HANNIBAL, Season 2

[wonkit]

Just caught up with the first episode of the new season, shown last Friday, February 28. I am enthralled by the beauty of the photography, the economy of the writing and the uniform excellence of the cast. I am not a fan of horror stories but this is intriguing and complex even with the physical gruesomeness. The locales, the lighting, the camera angles, the acting! Better even than Season One. And on broadcast TV. Fantastic.

[MotorTink]

Agreed! It came back swinging! (and I like the Revenge style - show the big fight and then rewind back to tell the tale). I cannot get over how physically beautiful (well and creepy as hell) it is filmed. So tense and exhilarating.

Best parts ****SPOILERS****

Capturing the heart break of all the characters and seeing how lost everyone is without Will.

[broadway86]

Easily one of the best shows on television, and this season looks primed to top the first one.

[strummergirl]

This season has been so good, so beautiful, and so disgusting at the same time. I am still aghast at what the show gets away with being on network.

Your move, to all the HBO genre shows. Including True Detective.

[wonkit]

Second episode - don't watch the first five minutes if you are squeamish.

[javero]

I'm a huge fan of the series but find the dialogue somewhat stilted. Unlike a Woody Allen flick in which the principle characters talk over each other and move about on occasion, every detail of HANNIBAL from the dialogue to the blocking seems tightly orchestrated and clinical. The draw for me is the heady pyscho-babble-soaked dialogue which leaves me mindf*%ked.

[wonkit]

Renewed for a third season! One of the best things on TV!

[Mr Roxy]

I am DVRing all the episodes and will than watch them one after the other

Maybe I will do it over fava beans and a nice Chianti.

[The Josh]

SPOILERS BELOW!!!!




With Freddie being alive, I'm more sure than ever that Chilton and Abigail are alive as well.

[broadway86]

The season has just been pure excellence.

[strummergirl]

This week's episode with the Freddie fake-out, the Verger children (Michael Pitt and Katharine Isabelle are having the time of their lives), the Manhunter/Red Dragon homage, and the Dead Ringers reference The friggin' best. May be my favorite episode in the whole series.

So relieved it got a 3rd season. Still curious if the Season 2 finale possibly could have worked as an endgame.

I also think Chilton is alive. I thought initially he just survived the gun shot but maybe, he and Miriam planned it out because Chilton knew early on how easily he was getting framed.

[ClydeBarrow]

Best show on network television hands down (sorry Scandal)!

I had a feeling midway through the episode that Freddie Lounds was alive and this was all a con for Hannibal. I agree that Chilton is probably alive but I'm pretty sure Abigail is dead.

Must say that I am LOVING Michael Pitt as Mason Verger. Probably one of the creepiest villains to ever grace my TV. The scene with him making the kid cry and then dropping it into his martini really had my skin crawling. Loved Katharine Isabelle since Ginger Snaps and loving her here.

One thing that I find quite odd is Caroline Dhavernas being in the main credits. Seems like there are entire episodes she's not even in and most episodes it's pretty minimal screen time. I get that she's a Fuller veteran but still.

[wonkit]

SPOILERS





Bryan Fuller has more or less stated that Chilton survived. He is, after all, still around for SILENCE OF THE LAMBS.

Can't see how Abigail would survive, though nothing is off limits with this series!

[strummergirl]

Back to back weeks of great episodes. But this one. Oh, this one.

It has a whole scene where I am aghast how it got past any standards and practices. This episode was TV-14?!?!? A man performing auto-cannibalism that includes a scene eating his nose gets that rating?!? It's the type of scene that would get a film an NC-17 rating and be banned in certain countries of the world. Was it the fact there was a lot of dark humor and absurdity to it that it was passable? It was a Takashi Miike episode of Hannibal.

[strummergirl]

Back to back weeks of great episodes. But this one. Oh, this one.

It has a whole scene where I am aghast how it got past any standards and practices. This episode was TV-14?!?!? A man performing auto-cannibalism that includes a scene eating his nose gets that rating?!? It's the type of scene that would get a film an NC-17 rating and be banned in certain countries of the world. Was it the fact there was a lot of dark humor and absurdity to it that it was passable? It was a Takashi Miike episode of Hannibal.

[wonkit]

I have watched almost every other scene in this series, but NOT THIS ONE. Even listening to it happening had me gagging. Brilliantly acted and frighteningly original, and incredibly gross.

[South Fl Marc]

I think it's one of the most beautifully filmed series out there .... but I could not watch that scene. Having read all of the books, I knew what was coming and I shut my eyes.
It's amazing what can be seen on network TV now. "The Wild, Wild West" now considered G rated material, was actually highly criticized, and maybe cancelled, for excessive violence in the 60's. How times have changed.

