Banshee wrapped its eight-episode fourth and final season this past Friday, and after an intense and superb run in season three, the swansong season paled in comparison to both its direct predecessor and the reputation of the show as a whole*. Most of that came from the unnecessary introduction of a serial killer who added almost nothing to the show, stealing valuable screentime from the already established arcs and characters. Perhaps more importantly, it gave Banshee a procedural element that it struggled to know what to do with.
*Obviously, that third season added immensely to the show's overall status, but focusing solely on the first twenty episodes still suggests a level of quality only glimpsed at this year. Season four, no matter what it did, was going to have a near-impossible job of topping last year's output, but that it barely scratched the surface is mind-boggling.
