Mads Mikkelsen
Hugh Dancy
Laurence Fishburne
Caroline Dhavernas
Gillian Anderson

Developed by:
Bryan Fuller

2013-2015
Crime, Drama, Horror, Thriller
NBC
TV-14

“Hannibal,” created by Bryan Fuller, is an NBC thriller-horror series that explores Hannibal Lecter’s life and the life of FBI Special Investigator Will Graham. It starts before the events of Thomas Harris’s novel, “Red Dragon.” Unlike those of most other major network TV shows, each season of “Hannibal” will contain only 13 episodes.

“Hannibal” is very dark and has hauntingly beautiful visuals; it’s expensive looking (Hannibal would approve). Just look at the way they film the food that Hannibal cooks (raw meat, in particular) and the murder scenes featuring dead bodies staged in various tableaux. Stylistically, “Hannibal” manages to be both dark and sharp at the same time; the images are crystal clear. It’s gorgeous and disgusting, simultaneously.

Furthermore, “Hannibal” depicts the visions and hallucinations of Will with lots of aesthetic power: Will empathizes with serial killers so much that he can envision himself committing their crimes with vivid detail. This ability causes him pain, makes him lose time, and leads to other problems for him, both psychologically and legally, especially after he becomes a de facto patient of Lecter, who takes full advantage of Will’s condition for his own purposes.

The acting is strong, especially Mads Mikkelsen (he’s the perfect choice to play a younger Lecter). Hugh Dancy plays Will, and Laurence Fishburne plays the head of Behavioral Sciences at the FBI who’s Will’s boss. Dancy and Fishburne are great, too, and so is the rest of the cast, which includes the always intriguing Gillian Anderson. The writing is just as good. Plus, the second season’s turning out to be even better than the first, which was very good.

If you loved “The Silence of the Lambs,” then check “Hannibal” out. It’s not quite as great as that film, but it will scratch that particular itch. Plus, as this show progresses, it inches closer and closer to that film’s heights. …

The second season, as a whole, is superlative. They really go for it throughout, and that definitely pays off. Everything’s heightened, and the actors and writers are at the top of their games.

By this season’s end, everybody bleeds. And there’s a surprise ending during the end credits that link two characters in a way that you may not have expected. “Hannibal” has achieved greatness. I hope that the next season will continue in that vein. …

The third season of “Hannibal” will be its last … on NBC. Actually, I’m surprised that it lasted that long on NBC, because it’s a show that has cable (or internet content provider) written all over it. Will another network (Amazon, perhaps?) pick it up? I certainly hope so. I’m savoring every moment during this season, just in case. Every time I watch this show, I’m drawn in. It has a consistently overwhelming hypnotic power. Plus, we get to see the Red Dragon, played by Richard Armitage, at the end. Lovely. One question: How far would you go to stop a psychopathic mass murderer?

Verdict: Very Good to Great

About: (Source: hannibal)

The dark and haunting series “Hannibal” returns for a third season, revealing the fates of characters hanging in the balance, and the continuing psychological cat-and-mouse games they face.

After the shocking events of the Season 2 finale, Hannibal (Mads Mikkelsen) is on the run in Europe – accompanied by his psychiatrist Bedelia Du Maurier (Gillian Anderson) – sporting a new identity, but servicing the same insatiable appetite. As the lives of Will (Hugh Dancy), Jack (Laurence Fishburne) and Alana (Caroline Dhavernas) converge toward Hannibal again, each with their own motivations to catch him once and for all, their deadly dance turns in startling and unexpected ways.

In the second half of the season, Jack implores Will to help him catch a new threat, a serial killer preying on families, known in the press as the Tooth Fairy, but self-proclaimed as The Great Red Dragon. The hunt may force Will to turn to an unwelcome source of insight – his old adversary, Hannibal.