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RTTP rewatch: Hannibal (the show) [no spoilers for S3]

Been a while since I watched Hannibal and never actually got around to finishing season 3. The recent news about early talks regarding a season 4 finally got me to get the show on blu ray and start watching it again. TV is the one medium where I don't usually revisit favorites - too much of a time commitment - so Hannibal will be the only other show I've rewatched since going through Breaking Bad a second time

Apéritif

Watching the pilot, I was surprised by how straightforward it was plotted and how little surreal imagery and structure was present, considering the later show. Also, how character-focused it was from the get-go; sure, it had Will and Jack tracking a killer and that (partially) gets resolved by the end of the episode but the killings, the forensics, and so on are all in service of introducing us to Will, how he thinks, his struggles. A refreshing change from the general crime procedural structure

And of course, you can't not mention the titular character. I like how the show wastes zero time with teasing who and what Hannibal is; another show might have treated it as a mystery to the audience, but not here. The general audience knows all about Hannibal Lecter, no need to play coy. Instead they use that knowledge from the start to add tension, making us keep a close eye on his mannerisms and words and actions.

Amuse-Bouche

The second episode nails home the show's focus, as the episode's killer isn't seen in a pre-opening titles scene but ten minutes in (and has already been tracked down 30 minutes in), instead starting by leaping right into the continuation and aftermath of Hobbs' murders and death. The episode also introduces Freddie Lounds, the burgeoning "friendship" between Jack and Hannibal, and the start of Will's worsening mental state.

While the pilot's killer was pretty normal for this show, this episode dives right into the disturbing body horror/unsettling imagery of its murders. The arms sticking up from the dirt, the bodies consumed by mushrooms, the one victim's lips ripping off and later waking up Seven-style...Hannibal makes quite an impression
 
Years later, "Mizumono" remains television's greatest achievement.

The sound, the visuals, the tension.

Masterful.

EDIT: And I love how each season is so tonally and thematically distinct, yet equally confident.
 

Mumei

Member
Hannibal is fantastic. <3

If you like listening to podcasts about shows, check out This is Our Design. They started with Season 2, and then went back and recapped Season 1 before doing Season 3. I particularly liked the music analysis; one of the hosts is a violinist and has a lot of really interesting commentary about the musical choices, particularly stuff about particular song choices that function in a variety of ways.
 
Hannibal is fantastic. <3

If you like listening to podcasts about shows, check out This is Our Design. They started with Season 2, and then went back and recapped Season 1 before doing Season 3. I particularly liked the music analysis; one of the hosts is a violinist and has a lot of really interesting commentary about the musical choices, particularly stuff about particular song choices that function in a variety of ways.
Thanks for the recommendation, sounds like an interesting angle
 

jetjevons

Bish loves my games!
So so good. Some real nightmare fuel in S3. And the twists on Hannibal are just perfect.

EDIT: Oh you mean rewatch ALL of it.
 
So many crime procedurals confine the cast to boring neutral grays and blacks, denim and leather. The way the characters' attire on Hannibal communicated something about them was just another lovely touch. Even minor figures like Freddie had such a deeper characterization on the strength of the costuming alone, let alone Hannibal and Will.

hanni9.jpg

hannialana.jpg

hannichairs.jpg

I miss this show, even if 50% of it was with one eye peeking through my fingers :(
 

Mumei

Member
Thanks for the recommendation, sounds like an interesting angle

I shouldn't overstate its prominence; it's maybe like 5 or 6 minutes of the show. But it is an angle that I haven't seen covered outside of it. I like both hosts; they are both observant and come up with interesting angles to discuss. And there are generally good guests that come on, mostly drawn from various online television review publications like the AVClub or Sound on Sight or Vox or the LA Times or whatever.
 
And of course, you can't not mention the titular character. I like how the show wastes zero time with teasing who and what Hannibal is; another show might have treated it as a mystery to the audience, but not here. The general audience knows all about Hannibal Lector, no need to play coy. Instead they use that knowledge from the start to add tension, making us keep a close eye on his mannerisms and words and action.

