If I would to rank the Seasons it'd go something like this:
1.Season Two
2. Season Three
3.Season One.
Season Three isn't Fuller's Strongest work But I think it still stands on its own.
I think we should treat The Red Dragon Arc as its own season and not part of season three. That's how I look at it.
Whether we should or shouldn't treat the "Red Dragon" arc as its own season, I think the entire problem with this season has been that dividing it in the manner that was done was a terrible choice, and has been phenomenally detrimental to the pacing. Why was this done? Well, there are a few factors, the ratings being perhaps the most prominent factor, Fuller's love of the relationship dynamic between Will Graham and Hannibal another, and the season two finale an additional, substantial component.
In having the season two finale end the gutting of several primary characters in addition to Abigail, while Hannibal walks away freely with DuMaurier. After such a dramatic conclusion, it would have been a cheat for the show not to deal with the emotional consequences of the actions that had occurred, and how it affected everybody; to not do so would be a cheat after the magnitude of what happened. The most substantial part, however, was that Hannibal walked away. It was not possible for Fuller to jump immediately into Red Dragon so long as Hannibal had managed to escape, and they had to follow up on the promise of Hannibal being 'free'. Having set-up the Vergers, delving into the material in "Hannibal" was an understandable follow-up. Fuller himself noted that part of the reason for the split was that he felt it would begin to tread old ground if it was left as an entire season (I reject this assertion, and think that it's not really a good 'excuse' at all as there was more than enough material which could be injected to do so and create a compelling, slower build up that progressed steadily), and this is part of the reason the season was split.
The most substantial reason however, relies in what Fuller loves about the source material. As he has noted, he knew, as we all did, that season three would almost certainly be the last from the get-go. Fuller has always been clear that Red Dragon is what 'got him into' the series in the first place, and that the novel is one which holds a special place in his heart. It's the relationship between Will Graham and Hannibal that has a great appeal to him, more than anything else (i.e. more than Silence), and the show reflects this. There is absolutely no doubt that Fuller wanted to get to Red Dragon before the series ended, but this put him in quite a bind. While he wanted to get to the Red Dragon season, it obviously would not be possible to jump into this straight from the final of season two, without it being jarring and a slap in the face to the audience for ignoring the season two finale. The only way for him to get to his favourite material then becomes to place it somewhere in season three. On a related note, Red Dragon is the most notable material they have access to which they can advertise, and the only chance of the show surviving would have been to demonstrate that adapting the material they have access to is a substantial draw to an audience which had refused to watch the show. If advertising the most prominent material they have isn't enough of a draw combined with the critical appeal and high quality, and the show hadn't begun to gain viewers in anticipation for this combined with their engagement on social media, nothing would.
The problem with wanting to do the Red Dragon story to follow-up from the final of season two is substantial though, because of the pace it demands and the tone of the season. Following up from season two, things had to be extreme. We needed to get a sense of what Hannibal's life on the run was like in a 'day-to-day' fashion. We needed to establish who he is, what his life is like, and how he interacts with people. We needed to deal with the emotional reaction he has in response to the great betrayal, but also see how he has moved on from that in his relationship with Bedalia and the altered dynamic which that brings. From Hannibal's side, there needs to be a sense of the somewhat mundane life he now leads, and how he relishes in his new environment despite the longing he feels for Will Graham. What does this require? Well, a slow pace, befitting of the environment he is now in, and a variety of new characters for him to interact with, which need to gain some development. The overindulgence in the artistic and cinematic flairs the show had previously employed was absolutely befitting of the decadent life which Hannibal was leading. On the American side of things, everybody understandably is going to be in a much more unstable space, Will in particular.They all had to undergo severe changes in their lives after what had happened. While establishing a new life for everybody was not nearly as essential as it was with Hannibal, the emotional impact this reveal had on everybody, and the wounds which were inflicted, needed to be made clear, but without a 'psychiatrist present', these emotional and largely interior changes could only really be clarified through symbolism and visual touches (they could communicate to one another, sure, but there's reason to doubt these more than there is visual symbols, particularly for Will). These, again, require a rather slow pace. While they backed-down immediately on Will's interest in Hannibal dying (perhaps out of need for them to quickly rush past the development). Both of these combine to create a season that needs to be visually indulgent and heavy on symbolism to carry the emotional journey of the characters, and a slow pace to establish everything effectively.
