For three seasons, Banshee has put together a beat ‘em to the pulp action landscape that TV has never really seen before. It helps that the show airs over at Cinemax, a subscription cable channel that can get away with extra bloodied knuckles and violent sequences. Unfortunately, this week it looks as if the upcoming fourth season of Banshee will officially be the show’s last.
Cinemax hasn’t come right out to say its original series will be ending after Season 4, but TV Line says their report is strong and the end of the series is definitely imminent. On the bright side, the show has already been picked up for eight additional episodes, which won’t even hit the schedule until 2016, so the drama won't be ending abruptly or anything.
Banshee’s the sort of show that will make you realize life is short, and the finale didn’t disappoint, although at its end a well-liked character had been killed and another had been kidnapped. Banshee features violent fights and attacks throughout its episodes, and the finales tend to be explosive; in Season 3, Hood showed up at the army base to rescue his friends while elsewhere Kai Procter got up to his own criminal agenda. There were enough threads left to explore at the end of the season that fans were pleased when Cinemax signed up for Season 4, but unfortunately the Season 4 renewal is now also a bit bittersweet.
Luckily, it looks as if everyone on the creative team has been given the opportunity to wrap up the story in an organic and effective way. Part of this includes adding actress and general badass Eliza Dushku for Season 4. Dushku has notably also starred in Dollhouse and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, so she’s pretty familiar with action sequences, although maybe not quite the violent sequences that Banshee is known for.
The news comes as Cinemax’s first big original program, Strike Back is set to end its run; the series is currently airing its fifth and final season. Cinemax is also home to The Knick, which stars Clive Owen and has earned some awards nods in the past year. We’ll let you know if and when the HBO-owned channel adds another original program to its lineup. In the meantime, take a look at what else is coming up this summer and fall.
