Banshee

Pilot: Cinemax's latest offering by Executive Producers Alan Ball and Greg Yaitanes (amongst others) and created by Jonathan Tropper and David Schickler is an adrenaline-pumping, re-imagination of an old concept that has the potential to be an intriguing serialised crime drama. Based on the pilot, it could be the next anti-hero driven drama that these cable-TVs are currently so fond of ("Dexter", "Breaking Bad", etc). The prologue already established the notoriousness of lead Anthony Starr's character: Sheriff Lucas Hood/?unknown real name, but I doubt they can seriously keep up with the expensive CGI and action scenes here. Premise is effectively setup within this Pilot, supporting casts are quickly established: the sidekick, the ex/fellow con, the villains (2 of them here which is good), the potential love rival, the potential love interest, the paternity issues, the workplace conflict and the colourful tech-man (an Alan Ball signature a la True Blood's Lafayette. It will be interesting to see how this will develop. I like the idea of the 2 villains. One in town, played menacingly and depravedly by Ulrich Thomsen, and the overarching Big Bad, briefly glimpsed at the end as portrayed by Ben Cross. Will be keeping an eye on this one.

Episode 2, "The Rave": A decent second episode which as typical focused more on solidifying the characters rather than narrative/plot development. We see more glimpses of Hood being inherently a criminal shoehorned into a lawman (oh the irony!...I get it!!!), so perhaps one arc in this season would be his road to full on hero? Or is he going to remain an anti-hero? Carrie/Anne still does some secret training. Why? What is she waiting for? Rabbit? Speaking of whom, where is he this episode? Kai is still deliciously evil, but he is bordering on ridiculous. Although his relationship with Sugar is sorta interesting. The latter calls him by his first name rather than his last like all the other characters on the show. The daughter is boring. She is the typical cliche rebellious daughter who is actually not that bad; a lot like Dana from "Homeland". Who is Job? Why is he still on this show? What is his purpose other than throwing out sassy one-liners? At just 10 episodes, it may be quite easy to watch through. Low brain input entertainment.

Episode 3, "Meet The New Boss": A filler episode that re-iterates how the new Sheriff is unlike the old ones, and re-established the power dynamics in the town. The most interesting bit was the opening sequence with the reveal of Carrie's relationship with the "White Rabbit". Her motivations are the ones that are currently most interesting. No Job this episode, slightly missed for his comedic levity to break the seriousness. Otherwise a boring, violent episode.

Episode 4, "Half Deaf is Better Than All Dead": Good after-credits opening. Shows Lucas' vulnerability and his over-reliance on Carrie. But why is he still straddling a life of crime? Great action sequence and tension. Character development wise, Carrie is kind of taking a step back. Why must the girl always pine after the guy despite a period of token resistance? And Lucas is turning into too much of a douchebag to root for. He may be becoming too much of an anti-hero. The problem with this show is that the supporting characters are not exciting enough for us to root for them or keep us interested in the rest of the show. At least Job moving in may add some colour.