Monday, August 31, 2015

NBC's Hannibal is over now and I gotta say it was better than anything I saw in Silence of the Lambs

NBC's Hannibal sat down for its last supper this last week. I still haven't gotten around to watching it yet. See, I fell behind as I'm apt to do and then started binge watching the episodes from the season 1 pilot through to season 3 with my friend. I have to tell you as I'm sitting here in the midst of season 3, this now "canceled" series is a masterpiece up there with Breaking Bad. It really really is.

I don't know how many times I said, "I can't believe this show was on network television and that hardly anybody has been watching it." The writing is absolutely superb, and it's not just me that thinks so. It has a 98% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and reviewers from io9 to Forbes have been raving about what a good drama this show is.

Hannibal is probably the greatest villain I have ever seen, and he is a remarkable creation of Thomas Harris. If you enjoy crime dramas, aren't afraid of some gruesome (and maybe a little stomach churning) scenes, and love the psychology that made Silence of the Lambs such a megahit over twenty five years ago, you owe it to yourself to watch this series. I never thought I would ever say this, but the actor that plays Hannibal in the series is better at it than Anthony Hopkins. And the series as a whole is a better tale than Silence of the Lambs could ever hope to be. For one it took the series in a bit of a new direction, however, never sacrificing the integrity of the books and the plot points that made the books so great (Yes, I've read them all). Additionally, it was a conclusive telling of Hannibal Lecter from his early days (a prequel), encompassing the events of Red Dragon, and borrowing heavily from the third book to tell Hannibal Lecter's history.

What a pleasure it was (and is) to watch. 

9 comments:

  1. Never watched it but obviously I wasn't alone on that score.

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  2. I've never watched it either, but probably because it's not my thing. What I want to see is one of the "victims" suddenly going ballistic and killing the sicko. Hmm...that could be a short story.

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  3. It sounds like i missed out on something special.

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  4. I've heard nothing but good things about it. But I did not watch it. The subject matter was just too much for me. (Yes, I'm a wimp. I'm okay with that.)

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  5. I don't like gruesome but I liked Silence of the Lambs. So now there's another series I'll have to eventually catch up on. Why oh why is there so much great writing on TV now?

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  6. Hannibal is one of those shows I keep meaning to watch but haven't gotten motivation to actually do it. Sometime next year I'll probably watch and based on your review I'm probably going to be mad I didn't support them when they were on TV. There's just too much good stuff to watch these days.

    Have you seen Borgen or Deutschland 83? I started watching Borgen after looking up the actress from Hardhome on GoT and it's the best political drama I've seen in a while (much better than House of Cards). Deutschland 83 is great if only for the music but the story took me back to my Cold War nightmares as a kid.

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    1. I haven't seen Borgen or that other one you named. Speaking of GoT, did you hear the rumor from an Irish blogger that spies on the GoT set in Ireland? I guess Jon Snow is confirmed as the child of Rhaegar and Alyana. Oh and if you want the first season of Hannibal, I could mail it to you. You just need to give me an address (bought it on DVD and I rarely watch things twice).

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