Red Dragon, too, requires a very slow pace. A large amount of time has to pass between Hannibal being captured, and Will being forced to speak with Hannibal because of the effect that this time has on Hannibal and allows Will to have 'moved on' before being forced to return to his own special brand of addiction. There's a lot of material in relation to the Red Dragon, and they need to make both him and Reba very compelling figures. In wanting to include Hannibal a great deal in this story, when he originally is important but not nearly as prominent as he is now, they needed to proportionally boost the amount of time we spend with Dolarhyde so he isn't reduced to a 'killer of the week spread thin' and is instead one of the stars of the season. The method of investigation that is used with Dolarhyde is more grounded than what we had seen in the seasons before, and the tone therefore needs to be a more grounded nightmare to suit (the heavily nightmarish visual tone needs to survive, but Dolarhyde doesn't kill in a greatly elaborate fashion nor is he a supernatural manipulator as many of the previous killers on the show are, he's a complex individual who kills with efficiency before the horror show begins). The tone needs to be similar, yet approached differently to accurately reflect Will's state of mind (and to be fair, it had done this quite well). Will was 'out', so to speak. He escaped the nightmare, he's living a normal life, and then he needs to choose to go back into the territory and begin to plunge in (albeit more quickly than he fell in initially). Due to the story-beats which occur in Red Dragon (and must be led up to), the style of the investigation that's utilised, the characters themselves, and the insistence that Lecter would play a greater role the story needs to have time to breath. Having a number of major events happen continuously in a row, and reducing the role of the Red Dragon himself, plays a major role in thinning the importance of the case itself and doesn't allow the impact of the case (on a personal level, and on the level of fear it evokes in the surrounding communities) to hit-home; it needed time to develop and gather steam naturally.
In combining these two seasons, both of which needed time to develop, both of them fell short of their potential and have significant issues in their pacing. In the first half of the season, we were left in this bizarre scenario where events simultaneously moved too quickly (the final two/three episodes of that segment of the season) and were oddly stretched out (inconsequential push from a train, anybody?). In the second half we've had a very well executed three episodes, and two episodes which were 'mixed', and a pacing that appears to mirror the first half of the season's with a scenario where things are moving too slowly and too quickly simultaneously, things aren't being fleshed-out appropriately, and there's a real, concerning lack of momentum building, not a scenario you want going into the final of the show. Consider where we were last season; momentum built from the very first episode up to the seventh carrying on from the previous season, there was a bit of a reprieve which was necessary because of the insanity of what was happening, and then continued to grow until the end. If there's momentum in this season, I must say I am not feeling it at all.
Don't get me wrong, the show has remained enjoyable and it has produced some great episodes (I enjoy the Florence chapter, I enjoy the opening of the Red Dragon chapter), but the decision to split the season with two storylines that both required a very purposeful pace has been a fundamentally flawed one, I feel. The show could have worked with either storyline as the focus for the season, but it has not worked to have the season be scattershot and at odds with itself. Last season worked with a bit of a split only because things were escalating at an unsustainable level; that has not been the case this season at all. With thirteen episodes, if Fuller wanted to just get to Red Dragon this season, he should have just ignored or greatly reduced the Florence section (better yet, he shouldn't have had Hannibal escape in the second season final, he should have just been caught by the EMT because he chose to wait for Will to appear and confront him rather than escape). With thirteen episodes, if he wanted to do the Florence section, he should not have done Red Dragon. He shouldn't have just adapted both because it was the only chance he had if it was going to greatly reduce the impact of either storyline and/or the show's quality; it would have been better to get a fantastic season that leaves us pondering what could have been done if only they had an extra season, than a season that leaves us glad the show will be unable to tarnish The Silence of the Lambs. I think people are aware that they are two 'chapters', the issue is just that they don't jive well together.
---
EDIT: I got a bit carried away there. In terms of my own rating for the seasons:
Season Two > Season One > Season Three.
In relation to enjoying Bedalia's development this season, I must say I do.
