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DivisionPost
Jun 28, 2006

Nobody likes you.
Everybody hates you.
You're gonna lose.

Smile, you fuck.
Banshee is a show that dares you to log onto Tumblr and complain about it. Its treatment of women, while not overtly terrible, is a little suspect. Its violence and sexual content goes so far over the top, some of it has not yet returned from Earth's orbit. There is barely any thematic heft, zero commentary on the human condition. And in a post-Ferguson world, a story where the protagonist is a violent thief who poses as a small town sheriff and lays down the law however the gently caress he likes should make us all a little queasy.

None of that poo poo matters, though. You know why? Because it's loving



From the jump, Banshee casts itself apart from every other conversation people are having about TV right now. It immediately disassociates from the prestige of Mad Men, The Sopranos, and Friday Night Lights. Nor does it ride on the sleek, thrilling superheroics of Arrow, The Flash, or even 24. Banshee instead finds kinship with the rogue grit and cheap thrills of films like Commando, Road House, Cobra, and maybe a little bit of A Better Tomorrow. Banshee takes that aesthetic, gives it a few modern twists (antihero as protagonist) and quirks (the primary antagonist is an Amish exile turned gangster), and presents it without discretion or apology. In a world of gloss, sophistication, and candy sweetness, each episode of Banshee is a fifth of Jack that you slam straight down your gullet.

I mean, you could criticize it. You may even get respect for criticizing it. But honestly, unless some of the material hits way too close to home for you (there is a lot of rape and sexual assault in the first season), you might as well enjoy it because there's just too goddamn much to enjoy. Besides, Banshee doesn't even pretend to be interested in the bigger questions that would spark such serious discussions about its content. The show has a very personal scope; it's focused solely on the man on the pale horse, the town he rode into, and the Hell that followed him.

God bless it for that.



For those of you just joining us, our hero (played by Antony Starr, pictured above in the foreground) is technically still unnamed. We know him as Lucas Hood because that's the name he took hours after he rode into Banshee, PA, looking for his once-true love Ana (Ivana Milicevic, background). See, Lucas is a convicted thief who gave himself up to protect Ana, and spent 15 years in the pen for his trouble. And if he can't have her, he wants his cut of the diamonds they stole together. Unfortunately, the diamonds are no longer viable, and Ana is now Carrie Hopewell, married to the town's DA and with two kids of her own (one of whom was inconveniently sired by Lucas).

Lucas is out of moves until he gets involved in a skirmish between two thugs and the new incoming sheriff of the town -- the real Lucas Hood. The thugs kill the sheriff, the thief kills the thugs. For a multitude of reasons --he wants to protect the kindred soul that runs the bar, he wants to stay close to Carrie, he doesn't have any better ways to spend the rest of his life, and frankly because he's just loving nuts -- our Lucas takes the man's identity and is sworn in as the town sheriff days later.

Hood's Deputies



Brock Lotus (Matt Servitto) holds seniority amongst the deputies and was disappointed when he didn't get promoted. Naturally, he's suspicious of Hood and the two of them don't often get along. Still, Hood respects Brock and counts on him to keep things running smoothly whenever his real life starts to pull him away from his fake one.

Siobhan Kelly (Trieste Kelly Dunn) survived an abusive relationship, leaving her with steel nerves and an inability to tolerate bullshit. She takes an immediate shine to Hood, but this only buys him a sliver of extra wiggle room around her.

Emmett Yawners (Demetrius Grosse) is a former college football player. When Hood meets him, he has a baby on the way, so naturally he's now dead. (I think the real spoiler (in the "giving away a surprise sense," Yawners was awesome and he'll be missed) is that he survived past season 1.) He was gunned down alongside his wife by neo-Nazis (no orphans, though, they beat his wife into a miscarriage a few weeks before) as revenge for the death of their leader. Expect them to die hilariously if they ever show up again.

