Hannibal

[Andre Jurieu]

Soooo, I know they haven't really provided much detail on the killer that the team is currently chasing in season 2 (as the creators have many other balls to juggle in the season premiere), but did anyone else notice a great deal of similarity to this killer's modus operandi and

SpoilerShow

Jame Gumb/Buffalo Bill?

[knives]

Soooo, I know they haven't really provided much detail on the killer that the team is currently chasing in season 2 (as the creators have many other balls to juggle in the season premiere), but did anyone else notice a great deal of similarity to this killer's modus operandi and

SpoilerShow

Jame Gumb/Buffalo Bill?

Yep, they don't have the rights to those books. The show seems in part to be about the audience's relationship to the iconography of the series so it would be weird not to feature the most famous of these (as also seen by Will's outfit at the end of the first episode). Last season they also made reference to him with the gay killer.

[flyonthewall2983]

I love both shows, but Hannibal has two pretty important advantages over TD. The first being the look it has. It's an abused expression, but it really looks like nothing else on TV at the moment. The digital work is among the best I've seen on television, and might be 2nd to what David Fincher's been doing on the big screen with it since Zodiac. On the other hand, the film look of True Detective is nowhere near as spectacular. There are some nice VFX moments (and of course that climax to the 4th EP), but otherwise it looks quite dull which is okay considering both the location and the way the story unfolds.

The other, and maybe more important point, is that the women on Hannibal are integral and interesting characters. Even minor characters like Crawford's wife hold up their own with what they're given. On the other hand, while holding her own as much as she could with the two leads, Michelle Monaghan has really just been "the wife" and nothing more. That's nothing to say of the other women of the show, who some could argue (I won't) that they're partially there to satisfy that check of sexuality a lot of HBO shows have had (hell even Treme has been guilty of this once or twice).

[knives]

I think Hannibal is a red herring to all of this. Sure they share a genre including certain modern cliches, but they are different in virtually every other way. Most obvious to this is its relationship to the genre which is minimal. I find it clear, and his history proves this I think, that Bryan Fuller would be doing this same sort of show without the detective element. True Detective though is clearly committed to the genre for better or worse. For that reason I think a more appropriate point of comparison would be Justified which strikes me as a closer in terms of story telling, theme, stylistic presentation, and genre goals.

[Movie-Brat]

So I watched the latest episode, got to say; the row of dead bodies in the water tower, that's certainly a great visual image.

[flyonthewall2983]

It's certainly striking, which I've come to expect. But I have to say those first two-three minutes were absolutely excruciating to watch.

[flyonthewall2983]

The ratings were dismal last week and even worse last night :/

[knives]

Thank heavens NBC barely pays for the show and are doing so bad in general. Still two seasons of this is far more than I expected us to get.

[flyonthewall2983]

What's the split between it and Gaumont? I've always heard that they don't pay much for it, but I was wondering how much percentage wise.

[mistakaninja]

Gaumont said they would have made season two regardless of NBC's intentions (the official renewal happened after upfronts). Overseas sales were strong (Sony's AXN pay networks carry it) and it was thought Amazon or Netflix (Gaumont make Hemlock Grove for the latter) might have been waiting in the wings had NBC cancelled. Don't know if they are still in a position to be blaise about their network situation in the States, but this globally integrated model is interesting, especially as it appears to have resulted in anything but a homogenous product.

[flyonthewall2983]

I just hope their deal is the same as last year and we get the whole season on NBC.

[Movie-Brat]

Gaumont said they would have made season two regardless of NBC's intentions (the official renewal happened after upfronts). Overseas sales were strong (Sony's AXN pay networks carry it) and it was thought Amazon or Netflix (Gaumont make Hemlock Grove for the latter) might have been waiting in the wings had NBC cancelled. Don't know if they are still in a position to be blaise about their network situation in the States, but this globally integrated model is interesting, especially as it appears to have resulted in anything but a homogenous product.

So, they'll make more seasons regardless?

[Anhedionisiac]

Anybody else see Hannibal last night? I unabashedly love the show and a great deal of its appeal is how it thrives on what Bryan Fuller himself calls purple-prose logic. But yeesh, they should be more careful when they veer out of their comfort zone 'cause pretty much nothing about yesterday's courtroom episode could be taken at face value. I can only imagine how annoyed real-life lawyers must have been watching it!

[Movie-Brat]

Anybody else see Hannibal last night? I unabashedly love the show and a great deal of its appeal is how it thrives on what Bryan Fuller himself calls purple-prose logic. But yeesh, they should be more careful when they veer out of their comfort zone 'cause pretty much nothing about yesterday's courtroom episode could be taken at face value. I can only imagine how annoyed real-life lawyers must have been watching it!

I didn't mind. What happened served its purpose and it had me wanting to see the next episode. Random note but

SpoilerShow

I didn't think the judge would bite the dust.

[flyonthewall2983]

Really excellent episode this week. All the hallucinogenic stuff seems necessary to the storytelling, where on other shows it might look like showing off.

[Movie-Brat]

I was really on the edge of my seat when it came to the ending, it was absurdly tense and the last image of Hannibal standing behind Beverly just as she knew his secret is a haunting image that I imagine would give people nightmares; just the way it was staged and how the lights reveal the guy.

And Amanda Plummer, she stole whatever scenes she was in really.

[Anhedionisiac]

A truly outstanding episode. I feel the entire sodium pentothal scene should be studied, that's how well written, directed, edited and scored it was.

[Movie-Brat]

The latest episode, I'm going to miss Beverly Katz but her death had an interesting visual after last week.

SpoilerShow

It's interesting to see Hannibal almost on the other side of the fence.

Really, this seemed like the appetizer for the next episode to come.

[flyonthewall2983]

Every episode has been like that, but it certainly can be said that the rope is tightening (no pun intended) and things are shaping up.

[Andre Jurieu]

I really enjoy this show, but it's amazing how easily it continues to find new ways to become incredibly disturbing with its visuals. I'm fairly certain that I would be severely traumatized by some of it's images and scenes if I were a kid that just happened to tune in - like more so than I actually was by It and Twin Peaks when I caught them when I was a tween.

[flyonthewall2983]

It's astounding to me that it gets away with a TV-14. If you put it on any cable channel it would get an MA with little hesitation.

[swo17]

Do the basic networks air anything that's TV-MA?

[beamish13]

Steven Bochco's CBS show BROOKLYN SOUTH earned a TV-MA (which was simply TV-M at the time).

[Movie-Brat]

Well they got me again, I mean I knew Crawford would finally suspect Hannibal completely but not in the way they did especially

SpoilerShow

as to how he avoided getting caught.

But the ending is an effective of its music, imagery and the use of cutaways. And you could swear that you could see the gears turning in both of their heads.

[flyonthewall2983]

Excellent episode tonight.

SpoilerShow

Did not see that ending coming, though. Another one gone too soon.