Hannibal (TV series)

[Sgt. Sacrament]

Okay, I like this show alot, but I've only seen parts of a couple of episodes, and missed the season 2 premiere, and I've got a question. In last week's episode (aired 3/14/14), did they say that Abigail Hobb's ear was removed while she was still alive? If so, wow, I guess they have to keep reminding you how evil Hannibal really is.

And as far as last night's episode... the doctor finds the "food" in Hannibal's fridge and even says something like "Bingo, proof!" Okay, get out of there? NO, she GOES DOWN IN THE BASEMENT!?!?!?!?

 

[Guy Gardener]

Despite being in this weeks episode, Kacey Rohl is "starring" in a sitcom about a dysfunctional family realing from the crippling debt left by the passing of her father.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3821782/

Kacey plays an adult lawyer in her mid 20s, and its not that bad.

 

[Borgminister]

Wonder if she gets out of that basement... Nah.

Flip of the coin decides life or death. Wow.

 

[Guy Gardener]

The weight of the cast though?

Are they going to bring in a new woman, or promote an existing cast member from the minors?

Or was she only upfront because someone else was busy who is now due back form vacation next week?

 

[publiusr]

Hannibal has a super villain lair in the basement.

He was at his most frightening in that sequence, when you see him behind the poor girl. Even his performance in Valhalla Rising couldn't top that.

With the move of him turning on "one of his own," we begin to see him a little less sympathetic with the audience.

The draw on Hannibal, like Dexter, like House of Cards, is that the bad guy is getting away with doing horrible shit.

Hopkins' incarnation would agree with that strong sense of justice, even if Brian Cox's version would be indifferent to it.

Seeing he and Graham switch sides of the glass, as it were, was rather interesting.

Still, society at large, filled full of dunces, does worse things--and many see Dexter and others as more honest after a fashion.

Frankly, the worst thing this Hannibal ever did was to bring Mrs. Crawford back to the world of pain. There are worse things than murder.


The kindest thing--in its own way--was in his helping to finish the mural. That was actually rather touching, after a fashion.

This may strike you all as mad, but--human flesh or no--I would consider it an honor to be invited to his table.

My nightmare wouldn't be seeing my own person added to his larder, but how would I have a conversation with this man?

I fancy myself as being rather bright--but there is no hiding from him. I'm sure I would make a faux pas of some kind or other.

To steal a quote from a documentary on Silence, you want him to like you.

If I started to talk about space exploration, he might consider it childish, or see it as a ham fisted way for me to get the upper hand. He might talk what my favorite Chief Designer was--and if I said Glushko, he might agree, seeing both he and Valentin Petrovich were elegant men.

If I tried too hard, he would say I was putting on airs, or that, like Borges, my love for " hourglasses, maps, eighteenth-century typefaces, etymologies" were held by me "in a vain kind of way that turns them into an actor’s attributes."

I could see myself asking about HPL or Goya, and he might rebuff me as trying too hard.

Physical danger isn't what would get to me in his presence, but how I would come off at his table.

It is all rather like how Martin Vanger told Blomkvist (in the Millennium trilogy) that what made him climb back was fear of offence.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

I don't want Katz to die, but it seems pretty likely, especially since that might be (among other things, like the framing of Will Graham, being proven to be the copycat and the Chesapeake Ripper, and playing God with Crawford's wife) what causes Crawford to eventually confront Lector in his kitchen in the awesome "12 weeks from now" fight scene at the start of this season.

Still, even though it means the probable death of a good supporting character, how great was that scene? I figured shit would go down once she went into his dungeon, and I could briefly see his silhouette in the dark, but it was still super tense when he turned the lights on, and then it got crazy when he shut them off and bolted. Not quite as suspenseful as the nightvision or ambulance scenes in Silence of the Lambs, but pretty damn close.

I wonder how the seasons will proceed if the show avoids cancellation. It seems impossible for the status quo to remain in effect after this season given the flash forward, so Hannibal might spend the next season on the run, and/or in Chilton's asylum with Graham consulting with him to capture other killers as he did in Red Dragon once Lector was caught. Or it could go prison first and then escape from prison, threatening Graham and Alana if they settle down together, or using other serial killers to go after them. It only very loosely has to follow the structure of Red Dragon.

 

[sojourner]

Crawford may die in that fastforward resulting in Hannibal keeping his secret going, though that doesn't solve the issue of Will still thinking Hannibal's the killer.

 

[Borgminister]

I look forward to the psycho killer on psycho killer action next week as an aside...

 

[publiusr]

Crawford may die in that fastforward resulting in Hannibal keeping his secret going, though that doesn't solve the issue of Will still thinking Hannibal's the killer.

That could very well be. He might have appreciated Hannibal saving his wife, but not at the expense of losing one of his best. I'm thinking Crawford had already lost his job--and his wife-- by the time that fight happened...him with nothing else to lose.