Hood's Crew



Job (Hoon Lee, left) is Hood's go-to smartass computer wizard. You know the type: can get into anything that has an internet connection while sarcastically commenting on how easy it is for him or how much poo poo he takes, blah blah hacked the Pentagon blah. Job is a transvestite, which often causes people to underestimate his abilities in the field. This is a mistake.

Sugar Bates (Frankie Faison, right) is a former World Champion boxer who now runs The Forge, Banshee's local dive bar. Bates was the only witness to the fight that led to Lucas Hood becoming, well, Lucas Hood -- not that he's ever gonna say a word to anyone else about that. Sugar certainly doesn't hold the crew back, but Hood mainly keeps him in the fold out of generosity and appreciation for his hard-won perspective on life.

Carrie's Family



Carrie's also an occasional part of Hood's crew. Despite being "the girl" of the story, Carrie's a bad motherfucker in her own right. She's fiercely protective of her family; her son Max (Gabriel Suttle, pictured below on the far right) has chronic asthma and will need a lung transplant soon, which leads her to take some jobs on the side to help pay for his upcoming surgery.



Deva (Ryann Shane, middle -- apologies for the horrible picture) is the bastard child of Carrie and Hood, initially unbeknownst to anyone else. Her rebellious streak wouldn't be too disconcerting or out of the ordinary if it wasn't happening just as her town was being terraformed into a war zone. As far as her stepfather is concerned: Gordon Hopewell (Rus Blackwell) is a hero of the Gulf War who, perhaps sensing a deeper connection between his wife and the new sheriff, is also getting a little suspicious of Hood's presence. But unlike Brock, Gordon's already got a full plate trying to bring down the neighborhood crime syndicate that rules the town.

The Proctor Syndicate



Kai Proctor (Ulrich Thomasen) is an Amish exile who has his hands in every crooked aspect of Banshee. Half the town is on his payroll in one way or another, and the head office is so fed up with being unable to touch this guy that they actually hired Lucas Hood (the real one) as a ringer to take him down. (Our Lucas Hood can be a little more flexible: he's not afraid of Kai Proctor, but in the past, he’s been willing to work with him when necessary. He’s also been happy to gently caress with him when the need arises, though, and the events of last season have set Hood on the warpath against him.)

To date, Hood is the only man who's pretty much gotten away (this long) with crossing Proctor. People who have done so in the past have been fed to Proctor's dogs and ground into chopmeat. If you're too important to be killed, you'll probably just have cow guts dumped into your jacuzzi one night, right as you're about to put your penis inside a pretty lady or two.



Rebecca Bowman (Lili Simmons) is Proctor's niece: quiet Amish girl by day, wild child by night. Her promiscuous ways eventually get her booted from her home, leading her to shack up with an uncle that she’s starting to have -- to put it mildly (and in a hilariously misleading way) -- very conflicting feelings for. She's essentially training to be Proctor's number two.



Clay Burton (Matthew Rauch) is Proctor's assistant.

Don't let him take off his glasses.

Just don't.

The Kinaho Tribe

Previously allied with Proctor, the Kinahoes have begun to break away due to the influence of Chief Alex "THE THUNDER MAN" Longshadow, who inherited the post from his father (who was on much better terms with Proctor). Alex himself is no longer a problem: Rebecca killed him before he could testify against Kai. The REAL trouble is the fallout from killing him, starting with this big motherfucker:



Chayton Littlestone (Geno Segers). When we first met him it took Hood and all three of his deputies to bring him down, and that wasn't without a long fight. He eventually escaped police custody; before he left, he made an implicit promise to come back and raze Banshee to the ground. The death of his chief gives him a good goddamn reason to fulfill that promise.



There's also Nola Longshadow (Odette Annable), Alex's war-mongering, tomahawk-throwing, no-gently caress-giving sister who warned Alex not to piss around with Amish crime lords, and is probably a little miffed that he essentially got killed by one.

---

Is that everybody? Finally? I left out Rabbit, who was Carrie's dad and Lucas's former boss, and was hunting them over the first two seasons, but his arc's pretty much over. So other than him, I believe that's everybody. Hopefully that wasn't too much of a slog to read.

