Esprit de Banshee

Anyone who knows me well knows that my favorite television show is Twin Peaks. I give it that weight for a lot of reasons, not only the metaphysically eye-opening effect it had on my youthful mind, but because I believe it to be the most influential show of its generation, a portal that allowed the cinematic and the experimental to coexist in much of the great television that has followed.  I enjoyed that the town of Twin Peaks was the fulcrum of the show, and that the place itself as vital to the story being told as the characters and the central mystery. Twin Peaks was the central mystery.

Based on my love for Twin Peaks, I find myself predisposed to enjoy storytelling about a place. And when I heard about a show called Banshee which had nothing to do with a vengeful, screaming Irish spirit, I decided to give it a try.

Although Cinemax has Strike Back and Hunted, Banshee is clearly being set up as the network's signature drama series. It has more of a dramatic pedigree, with the involvement of executive producer Alan Ball and writer/producers Jonathan Tropper and David Schickler, and its high concept is clearly reaching a bit higher than "action show." And what a concept it is: an ex-con thief (Antony Starr) finishes his bit and tries to find his ex-partner and lover (Ivana Milicevic), the daughter of the crimelord who employed him (Ben Cross as Mr. Rabbit). He locates her, living under an assumed name and in a steady marriage, and in a plot twist that requires a fair amount of suspension of disbelief, he assumes the identity of the incoming sheriff of her new hometown of Banshee, PA. Too much indigenous corruption has led the town to hire an outsider to wrangle the local criminal element, and apparently Sheriff Lucas Hood refused to do a Skype interview, because no one knows what he looks like. And that's just the first episode! To quote City Correspondent Stefon, this show has everything: violence, sex, heists, MMA, an ex-boxer named "Sugar," bikers, school shootings, barn raves, Native American casinos, crossdressing Asian hackers, bowtie-wearing henchmen, horny Amish gangsters, horny Amish Lolitas, and raw albino bodybuilder schlong. Although I still feel the show is finding its creative voice, which is pretty common early in the life of a show, it is so damn audacious that I cannot look away.

Antony Starr as Lucas Hood

Banshee could not exist on network television and be anywhere near the same show. It seems every episode has a bone-shattering, vicious fight scene or two, there are frequent foot and car chase scenes shot with a compelling on-edge virtuosity, and the level of sexuality and nudity is well into the graphic range (this, after all, is a network commonly referred to as "Skinemax.") Not every story hung together as well as I would have liked, and the central plot engine, the fact that Rabbit is trying to track down Hood and his daughter and gain revenge, was often the least interesting thing going on for me. I was far more interested in Hood's barely attempting to blend into the town's structure while continuing his criminal pursuits in the background and screwing any willing female in the county, all while still usually doing something approaching the right thing with little tact or patience for bureaucracy.  The idea that the mantle of law and order may inevitably turn a bad man good, or at least good-ish, is a powerful idea to play with.

Ivana Milicevic as Carrie Hopewell

So, I like Lucas Hood just fine, but I am simply more interested in some of the other characters on this show. Ivana Milicevic as Carrie Hopewell may well be the show's true MVP. More than just a leading lady for Hood to pine over, the emotional and physical nakedness she displays is raw & sometimes difficult to look at for a woman so beautiful. She also suffers some of the most brutal violence on the show, which I might consider misogynistic were she not usually giving better than she gets. Even if a double is doing a good chunk of the work, I have worked with enough stunt performers to know Ivana probably walked away from episode 8, "We Shall Live Forever," with substantial bruising.The producers hired a gamer in Ivana Milicevic.

