Alan Ball's new show: Banshee

So, what did you think? Hope they have more on Mr. "Hi Shi." Interesting character, though if you're on the run from the Russian mob, gender bending won't exactly make you blend in with the crowd. (Unless there's some drag queen city I don't know about). Loved the Amish crime boss and of course the male lead is hot. I thought the instant rapport with the bar owner was a bit forced, but that actor is great.

• So, no one has Skinemax...

• Have on the TiVo, but have not watched yet...

• Is Ray Stevens in this? That would be a good reason to watch.

• If so, R3, I hope he sings "The Streak."

• Good on ya, r4. I meant Ray Stevenson..

• Various things that aggravated me: Proctor the crime boss being ex-Amish, Lucas Hood stalking the slutty teenage daughter (I've had enough of annoying teen females after Homeland and Dexter), the random sex scenes (just cause it's cable, they're crow-barred in), the cursing female cop (too reminiscent of Deb from Dexter), also, the female cop is attractive, so you know she's gonna end up in bed with Hood before long. I hate the ex-boxers name - Sugar Bates. Lastly, the fact that is Hood still pining for this woman for 15 years. As this is TV, she is still an irresistible vixen instead of a house frau when he finds her. Question: Hood showed his ex-GF something in his trunk. Was it some kind of safe he said she should be able to open?

• The setup is that the ex-con and his ex-GF stole diamonds. They both have some unusual skills to be common thieves - he seems to have some kind of military combat fighting skills and it's implied that she can open safes. The Asian drag queen hairstylist seems to be a master hacker. Are they all ex-spies who banded together to rob the Russian mob?

• Loved when Ricepaul blew up the building with the Russian mobsters in it. Lead guy is hot. They could at least make him bisexual.

• What did the Amish do to deserve all this focus now? Breaking Amish, Amish Mafia, now this? Have the creative powers that be really run out of ideas? And for heavens sake, I wish we'd just leave the Amish in fucking peace. They have the right idea, staying separated from society.

• I will watch it later and get back to you.

• Is the girl his daughter? Is that why he's following her?

• What about the 3 dumb town locals ganging up to assault the new deputy/sheriff right in front of a current officer? Like that wouldn't come back to bite them later; the new guy would let it pass.

• The young police chief/D.A./guy who hired the new sheriff is cute. So this Proctor dude basically owns the town, is extorting people (the boxer), has all the local yokels under his thumb, gets found not guilty in the court case, has corrupted so much of the police force that they hired this outsider (Hood) to come in and clean things up? Oh, that sounds like an easy job. They should just hire a hitman.

• Call me crazy, but I had to laugh at the scene where the real sherrif gets shot in the hand who was so sure (or full?) of himself. Is the guy who plays the main bad related to Bill Nighy? He could be his son or younger brother. The lead looks like a scruffy Scott Speedman. Clearly the woman lied about the age of her daughter and the lead suspected from the start for the daughter to be his. I like the scene of her husband going down on her. Love the explosive exit of the Asian hairdresser/hacker. I kind of hate the title since with a word like Banshee you expect a more supernatural themed show. All in all I like the show though.

• What are you people on?? The lead actor is far from hot, he looks constantly dehydrated. Also agree about the ex-gf. Why can the lead character not be gay? It's HBO, after all.

• I feel so stupid for not realizing that the icky daughter may be the child of the ex-con. They made two references to her age but the significance of this went over my head.

• 20 minutes in and I am bored...

• I finished it...the last 20 minutes were better than the first. The sex scenes were boring. I like the idea of a con as the sheriff.

• I believe the safe in the sherrif's trunk was from the pawn shop he bought sugar's prize belt to give it back to its original owner.

• Let me sleep on it. I'll give you an answer in the morning.

  Meatloaf

• I really liked it. The action was great (though the opening chase was a bit OTT). The lead is really hot.

• I saw the second episode and it's ok. The main lead grows on me.

• Best part is Mr. "Hi-Shi." Wish there was more of him. Love the bit where he's giving shade to the teenage girl on the wharf.

• Watched the 2nd episode - I'm out. Faux sherrif swings into town, breaking all the rules and busting heads... I get it! Too much annoying daughter - shades of Dana on Homeland. The ex-GF of faux sheriff morosely skulking after the daughter and doing martial arts in empty warehouses with no explanation. The gothic creepy town crime boss Proctor - his puppet master schtick is tiring. Faux Hood is irresistible to all women - even Amish girls. More: Faux Hood constantly butting heads with the older cop is boring already and the drag queen friend was turned into a caricature last night.