Here's what we have to look forward to:
  • Geno Segers is now part of the main ensemble this year. Also being promoted: Afton Williamson, who had a couple of guest appearances as Banshee's ADA last year.
  • New Characters, according to Wikipedia and Alan Sepinwall:
    • Denis O'Hare (DENIS loving O'HARE) as the latest FBI agent to look into this Lucas Hood character. Reminder that the last time Denis O'Hare appeared in an Alan Ball-produced show, this was one thing that happened.
    • Megan Rath (Sally on Being Human [U.S.]) as Aimee King: The sole deputy in the corrupt Kinaho Reservation Police Department. (Over/under on how long it takes Lucas to sleep with her: three episodes from her introduction.)
    • Chaske Spencer (Into the West, The Twilight Saga) as Billy Raven: A former deputy in the Banshee Sheriff's Department, now considered an outcast by the Kinaho people.
    • Tom Pelphrey (newcomer from the soap opera circuit) as Kurt Bunker: A former skinhead who applies to be a deputy in the Banshee Sheriff's Department.
    • Langley Kirkwood (Charlie Jade, Generation Kill, Strike Back, Black Sails) as Col. Douglas Stowe: A former Green Beret now running an illegal business out of Banshee's Camp Genoa.
  • Episode titles this season:
    • 3.1: "The Fire Trials"
    • 3.2: "Snakes and Whatnot"
    • 3.3: "A Fixer of Sorts"
    • 3.4: "Real Life is the Nightmare"
    • 3.5: "Tribal"
    • 3.6: "Bury the Dead"
    • 3.7: "Breach"
    • 3.8: "All That History In One Moment"
  • Alan Sepinwall has reviewed the first six episodes of Season 3, giving the batch an A-. There's at least one nugget he drops about the season premiere that you're going to wish you experienced tabula rasa, so exercise caution before you click. Basic gist of it: consistently over the top, remains preposterously entertaining.
  • Finally, keep an eye out for posts by Surreal Windmill. He's been off our radar recently, but he's a confirmed member (not a writer or director) of the Banshee production team. (He warned us Chayton Littlestone was coming a year before his first appearance.) He's naturally under a mountain of NDAs; don't expect anything too juicy. But he seems to think the third episode of this coming season is among the craziest hours of TV they've ever produced, and his only comment about episodes 305 and 306 was "So. Many. Squibs."

Now, how do you catch up? If you get Cinemax the entire series is available through Cinemax on Demand and MAX GO. If you don't get Cinemax, but you do get money, you can get the first and second seasons on DVD (1, 2) and Blu-Ray (1, 2; comes with free digital copies). There are no free streaming options beyond MAX GO, but you can also purchase episodes digitally though your provider of choice. (Here's season 1 and season 2 via Amazon Instant Video.)

It's like this: If you yearn for the days of action movies being showcases of pure human-scale badassery without the glossy facade of "super"heroism and the goal of four-quadrant appeal, and you haven't tried this show, you're loving doing it wrong.

DivisionPost fucked around with this message at 16:00 on Mar 26, 2016

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Rhyno
Mar 22, 2003
Probation
Can't post for 10 years!
That's how you start a loving Banshee thread.

Rocksicles
Oct 19, 2012

by Nyc_Tattoo
change Burtons Bio from assistant to assasstant.

rejutka
May 28, 2004

by zen death robot
You forgot the character of Burton's glasses, solely responsible for keeping Burton in check.

CAPTAIN CAPSLOCK
Sep 11, 2001





Sit your bitch asses down this friday to watch some Banshee :colbert:

Solice Kirsk
Jun 1, 2004

.
I've been looking forward to this for at too long!

Roundboy
Oct 21, 2008
Finally a new thread. Looking forward to the new season, time to spam through the old!

JIZZ DENOUEMENT
Oct 3, 2012

STRIKE!
This show is such poo poo and yet also fun

Mars4523
Feb 17, 2014
Please don't die Nola.

