Hannibal review
Now is the perfect time to have an old friend around for dinner.
You might want to go easy on fava beans, chianti and liver though because this visceral and violent show is not for those with a queasy stomach.
That said, it also contains some of the most sumptuous-looking television drama food porn of the 21st century, as well as memorable characters brought to life by a fabulous cast and enough high drama to ensure you’ll be bingeing until you burst.
Yes, perhaps the greatest underrated show of the past decade has finally arrived on ThreeNow. Like The Good Wife and others before it, Hannibal was treated shabbily on these shores, debuting nine months after its 2013 US premiere in a graveyard slot on Three.
Arriving straight after Dexter’s decline was complete and about the same time as a similarly themed True Detective, Hannibal was a shot in the arm for the increasingly moribund police procedural.
Rather than the crimes of the week, a la CSI and NCIS, here was an ongoing, delicious game of cat and mouse between two men, one of whom didn’t initially know the other was his adversary.
“I don’t find you that interesting,” gifted, yet troubled criminal profiler Will Graham (Downton Abbey: A Golden Age’s Hugh Dancy) spits upon meeting forensic psychiatrist Dr Hannibal Lecter (Casino Royale’s Mads Mikkelsen). “You will,” comes the chilling reply.
Yes, forget the Oscar-winning stylings of Sir Anthony Hopkins and under-appreciated first crack at the character from Manhunter’s Brian Cox, Mikkelsen is the definitive Lecter.
He’s both charismatic and extremely creepy, erudite yet innately evil, magnanimous but also Machiavellian in his intentions. Each line the magnificent Mikkelsen delivers is dripping with portent, every look mesmerising and all his culinary creations (the Danish actor did all the onscreen cooking himself) are often horrifyingly mouthwatering.
His charm and menace wouldn’t be nearly so effective though if it wasn’t for Dancy putting up such a strong turn as his polar opposite. Graham is nervy and flighty, able to put himself into the shoes and mind of a serial killer, but not without his visions taking a
severe toll on his psyche. And it’s that supposed fragility that Lecter seeks to exploit.
The central pair are backed up by a superb supporting cast that includes the likes of Laurence Fishburne, Gillian Anderson, Eddie Izzard, Cynthia Nixon and Richard Armitage, some playing characters familiar to fans of the patchy movie series and author Thomas Harris’ original tomes.
However, it’s showrunner Bryan Fuller (Pushing Daisies, Star Trek: Discovery) who deserves the lion’s share of the plaudits. It’s he who sets the chilling tone, delivers the haunting, hypnotic visuals and penned the ripe language. Fuller originally envisioned seven seasons to tell his magnum opus, including putting a new spin on The Silence Of The Lambs. He got to three before the plug was pulled, allegedly because of poor ratings.
Some fans still retain hope everyone could be reassembled again one day but, in the meantime, there are 39 servings of some of the most compelling drama of television’s new golden age waiting for you to indulge – and revel – in.
All three seasons of Hannibal are available to stream on ThreeNow from April 7.