I found this was one of the best things about the show, and the way it told its story in general: It often assumed you knew what was coming, and instead of trying to subvert that, it played into it, which distracted you from a completely different thing you weren't even thinking of looking for.

It was a really neat trick, and they pulled it off beautifully: If you'd never read the books/seen the movies, it worked great. If you had read/watched previous adaptations, your knowledge of the text was used against you in the best, most rewarding of ways.

It's one of the better arguments against spoilerphobia I've seen, actually.
 
I've watched the first two seasons of Hannibal five times, but I've never been able to bring myself to finish s3. I don't know if it's because I didn't like the first few eps, or if I just don't want it to be over.
 
I've watched the first two seasons of Hannibal five times, but I've never been able to bring myself to finish s3. I don't know if it's because I didn't like the first few eps, or if I just don't want it to be over.

Weird, same here...

Now it's been so long that it would be tough to pick it back up
 

Wollan

Member
Season 2 finale might be the best finale of any show ever.
Season 3 picks up in the second half and ends very satisfyingly.
 
Hannibal is fantastic. <3

If you like listening to podcasts about shows, check out This is Our Design. They started with Season 2, and then went back and recapped Season 1 before doing Season 3. I particularly liked the music analysis; one of the hosts is a violinist and has a lot of really interesting commentary about the musical choices, particularly stuff about particular song choices that function in a variety of ways.
Listened to the podcasts for the first two episodes, really like their discussion. Never picked up on the iconography using the pomegranate in the introductory scene for Hannibal

Mads' performance is so great from episode 1. From his first scenes with these characters, he exudes a sense of menace, especially in his inquisitive nature, observing, studying, poking and prodding people's lives and emotions to see what happens. From killing someone to "help" Will, to calling Hobbs and his dispassionate calm observation of the consequences when they arrive.

When I think of the character now, I think of Mads' portrayal first and foremost, not Hopkins.
 
Potage

Another episode solely focused on pushing the plot forward, after the previous show's more procedural focus on the mushroom killer. The most notable aspect here was the most overtly aggressive action by Hannibal yet and him beginning to lay the groundworks for his manipulations of the cast. Knowing where things will lead, it's great seeing how small and subtle these first moves are in hindsight, and seeing the gears turning in Hannibal's head.

One gripe is how Freddie just pops up in places that the plot needs, in the hospital and at the Hobbs house; it works for plot progression, but it does feel a tad cheap, especially in these places where some security presence is expected.

Oeuf

This was the episode that was pulled after the Boston Marathon bombing. Once again, the killings of the episode were less about the mystery, and more the parallel theme of relationships and family. We see Will, Jack, and the team doing their thing more than any of the previous episode; we see Abigail and Hannibal over therapy and tea; Will and Hannibal; Jack and his wife; the killer's twisted ideology about "real" family

The imagery of the dead families in their benign settings - the dinner table, Christmas morning - weren't as gruesome as the previous episodes, but in some ways, just as disturbing in the juxtaposition of normalcy and mass murder.

Importantly, this episode begins laying the groundwork for the finale and second season, with Will telling Hannibal how he feels like he got too close to Hobbs, Hannibal messing with the fish hook, and such. Considering how that whole plotline will unfold, it's impressive how subtle those early threads are

The other memorable point of Qeuf being Hannibal and Jack's "rabbit" dinner. While we've seen victims, body parts and meal preparations before, this was the first glimpse of Hannibal as predator, and the always creepy imagery of Hannibal's unsuspecting guests and "friends" happily enjoying his food.
 