[Mr Roxy]

Exactly

West was a product of the James Bond spy craze. It was doing quite well in the ratings until the do gooders got involved.

If someone had suggested something like this (Hannibal) to the network suits back than, he would be sharing a cell with Will

[SNAFU]

I think how they are getting this past Standards and Practices is the way it is shot. The face/nose eating was shot in such a way that much more was suggested then actually seen. There is an aesthetic to this show which raises it above torture porn. Even the meal preparations have a suggestive ill seated feeling to them.

[strummergirl]

Oh, it's undoubtedly one of the best shot series going.

[strummergirl]

Well, that was a cliffhanger. And had that episode had been the series finale, it would rival Twin Peaks in most 'AAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!! OMG OMG OMG WUT IS HAPPENING WTF WTF WTF' levels of multiple cliffhangers that would never be followed up again kind of series finales. Instead, this remains a shattering, intense, crazy piece of television. Good job, Bryan Fuller and company. Thank goodness there is Season 3.

[ClydeBarrow]

If there wasn't a season three of this show I would have personally gone and burned NBC to the ground! This is going to seem jumbled because I'm still not fully able to process what I've just seen but I'm going to try to form cohesive thoughts.

It is my hope that years from now when people look back for an example of how to make a horror/thriller series that Hannibal is the benchmark. It's upsetting that AHS gets all the focus because of Ryan Murphy, gimmicks and sex. This show has brilliant acting, mind-blowing visual effects and INSANE storytelling (that is able to continue across multiple seasons). I'm beyond thrilled that NBC is able to let this show continue because while it might not be a rating powerhouse it is a critical darling and gives them something to feel proud of.

Now about the finale. WOOOOOOOOW is pretty much all that can be said. I've never been more surprised by a season finale in recent memory. Having every single "good guy" being on death's door is something else. I honestly couldn't say who will survive. It would also be kind of interesting that they fake us out by thinking background characters are dead (Freddie, Abigail, Miriam) when they're really killing off the major players at season's end. I've seen all the movies but never read the books so I'm curious as to whether or not this is a chance to kill off Will Graham and introduce Clarice Starling which would be kind of a cool thing to do. Especially since I feel like the women on this show are kind of throwaway.

My main issue was the fact that I felt nothing when Alana was (maybe) killed. I love Caroline Dhavernas and I'm pretty sure Bryan Fuller does too so I'm perplexed as to why her character was so worthless. I actually had more of an emotional reaction to Bella's deathbed scenes and she's given a fraction of screen time. Then again I'm also a huge Gina Torres fan (heeeyyyy Anna Espinosa).

I'm very interested to see what next season will shape up to be since it will most likely be almost a different series. I'd also love to learn more about this craziness with Dr. Bedelia! This is going to be a long year, guys.

[ClydeBarrow]

Here is the link to a Bryan Fuller interview about the events of the finale. Some interesting tidbits there.

"Oh, gosh, we brought Miriam back and we're bringing Dr. Chilton back — does that seem like too much?"
Looks like Raúl will be back!


Bryan Fuller Interview

[strummergirl]

Bless Fuller for being so awful with spoilers.

I have similar issues with Alana. The main tension for me happening was that Abigail was ALIVE THIS WHOLE DAMN TIME and her end shattered me. At least Alana had a cinematic death.

You know, there are people who have much major issues with the handling of women in the show- some people who never watched who think all the women are victims in the story or really do think they are all just pawns in the Hannibal-Will games but I find Margot, Bella, Freddie, and Bedelia much more interesting as ancillary characters on then the men barring Chilton and Mason (before he auto-cannibalized himself). I know some would freak out at the prospect of a Clarice Starling on this show, but who knows. What would be the casting process?

[wonkit]

Bryan Fuller is in uncharted territory here because he is working in prequel land - before any of the Thomas Harris books (although we seem to be getting awfully close to RED DRAGON). And I think I read somewhere that he does not yet have the rights to use the character of Clarice Starling, so they won't be using her in Season 3. But whoever has the rights to Starling: AWAKE UP! This series is thrilling and excellent, and can only improve the value of those characters. And I would love to see Bryan Fuller cast Clarice Starling - he has totally aced the casting of every other character so far, in my opinion.

Oh, and the finale last night was one of the most extraordinary pieces of television I have seen since the MASH series finale. I was screaming so many times at what was going on.

[strummergirl]

MGM has the rights to Clarice and they are BROKE. It shouldn't hurt to see a reinvention of such an iconic character, especially when the film Hannibal really left a sour taste in people's mouths from Clarice fans (not all the movie's fault because those Harris books had some unforgivable plotting and Fuller has done a good job reverse engineering and re-working a lot of the broad stuff in those books).