Banshee: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Banshee: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray Movie Review

Good town. Bad blood. Great show? Getting closer...

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown January 1, 2015

However far over the top of over-the-top Banshee hurls itself, whatever questionable levels of gratuity it indulges, whether hitting new highs or new lows, there's an earnestness and confidence to its weirdly addicting action-packed pulp that, by some bullet-riddled, fist-pummeled miracle, actually works. Season Two is quite often as teeth grittingly melodramatic as Season One, but the series' sophomore outing continually pulled me farther and farther down its brutal smalltown rabbit hole. Comicbook twists, turns, beatdowns, headshots, 'splosions, cattle chum and all. More than that, each episode left me itching for more; no small feat with so many shows competing for space on this TV junkie's DVR. It's by no means one of television's greats -- sometimes favoring the lesser qualities of its Justified/Twin Peaks/Breaking Bad cross-breeding -- and, let's be honest, may never ascend to such heights. But between its performances (strong and steady), its tightrope plotting (thrilling but deliberate), its willingness to do whatever it takes to go big or be forgotten, and an eagerness to better itself ("The Truth About Unicorns" is disarmingly subdued and sophisticated), there's enough to Banshee's second season to warrant a good, hard look.

The series follows Lucas Hood (Antony Starr), an ex-convict who assumes the identity of sheriff of the rural, Amish-area town of Banshee, where his former lover and partner-in-crime (Ivana Milicevic) lives under the alias Carrie Hopewell. Season Two picks up immediately after the events of the first season finale, after Carrie's father, gang kingpin Rabbit (Ben Cross) was left for dead in the wake of a climactic warehouse shootout. Carrie, now exposed and estranged from her husband and kids, is torn between her devotion to her family and her connection to Lucas, who had given himself up in order to save her years earlier. Lucas, meanwhile, having escaped detection after being interrogated by FBI agent Jim Racine (Zeljko Ivanek), finds his hands fuller than ever as sheriff, dealing with the murder of a Kinaho tribe girl, the continuing escalation of tensions between Amish overlord Kai Proctor (Ulrich Thomsen) and Kinaho tribe leader Alex Longshadow (Anthony Ruivivar), as well as the unwelcome appearance of a surprise visitor: the reprobate son of the real (and late) Lucas Hood.

At first glance, Season Two is Banshee-business as usual. Soon, though, it becomes clear the series isn't exactly up to its old tricks. Amidst the expected gore, nudity and rough-n-tumble Amish ganglanding is a strangely calm, collected crime drama that's much more willing to hold and fold its cards, and to more effective ends. Explosive action beats are still abundant, but death isn't as swift or titillating. Every act of violence comes at a cost this season, and with every decision a consequence. Yes, the series' countless sex scenes make Game of Thrones look like a Disney Channel production. Yes, most of the hookups and one-night stands come across as cheap premium cable gimmickry. And yes, there are other distractions and missteps: the number of people aware of Hood's ruse continues to increase (as do the number of female officers and femme fatales he beds), Rabbit is still kicking, the casino subplot and subsequent Amish/Native American culture clash is terribly two-dimensional, new musclebound heavy Chayton isn't as memorable as the Albino, and the latter half of the season eventually devolves into a semi-reckless shoot-em-up. But, in spite of all that, there's a prevailing sense that the show has grown up since last year. Matured. Become a bit more seasoned.

More than that, the show doesn't seem to be as desperate to please the fickle cable hordes as it once was. Oh, there's plenty of mindless action and tough-guy tenacity to go around. Extended fight scenes, impossible death-defying feats, rapidfire gut punches that'll make your jaw drop, heists and robberies, and an array of skull-cracking, rib-snapping, spine-crushing dances to the emergency room. No one will mistake the show for anything other than Banshee, that's for sure. Showrunner Greg Yaitanes merely takes advantage of the fact that the series doesn't have as much to prove. With ratings on a slow, enviable rise and Cinemax proudly declaring the show a hit, Yaitanes and his writers are able to infuse more drama and suspense into key episodes, dialing down the breakneck pace to a gripping but measured slow-burn. The setups are more tantalizing and the payoffs more satisfying, particularly in the season's mid-stretch.

The unfortunate flipside is that when bodies finally begin dropping en masse, it feels like a step backwards. Blood, gristle and testosterone drive the entire season, of course, but as multiple conflicts come to a head, with Hood inevitably at the epicenter, the carefully constructed hyper-noir Yaitanes and company achieve ultimately, in the last two episodes, gives way to full-blown machismo and nigh invincible antiheroes, each of whom slide, dive, roll and plunge headlong into suicidal fray after suicidal fray. Villains, meanwhile, hide behind armies of faceless henchmen, who are led to the slaughter draw out each climactic battle to overbearing ends. It's not hard to sense how most of it will turn out -- who will live, who will die, who will nearly die only to live to fight another day -- meaning the journey too frequently risks becoming a chore rather than an adventure. Thankfully, with all involved bringing their A-game, the second season nudges past the first. It's only the show's deeper potential that remains unrealized. Banshee is inching closer and closer to something greater than the sum of its parts. It's not there yet, but almost. Almost. If it maintains its upward trajectory, Season Three might just be the season that elevates Banshee from guilty pleasure to must-see series.

