Banshee - Season 2

For those of you who haven’t caught the Cinemax TV show Banshee yet, you should.

I discovered Banshee last year when a couple of episodes had already aired and after watching one episode I was hooked and had to catch up with the episodes I had missed.

An action packed, sex romping, bullet flying array of twists and backstory that never fail to excite is how I would describe Banshee. Cinemax really have got a good one here. The executive producer of the show is Alan Ball, famed for writing American Beauty and HBO series True Blood, the reason I mention this is that there is one major similarity between True Blood and Banshee. Those of you familiar with True Blood will know the character Lafayette played by Nelsan Ellis, a sassy black man who is androgynous as well as being out and proud, for me he was the best thing about True Blood, his laugh out loud one-liners gave an element of comedy which the show needed. In Banshee there is a very similar character played by Hoon Lee named Job (pronounced Jobe). Job is a transvestite computer hacker who is handy with a gun and can kick ass whenever needed, he also as Lafayette has some cracking lines that have me in stitches. I love both these characters and find it hard to pick a favorite as they are so similar but in completely different worlds. It’s also worth noting that these LGBT characters are both ethnic minorities adding a double hit for liberal TV.

I have just finished season 2 of Banshee, which held up well against the first, nothing worse than a good first season followed by a shit sophomore season after a year of waiting. Banshee came back and had me addicted from the start. More violence, sex and story that make it a TV show that is very easy to binge on. The show also adds additional new characters that look as if they are going to have a bigger role in season 3.

Banshee also deals with many issues a favorite of mine of which is the coming of age aspect of people in the Amish community and the rebellion that sometimes occurs. Issues of Native Americans are also shown in the series notable the hierarchy of the tribes and their chiefs. There is also the subject of people from different backgrounds and beliefs integrate in the melting pot that is the United States of America and the possible repercussions of this happening.

I easily think that Banshee is on-par with shows like Breaking Bad, The Wire, True Blood, Game of Thrones etc… but I don’t think Banshee will have the following of these shows, but I cannot figure out why. It is as well written as these shows, it has an incredible cast, it’s beautifully shot and is edited in a unique and very clean, crisp way.

At the moment Banshee is my personal favorite TV series on right now and I urge anyone who hasn’t seen it yet to begin watching it.