Hannibal (2013-2015) Series Review

Hannibal (2013-2015) Series Review

At the conclusion of my reviews for the Scream movies, I didn’t think the TV show was worth talking much about. With Hannibal, it’s a different case. I haven’t seen the show since my initial viewing, and I watched it as it aired over the three years it was on, so it’s not super fresh in my mind. Nevertheless, it left quite the impression. 

Hannibal intrigued me from the start, mainly because I couldn’t imagine how they could pull it off without Anthony Hopkins and with it being on TV. It isn’t really an adaptation of any one of Thomas Harris’s novels, the way the movies are. It extracts the characters from Red Dragon and spins a new yarn about them, and as the series progresses, it evolves into both its own story and a loose adaptation of Red Dragon, Hannibal, and even some of Silence of the Lambs. 

The first thing to note is Mads Mikkelsen as Dr. Hannibal Lecter. Until this show, Anthony Hopkins was the definitive portrayal. And really, I’ll never not think about Hopkins when I think of the character, but Mikkelsen is fantastic and terrifying in his own right. He spoke once about playing the character as if he were playing Satan; damn, well that’s one way of going about it. He is so evil and creepy, but still so suave and enticing, but also physically more dangerous than I ever felt Hopkins was. He captures the character of Hannibal Lecter brilliantly, never once making me think Hopkins would have done a better job. 

And as for the other characters, all of them are played by great actors giving great performances, too. Every version of Jack Crawford has been so different, that to have Laurence Fishburne in the role didn’t seem that outlandish—not because he looks so unlike the way he’s looked in the past, but Fishburne has a different kind of intensity than any previous version. Many of the smaller roles are made memorable by great performances, too, like Gillian Anderson as Bedelia (a character original to this series, not from the novels) and Eddie Izzard as Dr. Gideon. But the other standout performance, aside from Mads Mikkelsen, is Hugh Dancy as Will Graham. Perhaps it’s because this is the most screen time the character has ever been given, but I think of the three portrayals of this character, his is the best. Dancy is excellent, and his chemistry with Mikkelsen is one of the best parts of the show. 

There are very notable changes from previous adaptations, but nearly all of them are justifiable and don’t hinder the show at all. Changing the character of Freddie Lounds from male to female worked, and altering and blending the many storylines made it much more unpredictable for viewers already familiar with the films and novels, but not in a bad way. All the twists and turns make sense. But something ever-present in these stories is the violence and gore—how could it not be, right? Despite being a TV show, they really don’t hold back on the gristly details.

When you think about it, Manhunter, Silence of the Lambs, and Red Dragon really weren’t that gory, overall, but they got slapped with the R-rating because of coarse language and overall violence. Today, it’s a different landscape, both for films and television. When you have something like The Walking Dead on TV, having Hannibal Lecter kill people and cook them up really doesn’t seem much worse. It never feels like they’re holding back. In fact, it’s so revolting, it might turn some viewers off. I’ve seen some extreme violence on TV before, but nothing quite like this. Be warned, it gets sickening at points. 

So with my two main concerns covered, what else can I say about Hannibal? It’s one of the most underrated TV shows of the past decade. The writing is really good, the pacing is great, the cinematography is amazing, and the performances are solid. The show has a distinct grimness to it, and achieves a surprising number of truly scary moments and extended scenes of suspense. They go a little too far with the artsy imagery at times, mainly in the first season, but for the most part, delivers exactly what you’d expect to see in a Hannibal Lecter story, and then some. 

Season one does an extremely effective job of establishing the uneasy three-pronged relationship between Graham, Lecter, and Crawford. There’s always enough going on in each episode, story-wise, that it never becomes boring, but it never gets overly stuffed with plot points or side stories, either. Knowing as a viewer that Hannibal is the killer they’re looking for, but not having any of the main characters know makes for a suspenseful watch, then with season two, it’s more of that, only ratcheted up with tension, until things come to a head in the finale. And then there’s season three…

The second season ends in a shocking place. I won’t spoil it, but it had me on the edge of my seat and desperately wondering where it would lead next season. The third season begins in somewhat mediocre fashion, and the first few episodes are a bit tedious. Then, there’s a time jump, and things get a lot more interesting as the rest of the season progresses. Without spoiling too much, it essentially remakes the Tooth Fairy storyline from Red Dragon, and in most ways, I think it’s actually the best adaptation of that story so far, even outdoing the film Red Dragon (on that note, the remaking of parts of the movie Hannibal earlier on are also more book-accurate and superior). The season ends on a literal cliff hanger (you’ll get what I mean when you see it) and left me wanting more, but also fairly satisfied knowing it would probably remain the ending for the series. 

Unfortunately, Hannibal didn’t garner enough viewers during its initial run on TV to make it past season three. If it had aired on a different network from NBC, I think it might have found more success, but having said that, I have very few qualms with the show overall. After season one, I thought it might get cancelled for being underseen and overly scary, but then I thought that again after season two, so I wasn’t too surprised when the cancellation was announced. I think more people are starting to find out about it now, and will be disappointed there isn’t more, because I still feel there was enough material left in the story to warrant at least a couple more seasons. It would have been neat to see them remake Silence of the Lambs and more of the film Hannibal, but I guess we’ll never see it now. 

If you liked the movies and/or novels, you should like the Hannibal TV series, too. It’s rich with dark imagery, psychological thrills, cunning mystery writing, and police procedural elements that aren’t too familiar to be dull. Mainly, it’s the effective pacing, writing, and performances that make the show so great, and so chilling. 

Alright, five days until Halloween, and one last franchise to tackle. What’s it going to be? Well, you could say, this one is going to be…GROOVY.