About that fight scene--Laurence Fishburne looked quite handy with that knife. I'm sorry but I can believe a Battlestar hovering over a city with anti-gravity before I can believe him losing that fight with Mads.

That scene in True Detective with McConaughey besting that huge dude with the baseball bat was even worse.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

About that fight scene--Laurence Fishburne looked quite handy with that knife. I'm sorry but I can believe a Battlestar hovering over a city with anti-gravity before I can believe him losing that fight with Mads.

That scene in True Detective with McConaughey besting that huge dude with the baseball bat was even worse.

Size and reach are certainly important, but you're completely neglecting skill. Hannibal was a surgeon; dexterity and quick thinking under pressure is his business. Not to mention he's had decades of practice at taking down victims of various sizes and skill levels, including ones who tried to kill him like that rival serial killer. FBI agents are well trained in hand-to-hand combat at the Academy too, but Jack's been riding a desk for years. He clearly still has retained some of that skill, though, so it should be a great match-up, and I'm curious to see how their fight ends. I seriously doubt they'd kill off Crawford though, because of the prominent role his character plays in the books, and because Lawrence Fishburne brings a lot of name recognition and gravitas to the cast, though they're not in short supply of the latter.

As for Rust in True Detective, he was shown to be quite adept at hand-to-hand and melee weapon fighting when necessary. Like how when Hart was threatening him in the locker room when Rust made the comment about him being disheveled and smelling after cheating on his wife; Rust was in total control of the situation the whole time and could have just put pressure on his hands to break Hart's wrists. Rust was a badass despite his thin and nondescript appearance.

 

[JacksonArcher]

I wonder how the seasons will proceed if the show avoids cancellation. It seems impossible for the status quo to remain in effect after this season given the flash forward, so Hannibal might spend the next season on the run, and/or in Chilton's asylum with Graham consulting with him to capture other killers as he did in Red Dragon once Lector was caught. Or it could go prison first and then escape from prison, threatening Graham and Alana if they settle down together, or using other serial killers to go after them. It only very loosely has to follow the structure of Red Dragon.

I'm not sure if this is considered spoilers or not, but showrunner Bryan Fuller mentioned a long time ago that he has a seven season arc planned for Hannibal (he also mentions this on the making-of featurette on the Blu-ray). Season Two is about Will's redemption, Season Three would be about Hannibal on the run and Season Four would be an adaptation of Red Dragon. Season Five would be an adaptation of The Silence of the Lambs. Season Six would be an adaptation of Hannibal and Season Seven would bring closure to the Hannibal Lecter saga since the ending of Hannibal (the book) had Hannibal & Clarice on the run. Fuller has mentioned he hopes this TV incarnation of Hannibal becomes the definitive version of the character. Fairly ambitious if you ask me.

However, he did mention that he doesn't plan on completely and faithfully adhering to the books. He really loves Hugh Dancy's Will Graham character for example and has discussed the possibility of what Graham would be doing during the Silence of the Lamb period. So I'm assuming he plans on using the books as a foundation but not adhering to them completely. So it sounds like Hannibal will be on the run starting Season Three and would be incarcerated at the end of that season. One would assume Jack Crawford would live but Fuller did mention that he wanted to shake things up and said that characters would start dying this season, so who knows. Crawford is instrumental in both Red Dragon and The Silence of the Lambs so his departure from the show would radically redefine the later seasons if they are pulling from the books.

I for one am very excited about the potential of the show. I would absolutely love to see Fuller's take on The Silence of the Lambs, for example. Mads Mikkelsen's take is very different than Anthony Hopkins', but what happens to his Lecter when he approaches the Hopkins era of the character? How will Mikkelsen and his performance adjust to that version of the character? Will he stick to what he's been doing or will he adopt a more theatrical performance? As much as I loved The Silence of the Lambs, I think Fuller's more visual and beautifully grotesque take could be really fascinating. Also, as a big fan of the character and the show in general, I would just love to see it continue. Fortunately the ratings have been solid this season (and to some extent even better than last season) so I have high hopes it will be renewed for Season Three.

 

[sojourner]

I thought they didn't have rights to use all the books?

 

[Locutus of Bored]

I wonder how the seasons will proceed if the show avoids cancellation. It seems impossible for the status quo to remain in effect after this season given the flash forward, so Hannibal might spend the next season on the run, and/or in Chilton's asylum with Graham consulting with him to capture other killers as he did in Red Dragon once Lector was caught. Or it could go prison first and then escape from prison, threatening Graham and Alana if they settle down together, or using other serial killers to go after them. It only very loosely has to follow the structure of Red Dragon.

I'm not sure if this is considered spoilers or not, but showrunner Bryan Fuller mentioned a long time ago that he has a seven season arc planned for Hannibal (he also mentions this on the making-of featurette on the Blu-ray). Season Two is about Will's redemption, Season Three would be about Hannibal on the run and Season Four would be an adaptation of Red Dragon. Season Five would be an adaptation of The Silence of the Lambs. Season Six would be an adaptation of Hannibal and Season Seven would bring closure to the Hannibal Lecter saga since the ending of Hannibal (the book) had Hannibal & Clarice on the run. Fuller has mentioned he hopes this TV incarnation of Hannibal becomes the definitive version of the character. Fairly ambitious if you ask me.

However, he did mention that he doesn't plan on completely and faithfully adhering to the books. He really loves Hugh Dancy's Will Graham character for example and has discussed the possibility of what Graham would be doing during the Silence of the Lamb period. So I'm assuming he plans on using the books as a foundation but not adhering to them completely. So it sounds like Hannibal will be on the run starting Season Three and would be incarcerated at the end of that season. One would assume Jack Crawford would live but Fuller did mention that he wanted to shake things up and said that characters would start dying this season, so who knows. Crawford is instrumental in both Red Dragon and The Silence of the Lambs so his departure from the show would radically redefine the later seasons if they are pulling from the books.

I for one am very excited about the potential of the show. I would absolutely love to see Fuller's take on The Silence of the Lambs, for example. Mads Mikkelsen's take is very different than Anthony Hopkins', but what happens to his Lecter when he approaches the Hopkins era of the character? How will Mikkelsen and his performance adjust to that version of the character? Will he stick to what he's been doing or will he adopt a more theatrical performance? As much as I loved The Silence of the Lambs, I think Fuller's more visual and beautifully grotesque take could be really fascinating. Also, as a big fan of the character and the show in general, I would just love to see it continue. Fortunately the ratings have been solid this season (and to some extent even better than last season) so I have high hopes it will be renewed for Season Three.

Interesting. Thanks for sharing that. I'm glad to see that Fuller has such a broad long term plan for the show, and it is indeed pretty ambitious, as you say. They already did a sort of trial run version of Starling in S1, and I thought they handled that quite well, so I'm really interested to see Fuller's take on the character through multiple seasons.

Crawford to me just seems like too much of an essential part of the Clarice Starling storyline to kill off, but I suppose if he really wanted to shake things up, he could have Will Graham take on the mentor role to Starling that Jack traditionally occupied. That would also carry over the antagonism that Lector had for Crawford in the books/films to Graham, who had a similar but more intense antagonism with Lector for obvious reasons.

I really hope Fuller gets a chance to see his complete vision for the series come to pass, because I'd love to see a new unified take on the complete Lector/Graham/Starling/Crawford saga under the guidance of a single showrunner. I'm glad to hear that the ratings are doing well, because Fuller's shows that I enjoy have a tendency to get the axe.

 

[jefferiestubes8]

I have only watched the first two episodes of season 1 this month. I watched them on an iPhone while traveling from iTunes.
Amazing cinematography. I can't believe this is a NBC network show. Really paced like a feature film. I felt like I was watching SE7EN but without all the atmosphere.
I really enjoyed Laurence Fishburne and Hugh Dancy in these roles so far..
According to Wikipedia each season is 13 episodes and it really felt like a high end cable television drama or miniseries so far. Since they greenlit season 2 it showed it can withhold interest.
I can't imagine watching this show with commercials.
Watching a 43 minute episode uncut on iTunes really gives the feature film feel.

 

[ManOnTheWave]

I thought they didn't have rights to use all the books?

This. I was under the impression the rights to Clarice Starling and Silence of the Lambs was tied up by some failed pilot.

edit: Here Fuller says he hopes the rights to Starling can be cleared up by season 5.

 

[Guy Gardener]

I thought Larry had porked out since the Matrix.

Last night however I saw this twig in Rumblefish that couldn't possibly be our friend from Hannibal.

 

[Aragorn]

I thought they didn't have rights to use all the books?

This. I was under the impression the rights to Clarice Starling and Silence of the Lambs was tied up by some failed pilot.

edit: Here Fuller says he hopes the rights to Starling can be cleared up by season 5.

Or else season five will be about agent Julianne Foster and her pursuit of the killer Cincinnati Bengal.

 

[ManOnTheWave]

That would be interesting to see. I wonder how closely Fuller could parallel Silence while someone else owns the rights and intends to make a competing series.

 

[Sgt. Sacrament]

I asked a question a few days ago, but nobody answered it, and it's back a page now, so I'll ask it again, and if no one answers it, I'll create a new thread for it, so here goes (I've missed a lot of the show this season):

In last week's episode (aired 3/14/14), did they say that Abigail Hobb's ear was removed while she was still alive? If so, wow, I guess they have to keep reminding you how evil Hannibal really is.

Thanks!

 

[Enterprise is Great]

I'm about 99% sure that they did say that Abigail's ear was removed while she was still alive.