Stars: Antony Starr, Ben Cross, Ivana Milicevic, Ulrich Thomsen, Lili Simmons, Geno Segers, Hoon Lee, Matthew Rauch | Created by David Schickler, Jonathan Tropper
Jumping into Banshee without seeing the first season is somewhat of a baptism of fire but it was something I found myself doing so I could do my Banshee: The Complete Second Season review. Watching the recap that comes on the first disc though I was able to catch up with the main plot and have an idea of what’s happened so far and by the final episode I may just have found one of my new favourite shows (to add to an ever-growing list).
With Lucas (Antony Starr) having survived the confrontation with Rabbit (Ben Cross) all of Banshee have to deal with the fallout, especially Carrie (Ivana Milicevic) who finds her past revealed and jail time on the cards. With Rabbit’s body not found though it seems that he may still be alive, and while his shadow stretches over the lives of Lucas and Carrie Banshee is a town that Lucas feels attached to even if all the signs say this connection may just cost him his life.
I remember seeing the adverts for Banshee when the first season was on its way and it caught my interest straight away. With Banshee: The Complete Second Season we have a show that is confident and in some respect exceptional in the story it tells and the way it tells it. An example of just how good it can be is the episode The Truth About Unicorns that not only stands out because of the acting and plot but also the camera work and direction. The episode is full of tension from the very start as both the characters and the audience realise that something is going to happen, and it’s not going to be good. Just watching the search for the sniper in the field is some of the best television you’ll see from 2014 (when it first aired).
With the mixture of cultures within the town of Banshee it comes as no surprise that there are so many tensions, but what is a surprise is just how many crazy people live there. Whether it’s Kai Proctor (Ulrich Thomsen) and his niece Rebecca (Lili Simmons) who continues to be corrupted or it’s Clay Littlestone (Geno Segers) who I assume will play a big part in the third season Lucas is building up quite a list of enemies, this is even before you count the fact that Rabbit is far from dead and waiting in the shadows.
While the cast for the show is excellent I do have to admit I have a taste for the more eccentric of characters. This is probably why I find that Job (Hoon Lee) and Clay Burton (Matthew Rauch) are my favourite stand out characters so far. Both have a similar job, where Job provides support for Lucas, Clay provides it for Proctor and the calm, cool and collected way he does this is often chilling. The flashbacks he tends to have to reveal how he got the scars on his back and the pleasure he has of the memories are probably some of the creepiest for any of the characters on the show. You can’t help but find him eccentrically enigmatic and he may just edge out Job as the best character in the show.
Banshee: The Complete Second Season is easy to jump into even if this is your starting point. It’s easy to pick up and hard to stop watching. The story is refreshing and the violence is harsh and brutally in your face which is something I tend to like in shows that catch my interest. Do I need to warn about the amount of nudity in the show? I don’t feel like I should, but there is plenty of it so I guess you should be prepared for that. I for one love Banshee and look forward to making my way through season three. All I hope is that it never changes, because it gets very little wrong and everything else just right.
***** 5/5
Banshee: The Complete Second Season is released on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK from January 26th.
