‘Shantaram’ Recap: ‘Banquet of Consequences’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Eleven of ‘Shantaram’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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Over the course of the past few weeks, we’ve talked at length about the lessons that Lin Ford/Dale Conti’s journey has provided us with via the Apple TV+ series, Shantaram. For Lin’s desperate attempts to avoid change and never have to face his past has taught us to embrace change and do impactful work internally to become a better person. But of the many lessons that we have explored over the past eleven weeks, there are two that have been hovering over this series for some time now. Specifically, what are the consequences of not addressing our past and running from it hard, and what would come from trying to heal or improve a situation that is already toxic and volatile, and well… this week’s episode turned out to be the moment when the show opted to address those concerns.
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For ‘Banquet of Consequences’ informed us of the fact… that trying to create a status quo or better days ahead for darkness, will go nowhere in life and bring us great trouble. Because when ugly is deeply established in the world around us, it cannot be healed or improved. It can only do what it does and spread and bring heartache, and the story that Karla put out into the world, in an effort to promote that healing and make Lin proud and safe… spiraled out of control. For Walid learned of its existence from Madame Zhou and learning that… brought forth a turf war. One that saw Khader Khan under fire from Walid’s forces and this war also brought forth, major suffering in Sagar Wada, since Walid’s boys went back in to cause trouble and inflict great harm. 

The kind that saw Qasim suffer a brutal head injury in the ensuing battle and that of course… brought forth nothing but fury and disdain from Lin. Who came to learn that Khan was going to use his freedom as a bargaining chip to end the story before it could be printed. Which was enough to motivate him to walk away from the whole mess, and well, that really was an impactful way to hammer home that lesson, and that chaos oddly enough, led to the second lesson of the hour. Specifically… what happens when we don’t deal with our past. Because while all of this was going on, Nightingale was finally learning a sense of humility and in doing so, was able to find common ground with Bombay PD and advance the case through a squeeze of Didier and through informants. 

Which brought Nightingale to Sagar Wada, where Prabhu went through abuse to distract the angry detective while Lin worked on Qasim to save his life. But thanks to Ravi, Lin/Dale and the officer that did him harm came face to face at last after all this time. Making it clear without a shadow of a doubt… that when we don’t resolve our past, eventually it will come back to haunt us. Either in an emotional manner… or a literal manner. Which was the case here, and that put Lin in a tough spot. Where he either has to figure out a creative way to secure his freedom or run again and hope that somehow, he can avoid yesterday. But we all know he can’t because that’s not how the universe works in the slightest. 

Either way, such lessons set the stage for one powerhouse season finale for this story. For now, the bad of this world is mired in conflict and lives now hang in the balance since Karla and Lisa were kidnapped by Zhou’s lackeys, and Modena may not survive because of that. Giving rise to uncertain futures for those flawed people and of course… Lin is back on the run and unsure of what comes next since his plans have been blown to bits and well… that is going to make the wait for next week’s episode quite painful in nature. Because we simply have to know what will become of the people that we’ve come to know so well, and we of course must know… whether or not Lin can resolve his past as Dale Conti and find peace and at last. Until next time.

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