Banshee (TV Series) The Truth About Unicorns (2014) User Reviews

A Very Different Banshee

[born-giantsfan · 7/10 · 16 September 2016]

This episode is certainly a departure from the regular Banshee formula of violence, sex, crime, and mayhem. Yes there is some violence and a brief bit of nudity, but the episode itself is more of an introspective look at "Lucas", Carrie, and Agent Racine.

This kind of departure is going to receive polarizing reviews - some will love it and some will hate it - as seen by other postings here. Which is it? it is both - the view of the different types of viewers of the show.

In my less-humble opinion, I enjoyed the departure. The fast paced act without thought behavior of Lucas can only go on for so long before he takes a step back and wonders if he is doing the right thing. And this episode is that break. We also learn why Racine has a hard-on for Rabbit.

From a directorial perspective it was a different way of handling the characters struggle with what to do. The mixture of fantasy/dream and reality kept you off guard and also enlightened us to the desires of Lucas an Carrie while externally they were more reserved. It was a nice break from the normal episode craziness to help understand a little bit more of the characters.

So yes, I liked it - not the best of all the episodes, but very good in a different way.

The violence and sex returns in the next episode.

Moving

[jackb-28170 · 9/10 · 27 January 2021]

Completely Disagree with the guy who says this episode is for skipping. Banshee shows us it is more than capable of producing emotional episodes without the fighting and death. This episode stands out as a great exposition of the connection between Ana and Hood and really pulls at the heart strings.

Visually Stunning

[inuvik6 · 10/10 · 21 January 2015]

A few have downgraded this episode because it doesn't "mesh" with the standard Banshee universe in it's directorial style. I say it is without a doubt the most artistically visionary episode I've seen so far in the series.

Potential Spoilers Ahead: Visually beautiful, using expansive contrastive shots from multiple angles. Excellent choice of music in combination with the cinematography to really bring home how the characters can really never escape the "sins" of their past and no matter how much they dream, hope or plan for a "clean" future, the "dirty past" is always right there.

Reminded me a lot of Michael Mann's directorial style which I really like. To each there own I guess but I found this episode captivating and thought provoking. 10 out of 10 for me.

Absolutely superb deviation from the Banshee norm

[arope28-919-700054 · 10/10 · 9 February 2014]

This episode is everything you wouldn't expect in an episode of Banshee - and yet it enhances and reinforces the show's premise and allows a deeper look into the main characters' "what is, what was, and what may never be." Outstanding directing, camera work, color, music, writing (and knowing where verbal communication is to be purposely omitted), and acting. I am a huge fan of intelligent movies and films, and I am in constant search for stories and films that are brilliantly presented to exceed anything I have seen before. I did not see this episode coming, and I love every second of it. Back to Banshee basics next week, but thank you for this week's deviation into not only the characters of Hood and Carrie, but into the depth of their story.

Remain in awe of the production team

[A_Different_Drummer · 10/10 · 8 February 2015]

Since TV, the medium, arrived, there have been over 500,000 hours of airtime to fill. This challenge has been taken up by 10s of 1000s of broadcast stations all over the world, each picking and choosing among 100s of 1000s of hours of pre-packaged content, as the mood strikes them.

TV drama is only one segment of that mix but proportionately it is the largest. People like to be entertained. Who knew? If you are producing a TV drama there really is only one goal that supersedes all others, the holy grail of drama if you like.

Keep the viewer interested. Keep the viewer wondering what comes next. Let the viewer get so connected with the characters that the viewer jumps when the actors jump.

The irony -- and you can see this is the scatter-pattern of the other reviews for this episode -- is that Banshee prior to this had nothing to prove. It was already known to be one of the most engaging and satisfying dramas on the dial.

But the producers don't do "easy." This is a change of pace episode where the tension builds so well that by the 25:00 mark the viewer is starting to chew the furniture waiting for something to break.

And indeed it does.

Cinematography/Background Score, Best Ever Seen on TVSeries

[phd-tanveer-793-849182 · 10/10 · 27 January 2015]

this episode was visually stunning by any means... Amazing way of story telling ! Brilliant Locations ! Camera Work was something else ! Pure romance without nudity, Best Chemistry seen between Lucas & Carrie for the 1st time... This was the episode for the lead actor & actress & amazingly done ! The surprise death of Agent Racine... amazingly portrayed the assassination of the sniper shooter ! :Goosebumps: this episode was visually stunning by any means... Amazing way of story telling ! Brilliant Locations ! Camera Work was something else ! Pure romance without nudity, Best Chemistry seen between Lucas & Carrie for the 1st time... This was the episode for the lead actor & actress & amazingly done ! The surprise death of Agent Racine... amazingly portrayed the assassination of the sniper shooter ! :Goosebumps:

Fate vs. Sheriff Hood.

