“Banshee” got its fair share of praise while it was ongoing, but unfortunately it aired during a glut of similar shows. “Banshee” is one-part “Justified” and one-part “Breaking Bad,” but taken to pulpy extremes. It’s much hornier than any of its contemporaries (no, for real, there is a lot of sex) and it never takes itself quite as seriously, either, making for a perfect trashy action-drama. Where “The Boys” is clearly concerned with making statements about the state of the world, “Banshee” is delicious escapism, although it still gets plenty dark and disturbing.
Hood may not have Homelander’s superpowers, but that doesn’t stop him from taking out the baddies like he’s the antihero American answer to James Bond. He is almost effortlessly cool while getting both beaten and delivering beatdowns, events that happen pretty frequently. It’s actually refreshing to see Starr play a character who can be hurt, as Homelander’s near invulnerability definitely makes him harder to relate to or understand. Lucas Hood may be a total badass, but he’s still very human, and it always feels possible that he might not make it out of his wild adventures alive.
