Episode Title: “The Thunder Man”
Writer: David Schickler
Director: Greg Yaitanes
Previously on “Banshee:”
The women of Banshee find themselves in some pretty frightening situations in this episode, but it isn’t the “Thunder Man” who saves them.
The mythical all-powerful man of Kinaho legend comes along once every generation, according to Alex Longshadow (Anthony Ruivivar). Every man wants to be him and every woman wants to be with him. And Lucas Hood (Antony Starr) is probably as close as they come to the legend, considering his ability to enforce the law while simultaneously breaking it, consistently avoid death despite numerous, competent enemies while gorgeous women continually throw themselves at him, despite conflicting alliances.
Though Hood does come to Rebecca’s (Lili Simmons) rescue, after Nola (Odette Annable) kidnaps her on her brother’s behalf, the “Amish Girl Gone Wild” tells Alex she’s got “all the thunder” she needs when he recounts the Kinaho legend. And judging by the events of this episode so do Siobhan (Trieste Kelly Dunn) and Carrie (Ivana Milicevic), who choose to handle their problems on their own, rather than rely on Hood.
Just as she’s beginning to rebuild her life after losing her home, Siobhan finds trouble at her trailer doorstep when her abusive ex-husband, Breece (Peter Scanavino) shows up looking for a favor. In need of a job, Breece asks Siobhan to lift the restraining order she had placed on him so he can get work. Siobhan tentatively agrees and before she knows it, Breece is showing up inside her trailer and making breakfast.
Like almost everything on “Banshee,” Breece’s abuse of Siobhan was savage and so when she shows up at his motel room to exact revenge after an altercation in her trailer, the beat down she puts on him with a night stick and a Bible is more than justified. And though Hood offers to visit Breece himself, Siobhan gives him the wrong motel so that she can do the honors, something she tells Hood she’s thought about every day since Breece left. Hood eventually finds Siobhan in Breece’s room and promises to keep the incident quiet. She thanks him with a kiss and another layer is added to Hood’s already complex existence.
As for Carrie, the plea deal she takes includes thirty days in jail. And though she’s gone toe to toe with her father’s imposing enforcer, Oleg, a month in a women’s prison has Hood, Job (Hoon Lee) and Sugar (Frankie Faison) worried for Carrie’s safety. Hood advises her to take some “quiet time” while inside and not engage with anyone. But as soon the other inmates get a look at her, the bullying and “Malibu Barbie” comments begin and Carrie is forced to take a stand. And of course, it’s brutal. So much for “quiet time.”
In between intense fight scenes (Hood runs through a gauntlet of no less than six security guards while attempting to rescue Rebecca at the casino) “The Thunder Man” is rounded out by some pill popping, explosions and a Jacuzzi full of cow guts. Convinced it was Kai Proctor (Ulrich Thomsen) who robbed the casino, Alex retaliates by blowing up a nearby car while Kai is on the phone with him.
But with pressure from the council mounting and his leadership in question, Nola thinks her brother needs to take more extreme measures and kidnaps Rebecca. Kai calls in the favor Hood owes him, asking him to rescue his niece. After Hood brings her home safely, Kai notes the fact that the sheriff never asked him if he did rob the casino. There’s definitely a third player in this small town’s surprisingly active criminal underground and Kai Proctor may have an idea who it is.
Not to let things end quietly now that Rebecca is back home, Kai keeps the bad blood flowing, literally, by finding Alex at home, entertaining a woman in his Jacuzzi and dumping buckets full of cow guts into the tub. Meanwhile, Gordon (Rus Blackwell) dulls the pain of watching his family implode with a few pills and a prostitute in the parking lot of Kai’s strip club.
Like so many other episodes of “Banshee,” “The Thunder Man” has that same noir comic book feel, keeping a steady beat of violence and brutality in between potent revelations. The only downside to this hour is the absence of chain-smoking new baddie, Agent Jim Racine (Zeljko Ivanek), but there’s plenty of time left for him to light up this small but scandal-ridden Pennsylvania town.
