Margaux and I take a look at Bryan Fuller’s brilliant Hannibal.
Trevor: Season two of Hannibal was structured like the traditional Japanese dish kaiseki from which it took each of its episode titles. Every installment complemented every other one. Season three, however, is increasingly baroque. Bryan Fuller has said that he’s abandoning the gimmick of titling each episode after a dish, and now that he’s working outside the constraints of a chef, he’s free to be a painter. Watch how the blues, blacks, and browns swirl together, with the occasional splash of white or red. Hannibal resembles nothing so much as it does an impressionist painting, with that mix of brutality and beauty that so many master artists made their trademark. “Antipasto” was a stunningly low-key debut, and I think it very effectively – and entrancingly – set the tone for what I’m just going to assume will be an amazing third season.
Margaux: You just said everything I wanted to say about last night’s Hannibal, but better. I will say the visuals of the show, which are stunning always, but that shot in the opening when Hannibal arrives at the party in Paris and there is a shot of champagne in slo-mo, it was jizz worthy. Just the attention to detail in the “Antipasto” was more than enough to unpack, I thought I’d be more upset by the fact they barely touched on what became of Will Graham, but I wasn’t.
Trevor: Speaking of that champagne shot, look what was used to open the bottle: a sword. And the way the champagne shot out of the bottle was clearly a sexual image, just another way that Hannibal links sex and danger, but not in a tawdry, thrill-seeking way. This has always been a show about intimacy, among many other things, and Hannibal’s small caresses of Bedelia were as erotic as they were threatening.
Goddamn I’m glad this show is back. I’m physically excited (don’t read too far into that). My first note was “This fucking music!” because Brian Reitzell’s score is the most confrontational of any TV show I’ve ever heard. It’s like the There Will Be Blood soundtrack on the small screen. I think at this point, Hannibal Lecter belongs more to Bryan Fuller than he does to Silence of the Lambs author Thomas Harris (if you’ve read Hannibal and Hannibal Rising, you’ll know that Harris frankly has no idea what to do with the character anymore).
Margaux: I wrote in my notes that the score reminded me of There Will Be Blood, it’s charmingly confrontational. I love the juxtaposition of these immensely romantic locations (Paris, Italy) with the ugliness of who and what Hannibal really is. And I guess on the other hand, how clearly terrified and barely hanging on by a thread Bedelia is feeling. Everything Hannibal does is eroctic and threathening, I’ve heard people say “Bonsoir” to each other literally my whole life, never have I gotten such a chill down my spine as I did when Hannibal uttered the words.
Trevor: What a great cold open. And I’m glad you brought up “what” Hannibal is, because in one of this show’s few moments of exposition, he outright tells Bedelia, “I took off my person suit.” Later, in one of “Antipasto”’s rare moments of levity, he tells her: “I’ve hardly killed anyone since we’ve gotten here.” Mads Mikkelsen’s matter-of-fact delivery helps sells lines like these, lines that would hamstring a lesser actor. I think we’re looking at a much freer, more open Hannibal, and there are little clues throughout that indicate the same thing, the biggest one of which is his change in wardrobe. Did you see that tan suit he was wearing? No tie at all! It looked like something that James Bond would wear to Havana.
Margaux: Hahaha Hannibal’s tan leisure suit reminded me of Richard from Mad Men, super 70s.
Trevor: Hannibal’s Tan Leisure Suit, playing the second stage at Coachella.
Margaux: I would agree that Mads really sells this new, non-person suit wearing of version of Hannibal. I was caught off guard by open he was being, second season Hannibal would never open like this to anyone, not even his BFF Will. And the flashbacks of Hannibal feeding Eddie Izzard’s character his own limbs was a subtle glimpse of how on Hannibal 2.0 (or Euro Hannibal) came to be.
Trevor: The black and white in those flashbacks was jarring in its own way, because Hannibal isn’t a show that routinely trafficks in either. I think it’s another kind of painting, a still life. The way some artists will paint fruit, Bryan Fuller paints human meat. I have to admit, Abel Gideon’s leg probably tasted delicious.
