Banshee: The Complete First Season

This Cinemax original centering on career criminal Lucas Hood (Antony Starr), who takes on the identity of a dead lawman and becomes the sheriff of a small Pennsylvania town called Banshee, is cable TV at its pulpiest. No one checks Lucas's credentials or questions his thoroughly unconventional tactics, but then again he's the first law enforcement officer to stand up to local crime lord, Amish outcast, and town butcher (literally and figuratively) Kai Proctor (Ulrich Thomsen). Lucas is a bad guy who seems to enjoy using his skills to do good, but while he zealously protects his adopted home, he carries on brutal criminal escapades in surrounding communities with a small gang of partners. Meanwhile, his former girlfriend and accomplice, Ana (Ivana Milicevic), has assumed a new identity as Carrie Hopewell, wife of the local D.A. and mother of two children; and Mr. Rabbit (Ben Cross), the Ukrainian gangster the pair betrayed 15 years ago (who also happens to be Ana's father), is still out for revenge. Creators David Schickler and novelist Jonathan Tropper fill Banshee with complicated, contradictory characters who have unusual backstories and outsized motivations, placing them in extreme situations requiring over-the-top solutions in this highly entertaining series. Compiling all 10 episodes from the 2013 debut run, extras include audio commentaries, behind-the-scenes featurettes, and deleted scenes. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)