There is a lot to like about Banshee. It has good acting; good action, good stunts, and excellent cinematography. Its narrative, however, is flawed, and that compromises it throughout its run. The narrative issues compound over the seasons, getting worse in Season 3, and essentially sinking itself in Season 4, its advertised Final Season - with a truncated season of 8 episodes instead of 10 - before calling in a day. While I realize that most people aren't going to tune into Banshee for plot, necessary - it's the adrenaline, the action, the steamy sex that likely inspired many of its viewers - even those elements waned away to a fraction of what they initially were by the final season. In the last season, production had moved from North Carolina to Western Pennsylvania, and it showed. The outside scenes changed. The town layout changed. The City Hall and the Sheriff's Office changed; Carrie's house changed. The Sheriff's Department change was noted in the script, as was Carrie's house change, I imagine because the "Cadi" building and Carrie's house in the NC town where Banshee was shot in its first three seasons didn't exist in Western PA. I don't understand why the producers didn't use stock footage that they no doubt had accumulated during their first three years of shooting. Even Proctor's Mansion was vastly different, shifting from an enormous estate, to a more modest home without the sweeping staircases, but nothing was offered to explain this. What Banshee did right often compensated for what it lacked. By the final season, however, the action and fight sequences were a pittance compared to what they had been in previous seasons. Sure, there was an explosion and a fight here and there, but nothing like in S1-3. The budget must have been enormously curtailed, and it showed. What's more, without the compensating adrenaline rush, the narrative flaws in S4 became accentuated for their superficial treatment.
I won't give away any spoilers, although I imagine that there aren't too many newcomers to Banshee as I was years after its release (You can thank the double-whammies of COVID and the wildfires causing unbreathable air for that). As is the case for many action shows and movie franchises, such as Lethal Weapon, in which the Mel Gibson character was haunted by his past (is he crazy or he is just super sane?), once those issues get resolved, much of the momentum and motivation for the narrative is deflated. It takes two seasons for Banshee to exhaust the mileage from its initial setup, which, too, was flawed. The basis upon which the main character (Lucas Hood) went to jail and why (not a spoiler; revealed upfront as a premise) doesn't make sense when scrutinized. His character never would have made the choices that he did. It's a big problem, but the action, the fighting, the blow ups, the acting, the artistic filming, the sex and the sex appeal make this forgivable . . . or at least, allow one to suspend his disbelief enough to watch. Once that critical narrative arc is resolved, which was problematic to begin with, the story falls apart. Season 3 narrative flaws are somewhat ridiculous as the writers rely upon Chayton's storyline (though I loved the character, the story was problematic), and I only qualify that description because Season 4's are worse than ridiculous. As it is set up, Kai Proctor, the villian of the show and the nemesis of our protagonist, lives by a moral code, albeit compromised, notwithstanding his nefarious ways. By Season 4, the expansion of his business, his dealings, his "evil" becomes unrecognizable. The Kai Proctor we meet in S1 would never make the choices or deal with the types of people and organizations that he relies upon in S4. Even the tension among Brock and Hood often reveals its lack of substance. In one moment, Brock is calling out Hood for his lack of integrity, demanding that he leave the force; the next, he's demanding that Hood see what he started through. In S3, Brock demands to accompany Sheriff Hood out-of-state, and then once out-of-state, he accuses Hood into turning him into something he never wanted to be. This isn't depthful character development - yes, the tension of love/hate, admiration/disdain exists - but rather, it's poor writing. Ditto for the brother issues that arise between a future deputy in and his brother in Seasons 3-4. Terrible writing. Truly terrible. Is it love? Is it hate? Is it evil? Is it all of the above? The writers didn't consider any of it, it seems. The words that flow from the characters' mouths suit that moment only, even if they are not consistent with or undercut the narrative that came before. In the original Karate Kid, we learn that Mr. Miyagi's wife died and Mr. Miyagi never recovered from that loss. In the sequel, the story changes such that Mr. Miyagi's wife's love was stolen by a bad man who didn't deserve the woman. Which was it? Perhaps in a teen movie, no one cares, and these narrative problems are mitigated by the stand-alone nature of those movies, such that previous movies in the franchise are not required viewing and that one can enjoy each movie in its completeness without having to have made the investment of what came before it. But that is contrary to the serial nature of shows like Banshee. Worse, yet, the narrative flip-flops occur within respective seasons, not just season-to-season, to satisfy a particular moment, but they do not move the story forward. The shocking reveal in the later seasons are equally nonsensical. Never would have happened. Particulalry the principle one about which I will offer no detail, it never could have happened under the parameters set up in the show, absent much more character development to support it (and even then, I would find it hard to swallow). Season 4 starts off with a strong premise. It ends in ludicosity. By the final season, Sugar is hardly a character and Job's presence is largely reduced. Both of those characters, however, served the show well over the years. They provided needed color and rounding, but their stories, as Season 4 demonstrates, were not principal to the narrative vector or resolution of the conflict.
In my view, the writers and showrunners could have tightened the narrative up ever so slightly such that these inconsistencies would have been minimized or completely resolved. The issues between Carrie and her father, the backstory between Carrie and Hood, the issues with the Native American tribe and the town as well as between the Amish and Proctor could have ultimately made more sense. If we felt the truth that undelie the tension - the lack of black-and-white, even amongst the most extreme of circumstances - Banshee would have been elevated to an entirely different level.
Finally, I will add that none of the romantic arcs in the show worked on any meaningful level at all. The most powerful, of course, was the history between Carrie and Hood, but at its best, it is never believable. While Hood has relationships with many women throughout the show, there is another relationship that narratively is supposed to cut to our core and explain the depth of S3. It doesn't. It doesn't come close. It read as casual to me, but for the narrative to work, it would have had to have been a momentous love that rocked the core of who one was. Hardly. Again, I recognize that Banshee is not generally watched for its narrative integrity, but I write this because it does matter. It's what elevates a show from good-to-great. While Banshee currently has an 8.4 rating on IMDB, this is inflated. It's not the quality of The Sopranos or the first three Seasons of The Wire. It's a fun show, good to watch, easy to sip through, but it doesn't land. It's a shame because there is evidence that the creators and writers wanted that to be the case. There is an accompanying "Banshee Origins" series on Cinemax's YouTube channel that gets into the backstory and origins of the relationships among the characters and how life brought them to the point where they are when we first encounter them. That is all about character development and depth and integrity of story and design. How the final product skirted these issues, then, is a question I cannot answer.
I still give Banshee a good rating. Had more attention been paid to the narrative consistency, Banshee could have been sublimely satisfying. Instead, it sells out for the adrenaline rush and the sex appeal, which waned to almost nothing in the final season anyway. As I said from the outset, there is a lot to like. By changing almost nothing but paying attention to the narrative and its detail, there could have been a lot more.
I won't give away any spoilers, although I imagine that there aren't too many newcomers to Banshee as I was years after its release (You can thank the double-whammies of COVID and the wildfires causing unbreathable air for that). As is the case for many action shows and movie franchises, such as Lethal Weapon, in which the Mel Gibson character was haunted by his past (is he crazy or he is just super sane?), once those issues get resolved, much of the momentum and motivation for the narrative is deflated. It takes two seasons for Banshee to exhaust the mileage from its initial setup, which, too, was flawed. The basis upon which the main character (Lucas Hood) went to jail and why (not a spoiler; revealed upfront as a premise) doesn't make sense when scrutinized. His character never would have made the choices that he did. It's a big problem, but the action, the fighting, the blow ups, the acting, the artistic filming, the sex and the sex appeal make this forgivable . . . or at least, allow one to suspend his disbelief enough to watch. Once that critical narrative arc is resolved, which was problematic to begin with, the story falls apart. Season 3 narrative flaws are somewhat ridiculous as the writers rely upon Chayton's storyline (though I loved the character, the story was problematic), and I only qualify that description because Season 4's are worse than ridiculous. As it is set up, Kai Proctor, the villian of the show and the nemesis of our protagonist, lives by a moral code, albeit compromised, notwithstanding his nefarious ways. By Season 4, the expansion of his business, his dealings, his "evil" becomes unrecognizable. The Kai Proctor we meet in S1 would never make the choices or deal with the types of people and organizations that he relies upon in S4. Even the tension among Brock and Hood often reveals its lack of substance. In one moment, Brock is calling out Hood for his lack of integrity, demanding that he leave the force; the next, he's demanding that Hood see what he started through. In S3, Brock demands to accompany Sheriff Hood out-of-state, and then once out-of-state, he