Banshee: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Like its first-season release, The Complete Second Season boasts an excellent 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentation courtesy of Cinemax parent company HBO, whose reputation for top tier Blu-ray releases is almost entirely unblemished. The series' palette once again shifts from warm and lifelike to cold and desaturated from scene to scene; sometimes from shot to shot. There's a slick, stylized consistency to the inconsistencies, though, all of which falls in line with the showrunners' intentions. Contrast is a bit slippery but hardly problematic, black levels are deep and satisfying, primaries pack punch (particularly insofar as reds are concerned), and reds are spilled and spattered with vivid glee. Detail is refined and exacting too, with razor sharp edges (free of ringing), crisply resolved fine textures and fully competent delineation. Artifacting, banding, aliasing and other anomalies are nowhere to be found as well, and slight noise and inherent crush are the only minor issues of note. Still, neither amounts to more than a few isolated instances, and the overwhelming majority of the presentation looks precisely as it should: lean, mean and faithful to a bloody, pulpy fault.

Banshee: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

No change here either. The Complete Second Season's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track, like the first-season track that preceded it, doesn't fool around, tease the listener or play games. Blaring music, riotous gunplay, throaty engines, meaty body blows and wince-inducing right hooks are out in force, and there's enough rip-roaring, high octane, LFE-bolstered action to fuel a half dozen testosterone thrillers. Low-end output hits hard and holds its own in a fight, with hearty oomph and a taste for extreme violence. Likewise, rear speaker activity is aggressive and engaging, deftly alternating between fierce and furious and nuanced and restrained. Directionality is convincing as well, cross-channel pans are smooth, and the soundfield is involving. And dialogue is clear, well-centered and precisely prioritized, even when the series' soundtrack kicks in. Everything falls into place without incident or mishap. Fans will be thrilled.

Banshee: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Episode Commentaries: Seven commentaries are available, among them two Twitter pop-up-tweet commentaries for "Little Fish" and "Bullets and Tears" (featuring key members of the cast and crew) and five audio commentaries: "The Thunder Man" with Ivana Milicevic (Carrie), Lili Simmons (Rebecca), Trieste Kelly Dunn (Siobhan), Odette Annable (Nola) and casting director Alexa Fogel; "The Warrior Class" with co-producer Allen Marshall Palmer and sound supervisor Brad North; "The Truth About Unicorns" with co-creator Greg Yaitanes, director Babak Najafi and writer John Romano; "Ways to Burn a Man" with Antony Starr (Lucas Hood) and director Loni Peristere; and "Bullets and Tears" with co-creator Jonathan Trooper and co-creator/episode director Greg Yaitanes.
• Inside the Title Sequence (HD): Each episode is accompanied by an interactive feature that allows fans to explore clues and elements within its title sequence. Unfortunately, "interactive" once again amounts to inching through the titles, clicking on icons that appear, and reading boxes of pop-up text.
• Banshee Origins (HD, 45 minutes): Twelve live-action prequel shorts that reveal the lives, origins and exploits of Banshee's characters, starting at "17 Years Ago" and documenting more than a decade's activities, ending at "5 Years Ago."
• Conversation Between Olek and the Albino (HD, 2 minutes): Presented in the format of a "Banshee Origin" short (but separate from the "Origins" submenu listing), this prison-yard quickie's title is pretty self-explanatory.
• Zoomed In (HD, 16 minutes): The first eight episodes are accompanied by "Zoomed In" behind-the-scenes featurettes, although at roughly two minutes apiece, there isn't much in the way of real insight into the production.
• Deleted Scenes (HD, 7 minutes): Deleted scenes are spread across the 4-disc set for the following episodes: "Little Fish," "The Warrior Class," "Bloodlines," "Homecoming" and "Bullets and Tears."
• Trailers (HD, 6 minutes)

Banshee: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Using the term "guilty pleasure" is really just issuing an apology. I know it's not the next great television series, but I like it anyway. Please don't think less of me. And Cinemax's Banshee will continue to inspire its share of thinly veiled apologies. Unless you're willing to watch at least three episodes before passing judgment, there's a strong chance you won't stick around. If you take the time to acclimate to its style, rhythms and more addicting qualities, though, and really give it a fighting chance, you might just find it isn't as divisive as it once seemed. There's value here, if only entertainment value, and each season -- sometimes each episode -- pushes Banshee farther and farther out of the realm of "guilty pleasure." Here's hoping Season Three finally earns the series the respect it almost, almost deserves. HBO's Blu-ray release, though, won't split audiences. Say what you will about the series, the 4-disc Complete Second Season set delivers thanks to a terrific video presentation, strong DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track, and solid assortment of special features.