The show’s fourth season aired on Cinemax in 2016. Among the extras was former Republican Pennsylvania Gov. In addition to Vandergrift, Alle-Kiski Valley locations included a house and barn on Melwood Road in Allegheny Township and the AK Research Park in New Kensington.Īrea residents were cast as extras, stand-ins and photo doubles. Scenes were also shot at a former Westinghouse facility in Churchill, at the Carrie Furnace in Rankin and the former State Correctional Institution-Greensburg in Hempfield. The Casino Theater became Banshee City Hall an old storefront on Grant Avenue became the sheriff’s department. The production moved to the Pittsburgh area in 2015, with much of the filming taking place in Vandergrift, which became the town of Banshee - or “Bansheegrift,” as some called it. “Banshee” and other Cinemax original series, such as “ The Knick,” were not available on HBO Max when the service first launched last May, to the chagrin of their fans and critics who felt HBO was leaving quality content on the shelf.įirst aired 2013 and initially filmed in North Carolina, “Banshee” tells the story of an ex-con and master thief, portrayed by Antony Starr, who assumes the identity of the murdered sheriff of the fictional Pennsylvania town, who had been hired without being seen. “We are home,” actor Matt Servitto, who portrayed Banshee sheriff Deputy Brock Lotus on the show, said on Facebook. The Cinemax action series, which filmed its fourth and final season in the Alle-Kiski Valley and Pittsburgh area, is now available for streaming on HBO Max. That’s a nice promise, evidence that Cinemax is fully in the scripted game.It’s time to go back to Banshee, Pa. You get the sense after five episodes of Banshee that the series is going to get deeper and better. The writers have assembled a number of interesting characters and dole out the back- stories slowly and with an assured hand. The series is shot in and around North Carolina, but the more rural elements of Pennsylvania come through distinctly to give the series a sense of place. Yaitanes has infused the first hour with the kind of directing that makes it feel like a movie, with big flourishes and well-constructed smaller moments. Starr is intriguing, and the tone set by Tropper and Schickler hooks you immediately. Yes, it can often sound like a pulp setup bound to go sideways, but Banshee ends up being taut, entertaining and smart enough, and you won’t completely turn your brain off. He’s untouchable and knows it - but he doesn’t know Hood and his own brand of danger. As sheriff, the cover gives him a place to hide out from Rabbit and his assassins as well as an opportunity to butt heads with Kai Proctor ( Ulrich Thomsen), a former Amish member and current kingpin who runs every- thing in Banshee that can turn a profit. PHOTOS: Tim Goodman’s 15 Best TV Comedies of 2012Ī couple of thug moves later, the new sheriff is dead, and that’s when Hood assumes his identity. Of course, it’s always a bit of a stretch when thrillers and crime stories go in for the elaborate, and in Banshee that happens when Hood’s in a small bar and meets the new sheriff of Banshee, who starts his first day after coming out from the Pacific Northwest. To track her, he goes to Job ( Hoon Lee), a transvestite hair salon owner by day but also a dangerous criminal who’s a com- puter hacker and expert at identity switches.īut once Hood lands in Banshee, he realizes that his old flame is now Carrie Hopewell ( Ivana Milicevic), a married mother of two using an assumed name and fitting in effort- lessly around the town.
It features New Zealander Antony Starr (the Australian TV series Rush) as Lucas Hood, who years ago worked with a secretive and vicious Ukrainian mobster named Rabbit ( Chariots of Fire’s Ben Cross) before doing something he probably shouldn’t have, hence the constant threats on his life.Īfter serving a 15-year stint in prison, Hood’s first priority is to track down a fellow thief and the love of his life, who’s now living in Banshee, Pa. In doing that, they didn’t depart too much from what Cinemax is finding to be a good formula: action, violence, sex and intrigue all wrapped up in better-than-expected writing that puts more intelligence than cliches into the process.īanshee certainly has the potential to bust out. Jonathan Tropper and David Schickler created the show and enlisted True Blood’s Alan Ball to help guide the project and Emmy-winning director Greg Yaitanes ( House) to set the mood and feel. PHOTOS: Tim Goodman’s 15 Best TV Dramas of 2012 11 comes Banshee, an hourlong show about a master thief-turned-con man and his post-prison attempt to steer clear of the gangsters he betrayed in the past.
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