Banshee

What’s it about?

An enigmatic ex-con assumes the identity of a murdered sheriff in the small town of Banshee. He has unfinished business in town but the real trouble’s only just beginning.

Starring

Antony Starr, Ivana Milicevic, Ulrich Thomsen, Frankie Faison, Hoon Lee, Matt Servitto, Lili Simmons, Ben Cross, Matthew Rauch

An Introduction to Banshee

Banshee’s mysteriously nameless hero (played by Antony Starr) is let out of jail after 15 years for stealing $10 million in diamonds from his former boss. Unfortunately, this former boss is a big-league Ukrainian gangster called Rabbit (Ben Cross), and certainly not someone who forgives betrayal. Calling on his flamboyant long-time cohort, forger and hacker, Job (Hoon Lee), our hero gets a lead on some unfinished business – in fact, the only business that matters to him.

Our man heads to the small town of Banshee, Pennsylvania, in search of his former lover and accomplice in the heist – who happens to be Rabbit’s daughter, Anastasia (Ivana Milicevic). On entering a bar on the outskirts of town he makes the acquaintance of amiable but slightly world-weary owner, Sugar (Frankie Faison) and a decent-seeming fellow by the name of Lucas Hood (Griff Furst), the soon-to-be new sheriff in town.

Enter two villains collecting protection money for local criminal businessman and entrepreneur, Kai Proctor (Ulrich Thomsen). A struggle with the incoming sheriff ensues, resulting in his murder.

After dispatching the bad guys, our hero realises he could assume the identity of the murdered sheriff and breeze right into town, thwarting anyone hunting for his old persona and in a great position to hunt for Anastasia – now a respectable citizen of Banshee going by the name of Carrie. The only person that would know the new Lucas Hood’s real identity is Sugar, and he’s happy to keep a secret.

So, there’s a new sheriff in Banshee who’s already on the wrong side of two criminal bosses – and things will never be the same again.

Summary

Welcome to one of the most exciting, visceral and stylishly violent shows on TV… Banshee celebrates the strengths, flaws and passions of its characters with style, while not pulling any punches when things get more physical – in fact, these moments help to set this show apart.

Banshee is no place for tired stereotypes and lazy storytelling. Characters are nicely fleshed out and often find astonishing depths of resolve as situations unfold. One of the recurring themes of the show is righteousness, or righting wrongs, and this fuels many encounters.

As the story progresses, you will find that Banshee has some of the most extraordinary one-on-one fight scenes ever shown on TV, particularly the ones involving Hood, Carrie, and Burton, Proctor’s right-hand man (played by Matthew Rauch). These are not your typical cop show tussles which seldom raise an eyebrow, but awesome, drawn-out and downright dirty fight scenes that are amazingly choreographed and jaw-dropping to watch.

This is not to say Banshee is thuggish or just for “action heads”, far from it. It’s often genuinely moving and certainly beautifully shot, and the show is unafraid of exploring depths of the characters’ emotions alongside the more earthy encounters.

Banshee is a revelation, unexpectedly excellent on every level. In the same way that Breaking Bad is so much better than it may look on paper, Banshee is a proper gem of a show and a future classic – it’s not that well-known as yet, but you’ll change that once you get drawn into its world.

How to tell if Banshee is for you? Watch no less than the first three episodes and you’ll know – certain events transpire that will demonstrate what this show is capable of delivering… and oh boy, does it deliver. One more tip: always stay with the credits after each show – most episodes deliver some extra insights into the unfolding story, either via the audio or an extra scene at the end.

Check out the Season 1 Trailer here: