Banshee (Cinemax) [** Spoilers **]

Basq

It's really a superb show.. definitely my favourite new show this year.

Ridiculous but great fun!

K4t

donfers wrote: »

I just saw the episode with the albino, this show is hardcore, I am surprised more of the wire/sopranos/breaking bad crowd aren't taking notice, i predict this show will be a sleeper hit like breaking bad and slowly enter the zeitgeist

Banshee is the antithesis of the aforementioned shows. Banshee is so bad it's actually worse than Justified. The ridiculous plot tonight with the ufc fighter was one of the worst pieces of television I've ever seen.

K4t

K4t wrote: »

Banshee is the antithesis of the aforementioned shows. Banshee is so bad it's actually worse than Justified. The ridiculous plot tonight with the ufc fighter was one of the worst pieces of television I've ever seen.

If you think Justified and Banshee are amongst the worst things ever made then you must have seen very little TV.

Backstreet Moyes

K4t wrote: »

Banshee is the antithesis of the aforementioned shows. Banshee is so bad it's actually worse than Justified. The ridiculous plot tonight with the ufc fighter was one of the worst pieces of television I've ever seen.

Depends what your looking for i think it's entertaining. Like most things it's not very realistic.

But it's action packed. It's funny and my god for the women alone it's a must see.

Zero-Cool

K4t wrote: »

Banshee is the antithesis of the aforementioned shows. Banshee is so bad it's actually worse than Justified. The ridiculous plot tonight with the ufc fighter was one of the worst pieces of television I've ever seen.

The MMA fighter episode, while over the top, was brilliant and entertaining. Banshee is one of the most entertaining shows on telly and isn't afraid to veer off the 'realism' path and head to Crazy Town.

I'm a big fan of Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire, The Walking Dead and the usual big hitters but if all of those had a new episode out tomorrow, Banshee would be the one I watch first.

Richard Dower

Deleted User wrote: »

If you think Justified and Banshee are amongst the worst things ever made then you must have seen very little TV.

+1.....even i recognise this fact

Richard Dower

And if you only need one reason to watch =

Headshot

KT4 should be banned for criticising Justified *joking*

Mr E

I'd understand people who don't like this (it's violent to a fault and the acting isn't great), but it's really good fun when you get in to it.

However to say Justified isn't good is borderline trolling.

TwoShedsJackson

Richard Dower wrote: »

And if you only need one reason to watch =

Quite right, Proctor is one of the best characters on TV this year

Mister R

Ok I realise this thread hasn't been updated in 2 months but I had to vent.

I would be ok with this show if it didn't have that Carrie/Lucas stuff going on, I'm so tired of TV shows giving us that kind of "love" angle with the child who is actually his and all. Nashville has essentially a similar storyline right now too. At least Nashville is a soap, that kind of story is its bread a butter. I didn't think Banshee was supposed to be Cinemax doing a gritty version of Knots Landing.

The other ridiculousness I can deal (on some level) with but no wonder HBO passed on this I mean they couldn't with a straight face put this on a network that has such high quality programming. The show has so many flaws I'm shocked anyone can mention it along side quality cable shows. It's trashy cable which of course has its place (I enjoy the odd Spartacus episode) but it uses violence and sex to try and cover the fact the storylines are ridiculously thin and the characters aren't particularly likeable.

Mister R

Mister R wrote: »

Ok I realise this thread hasn't been updated in 2 months but I had to vent.

I would be ok with this show if it didn't have that Carrie/Lucas stuff going on, I'm so tired of TV shows giving us that kind of "love" angle with the child who is actually his and all. Nashville has essentially a similar storyline right now too. At least Nashville is a soap, that kind of story is its bread a butter. I didn't think Banshee was supposed to be Cinemax doing a gritty version of Knots Landing.

The other ridiculousness I can deal (on some level) with but no wonder HBO passed on this I mean they couldn't with a straight face put this on a network that has such high quality programming. The show has so many flaws I'm shocked anyone can mention it along side quality cable shows. It's trashy cable which of course has its place (I enjoy the odd Spartacus episode) but it uses violence and sex to try and cover the fact the storylines are ridiculously thin and the characters aren't particularly likeable.

I think you're missing the point of the show. It's not supposed to be taken seriously and it's creators wrote it to be trashy. It was written as a soap only with all the blood, sex and language that you wished they had. The central concept of man impersonating a sheriff in a small town in order to get close to his ex is straight out of an afternoon US soap.

I don't get why characters have to be likeable. Sure it makes it easier to sympathise with them but I find the main character here to be quite likeable. He's a nasty, twisted son of a gun but he's effortlessly cool and anyone who shoves a steak sauce bottle down another mans throat is alright by me.

To say that the show isn't good enough for HBO because of their high quality programming is ridiculous. HBO are responsible for some great TV but by Christ have they made their fair share of less than great TV, problem is that a lot of it was never shown overhere or that people aren't aware of it.

The reason Banshee works is because its not trying to do anything other than entertain. I enjoy Game of Thrones but at times I do wish that it would take itself a little less seriously. You day that the sex and violence in Banshee is to cover up the thin plot and characters well one could equally argue that GOT suffers from a similar problem. Yes there's far more plot in GOT but you could just as easily tell the same story without the amount of sex and violence.

Mister R

I love ridiculousness a lot of the time, Footballers Wives was one of my favourite guilty pleasures. But this show straddles some fence between the two from what I see, in one respect it wants to be serious and gritty but in the other soapy and ridiculous. It is stuck in some identity crisis.

Hood just seems like a wholly unrealistic character, I can see why some might find him likeable but I find so many of his qualities somewhat contradictory to one another. I'd love for Carrie to get a bullet in the head quite frankly, Proctor is somewhat interesting ill give them that, he is one character I feel is somehow developed and mysterious. All other cast members are about as memorable as beige paint.

GoT, True Blood and Rome all turned down the sex and violence as the series progressed. Now True Blood has hit a bump in the road it could actually do with something extra right now. But the sex and violence was an initial hook, it didn't define the series.

As the soap version of Rome I found Spartacus somewhat bearable by just considering it soft core porn, so I was fine with it. This show attempts to do plots and character development but also the soft core porn element and it just hangs somewhere in the middle.

If this show just went all out one way or the other it could work but the way it's set itself up I feel hinders that. I also don't see what possible ending this show could have other than Hood being killed. It can hardly be happy ever after with Carrie since she has one kid by that husband and I can't see them having the balls to have him leave Banshee and abandon his "love" and kid forever. So I don't see how this show could finish with him alive.

The old love thing annoyed me on Spartacus too, he was at his most self righteous when he was crying over that dead wife of his. When he moved on to the badass slave chick his character improved.

titan18

Why does Spartacus always get lumped in as being trashy? Sure, it's got lots of naked people and some over the top blood, but it's quite well acted, has some excellent characters and is immensely entertaining.

Banshee is also highly entertaining, but it doesn't have the same excellence that Spartacus had, but then Spartacus grew into it so Banshee deserves a similar shot.

Mister R

Spartacus looked like amateur dramatics in comparison to Rome, admittedly Rome's budget was astronomical in comparison, it's early demise was budgetary issues as opposed to ratings ones and even some in HBO have since suggested they regretted axing it.

I have less faith in Banshee than Spartacus because I'm not sure Banshee has actually realised its place in the world yet. I also think a lot of the characters are somewhat stuck in their roles, unless they are killed I can't see some of them taking big leaps from their original position and if they do it would have to be The Colbys Alien Abduction level leaps.

Mister R

Mister R wrote: »

I love ridiculousness a lot of the time, Footballers Wives was one of my favourite guilty pleasures. But this show straddles some fence between the two from what I see, in one respect it wants to be serious and gritty but in the other soapy and ridiculous. It is stuck in some identity crisis.

Hood just seems like a wholly unrealistic character, I can see why some might find him likeable but I find so many of his qualities somewhat contradictory to one another. I'd love for Carrie to get a bullet in the head quite frankly, Proctor is somewhat interesting ill give them that, he is one character I feel is somehow developed and mysterious. All other cast members are about as memorable as beige paint.

