Hannibal

[S.Vineyard]

http://screenrant.com/hannibal-season-2 ... iere-date/

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

(Sorry, but this series is so amazing so far and that promo pic is just.....AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!)

[Stopwatch]

...huh, for some reason I thought there was already a topic for this.

[S.Vineyard]

I also thought this, but the search function found nothing.

[Jd-]

I finally recently got around to watching this. Akonyl recommended it ages ago and I watched the first episode then but fell off after that. I'm not really sure how I feel about the show as a whole up to this point (nine episodes in). There are things I like (the Casino Royale villain playing Hannibal = excellent casting, great performance), but there are also things I don't.

The best thing about the show is having Hannibal there around the FBI investigations and being related to the characters. There have been some genuinely creepy scenes so far and I commend that. All the same, I think the show would benefit should the Crawford character be given some sort of sensibility or meaningful screentime, instead of just being the stapler that serves to stick cases together. They've definitely gone for a more science-fiction approach toward profiling, where Graham is able to make these fantastical leaps between the crimes with very little evidence or notions that would in any way suggest what they ultimately amount to. Each episode always has that moment where Graham draws out a flawless summation of the entire course of events from only spending a couple of minutes at the crime scene and then visiting the lab. I do think it'd be better if Hannibal were more actively trying to corrupt the volatile and unstable Graham character, as they tend to gloss over that a lot but rarely spend much time addressing it. Psychologically, I think that's where the real meat of the story is.

I really like the idea of a dark show in the same vein as Dexter. Yet, I think they really indulge themselves a lot when it comes to the actual weekly crimes. This show has a great setup with making a procedural that has a central, recurring storyline, even if the procedural aspects really, reaaaally stretch the bounds of credibility quite regularly. They are definitely not interested in staging something plausible, instead going for theatrical set pieces that always have to one-up each other each week (the totem sealed that, I think). I'm also routinely pretty shocked at this being on network TV with all of this blood and gore. Pushing the boundary is always interesting.

In all, it's a more-than-competent show that does a lot of things right, some things wrong, and thankfully has plenty of room for mobilization and improvement.

[S.Vineyard]

As for Grahams Psychic Powers:

Well, actually it's only a more graphic variant of what he did in Red Dragon. (Norton's portrait Graham a bit tame, imo. Peterson in the old Manhunter movie was much better.)

I like Dancy's play a lot, because his Graham is much more unstable and vulnerable.

As for Hannibal:

You will truely hate him at the end of this season. This guy is a monster.

I'm looking forward to Season 2 because they want to move away from the "Killer of the Week" stuff.

[Jd-]

Finished the season. The last couple of episodes were quite good I thought.

However, I actually liked Hannibal even more in the last episode. I always want good villains in stories, because it's so easy to make a run-of-the-mill one that when you see a character that's genuinely evil, you have to tip your hat. From a psychological perspective, villains are the most interesting to me when it comes to examining their motives, mindset, and where it is they see themselves at the end of the line.

All told, I think...

Spoiler:

Hannibal really made a questionable tactical error when he tried to pin not just the one murder on Graham but all of the murders. I understand he just wants to up the stakes out of curiosity and create a game for himself. Still, that needlessly puts him directly in the spotlight (and no doubt in Crawford's crosshairs) when he could have otherwise let it play out as a slow burn on Graham's psyche while he was in prison and facing trial.

Let's see how all of that plays out in S2. I'll be watchin'.

[mangaluva]

I think the thing that messed me up the most was having Eddie Izzard play a genuinely creepy serial killer imo I'm not used to seeing him in men's clothes without makeup.

But really I love the series and I'm looking forward to season 2 having more focus on mind games between Hannibal and Will Graham. And, of course, more bad implied cannibalism jokes from Hannibal. "I transferred my passion for anatomy into the culinary arts" is still one of my favourite lines in the series.

[S.Vineyard]

Some minor spoiler for Season 2:

Spoiler:

http://hannibaltvshow.com/end-of-season ... ll-graham/
http://hannibaltvshow.com/bryan-fuller- ... r-spoiler/

It's now confirmed that late in Season 2 the series will introduce Margot Verger, the sister of Lecter's (later) victim Mason Verger.
She was an important side character in the Hannibal novel. (Mason was played by Gary Oldman in the movie.)
Oh, and Fuller might someday make a scene were we see Hannibal decorating his Memory Palace. (A scene I would love to see.)