I'm so hyped for this season.

am0kgonzo
Jun 18, 2010
great show imo

Kegslayer
Jul 23, 2007
Waiting for the inevitable Strike Back/Banshee cross over.

Perestroika
Apr 8, 2010

This show is basically pure id and it owns. On an intellectual level you realise that you really shouldn't be rooting for these people and should be horrified by what's happening, but when the time comes and the current antagonist gets what's coming to them (and goddamn do they ever get it :stonk:) it's just so goddamn cathartic that it doesn't even matter and you can't help but cheer them on.

Perestroika fucked around with this message at 14:53 on Jan 4, 2015

Solice Kirsk
Jun 1, 2004

.

Mars4523 posted:

Please don't die Nola.

I'm so hyped for this season.

She's gonna die. Everyone's gonna die.

DivisionPost
Jun 28, 2006

Nobody likes you.
Everybody hates you.
You're gonna lose.

Smile, you fuck.
Updated the OP a bit to reflect new information that came out in the review Alan Sepinwall posted today. One thing I'm happy to tell you: Denis O'Hare shows up as another FBI agent looking into Lucas Hood and Banshee.

But there's the other thing that was revealed in Sepinwall's review. A good thing, a very good thing, but I'm torn about whether I should drop it here. Not because it's plot related; it's really some scant details about a major set piece in the season premiere. It just sounds like something that would have been awesome to experience unspoiled. But then again, the anticipation for that moment could make the release that much sweeter.

I'll just let you decide for yourself whether you want to read it.

DivisionPost fucked around with this message at 21:21 on Jan 6, 2015

rejutka
May 28, 2004

by zen death robot
If I read that right, that sounds so ridiculous and Banshee I am already in love.

isaboo
Nov 11, 2002

Muay Buok
ขอให้โชคดี
Holy poo poo, that action piece sounds amazing and it's in the premiere?! We all know that Banshee increases the crazy as it goes along, so this season is probably going to be balls to the wall insane. I can't wait until Friday!

Rhyno
Mar 22, 2003
Probation
Can't post for 10 years!
Denis O'Hare? Holy loving poo poo I can't wait for that.

Finished my binge-watch of seasons 1 and two last night, totally ready now!

Beeb
Jun 29, 2003

Good hunter, free us from this waking nightmare

I don't know why I never got around to watching this before, but I'm only three episodes in and I loving love it. :munch:

Jose Oquendo
Jun 20, 2004

Star Trek: The Motion Picture is a boring movie
Man, between The Knick, Strikeback, and Banshee, Cinemax is the poo poo.

WarLocke
Jun 6, 2004

You are being watched. :allears:

Capn Beeb posted:

I don't know why I never got around to watching this before, but I'm only three episodes in and I loving love it. :munch:

I don't think you're even at the MMA guy fight yet. You're gonna love that.

Also ou don't know how hosed up Proctor, Rebecca, and Proctor's Hatchetman (Clay something?) are. Haha holy gently caress that whole axis of creepyness. :suspense:

Can not wait for this show. So fuckin' good.

Job better be in every goddamn episode, bitches. :colbert:

WarLocke fucked around with this message at 05:22 on Jan 7, 2015

Beeb
Jun 29, 2003

Good hunter, free us from this waking nightmare

WarLocke posted:

I don't think you're even at the MMA guy fight yet. You're gonna love that.

That's where I left off, rip that dude's career :gonk:

The Duke
May 19, 2004

The Angel from my Nightmare

The way Hood fucks up that guys hand is still one of the grossest things on this show.

Rocksicles
Oct 19, 2012

by Nyc_Tattoo
Sauce bottle down the throat in the pilot was the best by far. It was so unexpected!

WarLocke
Jun 6, 2004

You are being watched. :allears:
Look all I want is an Odd Couple-type spin-off show staring Job and Sugar.

Make it happen. :colbert:

Rhyno
Mar 22, 2003
Probation
Can't post for 10 years!

