Summer of Scares Series: Hannibal Season 1

BY JOHN CARTER JR

When thinking about ultimate horror icons one might think of Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, Pennywise the Clown, or Jack Torrance. A name that might also appear pn that list is serial killer, cannibal, and genius Dr. Hannibal Lecter. When Jonathan Demme’s adaptation of Thomas Harris’ The Silence of the Lambs came about, the characters Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Starling gained an iconic status level. This along with the already pre-established foundation of the novel series allowed the Hannibal Lecter Saga to be remembered and intriguing for fans over many years. 

It was certainly a delight to find out that Red Dragon, The Story featuring Hannibal Lecter and FBI associate Will Graham before the events of The Silence of the Lambs, would be adapted into its very own television show. The show stars Mads Mikkelsen as the titular character along with Hugh Dancy who plays the mentally disturbed Will Graham. The show is simply over the top and unique in terms of its ability to convey the gruesome in such an elegant and refined manner. It has an interesting way of describing the characters using the source material but doesn’t use it as a crutch that would suck out the unique creativity this piece has to offer. 

The first season of the show is about Will Graham along with others (Lana Bloom and Jack Crawford) trying to catch the Chesapeake Ripper while protecting young Abigail Hobbs from the reality of her father’s actions and her own. The show features Hannibal Lecter, An elegant doctor, who on the outside is wearing no more than a person suit, mile on the inside represents something more primal or demonic. Although there is this seemingly evil nature about him, this program goes out of its way to make sympathy or attachment to a character not based on the traditional means for villains to gain a sympathy card with its audience.

Rather than having a tragic backstory for Hannibal to be made relatable, they use Hannibal’s character and his interactions with others as a way to make audiences connect with him and enjoy him as a character. Hannibal has a certain elegance about him and a romanticism concerning his killing. For consuming a person is the highest honor, as it is a way for him to raise lower beings to a place of higher importance. This allows for some very high-quality cooking scenes that are also particularly well shot when trying to convey the elegance of the character personified. This also allows for a level of cognitive dissonance to manifest when looking at such delicious food being made from what can be presumed to be human flesh. The emotional elegance in perspective about killing is often seen as the driving conflict between Hannibal Lecter and his intimate confidant, and foe, Will Graham.

Will Graham doesn’t necessarily have a specific role working for the FBI other than teaching a few classes but he is often consulted upon for cases because of his talents and being able to catch killers through empathic abilities. Will Graham has the capacity to completely empathize with the serial killers’ actions through viewing the crime scenes in which they leave behind. This makes for a very interesting dynamic in the show as Hannibal has similar traits of his own and is able to counteract moves made by Will Graham to catch the Chesapeake Ripper, who is most certainly Hannibal Lecter. The first season of the show features Will being corrupted by the influence of  Jared Jacob Hobbs and the encouragement of this corrupting influence by Hannibal unbeknownst to Will himself.

It seems to be the case that most properties involving Hannibal Lecter and his various rivals or confidants often involve one key trait concerning how the property either hits or misses, works like The Silence of the Lambs and the Hannibal television series include the factor that allows the work to hit: the proper execution of duet scenes. From the way the scenes between Hannibal and Will Graham are shot facing each other or looking at each other to the simple use, or lack thereof, of light in those scenes, conveys a relationship between two characters that while isn’t the same as a relationship between Clarice Starling and Hannibal Lecter is still to the same caliber of excellence in its execution. This hit or miss factor is seen in other properties such as The Death Note, which also involves a cat and mouse framework along with intense but incredible duet scenes.

In conclusion, the first season of  Hannibal is excellent. This is due to the excellent dynamic between two characters and some of the best cooking scenes on television. The dark and scary value of this show is found in its dissonance elicited from these cooking scenes and much more. Characters like Will Graham are especially important in making a foil to a character like Hannibal whom the audience simply can’t get enough of.  Otherwise, besides the relationship between Will Graham and Hannibal Lecter characters from the original story like Jack Crawford and Dr. Frederick Chilton allow the world to become even more wild and dynamic. Hannibal season one is truly delicious.

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