Going through the show again, you can really appreciate just how carefully crafted and plotted it is. From the first episode, the show is placing threads that will pay off episodes later, often so subtly at first. You can see the foundations being laid each episode, and it's clever how the show used the procedural structure to reflect back on the characters and their struggles and issues
 
Coquilles

I like how Will's sleepwalking feels like another dream at first, and then the show pulls the rug from under you. It's something the show has been building to subtly over these early episodes, with Will's intense sweating while sleeping and his hallucinations. This episode used its Angel Maker killer to show three characters struggling with their fears in different ways; the Angel Maker, Bella, and Will are mirror eachother as people struggling with their fears and acceptance of death and decline. Bella wanting to hide it and fight alone, Angel Maker scared and struggling to accept his fate, Will trying to distance himself from these cases to protect himself but can't.

It also subtly hinted to the nature of Will's condition, with the story of Hannibal's sense of smell, figuring out the professor had cancer, then him sensing Bella's cancer, and finally his telling sniff of Will. It's clever how the show doesn't bring much attention to this, but hindsight, the careful and precise setup is so clear.

Entree

This episode was one part homage to Silence of the Lambs, one part expansion of the series' more and overarching narrative. In some ways, it's what I had feared the show would be when I first a Hannibal show was in the works, with the very clear callbacks to the movies, to Hopkins' performance, and so on. But it's effective here, especially in showing how well the show and Mads has made their character their own.

Also effective in using the episode story to crack open Jack's history with the Ripper and introducing Miriam Lass, who had been hinted in the pilot. Showing how close she got, how Jack was with her, works to not only deepen Jack's characterization but provide insight into why he treats Will the way he does, and making Hannibal even more despicable for manipulating Jack like that
 

Mumei

Member
Listened to the podcasts for the first two episodes, really like their discussion. Never picked up on the iconography using the pomegranate in the introductory scene for Hannibal

Mads' performance is so great from episode 1. From his first scenes with these characters, he exudes a sense of menace, especially in his inquisitive nature, observing, studying, poking and prodding people's lives and emotions to see what happens. From killing someone to "help" Will, to calling Hobbs and his dispassionate calm observation of the consequences when they arrive.

When I think of the character now, I think of Mads' portrayal first and foremost, not Hopkins.

I listened to the podcast episodes for the episodes through Oeuf today at work (and started on Coquilles), because I can't watch the actual show at work!

And I agree with your comments about the show's construction. During the podcast episodes for the second season, they kvetched a bit about Alana becoming involved with Hannibal—but in the podcast episodes for this season, they acknowledge that, actually, it was something that had roots in the previous season. I've liked the Spoiled Meat section more as the show goes, because they've seen Season 2 already, and this is at least a second time watching Season 1, so they note a lot of things that would pass you by if you were just watching it for the first time.
 

jonezer4

Member
I just started rewatching too and one thing that surprised me is how un-procedural the first season actually was. On my first watch-through, I got the impression that season 1 was a "killer of the week" format with some serial elements that they apparently abandoned in the second season. I'm surprised how inaccurate that assessment was. Yes, there are several ancillary killers in the first season, but they were actually always there to service the core, serialized arc of the show (Will Graham's decent into insanity and his ultimate revelation about Hannibal). It was a bit convenient that whatever killer they happened to be hunting usually paralleled whatever Will was struggling with that week, but the so-called procedural elements were really never that procedural.

Also, anyone that stopped watching in early season 3, when the show admittedly got a little too pretentious and artsy, is doing themselves a disservice by not powering through. At the very least you should skip the first handful of episodes and watch the end to the Hannibal book arc, and all of the Red Dragon arc.
 
"I was curious what would happen."

fucking chills

Yup. Last few episodes of Season 1 is when the show really showed how great it was/could be, especially the finale.

And then Season 2 blew that out of the water.

Season 3 is still damned good and the mid-season finale is one of my favorites, as well.
 
