Hannibal [NBC/Sky Living] [** Spoilers **]

Yeah I really don't get the criticism of this season. Hannibal has always been rather fundamentally about the slow burn of trauma that violence and manipulation leave in their wake. Literally the whole of the series Will has been emo-ing away to himself about a killing he committed in the very first first episode. I was re-watching this in the run up to this season coming out, with my boyfriend who'd never seen it before. I remembered last season as packed with incident, actually the first three or four episodes are tortuously slow. It's the same with season one in fact, the show's MO is slow build up and then rapid, massive pay off that wouldn't have the impact it does without the slow pace at the start of each season and references to previous seasons.

And like, here's some dialogue from Season One

Hannibal Lecter: Killing must feel good to God, too. He does it all the time, and are we not created in God's image?
Will Graham: Depends on who you ask.
Hannibal Lecter: God's terrific. He dropped a church roof on 34 of his worshipers last Wednesday night in Texas, while they sang a hymn.
Will Graham: Did God feel good about that?
Hannibal Lecter: He felt powerful.

Hannibal Lecter: Perhaps you didn't come here looking for a killer. Perhaps you came here to find yourself. You killed a man in this very room.
Will Graham: I stared at Hobbs and the space opposite me assumed the shape of a man filled with dark and swarming flies. And then I scattered them

But apparently that's grand and a shot of a euro going into a payphone is unbearably pretentious.

It's a pretentious show, that's part of what makes it unique!

This season has been a pretty big re-configuration though, which will tend to happen when one of your main characters is finally totally unmasked as a serial killer and flees to Europe to adopt a new identity, in fairness. We're missing most of the secondary characters who brought the most levity (the two lads in the FBI especially), and also the more episodic, villain of the week elements. There isn't room for those elements when you have Will, Jack, and Hannibal all slowly converging on each other (as well as Mason complicating things), and they obviously wouldn't make sense in this scenario.

Hannibal and Will talking about other are not nearly as compelling as Hannibal and Will talking to each other, though. I have to admit, I'm finding Will more than a bit tedious these past two episodes (liked him in episode 2). Pairing Hugh Dancy with an actor who also....talks....ponderously slowly....about the...saaame subject...all the...time for most of his scenes is one decision I'm not crazy about this season. Mads Mikkelson could probably read the Ikea catalogue to an empty chair and make it seem wry, threatening, sexy (or hey, all three, why not), and he gets matched with Gillian Anderson :pac:

Links234 wrote: »

Michael Pitt was amazing last season,

WTF, reading your post has jut made me realise that was him playing the part. Wow.

Haven't read the last couple of pages as I'm at UK pace so have only seen as far as episode 4, but like others suggested this season so far hasn't gripped or enthralled me like the previous 2 seasons. In fact it has become a show in which I can leave on in the background and still browse the internet or whatever.

Adamocovic wrote: »

A lot of people scoff at me in disbelief when I say this, I think Mads has been my favourite Hannibal. Hopkins was great but I much prefer the way Mads plays him.

Oh I think Mads is by far the best person to have played Hannibal. Hopkins after Silence of the Lambs went full-on pantomime villain with the character, he was just lacking the mustache twirling and maniacal laugh. Mads on the other hand plays him in a very calm and measured way, someone you could well imagine people trusting, someone cold and manipulative, and someone who could hide in plain sight.