Cinematography:
Christopher FaloonaComposer:
Methodic DoubtCast:
Antony Starr, Ivana Milicevic, Ulrich Thomsen, Frankie Faison, Hoon Lee, Rus Blackwell, Lili Simmons, Matt Servitto, Trieste Kelly Dunn, Steve Coulter (more)VOD (5)
Seasons(4) / Episodes(38)
Plots(1)
A recently paroled master thief assumes the identity of the Sheriff of Banshee, PA, and reconnects with his onetime lover and partner-in-crime while avoiding gangsters they both betrayed years earlier. (Home Box Office)
Videos (167)
Reviews (7)
Season 1 – 80% – Pure-blooded, sexually charged, action-packed and no-nonsense. It has everything you would expect, from the good stuff like a main hero with an unbreakable jaw, the revealing of the secret advantages of the eye candy, and the tough one-liners smoothly coming out of the mouths of the local crooks, to the not-so-good stuff, where the most fundamental logic and behavior somehow escape otherwise thoughtful and brilliant characters in many heated situations, not least Sheriff Hood. Nevertheless, I come back to this backwater town, where every other guy is a criminal or a brawler, with great pleasure. Every fight, shootout, chase, or break-in is an audiovisual experience that leaves you no time for criticism. And last but not least, it has been a while since I found the main character of a series as likable as Antony Starr when he walked out of prison. This clearly laid-out struggle between good and evil may be unsteady, but it's hard not to root for it. Season 2 – 85% – Bigger, more mature, and even more action-packed, if that's even possible. What worked before is working even better now, and those I loved before I now welcome on the screen with an even wider smile (Siobhan, Job), while my least favorite Gordon is now completely unbearable. The famed beard that makes the second season better lies in the barely noticeable moments of relaxation when the sheriff reflects on where he came from and where he is headed, and each glass or glance in the rearview mirror brings me a little closer to him. It's just a pity that the behavior of the main characters in the most crucial moments is still unexpected due to hastiness and lack of logic. Thankfully, the series only cares about credibility as a last priority. Season 3 – 80% – A proper action colossus. The mouthfuls the creators are trying to digest in the action realm are becoming more and more substantial, and the proper long first-person action scenes or station raids, for example, are such perfectly crafted moments that I can't even blink and can only think that the inferno of Banshee deserves many more viewers. That said, there are occasional moments that are needlessly overdone or even ridiculously comical (a teenage version of Fight Club and especially the terminator-like qualities of the already sufficiently terrifying Chayton). But it still captures the essence of fun, because the positives are brilliantly breathtaking in their strong moments. The decision that the next season will be the final season is a blessing, though, because there has to be a limit to the reasons Hood would stay in this hellish town. Season 4 – 70% – When main creator Jonathan Tropper humbly announced that coming up with a constantly evolving action series is such hard work that it would be better if everyone leaves at its peak and gives the viewers the most intense season, it sounded great. Considering how straightforward and inventive all the previous seasons had been in reaching their goal, it seemed that this approach couldn't go wrong. But the show shifted towards action, added a lot to the detective investigations, and most importantly, our favorites disappeared from the scripts. Instead of enjoying the final episodes with Sugar, Deva, Proctor, or Job, we are given an abundance of screen time devoted to Calvin Bunker, probably the worst villain in the entire series. As a result, the Banshee swan song gets an above-average rating due to the participation of my beloved Eliza Dushku and a perfectly western-like finale. The amount of stylish departures, heartfelt confessions, and manly tears will stay with me for a long time.