I just started rewatching too and one thing that surprised me is how un-procedural the first season actually was. On my first watch-through, I got the impression that season 1 was a "killer of the week" format with some serial elements that they apparently abandoned in the second season. I'm surprised how inaccurate that assessment was. Yes, there are several ancillary killers in the first season, but they were actually always there to service the core, serialized arc of the show (Will Graham's decent into insanity and his ultimate revelation about Hannibal). It was a bit convenient that whatever killer they happened to be hunting usually paralleled whatever Will was struggling with that week, but the so-called procedural elements were really never that procedural
Yeah, it's surprising. I remembered it being much more traditional case-of-the-week, so it was nice to see how much it wasnt that, with the the second episode starting out with the aftemath and the third episode being focused on the main story
 
I never saw Ouef.

NBC took it off air because of the Boston Marathon bombings or was it Sandy Hook? I forget. I only saw it after when it came on Disc. I don't think NBC ever had it online when Hannibal originally aired. Pretty disturbing episode to say the least.

I feel like Rewatching the entire series again to give myself a refresher if we ever get season four.
 
Is this up on any streaming services? Hulu took it down and I can't find it anywhere else.

Edit: Looks like it's only on Amazon Prime
 
Aw man, why did this have to show up the day classes start? Now I want to watch it all again, but as the memes say... ain't nobody got time for that :'-(

*Throws responsibilty away and digs out Hannibal blurays*

This show is brilliant
 

water_wendi

Water is not wet!
One of my favorite things from Season 1 is how Mads Hannibal says "mental illness" with regards to Will. Iirc one of my favorite follow-up lines from Jack Crawford to that is "Mental illness? Is that what we've come to?"

Brilliant show. Might re-watch it again because of this thread.
 
Sorbet

This was Hannibal's episode, and the highlight were the wonderfully edited meal prep montage, giving us our clearest look at Hannibal at his most monstrous, most removed from his "person suit". We've seen some beautiful meals in past six episodes, but this was the show's best yet, doing what the show does exceedingly well: making cannibalistic meals look stomach-rumblingly appetizing (and all the more unsettling for it). Nothing here is vegetarian indeed.

This episode and the next dive the deepest into Hannibal than the rest of the early season, through his talks with Gillian Anderson's Bedelia. Gillian makes quite an impression in her first appearances, letting us see Hannibal peel back his suit just a tad in a way that we don't see in his actions with Will, Jack, and others.

Fromage

This is the first episode I felt divided on. While it had a lot of great moments - more Hannibal and Bedelia, Hannibal and Tobias' dinner, the fight, the imagery of the kill, Will's instability growing worse - the coincidental nature of how the two killers meet felt like it strained the show's stylized reality and the sudden inclusion of a full-on brawl felt out of a place. Compared to the emotionally charged fight in Season 2, this came across as extraneous.

I also like how Will's hallucinations and other issues have subtly grown more pronounced with each episode, from the subtle signs in the pilot to the animals signs here. It's all very carefully hinted it and presented, without drawing too much attention in these first 8 episodes
 
Trou Normand

Another strong episode focused on character development, with the killer-of-the-week taking a backseat. Despite that,
Henriksen does a decent job with his one scene and the totem pole is some grotesquely striking imagery.

But like the best episodes, the killer was used as a reflection of the protagonists and their struggles, and the question of legacy nicely connects with Abigail's desire to tell her own story, how people will see her and judge her, and Hannibal using the subject of Abigail's future to manipulate Will from going to Jack; it was also interesting seeing her take action and dig up the body, after the focus on her as someone that needs to be protected.

The continuing decline of Will's mental state really begins to rear its head here. Last episode had two cops killed when he went to look for a hurt animal; here, lost time and Will's palpable confusion.

Buffet Froid

If Fromage was the episode to feature some thriller elements, Buffet Froid is the one that dives into horror movie imagery, quite effectively at that. Interestingly, Hannibal does a good job at making the "monster" of this horror movie tragic and sympathetic, mainly by connecting her struggle with mental illness with Will's struggles and fears.

It's hard to say what is more horrifying in this episode: the imagery of grotesquely stretched jaws and peeling skin and blank faces, or the imagery of Will's distorted clocks and Hannibal's evil manipulations, hiding Will's condition from him for the sake of observation and seeing what happens. If anything, that comes across as even more evil than feeding people to those who trust him.

