Hannibal

"Hannibal" is one of the very best shows on television. But it's also so extreme in depicting violence and its aftermath — even in this heightened fashion, and often with a dry, absurdist sense of humor about it — that it's not one I would insist every serious TV fan must watch.

On every level, Bryan Fuller and the team behind Hannibal are elevating what we should expect from network television.

Season three of Hannibal wanders off into dark, unexpected territory in Italy, remaining even more incisively and ambitiously written than the last season, and sporting the most radically expressive imagery currently on television.

The series has also been acquainted with theologically bent ideas, but the trajectory points to the series' characters becoming manifestations of Biblical themes, concepts, and binaries. That they're able to get away with such hard to sell content and pull it off with such aplomb is proof yet that Hannibal, so often a cut above the rest, gets away with delicious murder.

[The] TV adaptation ... continues to surprise three years into its run. ... Unlike most shows that reach for the “reset” button, Hannibal wasn’t in a position where it needed a new beginning. It’s just the logical, natural place to go, and the fresh slate makes startling hay from the unknowns.

Now in its third season, Hannibal remains the most engrossing (and gross) serial-killer drama on television, and the most beautiful. Here, the acid never stops kicking in.

It's thrilling, brilliant, and addictive. It's also repulsive. Reprehensible. Demonic.

After just three episodes, Season 3 has its own distinct momentum.

Despite the audience-building challenges Fuller sometimes throws in the path of his monster--“Il Monstro,” the Italians call him--it’s hard to hate him; Hannibal Lecter is one of the most interesting characters you hope to never meet.

Its third macabre season magnifies every succulent image and sound to its creepiest potential. [1 Jun 2015, p.18]

I’m not entirely on board with all of Fuller’s operatic, bloody vision, but if it’s hard to watch, well, that’s the point.

There is still, frankly, something confining (never mind morally questionable) about building a series around the Lecter character, although Mikkelsen’s magnetic performance and piercing gaze offer ample compensation.

Taken as a whole, the three episodes mark a decent reintroduction but individually these episodes are basically daring viewers to watch. It's like producers are actively trying to repel viewers, not because the episodes are overly violent but because they often don't make much sense.