Banshee Recap: “Pilot”

Banshee Recap: “Pilot”
Original Air Date (Cinemax): Friday January 11, 2013
Season 1 Episode 1

by Julianne Snow:

Let’s take a moment to introduce you to the premise of the series.

Banshee stars Antony Starr as the unnamed ex-con and master thief that comes to Banshee, Pennsylvania in search of his ex-partner and the loot from his last job. Turned away empty-handed, the ex-con must decide what his next move will be. A chance meeting in bar just outside town results in the death of Lucas Hood, the soon to be sheriff of Banshee and an outsider. A twist of fate, a misguided plan and some deft work disguising an identity culminate in the ex-con becoming the new Sheriff of Banshee. Set against the backdrop of a town whose roots are deeply Amish, the new Lucas will continue his criminal activities, despite being hunted by the gangsters he betrayed. Created by David Schickler and Jonathan Tropper, Banshee is also executive produced by True Blood creator Alan Ball.

Now let’s move onto the pilot…

A man (Antony Starr) leaves prison with nothing but the shirt on his back. After making his way into town and seducing a local waitress, he steals a car. Arriving in Manhattan, the ex-con seeks out an old acquaintance, a cross-dressing hair stylist named Job (Hoon Lee). Angered and looking for information, he proceeds to destroy computers in the office until Job agrees to give up an address. Upon leaving Job’s, the man is chased by unknown men who shoot at him. The ex-con evades death and capture, stealing a motorcycle which he rides to the town of Banshee, Pennsylvania.

Homing on what he’s looking for, the man visits the home of Carrie Hopewell (Ivana Miličević), the wife of the town’s district attorney. Carrie, formerly known as Ana, was the woman with whom he shared a criminal past. He asks for his cut of the diamonds they stole from Rabbit, the crime he was incarcerated for, and she pleads with him to just leave her and her two children alone. Realizing he’s not going to get any information out of her (yet), he leaves.

After visiting his former partner, he sits down in a local bar on his way out of town and shares a drink with the bartender, a former prizefighter named Sugar Bates (Frankie Faison). Two men walk into the bar looking to rob it, but the real Lucas Hood, the newly-arrived, sheriff-to-be, has other ideas. In the ensuing altercation, both of the thieves and the would-be sheriff are killed. While disposing the bodies with Sugar, the man answers Lucas’s phone and quickly decides to his assume his identity. From here on in, the ex-con is known as Lucas.

Needing help, Lucas has Job hack into law enforcement databases in order to verify his cover. Introducing himself around town, he’s able to solidify the rouse. Resentment rears its head and on a tour of Banshee, Lucas springs to action when he sees a group of local thugs, the Moody boys, beating up a group of Amish men. Lucas intervenes and along with Kai Proctor (Ulrich Thomsen), the man who controls all of Banshee’s criminal enterprises and most of its legal ones, and the fight ends. Procter forces Cole Moody to apologize to one of the Amish men, who we soon learn is Kai’s estranged father. As retribution, Proctor later beats Cole savagely in his slaughterhouse.

Old habits are hard to break and Lucas robs a local pawn shop, stealing its safe with the championship belt that used to belong to Sugar contained within. Soon after, he is sworn in as Sheriff and invited to a party in his honor at Proctor’s home. While at the gathering, he sneaks away and invites Carrie to open the safe he stole. True to her new identity, she shuts him down. As Carrie walks away, Cole Moody arrives and knocks Lucas out. Entering the party, Cole drunkenly takes aim at Procter. Before he can fire, Cole is taken out by a single shot, fired by Lucas.

DarkMedia contributor Julianne Snow was first lulled into the horror genre by her parents during an ill-advised viewing of Alien when she was only 4 years old. Since that date, it’s been a given that Julianne will watch and read anything that is horror related. Her short fiction has appeared in anthologies from Sirens Call Publications and Open Casket Press, as well as The Sirens Call and various other websites showcasing short fiction. She is the author of the Days with the Undead series, which can be found on her website dayswiththeundead.com. Her first novel, Days with the Undead: Book One was published in early 2012 and is based on her popular web serial. Find her on Twitter @CdnZmbiRytr.