About the Author - Sandi

Sandi is part of the Senior Staff at SpoilerTV having been a contributor from back in the Lost days of DarkUFO, and who now writes previews for Doctor Who, The Musketeers, Banshee, Black Sails, and Atlantis. She also enjoys watching and commenting on other shows like Sons of Anarchy, Hannibal, Game of Thrones, Homeland, Suburgatory and Elementary.

Greg Yaitanes answers fans questions about characters, inspirations, the importance of social media and more. The interview contains hints of what’s coming up, but no big spoilers past episode 2.06, Armies of One.Greg: It's a mix. The Solomon flashbacks to the murder were scripted. In episode 5, the hugging and other images of Carrie running toward the house were invented by [director] Babak Najafi. The Carrie and Siobhan intercut during the fight scene was scripted, but the earlier scene where Breece was bringing flowers and Carrie was talking to Deva was scripted as stand-alone scenes. Our editors and directors find opportunities to do this where it will enhance the emotional impact of the episode.Greg: We stay on script. We have to. There are too many moving parts to ad-lib. Plus, everyone trusts our writing, from the directors to the cast. Any notes or thoughts have been given to the writers well in advance of shooting. The directors sit with key cast from the episode and go through the scenes on the weekends so the most time can be spent on set shooting.Greg: Time. The truck heist took three days to shoot. Most fights take about half a day - maybe a little more. In general, our show is a hands-on show, and we prefer a great battle of the fists over big action set pieces. To put it into perspective, the truck heist lasts maybe 2 minutes of screen time, and it took 15% of our schedule to get that sequence. While cool, I love some of the fight scenes you're about to see in the back half of the season even more.Greg: Creator Jonathan Tropper and I start planning the next season about mid-season of shooting. We see what is working and what would be cool to do. Tropper has banshee planned to its (hopefully) season 5 conclusion. Along the way, we take some very cool detours to explore great characters. In the case of season 2, we knew some things we wanted to hit. The Banshee Origins iBook (between season 1 and 2) is key to understanding what's coming...as is welcometobanshee.com . Once you get to the end of this season, you'll see our master plan and exactly what's in store for season 3.Greg: Banshee is completely original to TV. Any inspiration comes from cinema. As far as shows I like to watch…Sherlock, True Detective, The Walking Dead, The Returned, Broadchurch and Mad Men, to name a few.Greg: This is hard to answer. Everything I want to tell you will be clear in the last 20 minutes of the finale. Then let's talk!Greg: I love the streamlined nature of Cinemax. Broadcast TV has a lot of voices, which is necessary given the volume of content they are making. At this point in my life, I am enjoying working for cable due to its freedom and willingness to take things to the limit.Greg: I loved how Lost ended, and the spiritual journey of the characters. In terms of the island and the hole that made it sink...not so much. However, the characters and their connection to each other is always what the show was about for me... fantastic.Greg: The critics complaining doesn't faze us or the network. We are here for the fans of Banshee. Always. Critics that get us, GET US and love the show and are fans themselves.Greg: Yes. Tropper writes these great characters, played by a cast of amazing and strong women. We absolutely celebrate our female characters. Often, they are tougher than the guys on our show. ;)Greg: Alex Fogel, who cast Oz, The Wire and True Detective is our casting director. She didn't want to take the gig at first, but I convinced her it would be a good time. She mostly deals with me, Tropper and our directors.Greg: Willem Dafoe. He is SO Banshee to me - one of the greats.Greg: Ten. It allows us to make sure every episode is quality. At House, we would have about 2 amazing episodes, 8 good episodes, 8 dogs and the rest were solid to ok. With Banshee, we insure every episode is going to blow your mind because we can focus on the work and not the volume of work.Greg: No. Season 2 has been done since September, but we set up season 3 already. You really don't want to miss the finale!Greg: You can't (or shouldn’t!) live without it. It’s the key to Banshee's success. I feel a show needs to be great, first and foremost but also that social tools need to be considered by the network. Cinemax loves how we use Twitter, and that is becoming part of their brand.Greg: A bit of both. The actors and the characters take a life of their own. We know where we want to land in the big picture but are open to how things evolve. An example is the mayor last year. We had a storyline where he was going to take on Proctor in future seasons. We also wanted to explore him coming out of the closet (something that is hinted at in episode 7 of season 1). The character wasn't working the way we hoped, so we killed him off at the end of the season. We also pulled away from him being gay because it wasn't something we could fully realize and we did not want to seem like his death had anything to do with his homosexuality.Greg: Tropper and I feel like it is a 5 season show.Greg: This is a better question for Tropper!Greg: We have seen some documentaries and conduct research on the Amish on an ongoing basis to be as accurate as possible. The same care goes into any of the scenes regarding Native American culture.Greg: This season isn't over yet!Greg: Kids like Deva often react to their parents’ dysfunction as teenagers. We have seen her “descent” and intend to explore her character more next season as well.Greg: Yes. You can see Carrie's mom in Banshee Origins at welcometobanshee.com and a bit more later in the season.Greg: I would bet on it! Welcometobanshee.com explores a nice chunk of Hood's past, including the interrogation tapes after his arrest.Greg: We will never run out of story. When we came up with season 3, we couldn't fit everything into one season. Same thing happened last year. Breece was going to be in season 1 but with 10 episodes, it can't all fit. We go at every season like it's our last and want to put everything on the table. We put EVERYTHING on the table in episode 10 of this season.Greg: To quote Job regarding Hood, "bad shit happens to people who get too close to you." Jonathan Tropper and I have figured out the threats that are going to face Hood into season 4. We won't ever become a procedural, but we do hope to find ways that the badge impacts his choices. It’s hard to say more about that until after the finale. But ask yourself, is the threat of Rabbit removed?Greg: Each season of banshee will be told in its own away. Part of what we love about the show is making sure that it surprises our fans, not only episode to episode, but also season to season. Season 3's structure will be entirely different than season 2 which is entirely different than season 1. The way we plan to end season 3, no one will predict. It will be the best end to a season ever. When Tropper pitched it, I got chills. Sadly you have to wait until 2015 to experience that yourself.Greg: Anyone loving Burton NEEDS to watch episode 6 tomorrow night.Greg: We do. We’re looking at casting now. Can’t say anymore.Greg: You are picking up on something - I'm sorry it bothers you. You won't expect where that relationship is going. Look for an Easter egg in episodes 7 and 8 to foreshadow...Greg: It’s out and on iTunes!Greg: You will. It’s evolving and you'll see more of it this week.Greg: I can't say.Greg: She’s not a fighter but expect something unexpected from her later this season.Greg: I was really happy with season 1. I would have made a casting change here and there but am otherwise very pleased with where we landed. It’s a good question and one I have asked myself. As always, some episodes are better than others. I do find that when the episodes are longer and more robust in time, they work better for our fans.Greg: I don't want to say much other than the finale is a full 60 minutes and it's the best thing I have ever directed. It gives the Banshee fan’s everything they ever dreamed of!Greg: The seams of Lucas’ secret are always in threat. Expect that to come into question in episodes 9 and 10. How it does, will surprise you.Greg: We have the general idea of where all five seasons will go. We have season 3 planned and part of season 4 in terms of story we want to tell.Greg: Unlikely.Thanks again to Greg for taking the time to answer all our readers’ questions!