The Duke posted:

The way Hood fucks up that guys hand is still one of the grossest things on this show.

I still can't think of a more graphically brutal fight to ever air on television. That poo poo was nuts and I still love that scene.

YOU LIKE HITTIN' LITTLE GIRLS??!?!

Beeb
Jun 29, 2003

Good hunter, free us from this waking nightmare

Rhyno posted:

I still can't think of a more graphically brutal fight to ever air on television. That poo poo was nuts and I still love that scene.

YOU LIKE HITTIN' LITTLE GIRLS??!?!

The fight between Dan Dority and Captain Turner in Deadwood immediately comes to mind. :stonk:

suddenlyissoon
Feb 17, 2002

Don't be sad that I am gone.
I love this show so loving much. "Wicks" is still the best episode and the way he fights the Albino haunts my dreams.

suddenlyissoon fucked around with this message at 22:03 on Jan 7, 2015

Rhyno
Mar 22, 2003
Probation
Can't post for 10 years!

suddenlyissoon posted:

I love this show so loving much. "Wicks" is still the best episode and the way he fights the Albino haunts my dreams.

Also great. I love how they showed flashbacks to that fight during the fight with Sanchez and we hadn't even seen that fight yet!

DivisionPost
Jun 28, 2006

Nobody likes you.
Everybody hates you.
You're gonna lose.

Smile, you fuck.
ONE MORE DAY, MOTHERFUCKERS. In case you missed it, here's the season 3 trailer I stupidly forget to include:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gp9giKVV__U

And if you need more now, here's a five minute EPK / shot call for season 3, which includes a look at that thing Sepinwall told you about a day or two ago. Also: Kai vs. Lucas! Chayton in warpaint! Rebecca going dark! Gordon and Carrie tag-team beatdown! Sugar punching fools! Lucas the "alleged" sheriff!

rejutka
May 28, 2004

by zen death robot
Things I Hope I Get To See This Season:

Siobhan Kelly embraces her inner :black101: and out-Lucas Hoods Lucas Hood.





That's about it as I know I'll get to see everything else I want, it is Banshee.

life is killing me
Oct 28, 2007

DivisionPost posted:

ONE MORE DAY, MOTHERFUCKERS. In case you missed it, here's the season 3 trailer I stupidly forget to include:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gp9giKVV__U

And if you need more now, here's a five minute EPK / shot call for season 3, which includes a look at that thing Sepinwall told you about a day or two ago. Also: Kai vs. Lucas! Chayton in warpaint! Rebecca going dark! Gordon and Carrie tag-team beatdown! Sugar punching fools! Lucas the "alleged" sheriff!

Didn't we already see a pretty good Kai vs Lucas? Where they basically kicked each others' asses to a stalemate when Kai asked him if he hosed Rebecca and then they had a drink of lovely Scotch to bury the hatchet?

I personally loved that scene

CAPTAIN CAPSLOCK
Sep 11, 2001



DivisionPost posted:

ONE MORE DAY, MOTHERFUCKERS. In case you missed it, here's the season 3 trailer I stupidly forget to include:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gp9giKVV__U

And if you need more now, here's a five minute EPK / shot call for season 3, which includes a look at that thing Sepinwall told you about a day or two ago. Also: Kai vs. Lucas! Chayton in warpaint! Rebecca going dark! Gordon and Carrie tag-team beatdown! Sugar punching fools! Lucas the "alleged" sheriff!

So hype :flashfap:

verdigris murder
Jul 10, 2011

by FactsAreUseless
I'm the seed father of the OG Banshee show thread, and whilst I approve of DivisionPosters efforts, they don't really do justice to the first season of Banshee.

Tbh, it was my first ever thread, and I gambled on not only my own emotions, but those of my contemporaries. The OP might be European, or just a humble dude, joined in the early bloom of SA's fame. But it still feels like he's bullying me in a weird passive aggrieved/aggressive way.

