However, overall this season was slightly worse than the previous one, at least for me.

FIRST, as a free-standing episode: Looked at this way, even though it is technically a "season finale" (which means that the producers have more creative room, more wiggle room) Episode 10 of Season 2 will most likely be remembered as a "FFO" or "For Fans Only" episode. It is uniquely for those who love the series, understand the characters, and just like to hang out with these people for a while.

It is a slow-starter. The writers -- some of the best in the biz in my view -- have a weakness for flashbacks or "origins." Maybe they are hanging out with the crew from ARROW - who knows? But a lot of the shooting (with both guns and cameras) takes place in the past. That is something not common to the series proper (unless you are also a fan of BANSHEE ORIGINS) so it is a little disconcerting.

**********************

ALTERNATIVELY, it is a "clinic" highlighting (and reminding viewers) what makes this series so special:

* the action scenes and gunfights are not just good, they are perfect. As a fan, I am used to this, and take it for granted. If you are new to the series, you will be gob-smacked. TAKE THAT, SAM Peckinpah! TAKE THAT, WACHOWSKI BROTHERS! TAKE THAT CHARLIES ANGELS! The transition from sultry and smooth to fast and bloody is as good as or better than anything you can find on the big screen these days. Wow.

* the women remain stunning. I understand this comment may sound odd given that Hollywood likes to cast beautiful women in all its series, without discriminating, but somehow Banshee has hit a new high here.

****************************

Finally I want to share a notion that kept popping into my head as I watched. As good as this was (and it was), I could not help but notice that the drama had more impact when the characters were on their home turf -- in other words, back in Banshee.

My take on this is that the ever-clever Producers stumbled on something deep and iconic in all of us -- namely, that, away from home, we can be whomever we wish to be, but at home we can only be ourselves.

Part of the magic of Banshee -- aside from the writing, the direction, the casting, the action scenes -- is that, I think, it appeals to each of us, on an unconscious basis, to that part of us that wonders what it would be like to pack up, move to a small town where nobody knows you, and start over as who you really want to be...

Just a thought.