And this episode is notable for the first look at Hannibal's hunting suit. It's creepy in its simple practicality.
 
Interesting, I might have to start rewatching this with the thread as it's been awhile since I've rewatched it. I explicitly recall my initial ambivalence to the show when I first heard about it just prior to the airing of the first episode. I was certain it was going to be a cheap knock-off just cashing in on the name; a show which was destined to live in the shadow of Silence of the Lambs (and Hopkins' performance). I gave the first episode a chance and was blown away. My initial reaction honestly could not have been further from reality. While the show has a handful of episodes which are more of a miss than a hit (albeit, very few), and the third season is divisive (a few elements of it I don't particularly like myself), it's a very solid and consistent show.

I certainly believe that it's without question the best horror television show which has ever been made (admittedly not a competitive genre), and has one of the finest episodes in all of television with its second season final (it's incredible how well the show builds to that point, even showing it in advance, and still manages to so effectively nail it and capitalise on every major plot point in the show up to that episode). The show not only has some incredible imagery, but every part of the show works in unison to create a most sustained and pervasive nightmarish atmosphere. I genuinely cannot think of any show which so effectively created and sustained a tone so effortlessly throughout its run with the exception of The Wire. The absolutely amazing performance by Mikkelsen can't be praised enough, carving a totally individual and distinctive performance out of a character who previously seemed to already have a definitive performance (a performance so strong that it seemed like any follow-up would merely be a pale imitation).

I found this was one of the best things about the show, and the way it told its story in general: It often assumed you knew what was coming, and instead of trying to subvert that, it played into it, which distracted you from a completely different thing you weren't even thinking of looking for.

It was a really neat trick, and they pulled it off beautifully: If you'd never read the books/seen the movies, it worked great. If you had read/watched previous adaptations, your knowledge of the text was used against you in the best, most rewarding of ways.

I couldn't agree with this more. The way it played off the audience's (assumed) intimate familiarity with the characters and story beats was very effectively done.
 

Norfair

Member
Hannibal is fantastic. <3

If you like listening to podcasts about shows, check out This is Our Design. They started with Season 2, and then went back and recapped Season 1 before doing Season 3. I particularly liked the music analysis; one of the hosts is a violinist and has a lot of really interesting commentary about the musical choices, particularly stuff about particular song choices that function in a variety of ways.

Do you have a link for that podcast? I'm google skills are failing me
 

Solo

Member
Spoiler: Season 3 is the worst one

Season 2 though? Flawless.

Years later, "Mizumono" remains television's greatest achievement.

The sound, the visuals, the tension.

Masterful.

EDIT: And I love how each season is so tonally and thematically distinct, yet equally confident.

Calling it television's greatest achievement is a stretch, but it's certainly the show's crowning achievement. The show should have ended there, with Hannibal walking out into the rain. That would have been up there with the greatest series finales ever.
 

wenis

Registered for GAF on September 11, 2001.
Spoiler: Season 3 is the worst one

Season 2 though? Flawless.



Calling it television's greatest achievement is a stretch, but it's certainly the show's crowning achievement. The show should have ended there, with Hannibal walking out into the rain. That would have been up there with the greatest series finales ever.

think i burst a blood vessel rolling my eyes.
 
Season 3 is flawed, but not the worst to me. Season 1 is "worst" if we have to rank them, because it is still unsure of itself early on and is the most "killer of the week" of them all. Season 2 is more assuredly focused on Will and Hannibal, and Season 3 is just swimming in their juices, for better or worse.

The approach they took for Red Dragon is lovely, though.
 

Solo

Member
S1 is very killer-of-the-week, I'll give you that, but it was also a damned great killer-of-the-week and laid all the groundwork that S2 mined so perfectly.
 
Season 3 is flawed, but not the worst to me. Season 1 is "worst" if we have to rank them, because it is still unsure of itself early on and is the most "killer of the week" of them all. Season 2 is more assuredly focused on Will and Hannibal, and Season 3 is just swimming in their juices, for better or worse.

