“You know, being the sheriff never really suited you.”

For three seasons, we’ve watched Lucas Hood attempt to be a sheriff, to find some semblance of an identity, to balance the lifestyles of an outlaw and a lawman. At the same time, we’ve also seen him grow increasingly tired with the lifestyle, with all the loss and destruction and violence around him. Sure, he’s the kind of guy who always gets drawn back into the fray, but ever since Siobhan’s death, there’s been an emptiness in him that has slowly reached the surface; avenging Siobhan brought closure for Hood regarding her, but it also served to muddle the waters of who exactly he is and who he wants to be.

To make matters worse, he loses Job yet again, and it occurs immediately following a successful rescue attempt from Colonel Douglas Stowe’s clutches. We can see the pain and the hopelessness in Hood’s eyes as he watches the helicopter fly away and as he’s drinking in the bar later on, and it’s ultimately unsurprising when he turns in his badge and walks out the door of the sheriff’s department. Interestingly enough, he ends the episode sitting next to Kai Proctor, the very man Brock talked about–in episode 8, following Chayton’s death–in order to convince Hood not to quit. It’s a key moment for both of these men, and they both realize that they’re more similar than they’d like to admit. This season, Hood and Proctor struggled with and were oftentimes defined by the actions of Chayton and Rebecca, respectively, but the finale shines a light on who they are as individuals. Now, for instance, Proctor–not Rebecca–is leading the attack on the Black Beards.

And what an attack it is. What I love about this show’s editing, directing, and choreography is the fact that the creative team is constantly able to find unique ways of structuring fight scenes. Only a few weeks ago, for example, we had the heist at Camp Genoa, but “We All Pay Eventually” is able to take the same setting and make it its own thing (it also deftly includes the attack on the Black Beards). It brilliantly cuts between various brutal hand-to-hand confrontations and shootouts and explosions and Gordon with a huge sniper rifle and decapitations and slow-mo walking, and it’s truly impressive to watch unfold.

Next season should be impressive as well, and it will undoubtedly delve deeper into Lucas Hood’s psyche. In this finale, we already start to obtain more information about his past, and it’s clear that what we’re seeing is what set the foundation for everything that’s happened in the show. This is a season finale about consequences, about the effects of your actions on your identity and on the people you care about, but it’s also a season finale about connections between seemingly different individuals. We have Job and Leo, connected through hacking. We have Bunker and Brock, connected through the police force. Finally, we have Proctor and Hood, connected through similar struggles with identity and through a world of criminality. The small smile Proctor has at the end of the episode hints at a possible future partnership between the two, and although we know that any partnership will have its consequences, it’s one that makes sense. They will all pay eventually, but right now, they need to survive in this violent, brutal, and fascinating world of Banshee.

GRADE: A-

SEASON GRADE: A-

OTHER THOUGHTS:

-The choreography, man.

-The scene between Bunker and Brock is a really fantastic little moment, and it’s an easy scene to overlook in an episode like this one. I hope next season will give the two some nice character arcs, because they’re both great characters already who just need a little push to become fascinating. For Bunker, there are obviously parallels to Hood’s story, and we even see a similarity in the finale between Calvin’s talk to Bunker and Stowe’s talk to Hood.

-Rus Blackwell and Langley Kirkwood, you will both be missed. Their deaths are made even more effective due to Carrie’s heartbreaking reaction–as well as the fact that she and her husband were starting to work through their differences last week–and a lot of credit there goes to Ivana Milicevic. Anyway, it feels like we’ve lost a lot of close friends this season.

-I wonder if Job is in the same room that Hood was in during those flashbacks.

-This is easily the show’s best season thus far, and it’s one of the best TV seasons I’ve seen recently. If you have your favorite moments, episodes, or character arcs in mind, feel free to share below in the comments.

-There are a lot of fantastic shows yet to premiere this year, but they have their work cut out for them if they want to top these 10 episodes.

-I’ll see you next year for season four, which will run for eight episodes rather than ten. It’ll be a long wait, but in the interim, Strike Back is returning soon for its final season! I’ll be covering all the episodes, so check in on that.

Photo credit: Cinemax, Banshee