accuses Hood into turning him into something he never wanted to be. This isn't depthful character development - yes, the tension of love/hate, admiration/disdain exists - but rather, it's poor writing. Ditto for the brother issues that arise between a future deputy in and his brother in Seasons 3-4. Terrible writing. Truly terrible. Is it love? Is it hate? Is it evil? Is it all of the above? The writers didn't consider any of it, it seems. The words that flow from the characters' mouths suit that moment only, even if they are not consistent with or undercut the narrative that came before. In the original Karate Kid, we learn that Mr. Miyagi's wife died and Mr. Miyagi never recovered from that loss. In the sequel, the story changes such that Mr. Miyagi's wife's love was stolen by a bad man who didn't deserve the woman. Which was it? Perhaps in a teen movie, no one cares, and these narrative problems are mitigated by the stand-alone nature of those movies, such that previous movies in the franchise are not required viewing and that one can enjoy each movie in its completeness without having to have made the investment of what came before it. But that is contrary to the serial nature of shows like Banshee. Worse, yet, the narrative flip-flops occur within respective seasons, not just season-to-season, to satisfy a particular moment, but they do not move the story forward. The shocking reveal in the later seasons are equally nonsensical. Never would have happened. Particulalry the principle one about which I will offer no detail, it never could have happened under the parameters set up in the show, absent much more character development to support it (and even then, I would find it hard to swallow). Season 4 starts off with a strong premise. It ends in ludicosity. By the final season, Sugar is hardly a character and Job's presence is largely reduced. Both of those characters, however, served the show well over the years. They provided needed color and rounding, but their stories, as Season 4 demonstrates, were not principal to the narrative vector or resolution of the conflict.
In my view, the writers and showrunners could have tightened the narrative up ever so slightly such that these inconsistencies would have been minimized or completely resolved. The issues between Carrie and her father, the backstory between Carrie and Hood, the issues with the Native American tribe and the town as well as between the Amish and Proctor could have ultimately made more sense. If we felt the truth that undelie the tension - the lack of black-and-white, even amongst the most extreme of circumstances - Banshee would have been elevated to an entirely different level.
Finally, I will add that none of the romantic arcs in the show worked on any meaningful level at all. The most powerful, of course, was the history between Carrie and Hood, but at its best, it is never believable. While Hood has relationships with many women throughout the show, there is another relationship that narratively is supposed to cut to our core and explain the depth of S3. It doesn't. It doesn't come close. It read as casual to me, but for the narrative to work, it would have had to have been a momentous love that rocked the core of who one was. Hardly. Again, I recognize that Banshee is not generally watched for its narrative integrity, but I write this because it does matter. It's what elevates a show from good-to-great. While Banshee currently has an 8.4 rating on IMDB, this is inflated. It's not the quality of The Sopranos or the first three Seasons of The Wire. It's a fun show, good to watch, easy to sip through, but it doesn't land. It's a shame because there is evidence that the creators and writers wanted that to be the case. There is an accompanying "Banshee Origins" series on Cinemax's YouTube channel that gets into the backstory and origins of the relationships among the characters and how life brought them to the point where they are when we first encounter them. That is all about character development and depth and integrity of story and design. How the final product skirted these issues, then, is a question I cannot answer.
I still give Banshee a good rating. Had more attention been paid to the narrative consistency, Banshee could have been sublimely satisfying. Instead, it sells out for the adrenaline rush and the sex appeal, which waned to almost nothing in the final season anyway. As I said from the outset, there is a lot to like. By changing almost nothing but paying attention to the narrative and its detail, there could have been a lot more.