I realised as I was writing my series finale review that I had spent a shitload of time and words talking myself through the Burton death, so I decided to lift the bulk of that out of my original review and have a dedicated Burton death therapy session. Coz I am a totally normal person.
So it was ever-so-unsurprisingly revealed that Satan McHornFace was NOT Rebecca's killer. Cue my anxiety! I'd read fan theories about Burton being the killer and it made sense and I was ok with it. The Rebecca-Burton rivalry had been set up long ago, and having it be a central storyline in the end was pretty satisfying.
But to be honest, Hood and Dawson's trip to the shed was pretty dumb, in my opinion. Burton was already a little creepy, so giving him some spooky shed-basement full of dolls was kinda not necessary (unless there is some extensive backstory to this, 'Banshee' writers?! That you would perhaps like to share with us in some sort of spinoff form?!?!?!?!?! TELL ME!!!!!). But they had set up Burton's distrust of Rebecca very early on in the series. We didn't need the creepy dungeon vibe to justify this course of action for Burton. But like I said, if the 'Banshee' writers want to share more about this with me, I'm all ears!
Hood running Proctor and Burton off the road scared the shit out of me. It shouldn't have, but it did, because like I said, I was in Anxiety City. From the promos, I knew this was the Hood/Burton showdown, and that meant very soon, I was going to be in a pool of tears. Burton is my favourite 'Banshee' character, and Hood is my second favourite. So there was no good outcome for me or my precious boys here.
The entirety of the Hood/Proctor/Burton showdown was brilliant. Hood's interrogation of Proctor was painful, as Proctor was truly totally vulnerable and desperate for once in his damn life. And their simultaneous realisation that Burton killed Rebecca was chilling, compounded by the reveal that Burton was awake and mobile...
Hood VS Burton was truly brutal. I've read a couple of reviews and fan comments lamenting that it was not as epic as say Burton VS Nola in 'A Fixer Of Sorts', but, for me, those are two very different fights, for very different reasons, and their level of 'epicness' should really be contextualised. The Burton/Nola fight was an excellently choreographed and frenzied fight between two people who had really just met, and were both hell-bent on getting rid of each other in order to protect or avenge someone else. So there was a panicked ferocity to their fight that has been unrivalled. The Hood VS Burton fight, however, was steeped in the history the characters, including Rebecca and Proctor, had together. Therefore, it was less clinical, and more blunt, emphasising not their techniques as fighters, but rather their emotional states channelled into brute strength and power. Hood was fighting for some justice for Rebecca, and Burton was fighting, yet again, to protect Proctor and his standing with Proctor. So comparing the fights is kinda pointless. The Hood VS Burton showdown was brilliant for what it was, as was the Burton VS Nola showdown.
Anywho... I found the fight really hard to watch because I desperately wanted neither to lose, even though I knew Burton was pretty much a guaranteed goner. I have to admit though I was sucked in by the fake-out: when Burton was choking Hood and Hood's dearly departed began flashing before his eyes, I thought 'holy shit they ARE gonna kill him'. It would have been a bold move, but one that would not be out of place on ‘Banshee’. But of course they didn't and I felt like a bit of an idiot, but please bear in mind that this entire scene was a trauma for me.
Hood's head-bashing beat-up of Burton was soooooo hard to watch (doesn't that hurt Hood?!), but Hood dragging Burton's body around the car and throwing him down on Proctor was probably the worst part. I think that is when I transitioned from being upset to being numb. It's not that I think 'Banshee' crossed a line (let's be honest, worse has happened in Banshee), but more that this was one of my favourite characters of all time, a formerly powerful and formidable if not odd creature, being reduced to a fairly undignified mess. I was 100% prepared for Burton's death, but not this death...
And then it got worse. Burton was thrown to Proctor for the final indignity... The scene was stunning. Proctor was totally torn, Burton was totally torn up. Given their history, this was a fucking disastrous end to Team Proctor, and both Proctor and Burton knew it. The final crack of Burton's neck was sickening. Proctor's response was sickening. The whole scene was horrifying. I'm still not sure what I do with it. It was brilliant, but it was confronting.
Peppered throughout the scene were the flashbacks to Burton's murder of Rebecca. Those minimal flashbacks were far, far more sinister, sick and chilling than anything we ever saw from the Satanists. I'm trying to decide if that was deliberate or not. As I will discuss in another therapy session (my full series review), the Satanist serial killer storyline was incredibly weak. Despite inexplicably getting the jump on Dawson, Hood and Lotus at one point, the Satanists were never really believable as a serious threat. They were always really just a bunch of nutters. However, the moments we see Burton looming over a restrained Rebecca are steeped in violence and rage. Adding to that is the sense that Burton is technically right: Rebecca was screwing up all over the place, and Proctor was letting her away with it. Since being saved by Proctor from that torturous dungeon, Burton seems to have been pathologically loyal to Proctor, and perhaps understandably so. The torture Burton endured (for whatever reason... TELL ME, 'BANSHEE' WRITERS!!!!) was clearly traumatic, and Burton would understandably pledge his existence to Proctor as a saviour figure. Look at me, defending the creepy little murderer! But seriously, Burton's assessment of Rebecca was not wrong, even if he conveniently forgets Proctor's role in creating the Rebecca monster...
