Imagining what happened after the series finale of ‘Banshee’
My favorite TV show premiered 10 years ago.
I’m not a screenwriter but I like to think I can tell a good story and have written enough partial screenplays to compose the weirdest collection of stories ever.
Back in May, Cinemax’s Banshee ended its four year run with a soulful send-off. Every story line was treated deliberately and carefully. There weren’t any real cliffhangers while a few plot threads did linger. Every Friday, Fanshees know they will forever be without this wonderful show(until the producers decide to make that movie in 2–4 years).
In order to provide a coping mechanism, I am going to break down what happened next along with a few possible plot threads. Why not? These folks are just resting in make believe outer space without any need to move so let me move them.
What happened after the series finale? Let’s roll on down the page.
Lucas rode out of town and decided to not meet Job in New York. While the disgruntled and exhausted super hacker settled in up East, Hood had other plans. He rode that bike back to the house that he built for Carrie/Ana and himself, or what was left of it. A few pieces of wood and burnt flesh removed and Hood is going to rebuild. The truth is unicorns may not exist but damn it, home insurance still does and Hood paid his taxes.
Instead of going back to a big city where some trace of the Ukrainian mob is waiting for him to arrive or stir trouble in(thief is a thief), Hood can basically resume what he was doing before Brock pulled him back into action(and getting punched). Only this time, instead of a spooky Proctor camping retreat, it’s the place where he told Carrie he’d take them. It’s a place where he can find peace, buy an old truck like the one he borrowed from Sugar, and drive it around.
He won’t make many friends, because that’s not Hood’s nature. He’s a man apart for life. This man and trusting people is like asking water to fuck oil. He brings someone close and they end up deader than shit, psychologically tormented, or both. He will keep his distance and maybe even grow another epic beard. Who would have thought Lucas would come a little close to the Amish life, living in a house in a farming type community? Somewhere, Kai Proctor is laughing his ass off.
Carrie will wait for Max to come live with her and keep it quiet. They will stay in the house she fixed up because it’s safe and well fuck she did all that work that’s why. Laying low for a while is currency in the world of former thieves and bad ass mother fuckers. Max needs a normal mom and is also pissed he was mentioned only twice in the final season. She will venture into town more and see some familiar(and former crime fighting brethren) faces. For the first time, she is comfortable in her own skin. It only took the love of her life showing up like a New Zealand tornado and the loss of her husband to wrestle some sense of peace out of her.
She won’t find love but she will find the occasional warm body to sleep next to. She will go on dates and get close to a couple men but they aren’t right for her. Going from Lucas/Gordon to a Banshee carpenter or bakery shop owner is like going from Makers Mark whiskey to some cheap shitty tasting bourbon. It’s like going from Cherry Coke to Diet Cola. Forget it.
Eventually, Lucas will send for her. He may use a pigeon with a bottle rocket attached to its back or possibly a good old fashioned email or letter. This was always meant to be. If these two didn’t collect any bullets in their chest and made it out alive, they had to be together. The time is right. Max can go to some small safe school where the house is built and Carrie and Lucas can live like the most badass couple happily ever after. Sure, they may rip off the town bank a couple times but that’s only to feed their addiction and keep them from going full fledged criminal.
Banshee may not believe in happy endings but damn it, these two deserve it.
Job settles on a cool intricate loft that used to be owned by some dude named Bruce Wayne. It’s got tunnels, rooms of computers, a large walk in closet for crime fighting corsets, and other cool shit. Like his fellow gang members, he isn’t going to be a criminal for the time being. Technically, he isn’t Job anymore so he can get a fresh start but after 18 months of torture, which followed many months of avoiding death and getting flipped by cabs, he wants to stay low for a while. He doesn’t open a hair salon. He takes a page from Leo’s book and teaches a college course on computer coding and networking. Private lessons of course, motherfucker!
He makes a few trips to see Lucas because whether we knew it or not, Job loves the man like a brother. He needs to see him and make sure he is alright. That doesn’t mean you will catch Job doing any yard work. Suck his goddamn tit!
Brock Lotus will finally get to be “that guy”. The one he was talking about in that basement with Lucas. The difference maker in Banshee. With Proctor gone and Lucas away, he can put the town back together. He retired the rocket launcher and continues to be a mentor to Kurt Bunker. Time and experience have taught Brock one thing. Resilience is required and going by the book is futile. He smokes the occasional stogie and hates mowing his lawn while maintaining the legendary Brock beard. The man absolutely kills it when he puts a polo on so watch out.
