There are certain genres in television that have been used for so long that any viewer can reasonably assume that they have seen just about every variation on the themes possible. The most popular and persistent categories of TV series is indubitably the police procedural. Shows have been built around everything from the uniformed officer to the stalwart detective and even moving on to the chief of the department as the main character. Whether it’s the one honest cop fighting a corrupt department or, in more recent years the rogue cop who success rate is inexorably tried to removing rivals from his own criminal enterprises. Then, in 2013 the Cinemax premium cable network premiered ‘Banshee’. Other than the fact that some characters carry badges there is very little that remains unchanged from traditional format of this type of series. The main character’s name is often so well-known that it is uses the title of the series, here, during the entire run of the series he is known only by the identity he assumed. That man was about to become sheriff of Banshee, Pennsylvania was shot to death during an attempted robbery of a local bar. Television has certainly seen its share of crooked detectives and criminally inclined officers of the law but in this instance the criminal who has assumed the post turns out to be one of the best lawmen the town has ever had. The new sheriff does manage to uphold the peace in some fashion but his presence draws more violent behavior than many war zones. The titular town of Banshee is adjacent to her sizable Dutch Amish community that generally remains separate from the town’s affairs as they tend their farms. The one notable exception is the local crime boss who was raised as Amish but mostly broke from the community in order to pursue his criminal ambitions. The imposter Sheriff’s girlfriend and former partner in crime has settled in the community changing her name remarrying and raising a family. Her father happens to be the boss of one of the major organized crime syndicates on the East Coast. A major part of the brilliance of the series is how the writing consistently brings the audience to new twist and turns. The series began a completely deconstructing virtually every aspect of the police procedural and rearranging the pieces to form one of the most unique well-crafted series come along and quite a long while.

Despite its rural appearance Banshee could never be described as a peaceful place to live. Or realistically it is always been a violent place to die. Certainty of this outcome to so many of the residents of the community increase dramatically with the appearance of a member of a neo-Nazi hate group that naturally enough specifically targeted the one African-American deputy, Emmett Yawners (Demetrius Grosse). The white supremacist, Hondo (Tyson Sullivan) was believed to have been sent by the former Amish crime boss of the municipality, Kai Proctor (Ulrich Thomsen). Hondo not only gunned down the deputy Simon and his wife as well. The fragile détente between Proctor and the Banshee Police Department had escalated into a full-scale war ever since the appearance of Lucas Hood (Antony Starr) and his assuming the office of Sheriff. Hood, along with Deputy Siobhan Kelly (Trieste Kelly Dunn), and hood second-in-command, Deputy Brock Lotus (Matt Servitto), locate Hondo and gun him down. Afterward Brock answers what was extensively call which turned into a sexual encounter with his ex-wife, Emily Lotus (Tanya Clarke). Typical the small town nearly everybody has some degree of interaction with everyone else. An example of this is Emily had been the caregiver of Leah Proctor (Jennifer Griffin), the mother of Kai Proctor until she finally succumbed to pancreatic cancer. Proctor is not just responsible for most of the criminal activity in and around the town but his deep-seated psychological issues and emotional problems created a tangle of interpersonal issues that frequently lead to unbridled violence or passion encounters. Early in this season such an effect is found when he wakes up in bed next to Rebecca Bowman (Lili Simmons). Initially she had lived a double life as a developer Amish girl by day but at night assuming a while persona frequently attending raves. She has successfully seduced Hood, which as it turns out appears to be a requirement for any beautiful woman in the series. Todd of the pretense she turned her back to her family and the Amish community deliberate Proctor learning much about how he manages his criminal activities. Just to complicate things a bit further Rebecca is Kai’s niece

There is another affectionate contributor sizable amount of turmoil to the community, the Kinaho tribe of Native Americans. After that the chief dies of cancer the position is taken over by Alex Longshadow (Anthony Ruivivar) who has some radical ideas about modernizing the tribe, specifically by opening a casino. He is often seen accompanied by his sister the beautiful and lethal Nola Longshadow (Odette Annable). One distinctive example her strong ties to a Native American heritage is her deadly expertise in the use of Tomahawks both as a throwing weapon and in close quarter combat. She has determined hatred for anybody who stands in the way of her brother but has a particular vendetta with Clay Burton (Matthew Rauch), the personal assistant and bodyguard for Kai Proctor. Superficially he looks like an accountant and impression greatly enhanced by his habit of wearing bowties in his need for glasses. Underestimating him will be a fatal mistake for anyone who encounters him. He is completely ruthless and following orders of Kai Proctor. He is not only quite adept at killing but has an expertise in prolonging torture that can only be approach by Tomas de Torquemada.

