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"Watch or Washed" is a weekly column in which Complex Pop editors highlight popular television shows that are either worth checking out or, sadly, totally washed. Here are this week's:
Banshee
Verdict: Watch
When: ASAP; New episode Friday at 10 p.m. EST
Where: Max Go; Cinemax
Why: Think about the Fast & Furious movies for a second. Why do they keep making hundreds of millions of dollars, and why are there at least three more guaranteed sequels for Vin Diesel and his ensemble of car-stealing antiheroes? Because, even more so than Marvel Studios' recent output, it's the one movie franchise that totally, wholeheartedly understands what its audience wants, and it constantly deliver the over-the-top action goods, hot bodies, and fun-loving camaraderie. You know what you're going to get every time, and it always feels good.
Banshee, the consistently underrated Cinemax action-drama series, is TV's answer to the Fast & Furious brand. More than any other show currently airing, it's sticks to its guns, often literally, and serves gluttonous buffets of blood, fights, beautiful people, explosions, and likable characters. It's the prototype for unwavering viewer satisfaction.
Before Banshee returns for its third season Friday night, you'd be wise to binge through its first two glorious seasons, which are packed with the best fist-to-face action this side of Indonesian director Gareth Huw Evans' The Raid movies. It's centered around Lucas Hood (Antony Starr), an ex-con and ex-career-criminal who's assumed a new identity as the sheriff of a small Pennsylvania town thick with Amish folks and cold-blooded gangsters. He's Clint Eastwood's "The Man With No Name" suddenly turned into Elliot Ness—well, if Ness pulled more butt than a chain smoker and fearlessly knuckled up against dudes who look like this.
Don't be surprised if Antony Starr ends up in some future Fast & Furious sequel, either—he's that kind of a crowd-pleasing badass. Banshee, meanwhile, deserves an F&F-like following. —Matt Barone
The Challenge: Battle of the Exes 2
Verdict: Watch
When: Tuesday at 11 p.m. EST
Where: MTV
Why: Could football ever be washed? No, so neither can The Challenge. When reality TV mystics, Mary-Ellis Bunim, Jonathan Murray, and Mark Burnett, got together at the beginning of time to map out the future of television, The Challenge was their end game. The show, which more or less follows the structure of Survivor with a few screws thrown in, takes the best parts of every reality TV subgenre and synthesizes them into one. It's the perfect recipe for success: a handful of Survivor's competitive spirit, a teaspoon of global adventure from The Amazing Race, and a major helping of the psychotic romance, testosterone, and sex of The Real World.
And just like football, you follow your guys from season to season, with competitors from The Challenge always coming back for more (and the stars of The Real World—The Challenge's feeder system—always stepping up to the big leagues for a shot at glory). Rivalries are born, hot hookups one year become awkward run-ins the next—The Challenge ages like the fine wine that Johnny Bananas will undoubtedly funnel on the first episode of the season. This season, the show is shooting for the sky by bringing back its "Battle of the Exes" theme and also inviting on some cast members from MTV's other reality success story, Are You the One? I expect nothing but greatness this year, and by that I mean I expect to see bros punching bros, at least one drunk girl falling off of a barstool, and more than a few moments where I legitimately ask myself if CT is human. Challenge season is upon us!—Andrew Gruttadaro
Togetherness
Verdict: Washed
When: Sunday at 9:30 EST
Where: HBO
Why: Feeling over the hill, unhip, unsexy, and just plain vanilla is never cool, but in case you didn't know that already, the Duplass Brothers have made a show about it.
A youngish family of four living in Los Angeles suddenly becomes a family of six when a broke friend and a neurotic sister invade the nest. The nest, already sexless and painfully dull, becomes a little more interesting thanks to these two wayward souls, but not by much. At the end of the day, this is a show about a bunch of white people who are unsatisfied with their boring lives.
That's not to say that Togetherness is one dimensional. Tina (Amanda Peet), is a manic, unstable, and highly entertaining foil for Alex (Steve Zissis), the struggling, overweight actor who is evicted from his apartment before moving into his best friend Brett's (Mark Duplass) house. The way Tina and Alex play off of each other's strengths and weaknesses carries much of the season. Brett and his wife Michelle (Melanie Lynskey), on the other hand, are so dull that it's almost comical. Almost. For the most part, watching them question the foundation of their partnership makes you want to fall asleep.
