I came into the new Hannibal television series a little bit late, only recently sitting down to watch my way through the episodes that had aired thus far. For the sake of not spoiling any of it for those that may not have become addicted yet, I will refrain from too much exposition on the episodes’ content (not to mention that would take me all night). Instead, I’m going to let you know why this new Bryan Fuller production is one of the best things on TV today and why you need to sit down and watch it.
The first and best thing about Hannibal is the cast. The amazingly creepy-looking yet charming Mads Mikkelsen takes on the iconic cannibal role and gives off an air of calm threat. He is cold and evil and manipulating, yet obfuscates his intentions well enough that the other characters never catch on. As an audience, we get to appreciate the performance since most of us have seen Silence of the Lambs and know who this guy is, which is a unique opportunity. There is no mystery here except perhaps one of exactly how deep Hannibal’s hands are into the events going on at any given time.
The other big lead is Hugh Dancy. He plays Agent Will Graham, a psychologically “troubled” individual that just happens to be one of the best serial killer profilers in the field. He is brought into the fold of the FBI somewhat against his will and, despite going slowly crazy because of his job, sees the importance of it and elects to stay on. To deal with these problems he needs a psychiatrist, of course. And who better than Hannibal Lecter? Dancy plays his part with a nervous, verge-of-insanity edge that makes you fear for him, pity him and admire him all at once. He is a smart person caught up in a bad situation who continues to sacrifice himself for noble reasons.
Other great support comes from Laurence Fishburne as Agent Jack Crawford, the boss, as well as a crew of others that are all there to add flavor to the show. Fuller does a particularly excellent job with the lab-geeks who examine the dead bodies. With Scott Thompson in the mix, the trio of geeks makes examining dead people darkly amusing in a way that only Fuller can portray (see the show Dead Like Me for more of that).
So far, the plot has revolved mostly around Graham finding killers and Hannibal trying to help him retain his sanity. Of course, Hannibal is doing other stuff in the process, some of it obvious and some of it not-so-much. The show forces you to wonder at what the evil doctor has planned and whether it involves driving Graham into madness at some point. And though finding the weekly serial killer is the general plot of each episode, the main story is contained elsewhere, in the development of the characters over time. As Fuller has shown before, he has an amazing talent for telling long, well-plotted stories and Hannibal sticks to that tradition.
I have officially found a new favorite show and I highly encourage anyone who enjoys complex and dark stories to give it a watch (and other ratings sites seem to agree me with for the most part). You won’t be disappointed.
Hannibal promo poster courtesy of tvline.com
2 comments