GoT, True Blood and Rome all turned down the sex and violence as the series progressed. Now True Blood has hit a bump in the road it could actually do with something extra right now. But the sex and violence was an initial hook, it didn't define the series.

As the soap version of Rome I found Spartacus somewhat bearable by just considering it soft core porn, so I was fine with it. This show attempts to do plots and character development but also the soft core porn element and it just hangs somewhere in the middle.

If this show just went all out one way or the other it could work but the way it's set itself up I feel hinders that. I also don't see what possible ending this show could have other than Hood being killed. It can hardly be happy ever after with Carrie since she has one kid by that husband and I can't see them having the balls to have him leave Banshee and abandon his "love" and kid forever. So I don't see how this show could finish with him alive.

The old love thing annoyed me on Spartacus too, he was at his most self righteous when he was crying over that dead wife of his. When he moved on to the badass slave chick his character improved.

Mister R wrote: »

Spartacus looked like amateur dramatics in comparison to Rome, admittedly Rome's budget was astronomical in comparison, it's early demise was budgetary issues as opposed to ratings ones and even some in HBO have since suggested they regretted axing it.

I have less faith in Banshee than Spartacus because I'm not sure Banshee has actually realised its place in the world yet. I also think a lot of the characters are somewhat stuck in their roles, unless they are killed I can't see some of them taking big leaps from their original position and if they do it would have to be The Colbys Alien Abduction level leaps.

Again you're missing the point. Banshee is a show that was written as a soap only with all the things you'd love to see in a soap. None of the characters are supposed to be that likeable, i think part of the appeal to the writers was to be able to write a show about amoral characters. Banshee is intended as a pulpy, trashy, easy to watch 50 minutes of Tv that revels in the sex and violence. It's a show about great one-liners and one that embraces the over the top characters. It may be glossy trash but there's actually quite a lot going on and I found quite a lot of the characters to be interesting and fun. I think that atm HBO are desperately trying to redefine just what sort of network they are and want to re-brand as a more highbrow network. If it works for them then I'm all for it but I do think that a show such as Banshee is a welcome distraction, it's doesn't take it's self the least bit serious and invites the viewer to have a little fun.

Season 2 of Banshee may indeed grow up a little but I'm not sure I want it to. At heart it's a dime store novel with a lurid cover promising plenty of sex and violence and featuring characters that with few redeeming qualities. They're the kind of people whom if you shook hands with, you'd check that your watch was still on your wrist and your wallet still in your pocket. And that's a welcome change from what TV generally offers us.

As for calling Spartacus the soft core porn version of Rome. Well that does the show an injustice. Sure at times it's little more than tits and blood but as the series progressed it turned into quite the romp. It'll never be remembered as a classic up there with the Wire or Rome but then again that's not the type of show it strived to be. Much like Banshee, Spartacus just wants to entertain and offer something a little lighter than some of Cable's more po-face fare. And maybe it's just me but I always found a lot of the sex in Spartacus to be more believable than in Game of Thrones. I think that's because at least Spartacus wasn't shy about showing a penise every now and again whereas GoT has a habit of cutting away anytime a penise may be about to appear.

Mister R

I never had an issue with Spartacus once it knew its place. This show doesn't know it's place in my opinion, it hasn't fully embraced the soap side. It still has elements that seem it wants to be considered gritty drama. I think season 2 might just be all out soap ridiculousness and frankly that would be better.

It already has a carbon copy of a storyline from Nashville so why not go the whole hog and become a full blown soap, I wonder if Heather Locklear, or Donna Mills are available to play so over the top business woman or the like who turns up in town.

I actually think this show had potential but casting (only about 3 actors are believable in their roles) and general plot/character development really let it down.

Mister R

Mister R wrote: »

I never had an issue with Spartacus once it knew its place. This show doesn't know it's place in my opinion, it hasn't fully embraced the soap side. It still has elements that seem it wants to be considered gritty drama. I think season 2 might just be all out soap ridiculousness and frankly that would be better.

