Being a film critic, I see lots of shows, and of course movies, but Hannibal has been consistently good, certainly some more so than others but what all of them have in common is rather large amounts of gore. Lots and lots of gore, but personally, I enjoy it more when it’s kept minimalistic, however when it is shown, should be and indeed is, very realistic. Take the previous episode (Buffet Froid) which saw some horrific damage to the face of a victim, and while we see this sort of macabre programming on television, none up to now have come close to the realistic portrayal of serial murder and showing it in all it’s bloody glory.
Will Graham’s (Hugh Dancy) hallucinations have been getting progressively worse and obviously are effecting his judgement as a FBI agent, but with Dr Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen) withholding information pertaining to the ‘actual’ cause of Will’s mental problems, how can he get better? In this episode Will is a hairs breadth away from a complete mental breakdown but we get to see how he copes. The main focus (second only to Will’s mental state) is on watching Dr Abel Gideon (Eddie Izzard) try to find out his true identity. because thanks to Dr Chilton (Raul Esparza) he thought he was the Chesapeake Ripper, and now wants to kill his way to the answer.
Again, the viewer discretion warning we see at the start of each episode is well earned and nothing is left to the imagination when we see a live person having extremely bad and horrible things done to his insides. We also get to see some of the killer’s handy work as he creates Columbian neckties never before dared to such a graphic and realistic level (shudder) on a TV show before. This particular stunt is arguably the most gruesome to date, and I’m a bit surprised they haven’t been asked to tone it down a tad. I, for one love this show precisely because it takes risks when showing this level of detail and you have to wonder if they can keep it up. I certainly hope they can.
The writing is as strong as ever with the sense of foreboding building steam, as the big finale looms ever closer, but how will it end and what’s in store for season two I wonder? More of the same no doubt but which side of the bars, do you think, Hannibal Lecter will be on? That’s what I thought too.
Grade: A
TV Review by Ed Blackadder, Lead Entertainment Writer
