Debashine Thangevelo
BANSHEE is one of those series that sneaks up on you. While it enjoyed a quiet debut in South Africa, it fast-attracted an audience. Now, it could be those pornographic sex scenes often penetrating the crime drama. Or it could be the gratuitous violence and the engaging characters.
And Antony Starr, cast as an ex-con with serious swag now that he has comfortably adopted the identity of the town’s former sheriff, Lucas Hood, makes for a strong lead.
What he lacks in height, he makes up for with his six-pack, rugged appeal and stamina. Then again, living in a small town like Banshee, the women can’t help but throw themselves at him.
While he has had his fair share of risqué encounters, he proved quite adept at maintaining law and order. Ultimately, he operates by his own rules and suppressing the criminal within doesn’t last long. He is often on the lookout for the next big score and has Job (Hoon Lee), a reluctant crossdresser with mad computer skills, and Sugar (Frankie Faison), the local bar owner, as his partners in crime.
Of course, his heart will always be with his former lover, Anastacia Rabitov/ Carrie Hopewell (Ivana Milicevic), even though he has since hooked up with his colleague.
In the opening episode of season three, he tells his rebellious daughter Deva (Ryann Shane) that he came to town for her mother, but stayed for her. A rather touching bonding moment.
And then there is Carrie, whose life is a mess. She is waitressing by day to get by, while doubling as a cat burglar at night.
Meanwhile, the conflict between him and Kai Proctor continues – but there is a bigger threat at play.
Bottom line, there are many situations that haven’t been resolved. The emotional and psychological scars are starting to show, especially with Lucas and his two officers going vigilante on the guy who killed Emmett.
This season, the co-creators and executive producers, Jonathan Tropper and David Schickler, really push the envelope with Procter and his promiscuous former Amish niece, Rebecca Bowman – they have now embarked on an incestuous affair.
In an interview with Collider.com, executive producer Greg Yaitanes added: “The Banshee: Origins comic was so exciting when it came out between seasons because we introduced that Rabbit had a brother who was a priest and we had been forming that character. It was the natural place to bring it. The thing about Banshee is that it has a nice, complicated relationship with religion. Having everybody’s reckoning take place in a House of God was beautiful and visual and thematic, but it wasn’t easy to find a church that would let us do a giant shoot-out.
“Fat Au was a great character to add to this group of tight-knit characters. The thing that Emmett’s death really represents is a microcosm of the show itself, which is evil for evil. Just because somebody did something to you and you went down the path of revenge, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the end of the story. Keeping true to the show, as well as real-life consequences for things, sometimes it just doesn’t have a happy ending. I found Emmett’s death really powerful. It embodied so much of the show and it gives us a real catalyst, going into season three.”
With a new alpha raising hell in town, its going to add an interesting dynamic to the storyline – not to mention put the kybosh in Hood’s next big planned heist.
Banshee airs on M-Net Edge (DStv channel 102) on Tuesdays at 9pm.