Banshee’s final season won’t go down without a (dog)fight

Opening with a satanic self-immolation and a rape scene, “Only One Way A Dogfight Ends” certainly doesn’t get off to a promising start, immediately highlighting two of the season’s most problematic characters and stories. There really couldn’t be a more disheartening way for the episode to begin than with ten minutes of female victimization – but as a whole, “Only One Way” is probably the strongest episode of the season since “Job”, the rare example of Banshee being able to elevate itself above the serial killer/angsty Nazi narratives and find some of that ol’ Banshee magic – and as I posited on the Under the Hood podcast a few weeks back, it all begins with the return of Deva. Though I’ve often lamented Deva’s stories, the importance of her presence on Banshee could never be understated. Her surprising return halfway through this episode immediately accelerates the emotional stakes for Carrie, Job and Hood: Carrie’s war with Proctor is putting innocent lives in danger, with impli