'Hannibal'

I don’t know how many of you are watching NBC’s “Hannibal.” Probably not many, considering its first season last spring had an overall viewership of only 2.9 million people.  

And chances are, now that the peacock network has resigned the show to the TV graveyard known as Friday night primetime, “Hannibal” isn’t going to last very long. But that is all the more reason to start tuning in.

Created by Bryan Fuller, the creative mind behind such cult hits as “Pushing Daises” and “Dead Like Me,” this new incarnation of the Hannibal Lecter story is darkly devious and cerebral.

Nothing could ever touch “the Silence of the Lambs,” the almost perfect 1991 thriller starring Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins in Academy Award-winning roles, but “Hannibal” is an exceedingly disturbing beast all its own.

The first new episode of this year was directed by Tim Hunter, who’s cut his teeth on some equally chilling episodes of “American Horror Story” and “Breaking Bad.” His touch is palpable, keeping the show saturated in deep reds and earth tones. The finished product is a tangibly sadistic and murky atmosphere perfect for this on-going game of serial killer cat and mouse.

We open with our mentally unhinged protagonist Will Graham, played with adorable troubled-ness by Hugh Dancy, locked up in the Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane. The poor guy was set up to take the fall for all of Hannibal’s murders, and nobody believes his side of the story.

Well, almost nobody. Graham’s will-they-or-won’t-they co-worker, Dr. Alana Bloom (Caroline Dhavernas), is helping him to recover lost memories through hypnosis. This induces one of the series’ most disturbing scenes, involving a severed ear, plastic tubing and Will’s throat. You might want to keep a barf bag handy.

Having our main character behind bars is a cause for concern plotwise, seeing as his mobility and interaction with other characters is pretty inert. But Dr. Lecter appears to be taking Will’s place on the FBI’s investigative team, an unsettling twist that could give season two the same instability that made season one so addicting.

This season’s new chief mystery involves a murderer who seems to be collecting a pallet of skin colors and complexions, turning his victims into models and discarding those he can’t perfect after death. The episode ends with a grim and sadistic shot, showing the potential for this season’s villain to be lightyears more upsetting than last season’s father/daughter serial killer storyline.

But the series wouldn’t even get off the ground if it weren’t for Mads Mikkelsen as Dr. Hannibal Lecter. While Hopkins’ portrayal in the Hannibal films was chilling and bordered on effective parody, Mikkelsen is more subdued and quiet. It haunts and lingers as opposed to spooking you unexpectedly.

It’s hard to say how much longer “Hannibal” will be around, but here’s hoping NBC gives this procedural time to spread its creative fire. Or at least let it top each crazy way Dr. Lecter prepares his cannibalistic meals for himself and his dinner guests.