[mangaluva]

Spoiler:

Was Mason Verger the one where Hannibal made him peel off his own face and eat it because he was a kiddy fiddler? Never felt particularly sorry for that one.

Also, I can only hope that, if they really must jump on the "Memory Palace" bandwagon, that they do it better than Sherlock. Although the writing quality of Hannibal is generally much better than the writing quality for Sherlock, so there's hope.

[S.Vineyard]

Spoiler:

Was Mason Verger the one where Hannibal made him peel off his own face and eat it because he was a kiddy fiddler? Never felt particularly sorry for that one.

Spoiler:

Yep, he was.

Spoiler:

Also, I can only hope that, if they really must jump on the "Memory Palace" bandwagon, that they do it better than Sherlock. Although the writing quality of Hannibal is generally much better than the writing quality for Sherlock, so there's hope.

Spoiler:

As I said, I liked how Sherlock handeled the Mind Palace, since it was very similar how it was described in Hannibal. Only that Hannibal's mind palace is enormous, more full of art and also has some very dark corners...

[S.Vineyard]

http://screencrush.com/nbc-hannibal-sea ... -isabelle/

Say hello to Margot Verger. And the Trailer is awesome.

[Jd-]

I'm really hoping that this takes the Dexter route as far as quality is concerned (which is not to say the first was poor or anything). What I mean is that Dexter Season 2 was leaps and bounds better than the 1st, 3 was better than 2, and 4 was better than 3. Of course, it went downhill from there, but it demonstrates that this sort of general concept can really improve as time goes on.

Season premiere was cool, I liked it for the most part.

However, I gotta say that this show has by far the most disturbing mainstream fanbase on the internet that I've seen. I can't help but wonder if they realize that their idolatry is... misplaced, to say the least. There are people who say things like, "I'm so glad that Hannibal is able to be himself on the show. It feels really great to see someone I can identify with on TV." (Mild version)

[mangaluva]

I have seen people complain "I can't believe they're making Hannibal a villain, I was hoping they'd go the antihero route"

HE

EATS

PEOPLE

There is literally nothing in season 1 that makes him look even a little like a good guy. There is nothing INTENDED to make him look like a good guy. Yes, he's charismatic and classy and entertaining... THAT'S WHAT MAKES HIM SO DANGEROUS.

Anyway, does anyone know where I can watch the season 2 premiere online?

[Jd-]

I have seen people complain "I can't believe they're making Hannibal a villain, I was hoping they'd go the antihero route"

Yeaaahhhh... It's really creepy--it's creepier than the show itself, actually. They've missed the entire point of the show and why that character is the pinnacle of evil in that universe. This guy is not Dexter and wasn't intended to be.

As I was saying for anyone who somehow missed that, it really has to be said:

However, I gotta say that this show has by far the most disturbing mainstream fanbase on the internet that I've seen. I can't help but wonder if they realize that their idolatry is... misplaced, to say the least. There are people who say things like, "I'm so glad that Hannibal is able to be himself on the show. It feels really great to see someone I can identify with on TV." (Mild version)

The guy spent an entire season trying to...

Spoiler:

Corrupt an innocent and psychologically afflicted man into thinking he was the one responsible for the murders that he, Hannibal, committed. What was the "anti-hero" part of that? To make this young "protege" stronger? Hannibal's a hell of a guy, going through all that trouble to help a brother out.

Also, he eats people. People that he kills. And he serves it unknowingly to others.

So... yeah. He's obviously a force of good. Clearly.

[mangaluva]

Just because he prefers to "eat the rude" and occasionally make pedophiles eat themselves does NOT make him a good guy. I mean, the "crimes" he eats people for aren't that huge. He kills one of his patients for being annoyingly clingy, for pity's sake. He screws with Will's head because he finds him psychologically entertaining. THESE ARE NOT THE ACTIONS OF A GOOD GUY. Just because he's charming and wears nice suits...