Fanshees, don't mistake my tolerance for weakness! And don't mistake a creative decision as a cancellation. The time has come for our beloved, ultra-violent, but surprisingly heartfelt series to come to a close. Banshee’s upcoming 8-episode fourth season will be the show’s last. Though TVLine initially reported this was a cancellation, Cinemax confirmed earlier today that it is simply the show coming to its narrative conclusion. TV Guide also reported in an interview in March that,
Greg Yaitanes — who’s currently helming Cinemax’s new hitman drama Quarry — acknowledged that Banshee“always had a limited premise and lifespan,” adding, “We push hard to make sure every episode is better than the one before it, and that takes an enormous amount of energy and creativity and work.
Well, that is true. The idea that Lucas Hood (Anthony Starr) could live with a stolen identity forever in Banshee while things with Kai Proctor (Ulrich Thomsen) continue to escalate and his relationship with Carrie (Ivana Milicevic) remains uncertain can’t go on forever. But the show has also managed to find new ways to keep its stories fresh, making Season 3 possibly its best season yet with some gorgeously and horrifying difficult scenes (Banshee’s hallmark being the marriage of those two elements).
Banshee has helped Cinemax build its brand of original programming that has brought us other great series like The Knick, so if Cinemax had cancelled it, Job might have had to burn down a motherfucker, with Sugar driving the getaway car (or probably van — I love you Hoon Lee and Frankie Faison). And in fact, Cinemax did send out a press release to clear things up, and Banshee co-creator Jonathan Tropper said,
‘Banshee' has been an incredible ride, and we continue to break new ground in season four. While we certainly considered returning for a fifth season, I always said that when the story was told, it would be time to move on, and that time has come. I am grateful to Cinemax for making 'Banshee' the great success it has been and for supporting our creative decision to wrap things up.
It’s a tricky thing for fans — we want our favorite shows to go on forever, but it’s better ultimately for a series to be given time to create the right kind of conclusion while it’s still great, and before it’s exhausted all of its narrative alleyways (and then some, in the case of most television). To that end, Tropper also noted on Twitter:
[EMBED_TWITTER]https://twitter.com/Jtropper/status/626424909540012032[/EMBED_TWITTER] [EMBED_TWITTER]https://twitter.com/Jtropper/status/626425461640404992[/EMBED_TWITTER]
So what do you guys want to see happen in Banshee Season 4? Banshee’s final season will premiere on Cinemax in early 2016, and I've posted my favorite cast picture ever below.
You can also check out the renewal or cancellation status of over 150 other scripted series thanks to our handy TV Lifeline.
