The Details

Banshee

Fridays, 10 p.m., Cinemax

The appeal of Cinemax’s Banshee is apparent early in the first episode: There’s a sex scene within the first minute and a car chase within the first five, and the episode goes on to include two more sex scenes (complete with ample nudity), multiple shootings, fist fights, an explosion and one guy getting killed by a bottle of steak sauce shoved through his skull. It’s basically Straight-to-Video Action Movie: The Series, and, as such, it fits in perfectly with typical Cinemax programming. The second episode slows things down a little, and with less of the over-the-top sex and violence, the shortcomings of the story (involving a thief just released from prison who ends up posing as the sheriff of a corrupt Pennsylvania town) become more apparent. Banshee works fine as unpretentious B-movie sleaze, but falls apart when it tries for intricate, affecting storytelling.