For starters, this is not the kind of show I usually enjoy. I prefer slow dramas like “Mad Men” and “The Wire” about everyday people. I tend to not enjoy the fantastical or the absurd ?as much.
But “Hannibal” is psychological fun that makes me feel uncomfortable and keeps me craving more, similar to how Dr. Hannibal Lecter craves another fresh meal cooked from the meat of one of his adversaries.
The show enters season three without massive viewership or even a particularly audible cult following, but critics love it and just enough people watch it to give it another chance in a summertime prime-time time slot.
“Hannibal” is the prequel to the “Silence of the Lambs” films and is based on the first of Thomas Harris’ books in the Hannibal Lecter series, “Red Dragon.” It depicts Dr. Lecter as a middle aged psychiatrist with a surgical ?background who is asked by the FBI for assistance in profiling serial killers.
The show has progressed a long way from that initial plot. I used to question what the future of the show would be, but as season three begins with Lecter traveling in Europe teaching classes on the “Divine Comedy,” I see that the character is interesting enough to persevere through traditional plot lines.
The premiere of this season, “Antipasto,” does not once show old main characters Will Graham or Jack Crawford. What I enjoyed most about the show in season one was Lecter as a character that we understood to be evil, but was charming, likeable and fascinating to everyone else.
It left us with this bizarre wrestling of whether or not we like this awful human being. I wanted him on screen and loved the performance by Mads Mikkelson but had to remind myself he is ?the bad guy.
Season three puts us back in the position of seeing Lecter be cultural and interesting while luring his prey with ?relative ease.
Towards the end of season two, ?Lecter tells Will Graham when he leaves America he will live in the palace that is his mind. ?This rings true in “Antipasto,” as flashbacks occupy a decent portion of the episode. He flashes back to making Dr. Abel Gideon eat himself as Gideon refers to Lecter as the Devil, which is wonderful considering Lecter now gives lectures on “Dante’s Inferno.”
Gillian Anderson steps into an elevated role this season as Lecter’s former psychiatrist, current traveling partner and possible accomplice Dr. Bedelia Du Maurier. She adds a nice variety to the core which dominated the first two ?seasons.
The premiere ends with Lecter looking out the window of a train while remembering Gideon saying he cannot wait until Lecter has to deal with a torture of his own.
Lecter has come close to losing time and time again, but as he looked out at the European scenery, he actually seemed worried for the first time.
Brody Miller
