5 out of 5

Covers season 1

We all seem to get distracted by the first episode, which sticks true to Cinemax stereotypes of having trashy nudity, glorified violence, and ridiculous action fantasies .  But this is all somewhat of a flashy front to get the just-released-from-a-fifteen-year-stint con Lucas Hood – played with brittle believability by Antony Starr – on the trail of his thievin’ partner Ana (Ivana Milicevic), who has managed to set up a new, homey identity with a husband and kids in the small town of Banshee.  So no score, no girl, but fate intervenes via TV magic and Lucas finds himself as the new sheriff of Banshee.  From there on out, Banshee never fails to impress by always taking the tougher road with its scripts.  It still flirts with nudity and some big stunts, but mostly without the soft-porn gloss of Cinemax’s Strike Back and often is actually functional to the plot in some way…  Stepping further away from the anti-hero cliches, Hood responds appropriately for someone with no knowledge of police procedures and over a decade in the joint, frequently jumping into the fray with brutal, underhanded tactics and being dealt severe physical repercussions in turn; meaning the violence here is NOT glorified, which is grossly refreshing.  The balancing act of keeping Hood on the job is stretched just to the very teetering point of believability, but Banshee is a small enough town that the writers pull it off.  Plus they keep the shock waves of Hood’s presence there – exposing Ana’s past, bringing old enemies closer, refusing to kowtow to local baddie Kai Proctor – ever rolling, while simultaneously building up an interesting internal history for Banshee.  There is not one soft spot in the cast, nor any moment of the ten episodes of season one that flinches from facing the cost of its plotting decisions.  This was almost certainly assisted by having the show creators script every episode and sticking to a small crew of directors who maintained a consistent visual sensibility.  This show deserves to be viewed past its Cinemaxy roots and I hope it sets something of a precedent of quality for future drama from the station.