Banshee

Alan Ball and pulpy, rough and rougher (roughest) schooling, Jim Thompson style, about an ex-con, who used to be an amoral sheriff, only ever acting in his own self-interest. And, to an extent, an unadmitted, but even more “faithful in spirit" adaptation of the “Scalped" comic book series. The main (anti)hero is direct and blunt, and wherever he goes, no-one wants any problems. Another nice thing about it is that is does not take itself too seriously. And Ball himself is a guarantee that despite the “badass" scene full of porn-… um, sex, explicit violence and unwavering testosterone, it isn’t gratuitous (this only applies to the first series). Course, it’s not about holding up mirrors, not even really bloodied ones. The real problem is the main storyline, which is just dumb even for a self-confessed sophisticated B-movie, and so even though every episode in itself is amazing, the way they are fitted together as one whole is just worrying. Everything is centered around unparalleled, extraordinary fights and characters, but not the story (which changes, although subtly, in the course of the second series). At a pinch, you could say that each glance and dialog is an excuse for several minutes of all-out fucking or a several-minute long fight/shootout. And since the third series this is not an overstatement, they do not care about the “story" and just focus on the “dirty". Of course, the method of execution, that is the question! They explicitly pay tribute to everything from The Raid to Carpenter. If you agree to respect these distinctive rules, then… What’s not to love? | S1: 4/5 | S2: 4/5 | S3: 4/5 | (2013.02.05)