My only concern with this season – all 42 minutes of it that I’ve seen – is that I hope they don’t hew too closely to the Hannibal novel, because A, it’s, well, not great, and B, Clarice Starling is a big part of it. I know Francis Dolarhye (Ralph Fiennes’ character from Red Dragon) has been cast, which is exciting, so I’m guessing we’ll be looking at a dual narrative situation, which is okay by me. This show had to hit the reset button a little bit, because there was no way to come back from season two’s ending.
Margaux: Um, duh. Isn’t antipasto the palate cleanser to the new multi course meal? I think we have (obviously) started over, whether Bedelia will remain is to be seen, but I highly doubt we’ll see inside of Quantico very much (if at all) this season. That isn’t to say there is no more Will Graham, but to speak to what you were saying about hitting a reset button, the week-to-week crime procedural that anchored seasons 1 and 2 of Hannibal are pretty much done. Hannibal is fully realized.
And from what I’ve read on the interwebz, Clarice is a moot point due to rights issues with the studio that released Silence of The Lambs, and Fuller has made it clear that he’s strayed fairly far from the source material and likes it that way.
Trevor: Good point re: rights issues, I hadn’t thought of that.
Can we take a second to talk about the costumes, namely Bedelia’s? Were they on fleek? Am I using that right? Either way, Gillian Anderson looked amazing. Somewhere in an attic there’s a picture of her getting older. Holy shit.
I couldn’t even decide if I wanted her to escape or be forced to stick around to bear witness to Hannibal’s machinations. Although, the way he spoke to her led me to believe that she’s not as passive as one might think. You know the line I’m thinking of, that heart-stopping way he asked her “Observing or participating?”
Margaux: YASSSSSS. It was effing haunting, I didn’t know if I wanted her to run for the door or just put that brown-nosing TA outta his misery. And, is it just me, or did that Bedelia flashback of the murder scene of Hannibal’s former patient who was under Bedelia’s care, answered ZERO questions?! This story has been brought up over and over again since we were introduced to her and yet, still have no real idea of what really happened other than that dude is super dead, and did she pull an ARM out of his throat?
Trevor: Yes! Fuller is just fucking with us at this point. “Bet you wanna know what this is about dontcha?” Fuller rubs own nipples “Guess you gotta tune in next week, dontcha?” As if there’s any way we couldn’t.
What I really like about “Antipasto” the more I think about it…well, just look at this review. Look how much plot we’ve discussed – almost none. That’s because there wasn’t a whole lot that actually went down, but I couldn’t take my eyes off of the screen. It’s brilliant storytelling. There’s a reason that this show is always described with words like “mesmerizing,” “hypnotic,” and “surreal.” Plot is almost incidental. I love it so much.
Margaux: It just pulls you in. There’s not much else to say about it, besides: PERFECT. Or a bazillion hand clapping emojis. I mean, we got way more Q’s than we did A’s, especially since what dialogue there was, was in Italian a lot of the time. So, thanks for that F-U, Fuller.
Trevor: Just like a painting (I’m going to keep returning to this analogy), there are a hundred different angles to view it from. I’m in awe of what Fuller is able to do – not to mention the tactful, understated direction of Vincenzo Natali – with what ultimately will probably be seen as a “lesser” episode. That’s not a knock against “Antipasto,” which objectively speaking is a great hour of television, but just think: there will be better episodes this season. Now that’s enticing.
Margaux: I know there will be better episode coming our way this season, which again, isn’t a knock to “Antipasto”, just that I don’t think it’s appropriate for you and I to write 3400 words on how hilarious Hannibal’s tan suit is.
So, wanna talk stars?
Trevor: I’d go a firm four and a half. Like I said, it was a great episode – but there will be better. We need to save the 5 star reviews for when Hannibal wears TWO tan suits.
Ha, fair. I’m secretly holding my 5 star review for when Hannibal and Will kiss under the Eiffel Tower, so…
Four and half stars sounds good.
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