The Amish are so hot right now! Lili Simmons as Rebecca Bowman

If we're talking about potential misogyny or sexism, it would again be easy to chalk up the horny Amish Lolita (Lili Simmons as Rebecca Bowman) as some writer's perverse fantasy. And one of the local deputies (Trieste Kelly Dunn as Siobhan Kelly) might be regarded as sheer eye candy. But I love Rebecca and Siobhan, because, other than their physical beauty (this is a television show, c'mon!) they are such metaphorical opposites, I hope some excuse is found to get them into scenes together very soon. Rebecca is young and angel-faced, seemingly as innocent as the day is long. But, besides her sexual hunger, she has a darkness and a worldliness that causes tension with her traditional family. Rebecca is far older than she appears. She ends up in a place that will allow her darkness to spread, if she so chooses, and her arc is one I will be especially curious about in season 2. Siobhan, on the other hand, wears a uniform and a rank of responsibility in Banshee, but she is wounded at her core and can be aggressive and defensive in the way a child might. Despite her outward appearance, Siobhan is far younger than she appears. In Episode 5, "The Kindred," Siobhan's childhood home burns, and I believe that is entirely symbolic. Siobhan must stop identifying with whatever has damaged her and become the woman her station requires (she parallels Hood in this way, as well.) Will she succeed? Will she try and fail? I suspect the latter, at least at first, because this is a premium cable television show, but there's no character I'm rooting for more than Siobhan Kelly.

Trieste Kelly Dunn as Siobhan Kelly

On to my favorite male supporting character: not Hoon Lee's crossdressing Asian hacker, Job, nor Ulrich Thomsen's horny Amish gangster, Kai Proctor, not Frankie Faison's ex-boxer named "Sugar," but Matt Servitto's Deputy Brock Lotus. Servitto is a great character actor probably best known as F.B.I Agent Harris, who could never quite catch up to Tony Soprano, and who is currently killing it as Satan on Adult Swim's Your Pretty Face Is Going To Hell. In Banshee, Lucas Hood is hired as sheriff because Kai Proctor has his hooks in too many people. Brock Lotus, however, would have been next in line for the job. Though Brock has some distaste for Hood, overall he seems a very competent lawman and is not obviously corrupt. Why wasn't he chosen, then?  Something in his past? A heretofore unknown connection to Proctor? Machinations against him at higher levels of power? Or is he more self-serving than we have been led to believe? Regardless of the answers, I hope this thread is explored and Servitto given some complex beats to play in the future.

Matt Servitto, Frankie Faison, and Hoon Lee in Banshee

Anthony Ruivivar as Alex Longshadow

Another reason I happily anticipate the second season of Banshee is the expansion of Anthony Ruivivar's role as Alex Longshadow, the new head of the tribe which runs the nearby Native American casino. I was unfamiliar with Ruivivar until Banshee, where he didn't do much during the first season, but his role on a handful of Southland episodes this spring, in which he built a complex, interesting character in just a few episodes, has me excited for potentially more meaty material in season two. We also have Odette Annable as Alex's sister Nola Longshadow. We know little about her, other than she's gorgeous, she hates her father, and she can throw a knife rather accurately, but if Banshee's writers keep up their streak of interesting female characters, Nola will be one to watch.  There are other fine characters as well, and well-acted, but if I were to hit every character in this large ensemble, I'd be writing and editing for another month. Know you're not forgotten Rus Blackwell, Demetrius Grosse, Ryann Shane, Matthew Rauch, Daniel Ross Owens, Christos Vasilopoulos, and Gabriel Suttle.

Odette Annable as Nola Longshadow

I love that the show is named Banshee, not The Two Faces of Lucas Hood, or Hot Sheriff Goes A'Boning.  I doubt Antony Starr is going anywhere, but the title doesn't promise that. The mythology of the banshee is a female spirit who portends death, and Banshee wouldn't have a lot of internal logic were it not to kill off a person or two, or at least lose a central character in an interesting way. I just hope it makes us care about them first. I joke about how the show has a LOT of spinning plates in the air, and I have no idea if all the ideas can be properly served, but it will be a lot of fun to see this team try.

This show has everything...

One more thing...

If I'm going to compare this show in any way to Twin Peaks, I have to recall the fantastic Rolling Stone cover which featured Lara Flynn Boyle, Sherilynn Fenn,and Madchen Amick. Someone get Rolling Stone on the line and let's recreate that cover with Ivana Milicevic, Trieste Kelly Dunn and Lili Simmons. It's the right thing to do.