It already has a carbon copy of a storyline from Nashville so why not go the whole hog and become a full blown soap, I wonder if Heather Locklear, or Donna Mills are available to play so over the top business woman or the like who turns up in town.

I actually think this show had potential but casting (only about 3 actors are believable in their roles) and general plot/character development really let it down.

The show knows exactly what it is and what it wants to be. It's a sleazy, pulpy crime drama that's not trying to be big or clever. The show isn't striving to be dark or gritty though some elements may give that impression. If you've ever read any of those old lurid paperbacks you'd recognise just how well Banshee captures the tone.

I take it the Nashville comparison is something to do with one character being the father to a child that another character thinks is his? If that's the case and you think Banshee is copying it then you really need to see more TV as that plot line has been a stable of literature from the very beginning.

Banshee isn't striving to be a soap, yes it has a number of elements that you'd find in soaps and the plot is right out of an afternoon soap but the tone is rather different. Banshee is far darker than any soap and the near constant sense if dread elevates it above other shows with soap like elements. It's quite similar to Ray Donovan in that its treading familiar ground with a cast if characters who are cliches but it knows this and dorks it to it's advantage. Both shows feature amorale people who do bad things though unlike Ray Donovan our Sheriff Hood recognises that he isn't a good guy.

don ramo

i know what they should do, have hood arrive in town and just keep blowing people away for 9 episodes for no reason whatsoever, have no interactions with anyone, and not one word to be spoken out loud for the whole series and then in the last episode have him kill the mother of his child, but he didnt know she had his child cause there was no conversations had to explain it,

the idea of people talking to drive the story forward its kinda an essential part of storytelling, you cant just have a guy randomly kicking the **** outta people for no reason, like the boxer was being a major ****, and hood thought him a valuable life lesson cause he doesnt like bullies, he was abused for years by the albino,

what do you want them to do sit around a table drinking tea for 10 episodes:rolleyes::rolleyes:,

its not emmy stuff, its smut really which is what i was looking for, its nice to have an option when you wanna watch tv, now you have such a massive range of comedies, dramas, fantasy and smut, its a great era for tv and they have a lot of genres covered except space based sci-fi, but there really is something for everyone on tv

ixoy

Finished this a few days ago and really enjoyed it. It's exactly what it intends to be - entertaining rash. It's a lot of fun, much like I found Cinemax's "Strike Back" to be. This is more pulpy but it's got some good humour and action. The violence gives some of the more realistic fight scenes in TV shows - really looks like the actors are being battered.

Okay, so the characters aren't particularly deep but there's no real need for
them to be as long as I enjoy watching them.

I don't think it's right to be compared to 'Spartacus' as some have ('Spartacus' became a much better show) but if I'm enjoying a show like this long may it continue.

Richard Dower

Interesting box art...

don ramo

Richard Dower wrote: »

Interesting box art...

i agree its kinda odd, but thats been its IMDB page poster since before it aired, i like how the HBO stands out more than the CINEMAX, sneaky sneaky

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2017109/?ref_=sr_1

Richard Dower

don ramo wrote: »

its not emmy stuff, its smut really which is what i was looking for, its nice to have an option when you wanna watch tv, now you have such a massive range of comedies, dramas, fantasy and smut, its a great era for tv and they have a lot of genres covered except space based sci-fi, but there really is something for everyone on tv

JP Liz V1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzPy9AC82rw

JP Liz V1

JP Liz V1 wrote: »

Starts on Monday 29th April at 10pm on Sky Atlantic

If anyone missed starts tonight on Sky 1

Galwayguy35

JP Liz V1 wrote: »

If anyone missed starts tonight on Sky 1

It is season 2 ?

Agent Coulson

Galwayguy35 wrote: »

It is season 2 ?

Season 2 starts next month.

JP Liz V1

Galwayguy35 wrote: »

It is season 2 ?

Season 1

jenjenten

woah!....how good was THAT!

evilivor

jenjenten wrote: »

woah!....how good was THAT!

Very. Just watched the Season Two opener last night - it was really terrific - a huge step up from last season

The Banshee Origins mini-episodes are really good too.