The approach they took for Red Dragon is lovely, though.
I think calling Hannibal S1 mostly killer of the week is selling it short. Sure, it had the largest focus on that compared to the other seasons, but for the most part, the killers were mainly there to thematically support the overarching story and character development, and often were not the focus of the episode.

"Killer of the week" implies something focused on produceral, and about catching said killer. Hannibal S1 is never interested in that. The cases are always less about the procedure of catching the killer and more about how they affect Will and how they thematically reflect on the struggles of the main cast.

That's what surprised me most during the S1 rewatch. I remembered it being way more procedural, but it really isn't.
 

Neece

Member
I still need to finish season 3. I kept getting distracted during the first few episodes and stopped at episode 3 for some reason. I need to just rewatch the whole thing because I've forgotten a lot.
 
I think calling Hannibal S1 mostly killer of the week is selling it short. Sure, it had the largest focus on that compared to the other seasons, but for the most part, the killers were mainly there to thematically support the overarching story and character development, and often were not the focus of the episode.

"Killer of the week" implies something focused on produceral, and about catching said killer. Hannibal S1 is never interested in that. The cases are always less about the procedure of catching the killer and more about how they affect Will and how they thematically reflect on the struggles of the main cast.

That's what surprised me most during the S1 rewatch. I remembered it being way more procedural, but it really isn't.

I don't mean to say it was "mostly" killer of the week, just that it is the "most" killer of the week, relative to the others.

I agree with everything you said. By the last third, or maybe even half of the season (I feel a rewatch coming on), it is clear that it's more interested in using the weekly killers to reflect on Will and Hannibal's relationship.
 
Roti

A lot of good ole disturbing Hannibal imagery in this one, from tongues wagging through slit throats and Chilton's gruesome fate. Gideon has been an enjoyable presence on the show, and the parallels between him and Will - both manipulated and scrambled by their psychiatrists - payed off well in this episode.

But more disturbing was seeing Will's suffering worsen, and Hannibal's manipulation and lying right to his face in the scene with him, Hannibal, and Gideon. Mads' calm menace really shines in that conversation; when Hannibal is able to drop the guise of his person suit, it's always chilling. You see a lot more season 2 and onward, but the sparing use in the first season really makes them stand out.

Releves

The penultimate episode of the season doesn't disappoint, full of major plot developments and reveals. I had forgotten how much better Will had been feeling at the start of the episode, which makes the events with Abigail that much more tragic since he thinks he's on the mend.

Hannibal's masterful manipulation of the cast is very apparent here; from the look of frustrated disappointment as Will began connecting the dots in figuring how the copycat's identity to him making Jack think Will could be the copycat, an entire season of build-up is coming to fruition. Doubly so with Jack and the team becoming aware of Abigail's role.

The final scene is still chilling even when you know it's coming. Abigail's dawning horror contrasted by Hannibal's calmness and matter-of-fact delivery makes for a haunting cliffhanger.

Savoureux

If there was an episode where you're screaming at the characters for how blind they are, this is it. It's both impressive seeing how masterful Hannibal's manipulation are and how painful it is to see Jack, Beverley, and the rest being so disappointed in Will and in themselves when the audience knows the truth.

It's telling how Will in his clarity acts more like the killers whose heads he was getting into than ever before, from the Gideon-style escape to Hobbs' "see". The imagery in this episode was great and grotesque as well too, in Will vomiting up the ear and Hannibal's stagman visage

And the ending was just as thrilling as the first time through, being both an exciting twist on expectations and promising a very different season 2.
 
I realize this is an old bump, but I didn't see a more recent thread. Anyway, I just started this series, and I'm loving it so far. I'm only three episodes in, but it's very well done so far. Mads Mikkelsen is great as Dr. Lecter, and Will Graham is an interesting foil. Everything seems set up for some intense drama. Really excited to dig in.
 
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