Zoe Butcher sinks her teeth into the Hannibal season two opener…
Imprisoned and awaiting trial for multiple murder, Will Graham is busy trying to convince anyone who will listen that Hannibal Lecter is the real killer. Meanwhile, on the apparently lethal streets of Baltimore, yet another serial killer is on the prowl.
If the opening scene of this episode doesn’t leave you dying to watch the rest of this season then there’s something clinically wrong with you – get yourself to the Baltimore State Hospital For The Criminally Insane at once!
Seriously, if you thought the serial killer smackdown between Hannibal and Tobias Budge in season one was an impressive fight scene, then you are in for a treat here as a none-too-impressed Jack Crawford turns up at Hannibal’s pad and draws a gun on him. Well, he tries to draw a gun on him. Apparently quickdraw abilities are hampered when the suspect has hefted a rather large kitchen knife halfway across the room and straight through your hand. Ouch!
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| Wrawwrrrr I was in The Matrix, bitch! |
Obviously Laurence Fishburne is made of tougher stuff and what ensues is one of the most impressive, and brutal, fight scenes I’ve seen in a TV show, ever. Just as it looks like Hannibal has gotten the better of Crawford though we jump back three months and the story begins.
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| Yeah? Well I was a Bond villain. Suck on that Morpheus! |
Epic fight aside there were plenty of other stunning moments to keep Fannibals like me squealing in delight during this opener. My own particular favourite moments were Hannibal’s therapy session with Dr Du Maurier where Gillian Anderson whips out her X-Files ‘acting shit scared while trying to look tough’ skills to great effect and also Will’s hypnotherapy session with Alana Bloom. The use of CGI in the latter was exquisitely handled and needs to be viewed in HD to be truly appreciated. We are also introduced to a killer with an eye for colour. Start shuddering now, you’ll save time later.
I may not be Will Graham’s biggest fan (I think he’s an asshole) but even I had to feel a little sorry for him in this episode. No one believes him about Hannibal, even his closest friends, and the more he protests, the crazier he looks. His incarceration in the hospital is just a little too close to Silence of the Lambs for my liking but as the rest of the episode was so good, I’ll allow them that.
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| Memories are all I have… |
Overall then an amazing start to the second season of my current favourite TV show. And confirmation that, by the end of the series, Jack Crawford will be discovering that rather than solving crimes, he’s actually been eating the victims. Bit of an FBI faux pas that, I would imagine…
A rare, but well deserved Fannibal Full Marks
Follow Zoe Butcher on Twitter @thezoverlord.
All images courtesy of NBC.com
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