[face-819-933726 · 8 February 2014]

So choices, and choices not made, and does anyone really have any choice, and all that great philosophical stuff. However this is Banshee, and our Sheriff is the one, and only Hood, and that is one man I am betting even fate should step out of the way for. Great episode tonight, the showdown in the tall grass is beautiful, and with that, and the way those two can't help but case a joint, I'm betting we will have another great heist soon. Those are fun. The writing staff are as usual brilliant, and the direction, and cinematography, is as per the norm just plain cinema at its finest. The many possibility theme is played out so well with the slightly differing shots of near repetition. You should watch this show if you have not, and if you have you will only be looking forward to more as much as I am.

Have to agree with the 10s & disagree with 5s & lower

[rav_vale · 10/10 · 20 August 2023]

One negative review compared this to the "Fly", episode of BREAKING BAD. I think it was a different negative review of this episode, that said something like "if you like the movie DRIVE, you will like this" (which he didn't like either one).

Okay, busted. Guilty as charged. I love both of those works. "Fly" might be my favorite episode of BB.

While I'm not sure this episode of BANSHEE will be my favorite or even in my top 5, it's easily so far in my top 10. I loved it. I liked it's slow pace, the use of the music score, the direction, the story, everything. The only thing I didn't like was a story beat, but that's only because of how emotional it was and the surprise (which I won't describe. That's spoiler enough). It still worked in the arc of the story.

I also disagree with one reviewer who rated it low, and partly because he/she said it didn't affect the bigger arc of the show. We watched a different show.

Also, someone said that the nudity in this one went beyond even other episodes. There was almost none in this show, and no gratuitous sex scene. No sex scene at all, which was refreshing. Again, they watched a different show than I did.

I changed my mind. So far, this will be in top 5 episodes of this series, which while it can get ridiculous (especially with how fast lead characters heal), is damn entertaining. Not as artistic as the BB universe, nor as fun as a show like say JUSTIFIED, but somewhere in-between. I put it about where I hold SONS OF ANARCHY in my pantheon of great television.

Feast your eyes...

[dopek · 10/10 · 20 April 2020]

It's April 2020 and I'm just now getting on the Banshee wagon. Just finished this episode and it legit made me finally make my IMDb account just so I can hype up how amazing this episode was as far as the visuals go. One of my favorite movies is Drive and near the end it gave off that director's vibe and when the episode was over...I turned and looked at my wife and said, "that was the most artistic episode this series has ever produced." I'm glad that a lot of others share the same thought.

Different directorial feel...

[bek-12 · 4/10 · 15 March 2014]

It felt like someone was trying to give it an emotional impact through slow motion, stop motion, lots of music with nobody doing anything. Miami Vice pulled it off in the '80s, but not much else has done it successfully since then. This episode failed miserably. It was very slow. However, if you liked the movie Drive (I hated it), then this may be the episode for you, as they have directorial similarities. This episode felt very different than most of the other Banshee episodes, especially the early ones, although some of the more recent episodes are introducing the stop motion editing (I also hate this). Moving car... music... long stares at nothing or each other... this episodes got it all. Perfect for the insomniac.

Best Banshee Episode Ever

[orvalle · 10/10 · 8 February 2014]

If you wanted standard TV and all the secondary characters you'd be disappointed. This is about the main character and why he came to Banshee.

If you want some of the most interesting cinematography on TV as well as some major plot advancement then this is one to watch.

Stylistically this episode stands out. For much of the first half we switch between the present, the past, and the "wished for" versions of them. Most of these are the dreams of our Sheriff as he picks up Anna/Carrie at the penitentiary and takes a detour to show her the house in the locket he gave her. The quiet reality is crosscut his dreams of how she should have come to him, how they should have come to the house to prepare to be parents with multiple time cuts throughout. Fears of Rabbit coming for them are shown by a sinister blue car with tinted windows tailing them and vision of the man in the crowd. Thoughts of what to do next and regret are discussed as it's clear that his arrival has ruined her life and hurt (and killed) many people. It seems clear Lucas Hood has got to go.