Proctor's own response to Burton's confession and then killing him was pretty clear evidence that Proctor knew exactly why all this crap had happened, and his role in it. As traumatised as I was by it, it was beautiful to see Proctor comforting Burton at the end and acknowledging that Burton's intentions were pure (well, as pure as 'Banshee' intentions can be...) and ensuring that Burton's last moments were at least spent in acknowledgment of Burton's loyalty to Proctor as a friend, not just as a boss or a businessman or a saviour.
Moving on from those tears, I've seen quite a few fan comments around the place expressing disbelief that Hood could have Burton so easily. First up, I'm not sure I'd call that fight "easy" for either of them. Burton did get the better of Hood, and almost killed him. But Hood was spurred on by daughter-inspired daddy-power and fought back, as main characters so often do. But secondly, and most importantly, Burton and Proctor came into that battle really fucked up. They had literally just been exploded by Job/Carrie/Brock's bazooka and then engaged in a gun-fight. THEN Hood smashed them off the road, leading to a brutal car crash, rolling down a ravine-esque wooded area and as a result being pretty physically damaged and probably a little exhausted by one hell of a day! Hood, on the other hand, came into that fight fairly fresh (as fresh as he ever is given his fondness for fighting...), and Burton still had the upper-hand for the first part of that fight. Seems to me that that was brilliant management of Burton's so-far immortal status on the show. The only way, realistically, that Hood could have beaten Burton was if he was already seriously injured and exhausted.
Anyway, for me, the fight was brilliant and traumatic, a perfectly horrifying blend of brutality and high emotional stakes, an art that 'Banshee' has perfected over its 4 seasons. I still don't think I have processed what I witnessed fully, as it was incredibly tough to experience Burton's death so closely, and so suddenly after the confirmation of his role in Rebecca's death. But I will forever be in awe of Antony Starr, Matthew Rauch and Ulrich Thomsen for their acting throughout the series, but in this scene in particular. My heart... it hurts... you bastards!
So it was ever-so-unsurprisingly revealed that Satan McHornFace was NOT Rebecca's killer. Cue my anxiety! I'd read fan theories about Burton being the killer and it made sense and I was ok with it. The Rebecca-Burton rivalry had been set up long ago, and having it be a central storyline in the end was pretty satisfying.
But to be honest, Hood and Dawson's trip to the shed was pretty dumb, in my opinion. Burton was already a little creepy, so giving him some spooky shed-basement full of dolls was kinda not necessary (unless there is some extensive backstory to this, 'Banshee' writers?! That you would perhaps like to share with us in some sort of spinoff form?!?!?!?!?! TELL ME!!!!!). But they had set up Burton's distrust of Rebecca very early on in the series. We didn't need the creepy dungeon vibe to justify this course of action for Burton. But like I said, if the 'Banshee' writers want to share more about this with me, I'm all ears!
Hood running Proctor and Burton off the road scared the shit out of me. It shouldn't have, but it did, because like I said, I was in Anxiety City. From the promos, I knew this was the Hood/Burton showdown, and that meant very soon, I was going to be in a pool of tears. Burton is my favourite 'Banshee' character, and Hood is my second favourite. So there was no good outcome for me or my precious boys here.
The entirety of the Hood/Proctor/Burton showdown was brilliant. Hood's interrogation of Proctor was painful, as Proctor was truly totally vulnerable and desperate for once in his damn life. And their simultaneous realisation that Burton killed Rebecca was chilling, compounded by the reveal that Burton was awake and mobile...
Hood VS Burton was truly brutal. I've read a couple of reviews and fan comments lamenting that it was not as epic as say Burton VS Nola in 'A Fixer Of Sorts', but, for me, those are two very different fights, for very different reasons, and their level of 'epicness' should really be contextualised. The Burton/Nola fight was an excellently choreographed and frenzied fight between two people who had really just met, and were both hell-bent on getting rid of each other in order to protect or avenge someone else. So there was a panicked ferocity to their fight that has been unrivalled. The Hood VS Burton fight, however, was steeped in the history the characters, including Rebecca and Proctor, had together. Therefore, it was less clinical, and more blunt, emphasising not their techniques as fighters, but rather their emotional states channelled into brute strength and power. Hood was fighting for some justice for Rebecca, and Burton was fighting, yet again, to protect Proctor and his standing with Proctor. So comparing the fights is kinda pointless. The Hood VS Burton showdown was brilliant for what it was, as was the Burton VS Nola showdown.
