Good Will Hunting.
This episode was like a brilliant horror movie with all the fat trimmed cleanly off, leaving us with just the juicy parts. Quite simply the best one so far, making it the best TV show of this genre I’ve ever had the pleasure of watching. A bold statement, I know, but it’s fact that I’m certain will be denied by few. I just heard that the show has been belatedly (it’s late for a show of this high caliber) picked up for a second season by NBC, with a late mid-season release date, as reported in Deadline Hollywood. This is actually something I had some concern over, and I’m extremely glad of this great news. This episode had an almost supernatural feel to it thanks to Will Graham’s (Hugh Dancy) sanity, or lack thereof, because, not only is he losing his marbles, but also several hours at a time, and to top that off, he’s hallucinating with even more frequency.
We watch as a young woman returns home to an empty house, where she gets into bed only to notice her ceiling leaking snow meltwater. She goes into her attic; finds a very large hole and quickly patches it up. Upon her return to the bedroom she gets dragged under the bed, and now we see a large spray of blood splashing out. Will, arrives at the scene only to snap out of a waking nightmare, kneeling over the dead girl with a pair of scissors and blood up to the elbows. And so we begin.
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We focus here on Will more than the killer but it was a perfect balance that made it one of the best episodes to date. Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen) is pulling at Will’s strings, playing him like a puppet, interfering with treatment and lying about the actual cause for his unbalanced state. It’s not totally clear what Hannibal’s true intentions are but trying to prevent him from putting all the killings together, with Lecter in the middle of it, would be my guess. It could be he is simply entertaining himself but it’s doubtful. Jack (Laurence Fishburne) is really concerned about Will’s sanity, and even though he seeks Lecter out for advice over him Jack seems to suspect something is off with Lecter. It’s never been spoken of but we are meant to see his slightly suspicious demeanor, but he seems to be suspicious by nature.
Once again, the horror aspect of this amazing show is on the money, with both deaths involving some serious facial carnage, which was very, very, realistic. As I’ve said before, the acting is nothing short of brilliant for a TV show but with a cast as good as this I expect no less. This and episode seven are easily my faves, and are gonna be tough ones to beat. I’m delighted at Hannibal securing a second season and I’m certain this show shall continue to be one of the best in its genre.
Score: A+
TV Review by Ed Blackadder, Lead Entertainment Writer
