The second season of Hannibal was a fantastic season of television, bereft of any major stinkers and containing a few episodes that would qualify as some of the best this year. With that said, I will end up giving this a slightly lower grade than season one - which feels kind of wrong - but only because it hit a small and slight rough patch that the first season did not.
With that said, I'll just say there's a few episodes in this season that are better than anything Hannibal did in the first season. For example, that finale is one of the best final episodes of any season ever. All I have to say is that I'm grateful the series did not end on that episode - and it would have if the third season wasn't picked up. Hannibal walking away and four major characters presumably about to die. Not sure how I'm going to wait 10 months for that to be resolved, but I'll try to find a way.
Hannibal takes an even more dream-like quality than the first season did, especially at the end. The first season depicted the gradual mental loss of Will Graham, but this season confirms that's just what this show does. All the actions are amplified. It's not so much meant to be realistic as it's meant to evoke feeling.
And this show certainly achieves that with a top-notch list of directors who are able to satisfy Bryan Fuller's demands. I'll be looking at some of their past work - some are experienced vets on TV and some are more known for acclaimed indie hits - but all of them consistent with the show's image. It shows in the direction of this show. Some examples of the directors who were hired for this show are Tim Hunter (Twin Peaks), Michael Rymer (Battlestar Galactica), Vincenzo Natali (Splice) and David Slade (who directed the most well reviewed Twilight movie...)
The music is also very successful at making you feel uncomfortable when you're supposed to feel uncomfortable. I wish I had a name to praise for this wonderfully spooky, dreamy sound that the show creates consistently each episode, but alas I don't know where to find it.
Then there's the performances. Man, the performances are good. Mads Mikkelson is absolutely incredible. He has Hannibal down as a very polite, measured man. And when Hannibal is annoyed or excited, Mads has the uncanny ability to make a very subtle, small movement that says all you need to know. Nearly matching is Hugh Dancy, who was stuck in a cell, motionless for half of the season, and yet Dancy is just as good as he was in the first season.
That's how you make a good show I guess. Have a creative creator who is heavily involved (Bryan Fuller), bring in talented directors, and have two amazing lead performances. It's hard to fail really if you have those three things going for it. (And that's not even mentioning the art direction, whoever is in charge of making you feel guilty for wanting to eat people, and cinematography)
Also, it's time to stop saying this show is disturbing or gross for a network show. It's gross and disturbing for any show on television. I have no idea how they get away with some of the stuff they show. Seriously, there's few things more fucked up than how television censorship works. Gore, gutting, blood, mutilation - cool. Oh but don't say fuck or show nudity. It's... weird. Either way, the point is that being on a network show has not prohibited Hannibal from doing anything - I don't actually think they would do anything different on HBO except maybe more nudity, but that's really not the type of show this is anyway.
Here's your mandatory paragraph detailing my complaints. This show has a female problem. Dr. Alana Bloom momentarily becomes a different person than we've seen all series by sleeping with Hannibal, losing the ability to use her brain, and functioning as a viable character. She seems to be more of a plot point than a character in this season, which is a shame. (On the other side, I really like Katherine Isabelle as Margot Verger who somehow portrayed her as both strong and powerless effectively) And after that, there's really not many females. Beverly Katz became interesting and then died. Dr. Bedelia was interesting and then she didn't appear for 10 episodes. I mean it's basically just Alana Bloom and more than half the season she wasn't doing anything.
Hannibal is still one of the best shows on television if you can accept the fact that it's not trying to be realistic and accept that this is almost a nightmarish dream world. Once you can accept that, just sit in amazement at talented people do their thing. As Mason Verger so eloquently put it, I'm both enchanted and terrified at this show. (Other positive: Michael Pitts as Mason)
Grade - A-
Playlist
"The Modern Age" - The Strokes
"Wasted" - Tiesto
"Falling" - Iration
"Escapee" - Architecture in Helsinki
"RIP Kevin Miller" - Isaiah Rashad
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