This is an exceptionally fast-paced series that consist of only 10 episodes per season. Complete is season story arc each episode was the home to near perfection which is achieved to such a degree that the scripts have a literary quality to the. Inevitably somebody is going to be beaten to a pulp and the series maintains his dedication to realism by readily showing the battered and bruised body which always results from such an encounter. Typically it is hard who was nursing several injuries at any one time. Always lurking in the background is hood’s former boss known as Mr. Rabbit (Ben Cross). Rabbit is after work because of a gem heist he financed that led to a major betrayal. In on both the crime and the deceit was rabbit’s daughter, Anastasia (Ivana Milicevic). While Hood was in prison she had run to banshee to hide from her father eventually marrying the town’s prosecuting attorney Gordon Hopewell (Rus Blackwell). Under the name of Carrie Anastasia had a son, Max (Gabriel Suttle) who is now about eight years old. They also raised her daughter, Deva (Ryann Shane). Early on in the series it was revealed that was indeed her father. After many years of hunting down his daughter and the man who betrayed him, Rabbit is finally dead removing the necessity for constant hypervigilance and obfuscated identities.

The series does have a predilection for killing off major characters in this third season is no exception. Several fan favorites meet with untimely and frequently violent demises leaving the testing for the upcoming season for somewhat open-ended Cinemax is gaining a reputation that is well-deserved for having original series that are based upon strongly defined characters. As one final example of how this series managed to so strongly distinguish itself from the traditional police procedural, the police station is a former car dealership that specialized in Cadillacs. This resulted in everyone calling the police station, the Cadi, due to a broken marinated sign out front. This is quite fitting since it is taken are invaluable classic genre interested into something completely unique.

Like many fans of the genre I had my doubts as a first on watching the series that they would be able to maintain essential deception while still allowing the animosity between the various factions to continue. One thing that helps is that Sheriff Hood just can’t seem to let go of his life of crime. After all he does have a steady job, albeit one that is more dangerous than that of a high scale thief, but it should be sufficient incentive to take his current situation as the boon it is. Lucas always seems to be able to his closest friend in the town an owner of the local bar, Sugar Bates (Frankie Faison) into one illicit job after another. It has the third season opens that is exactly what is going on. It would seem that there is no necessity for such antics since the perennial Big Bad is out of the picture and the people responsible for the death of Deputy Emmett Yawners (Demetrius Grosse) have been suitably dealt with Banshee should be fairly peaceful. The head of the neo-Nazis responsible for the murder of the African-American deputy and his wife, Hondo (Tyson Sullivan), is not arrested but rather cornered as Hood and his remaining deputies Brock and Siobhan emptied their guns and to him.

Decides that before he can leave there is one more piece of business that must be resolved; he was killed Proctor. By doing so remove the kingpin of organized crime in the area and hopefully allow the town in the neighboring Amish community to live peacefully. While there is always been some degree of problems with the Native American casino a gang formed by highly disgruntled members of the community, The Redbones. They are radical isolationist believing that all entry Wert Native American control and the white man should be driven from it. They become so brazen that they mount an attack on the Sheriff’s office. The precipitating event of this extreme action is that Proctor had been apprehended and was in police custody. The gang’s leader, Chayton Littlestone (Geno Segers), demands the crime boss be brought outside turned over to them sensibly so that they could execute him themselves. Things have begun to become intimate between Lucas and Siobhan when she is murdered by Littlestone Lucas begins to lose it psychologically and elucidate seeing her nearly everywhere he looks.

This is a series that continues to remain compelling Donna and despite the loss of many central characters but perhaps as a result of it. Writers have proven that they are not averse to killing off any character as long as it intensifies the degree of drama contained within the numerous storylines. Cinemax have been late to the table for premium cable original programming but is certainly wasted no time in coming out a niche for itself. Their forte appears to be ensemble cast consisting of exceptionally strong characters portrayed by actors of consistently exceptional abilities. Drama will continue next year as season four has been approved and currently is in preproduction.