None of this should be a surprise to anyone who is familiar with the Duplass brothers' work. Their calling card has always been taking the normal and elevating it to art. That may work for a film like The Puffy Chair, but not so much on a scripted television show. Togetherness has its high points (Michelle shotgunning several PBRs before beating a bunch of hipsters at random game of Kick The Can is pretty badass), but overall it feels like any other family drama on network television.
So, unless you're dying to see how boring life can be as a married, middle-aged white family in Los Angeles, you can just skip this one.—Lauretta Charlton
Girls
Verdict: Watch
When: Sunday at 9 p.m. EST
Where: HBO (and HBO GO)
Why: When last we saw Hannah and friends, things were taking all sorts of turns for the tragic. Jessa became a charlatan Dr. Kevorkian, and dabbled in assisted suicide. Marnie is maybe gonna destroy a marriage. Hanna might go consider cows and emulate Denis Johnson at the Iowa Writer’s Workshop. And Shosh had one stunning moment of emotional clarity with Ray that I’m still recovering from. All of this is to say that the season three finale threw a lot of balls in the air making the season four premiere a must-watch, just to see how the juggling goes.
Also, Adam Driver really came into his own last season. Watching him freak out and stuff paper towels in his mouth because he got the part in Major Babara—that’s rarefied Ryan Gosling territory. As Driver’s star continues to rise, it becomes more and more likely that he’ll ditch Girls. If this is his last run on the series, then you really, really have to watch.—Ross Scarano
Agent Carter
Verdict: Watch
When: Tuesday at 8 p.m. EST
Where: ABC
Why: I'll be honest: I haven't been keeping up with that SHIELD show. Like, since the pilot. Joss Whedon is my guy and everything, but that shit seemed too corny for my time. (I know, I know "it got better." I'll get around to catching up one of these days.) I mention SHIELD to say, I've got no basis for comparison here as far as Marvel TV™ goes. I have, however seen Captain America: The First Avenger, which bored me to tears. So you can imagine my complete disinterest in a miniseries centered on his love interest, Agent Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell), whom I found rather bland during the parts of the movie I managed to stay awake. But here I am, checking it out of professional curiosity and, surprise! It's actually kind of fun, in a breezy, inessential way.
So far, (I've only seen the first two), there's a cool throwback quality that's oddly appealing, while also serving up enough allusions to the film universe to appease the Marvel Stans. And then there's Atwell, who is much more endearing and likable and lively here than she was on the big screen opposite Chris Evans. It's far from the most anticipated series Marvel has on its 2015 slate. But honestly, superhero TV is a lightweight sausage fest. It's about time a member of the fairer sex showed the boys how it's done.—Frazier Tharpe
Watch or Washed Running Tally
Mozart in the Jungle: Watch
Marco Polo: Washed
The Missing: Watch
The Twilight Zone Marathon: Watch
The Heart, She Holler: Watch
Darknet: Watch
High Maintenance: Watch
Homeland: Watch
The Honorable Woman: Watch
The Eric Andre Show: Watch
2 Broke Girls: Washed
The Affair: Watch
MasterChef Junior: Watch
Elementary: Washed
Black Mirror: Watch
Sons of Anarchy: Watch (but it'll probably be Washed)
Bob's Burgers: Watch
New Girl: Watch
Modern Family: Washed
Toy Story That Time Forgot: Watch
Peter Pan Live!: Hate-watch
Foo Fighters: Sonic Highways: Watch
The Comeback: Watch
A Very Grammy Christmas: Washed
State of Affairs: Watch
Gotham: Washed
Black-ish: Watch
Homeland: Washed
Carmilla: Watch
American Horror Story: Washed
Shark Tank: Watch
The Newsroom: Watch
The Missing: Watch
Reign: Watch
The Walking Dead: Watch
Sons of Anarchy: Washed?
Homeland: Washed
Supernatural: Watch
Peaky Blinders: Watch