Anywho... I found the fight really hard to watch because I desperately wanted neither to lose, even though I knew Burton was pretty much a guaranteed goner. I have to admit though I was sucked in by the fake-out: when Burton was choking Hood and Hood's dearly departed began flashing before his eyes, I thought 'holy shit they ARE gonna kill him'. It would have been a bold move, but one that would not be out of place on ‘Banshee’. But of course they didn't and I felt like a bit of an idiot, but please bear in mind that this entire scene was a trauma for me.
Hood's head-bashing beat-up of Burton was soooooo hard to watch (doesn't that hurt Hood?!), but Hood dragging Burton's body around the car and throwing him down on Proctor was probably the worst part. I think that is when I transitioned from being upset to being numb. It's not that I think 'Banshee' crossed a line (let's be honest, worse has happened in Banshee), but more that this was one of my favourite characters of all time, a formerly powerful and formidable if not odd creature, being reduced to a fairly undignified mess. I was 100% prepared for Burton's death, but not this death...
And then it got worse. Burton was thrown to Proctor for the final indignity... The scene was stunning. Proctor was totally torn, Burton was totally torn up. Given their history, this was a fucking disastrous end to Team Proctor, and both Proctor and Burton knew it. The final crack of Burton's neck was sickening. Proctor's response was sickening. The whole scene was horrifying. I'm still not sure what I do with it. It was brilliant, but it was confronting.
Peppered throughout the scene were the flashbacks to Burton's murder of Rebecca. Those minimal flashbacks were far, far more sinister, sick and chilling than anything we ever saw from the Satanists. I'm trying to decide if that was deliberate or not. As I will discuss in another therapy session (my full series review), the Satanist serial killer storyline was incredibly weak. Despite inexplicably getting the jump on Dawson, Hood and Lotus at one point, the Satanists were never really believable as a serious threat. They were always really just a bunch of nutters. However, the moments we see Burton looming over a restrained Rebecca are steeped in violence and rage. Adding to that is the sense that Burton is technically right: Rebecca was screwing up all over the place, and Proctor was letting her away with it. Since being saved by Proctor from that torturous dungeon, Burton seems to have been pathologically loyal to Proctor, and perhaps understandably so. The torture Burton endured (for whatever reason... TELL ME, 'BANSHEE' WRITERS!!!!) was clearly traumatic, and Burton would understandably pledge his existence to Proctor as a saviour figure. Look at me, defending the creepy little murderer! But seriously, Burton's assessment of Rebecca was not wrong, even if he conveniently forgets Proctor's role in creating the Rebecca monster...
Proctor's own response to Burton's confession and then killing him was pretty clear evidence that Proctor knew exactly why all this crap had happened, and his role in it. As traumatised as I was by it, it was beautiful to see Proctor comforting Burton at the end and acknowledging that Burton's intentions were pure (well, as pure as 'Banshee' intentions can be...) and ensuring that Burton's last moments were at least spent in acknowledgment of Burton's loyalty to Proctor as a friend, not just as a boss or a businessman or a saviour.
Moving on from those tears, I've seen quite a few fan comments around the place expressing disbelief that Hood could have Burton so easily. First up, I'm not sure I'd call that fight "easy" for either of them. Burton did get the better of Hood, and almost killed him. But Hood was spurred on by daughter-inspired daddy-power and fought back, as main characters so often do. But secondly, and most importantly, Burton and Proctor came into that battle really fucked up. They had literally just been exploded by Job/Carrie/Brock's bazooka and then engaged in a gun-fight. THEN Hood smashed them off the road, leading to a brutal car crash, rolling down a ravine-esque wooded area and as a result being pretty physically damaged and probably a little exhausted by one hell of a day! Hood, on the other hand, came into that fight fairly fresh (as fresh as he ever is given his fondness for fighting...), and Burton still had the upper-hand for the first part of that fight. Seems to me that that was brilliant management of Burton's so-far immortal status on the show. The only way, realistically, that Hood could have beaten Burton was if he was already seriously injured and exhausted.
Anyway, for me, the fight was brilliant and traumatic, a perfectly horrifying blend of brutality and high emotional stakes, an art that 'Banshee' has perfected over its 4 seasons. I still don't think I have processed what I witnessed fully, as it was incredibly tough to experience Burton's death so closely, and so suddenly after the confirmation of his role in Rebecca's death. But I will forever be in awe of Antony Starr, Matthew Rauch and Ulrich Thomsen for their acting throughout the series, but in this scene in particular. My heart... it hurts... you bastards!
