Banshee: The Complete Fourth Season (Final Season) [Blu-Ray]

Cast: Antony Starr, Ivana Milicevic, Ulrich Thomsen

Release Date: October 4, 2016

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Disc Rating: 8.5/10

 

Synopsis:

Created by Jonathan Tropper and David Schickler, this MAX action drama charts the final twists and turns that follow Lucas Hood, an ex-convict who assumed the identity of sheriff in the Amish-area town Banshee, where his former lover and partner-in-crime was living under her own alias, Carrie Hopewell. The final season takes place two years after Lucas gave up his badge after a bloody, multimillion-dollar heist at the Camp Genoa Marine Base which proved costly: Carrie’s husband Gordon was killed, and Lucas’s longtime computer-hacker partner, Job, was abducted by a shady criminal ring. After settling a score with a “recruiter” from Lucas’s past whom he hoped would have intel on Job, Lucas went on a bender before being rescued by an unlikely savior, Proctor’s niece.  Emerging from a self-imposed exile, Lucas returns to Banshee to find it a changed town. Brock Lotus is now sheriff, Kai Proctor is the mayor, and the old “Cadi” police station has been replaced by a state-of the-art facility. A new deputy with ties to Proctor, Nina Cruz, has joined Brock’s team, along with Kurt Bunker, the skinhead-turned-deputy who continues to make amends for his dark past while fighting the racist overtures of the group led by his younger brother Calvin. After reuniting with Carrie, their daughter Deva, and ex-boxer Sugar Bates, Lucas becomes immersed in a new Banshee crisis: rooting out a vicious serial murderer whose latest victim is someone near and dear to his heart.

The fourth and final season of the action packed Cinemax original series ‘Banshee’ picks up two years after the third season’s conclusion. No longer the sheriff and currently living in self imposed seclusion, Lucas Hood must return to the forefront once someone he cares about is found brutally murdered. Intent on uncovering the truth behind the murder, Hood quickly finds himself once again engulfed in one mess after another as his lack of a badge forces him to stay in the shadows and also try to avoid pushing Brock  too far who has himself taken over as sheriff. Although once more victims fall and the feds arrive in town as a result of cult implications, matters only continue to become more complicated. As the personal and professional battles being waged on so many sides within the town of Banshee reach a boiling point, everything eventually comes together in this explosive and fitting final season.

The final season of ‘Banshee’ ties up the majority of loose ends (aside of course from a few small aspects always meant to be left unanswered) and wraps the series with both a satisfying conclusion and enough explosive action to appease the fans. Jumping ahead two years from where season three left us and immediately throwing the viewer into the murder of a key character on the series that we’ve followed since the show first debuted years ago. This season both focuses largely on the murder mystery following this death and additionally serves to wrap up the many character arcs we’ve been immersed within over the previous three years as we’ve come to thoroughly become acquainted with so many of Banshee’s unique inhabitants. Some fans may be slightly disappointed with the somewhat slower pace the final eight episodes can take at times, yet when not only concluding so many emotionally powerful storylines and also providing the viewer a general idea of what has transpired in the absent two years, it’s also a necessary element. As a huge fan of ‘Banshee’ since watching the debut episode of season one on premiere night, it’s quickly become one of my absolute favorite shows on television and one that will be greatly missed. Fortunately for us fans, the conclusion also provides the perfect level of closure and delivers an extremely satisfying conclusion that I felt fit the overall show beautifully.

Overall, the majority of fellow fans will surely want to make sure to grab a copy of ‘Banshee: The Complete Fourth Season’ on Blu-ray to complete your collection of this phenomenal series. The Blu-ray release of the final season once again delivers the outstanding high definition video and audio presentations we’ve come to love and expect, as well as some new bonus content. Fans of the series that haven’t yet had the opportunity to check out the final season will definitely want to make sure and rent the episodes at the very least because I guarantee that you won’t want to miss out on this explosive and largely fulfilling conclusion to this truly wonderful show.

VIDEO:

The Blu-ray release of ‘Banshee: The Complete Fourth Season’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation utilizing the show’s original 1.78:1 Aspect Ratio on all of the fourth and final season’s episodes. The video presentations look fantastic and deliver sharp, detailed and flawless presentations on every episode in the season. They hold up impressively even during the numerous fast paced and/or darkly lit sequences and never cause anything occurring on screen to become negatively affected or rendered indiscernible. Overall, these are wonderful high definition video presentations complimented by more than adequate bitrates that should easily please the fellow fans.

AUDIO:

The Blu-ray release features a lossless 5.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on all 8 Season Four episodes. These lossless multichannel soundtracks provide consistently crisp, clean and often notably aggressive audio presentations on each episode. Frequently utilizing all five available channels in order to fully immerse the viewer within the series’ fantastic music, in addition to sending plenty of debris, bullets and much more whipping throughout the various speakers with regularity, while never resulting in any dialogue which may be occurring simultaneously to become distorted or rendered inaudible. Overall, these are top notch 5.1 channel DTS-HD MA soundtracks that deliver in every way and shouldn’t disappoint in the slightest.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The Blu-ray release of ‘Banshee: The Complete Fourth Season’ includes a number of enjoyable extras. Included on the release are ‘Audio Commentary’ tracks on two episodes in the season, along with ‘Deleted Scene(s)’ from 4 episodes (running approximately 10 minutes in length altogether), and ‘Zoomed In’ behind the scenes Featurettes for all 8 episodes which include behind the scenes footage, interviews/comments with the cast and crew and more (approximately 18 minutes altogether). We are also treated to 2 ‘Cast Retrospectives’ looking back on two important subjects within the show; ‘Job’s Best Outfits’ (approximately 3 minutes), and ‘Favorite Fights’ (5 minutes). A collection of new ‘Banshee Origins’ prequel videos (running approximately 26 minutes in total) are also included.

*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray and resized. They additionally will suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on this Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.

Disc Rating: 8.5/10

‘Banshee: The Complete Fourth Season’; The Final Season is Now Available to Own on Blu-ray & DVD from Cinemax & HBO Home Entertainment.

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