Reality intrudes as Racine is discovered watching the two from the tree line. He finally reveals to the two how he long he's known that Lucas Hood is dead (they had DNA evidence in spite of the body being stolen), that he recognized the sheriff from when he was interrogated for the crime that separated the couple and that he was using them for bait since he wanted to take down Rabbit before he died. (For more of the interrogation scenes, check out the Banshee websites to see how he handled them).

Just as they start to plan, more reality intrudes as Racine's killed by a head-shot and the couple have to defend themselves. From a sniper in the field. This is handled visually with a God's Eye view of the three of them crawling through the wheat leave trails pointing them to each other. A quick feint and the sniper, the lady driving the blue car (and dismissed as just a homemaker shopping for groceries earlier) is revealed to be Rabbit's assassin. A stray shot breaks a kerosene lamp and the house goes up in flames ending that dream and any hope for it in reality.

On the story arc this episode ties up some loose ends and sets the stage for where the story goes next. At the end it's clear that they are still hunted and can't escape Banshee, especially the man known to most as Sheriff Hood. There's too much risk to Anna/Carrie's family for either to just disappear. This helps keep the story's premise on the rails since it's hard to believe that the sheriff's whole story hasn't been revealed by now and that it is coming to an end (including the series).

Whatever the case, it was beautifully shot as well as excellent storytelling.

Really good

[viriovari · 10/10 · 25 August 2021]

Calming and tense at the same time. Very good directing.

Unique Different Excellent!

[billyt33 · 10/10 · 23 June 2019]

Really enjoyed this episode, a long with all the others. Great writing and acting!

Worst Banshee episode so far by far

[Raphezir · 2/10 · 8 February 2014]

This episode just wasn't Banshee. They tried something new or different but it didn't fit the show. In the past whenever they wanted to stress the emotional side of it all, look into the characters, they made up for it with the usual amount and style of Banshee's action and tension. Not this time. It was basically a 2 character episode, no Proctor, no Amish, no natives. We're forced to watch "Lucas" and "Carrie" on their little road trip with all their dreams and internal anticipations and of course some flashbacks. Maybe it's just me but at times I couldn't even tell whose day dream it was I had to suffer through. The episode was slow and lame. The field shots were pretty cool but that's about it. The nudity reached a new level of pointlessness. The music was as annoying as the cuts. Please stop this madness and bring back the raw Banshee with more of it's awesome characters.

Not the banshee I fell in love with

[aaronskrivan · 4 September 2021]

I was relieved to come on this website and confirm I wasn't crazy. This was just a bad episode, trying some new creative direction that simply doesn't work. I sincerely hope this is the first and last episode they attempt this.

What a pile of garbage.

[sb-29 · 1/10 · 9 May 2018]

Skip this episode and move on to the next. Reminds me of the Fly episode of Breaking Bad only worse.

The worst thing to happen to this series

[netpassport · 10 May 2020]

I really hope anyone who enjoyed this blatant bait-and-switch of this episode find themselves on the wrong end of a Banshee homicide.

I want a gritty, balls-to-the-wall show filled with action, violence, sex, and great storytelling: the things Banshee is. This episode is if while watching the Spielberg classic Jaws, Sharknado popped up in the middle and ran for 30 minutes, disrupting and ruining a great film with something that kinda/sorta resembles what Jaws is but only at a quick glance. That's what this episode is: slow, monotonous drivel that wandered in from a different production. John Romano (writer) and Babak Najafi (director) deserve to be shot for putting this garbage in the middle of a masterful television series. It's the five-minute slow, hazy dream sequence that makes you groan in a movie when it's over, except it's an entire 46-minute episode.

The "best" part about this episode? It has almost no bearing on the story before and after. It's pointless other than angering fans. Skip this episode and never look back. You're missing nothing but disappointment and frustration.

Slow

[chaddavis-997-841770 · 1/10 · 30 May 2014]

This episode was extremely slow and pretentious. It was an episode that should have been 10 minutes long. The ratings peaked during this episode which was too bad for the show because it was certainly no representation of the rest of the show. I believe there was a failed attempt at some sort of suspense throughout the episode. I am watching it as part of a binge watch and I don't know how bad it would be to have waited all week to get this weak of an episode. I believe that the writer and director were trying to do something different from the normal show which is a bad idea, especially for the writer's first episode (even though the writer has experience elsewhere). Even some of the line deliveries seemed to be slower than normal. The episode contained lot of slow motion and flashbacks, peppered in weird delusional shots (at least that's how I saw them - fantasies). It just didn't seem to have the same gumption as previous episodes.