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Damn. Why did it have to end after just 4 seasons? I ended up falling in love with the entire cast. Now I understand why so many people hold this show in such high regard. It offers countless high-quality aspects. Antony Starr, in particular, shone in all directions here (though it was the role of Homelander that brought him fame... such a pity). To sum up, Banshee captivated me with its straightforwardness. No one here messes around; it's at times quite a brutal watch for a TV production. However, I was somewhat annoyed by how the creators had to cram so much sexual content into each season. I get the occasional inclusion, but at times I wondered what genre I was actually watching :D Anyway, the third season was probably the best; the Indian character Chayton, with his role as a merciless killer, is etched into my memory. The final season was wrapped up optimally; I couldn’t have ended it better. I’m really glad for the time I spent on it. For me, it’s 8/10. P.S. Job, as the loquacious sidekick, was excellent :)
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It’s been a long time a new series made me as happy as Banshee did. Let’s ignore the fact that at the end of each episode, the protagonist looks like a zombie beaten with an iron rod, only to become the properly coiffed alpha male in the next episode as he was in the beginning of the series. This series portraying a city that has a bit of everything is simply superb. Given the size of the city, there’s a great number of Mafiosos, and the audience will grow fond to each and every one of them. And that’s the great thing about this series. Each character has their place in it. The story gets back to each of them and they each affect the story in some way or other. I don’t care that Antony Starr’s character is basically immortal. Apart from this, everything works perfectly: dialogs, camera, atmosphere, relationships. The first season was a pleasant surprise.
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Alan Ball and pulpy, rough and rougher (roughest) schooling, Jim Thompson style, about an ex-con, who used to be an amoral sheriff, only ever acting in his own self-interest. And, to an extent, an unadmitted, but even more “faithful in spirit" adaptation of the “Scalped" comic book series. The main (anti)hero is direct and blunt, and wherever he goes, no-one wants any problems. Another nice thing about it is that is does not take itself too seriously. And Ball himself is a guarantee that despite the “badass" scene full of porn-… um, sex, explicit violence and unwavering testosterone, it isn’t gratuitous (this only applies to the first series). Course, it’s not about holding up mirrors, not even really bloodied ones. The real problem is the main storyline, which is just dumb even for a self-confessed sophisticated B-movie, and so even though every episode in itself is amazing, the way they are fitted together as one whole is just worrying. Everything is centered around unparalleled, extraordinary fights and characters, but not the story (which changes, although subtly, in the course of the second series). At a pinch, you could say that each glance and dialog is an excuse for several minutes of all-out fucking or a several-minute long fight/shootout. And since the third series this is not an overstatement, they do not care about the “story" and just focus on the “dirty". Of course, the method of execution, that is the question! They explicitly pay tribute to everything from The Raid to Carpenter. If you agree to respect these distinctive rules, then… What’s not to love? | S1: 4/5 | S2: 4/5 | S3: 4/5 |
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Season 1 95%, Season 2 100% and Season 3 definitely 200%. Banshee is the king of action series, it has perfect characters, great one liners, lots of sex (there is not a woman in the series who doesn't get naked), perfect gore, solid fights, very good action, the emotions work too, because the characters die a lot. Best Characters: Hood is charismatic likable, confident, fearless, brave and solves everything his way. Job, even though he's a transvestite, he added incredible juice to the series, there wasn't a sentence where he didn't say motherfucker and always put a smile on my face. Proctor is a strange character, you don't know whether to root for him or hate him, he's versatile but decent as a mob boss. Rebecca is a dream woman, I'd invest 20 grand to fuck her, but in the third season she's become a typical and forceful bitch. Brock is a nice guy, he doesn't stand out too much from the show, but he's fair and a good cop. Sugar is also a very likable character, he doesn't talk too much, he doesn't show off too much in action, but I'd go for a beer with him. Bunker is a Nazi and the third season's reinforcement, he's a dude I enjoy. Chayton is the biggest badass of all badasses, ever, a cold-blooded Indian killer who has no mercy on anyone and you wish him dead. Lola's a right tough pussy, a little Michele Rodriguez. Gordon, Deva, Carrie, those three probably entertained me the least out of the series, I didn't grow fond of any of them. Rabbit is the weaker villain, I didn't enjoy him very much. Stow is the perfect bad guy, he deserves a series to himself, a tough and uncompromising soldier with incredible guts. Bottom line, it was a lovely two weeks.
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