We all like Banshee, but word-spunking with rectanglur spoiler text just sends out the wrong message.

Peace.

The Duke
May 19, 2004

The Angel from my Nightmare

osietra posted:

I'm the seed father of the OG Banshee show thread, and whilst I approve of DivisionPosters efforts, they don't really do justice to the first season of Banshee.

Tbh, it was my first ever thread, and I gambled on not only my own emotions, but those of my contemporaries. The OP might be European, or just a humble dude, joined in the early bloom of SA's fame. But it still feels like he's bullying me in a weird passive aggrieved/aggressive way.

We all like Banshee, but word-spunking with rectanglur spoiler text just sends out the wrong message.

Peace.

What even is this, seriously. The OP is fine.

screech on the beach
Mar 9, 2004

The Duke posted:

What even is this, seriously. The OP is fine.

It's called Autism.

I can't wait for tomorrow night. Banshee is one of my favorite shows and I'm super excited.

screech on the beach fucked around with this message at 01:31 on Jan 9, 2015

Fetus Tree
Feb 2, 2003
Probation
Can't post for 2 years!
I waited until last night to watch season two.

Short wait for me :smugdog:

Cocoa Ninja
Mar 3, 2007
If you guys are hankering for more Banshee stuff before tomorrow, Cinemax has posted season 3 prequel Origin stories for free on Youtube (they're also on MAX GO):

"Busy Night"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48HmPdIQ1kI&list=PL_1_vgzQdhad1U_xPwlHVS5sg_sIiaH9C&index=7
Flashback about Brock as a young deputy with Proctor.

"Always be Prepared"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xurB-ELazSE&list=PL_1_vgzQdhad1U_xPwlHVS5sg_sIiaH9C&index=8
How Burton and Kai Proctor met.

"Off Duty"
Siobhan meets a cop from the Rez.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ghfa6E596Cs&list=PL_1_vgzQdhad1U_xPwlHVS5sg_sIiaH9C&index=9

"Getting to Know You"
Lucas and Ana meet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ikuvbq00Ps&list=PL_1_vgzQdhad1U_xPwlHVS5sg_sIiaH9C&index=10

"Takeover"
Proctor as a young "entrepreneur".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l16p5f601kw&list=PL_1_vgzQdhad1U_xPwlHVS5sg_sIiaH9C&index=11

"Birthday"
Lucas and his cellmate talk on his release date.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIuCQjSXwVk&list=PL_1_vgzQdhad1U_xPwlHVS5sg_sIiaH9C&index=12

"Bugs and Thugs"
Shows Chayton starting off as hired muscle for a gang.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FGaxix35YU&list=PL_1_vgzQdhad1U_xPwlHVS5sg_sIiaH9C&index=13

A lot of material, probably 30 minutes worth of stuff extra scenes.

Rhyno
Mar 22, 2003
Probation
Can't post for 10 years!

osietra posted:

I'm the seed father of the OG Banshee show thread, and whilst I approve of DivisionPosters efforts, they don't really do justice to the first season of Banshee.

Tbh, it was my first ever thread, and I gambled on not only my own emotions, but those of my contemporaries. The OP might be European, or just a humble dude, joined in the early bloom of SA's fame. But it still feels like he's bullying me in a weird passive aggrieved/aggressive way.

We all like Banshee, but word-spunking with rectanglur spoiler text just sends out the wrong message.

Peace.

This thread's OP is loving amazing, what drugs are you on?

CAPTAIN CAPSLOCK
Sep 11, 2001




"I saved one for you" :3:

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DivisionPost
Jun 28, 2006

Nobody likes you.
Everybody hates you.
You're gonna lose.

Smile, you fuck.
Two hours out; let's see what's in store for the season premiere: "The Fire Trials"

quote:

Carrie faces backlash in the wake of her revelation to Gordon and Deva about her past; Lucas faces a new threat; Chayton Littlestone is hell-bent on whipping the Kinaho tribe into a frenzy of violence against their enemies.

See you on the other side!

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