• Nobody watching this?

• It's interesting and weird enough to keep me watching. The ex-Amish crime boss is scary as fuck. Agree about the daughter. She's annoying and FUG.

• I have Cinemax. I can't say I've ever heard of this show.

• I get that it's the name of the town, but calling a show Banshee sets up too many expectations. It'd be a great title for a season of American Horror Story.

• I'm the OP and frequent poster on this thread and I'm sticking with it. My biggest complaints are the obligatory Skinemax sex scenes. Though at least we got a very good glimpse of the male lead's ass last night. Secondly, it needs more GAY. No sign of Hi-Shi last night and would it kill them to have some kind of gay sex/romance thing? This is Alan Ball. C'mon.

• Really enjoyed the first episode. 2nd episode was dull. Turned off 3rd episode after 15 minutes.

• Episode 3 was ridiculous. New sheriff beats the shit out of some fighter in front of a group of people when the fighter is under arrest?

• I don't know where this show is heading with the town wondering about this 'unconventional' sherrif who beats up some celebrity boxer in public with people filming the whole thing that will obviously go viral and be seen by the right people. What's up with the main bad's assistant? Why has the lead not yet confronted his ex-girlfriend about whether he's the father of her daughter or not? Why did the Russian Mobster boss never know about the Asian guy knowing his daughter's whereabouts? The show has potential but somehow it seems so extremely unreal (a twink as a mayor, Amish outcasts acting/lashing out, Russian gangster mob, convicted felon as sherrif who doesn't know a fucking thing about being a sherrif, love triangle between the felon, his ex-girlfriend and her husband with the occasional casual fuck of a rebellious Amish chick thrown into the mix, the police woman who seems to have a crush on the new 'sherrif', etc.). The only big plus I see is the gratious violence and (mostly female) nudity that makes the show so family unfriendly. And the lead is hot in a scruffy Scott Speedman kind of way.

• This show is NUTS! I look forward to it every week now. It's highly implausible and almost cloyingly camp but I sort of love it for that. Also, in Ep 4 it looks like they were setting the stage for some actual insertion/hardcore sex scenes in the future. The lead actor is very charismatic and has clearly trained extensively in stunt work to pull off some of those amazing scenes. It isn't that deep of a series yet, but it's weird enough and unique enough to interest me. It's not like anything else on TV right now. Also, have you all been watching through the end credits? There has been a really dark/fun tag at the end of every episode so far that comes after all the credits and right before the various production company logos. I can feel Alan Ball's influence more and more as the episodes go on and I like it - I think it will only get better from here.

  Prison%20Scars

• Love Mr. Hi-Shi beating up the diner rubes. Also, now that he's in Banshee I hope he get more screen time.

• Watched the first episode and it was so laughably bad. Did 19-year film students write that script?

• I missed the last 20 minutes of last week. Why was Hood stealing art from a museum? Was that part of the plot or just him doing a random theft for money or kicks? He seems to have something like PTSD or claustrophobia from his jail time (he's always flashing back to that). His ex is so dour. They overdid the random sex scenes, even throwing in some female masturbation. I hate how they're making Hood irresistible to every twat in town, even having his ex fapping to him then begging her husband for sex. Then she goes over for a late night booty call that was DENIED. It's getting boring how they shoehorn in the tits and ass. They're making Hood, GF and Job into superheroes - escaping hordes of cops, she shows up in time to do stunt driving. ::eyeroll:: Why does Job sound like a black man? It was crap writing that they let the cop live when they kidnapped the murder witness at the end. I'm basically hate-watching this show now.

• The two words that best describe this show are "Gratuitous" and "Moronic."

• Job is getting tiresome with the 'angry black man' shtick. The evil bikers hone in on the ex-GF of course, of all the women in town, and attempt a rape in broad daylight? Yeesh, that's going a long way for some drama.

• Ok, so his new show is called "Banshee?" I see Alan isn't over his hatred of Cybill Shepherd!!!

• It's an extended B-movie, pulpy and improbable. But I kind of like it.

• This show has potential but so far it's such a mess. Also I don't mind having more twinky mayors in real life.

• The albino rape/ murder thing was, um...intersting.