Does he find love? Fuck. Love to Brock is a quiet town. That’s like a woman slipping off her lingerie. Sooner or later, he may fall in love with the librarian but for now Brock enjoys good coffee(no espresso!), quiet patrols, and nearly adopting Bunker as the son he never had. Also, he’s doing a lot of fishing.
Speaking of Kurt, the ever apologetic former Neo Nazi, he is living comfortably with Maggie and her son. While his former family of skinheads can’t fully stomach him being with Calvin’s wife, they understand how foregone Calvin was and live with it. For now. Eventually, Bunker may have to kick some more Nazi ass, but he took his burns like a man and eliminated Calvin from their problems so there’s a truce. The Senator agrees to let Bunker and Maggie live in peace.
However, killing his brother is like a thorn he can’t pull out of his skin completely. It nags at him on certain days. Memories like a drive in movie theater with a broke projector that keeps playing the same sequence over and over. Kurt may be haunted until his dying days but he is calm enough to raise the boy and be a good deputy. And Casey Lebow is fucking white hot so score dude!
Kai Proctor ISN’T DEAD after all. I’m sorry but he may have been falling back in the end of that last shot, but he didn’t die. Nope. Like a Marvel avenger, the man ate a few bullets, but killed those Mexicans and got away. He blew up his house and this time kept his shirt on while doing it. He collected some cash, stuffed the rest away, and even ditched the button up white shirts.
He went far enough away(Montana?) and bought a small house. He may not be safe or fully escaped from Mexican Cartel danger, but he lays low enough for a while that normalcy creeps back in after a couple years. He eventually cases the town to see if he can take it over Banshee style but resists for the time being. One day he might but for now he is going to lay low. Or go back to Banshee.
The man had a horrible couple years. He lost his mom, was betrayed by and lost his niece, and had to put down his beloved Burton after he betrayed him. Just rest up dude and enjoy the easy life.
Speaking of Burton, Kai keeps a pair of his glasses sitting on the desk in his study at all times. Bowtie guy forever! BUD fucking MO!
Sugar took his talents to South Beach. Hot weather for a change and new surroundings. He won’t open a bed and breakfast but instead buy a house off the beach and pour himself continuous drinks and find romantic company for a change(Frankie Faison never got a single peck from a lady those four seasons). He may even open a boxing gym for kids so he can mentor a few. Boxing is always going to be a part of the man’s blood and this way he stays active and involved.
Occasionally, Lucas comes down to visit. Maybe even Job. The three of them chirp each other like brothers but know that come hell or high water, they got each other’s backs. It may not be the Three Amigos but fuck it’s close.
Deva lasts a year in college. Not six months but also nowhere near complete. She decides to take a road trip with a few friends she made in college. Across the country and maybe outside of it. She has experienced too many vivid events to be cornered into a lecture hall or dorm room. She needs the world to open itself up in order to find herself. She keeps in touch with Carrie and shoots Lucas her coordinates as well if she wants to see him. It’s like having Batman and Wonder Woman for parents.
Veronica Dawson couldn’t quit the crack pipe but she did find some level of compassion with Lucas and they stay in touch as a result. Two people cut from the same cloth. There’s no relationship(two moving forces of nature can’t sit still together) but she occasionally comes over to the house to escape for a few days. They talk more than they fuck because it’s harder yet more revealing.
Detective Julius Bonner still keeps an eye out for that jewel thief who called himself John Doe but clearly wasn’t. Lilith Bode still thinks Declan was a lovely person while she wastes away in prison. Miriam Bowman and her Amish family have found a way to find some peace with the disappearance of Kai and the burial of Rebecca. Emily Lotus still thinks about Kai even though she was married to Brock and was nearly killed by The Black Beards.
Gordon Hopewell once said Banshee was a town like any other. The show was unlike we’ve seen before. It was unique in that it painted a pulpy picture of our weirdest comic book dreams and brought it to vivid life. Every year for 10 weeks, fans would spend their Friday nights wondering was came next until there wasn’t anything next.
Hopefully, with this “what if” scenario, I’ve given you a wild idea of what would possibly come next. If Greg Yaitanes, Jonathan Tropper, and Adam Targum are reading this, they are blissfully laughing at the scenarios that I have dreamed up. Hopefully, they take away from it the passionate mind of a Banshee addict that won’t quit.
For the people who swear by The Sopranos, The Wire or Walking Dead and Mad Men as their must have ultimate favorite TV show, I respect your choice but disagree.
Banshee is the best of all time for me. If you haven’t watched it yet, I command you to show some self respect and take a ride.