Season 1: Well Hello Hannibal

[cheyz]

Just wanted to start a thread for others like me who are late to this series. I don't know how I missed it, but I love it. I've read all the books and seen all the movies, but the series is a very cool retranslation. I'm watching on Amazon and just finished episode 5.

One thing I haven't seen mentioned, is the music. I'm going to have to pay more attention now. In episode 5 during dinner with the Crawfords, the music playing in the background is an instrumental version of Mozart's Ave verum corpus (Hail, true Body). The Tchaikovsky version is called Preghiera (Prayer). Either title fits the scene and episode ;-)

Episode 9 during dinner, Beethoven's Pathétique, aka Piano Sonata Opus 13 in C Minor, 2nd movement.

Edited April 18, 2014 by cheyz

[jeansheridan]

 Music is used very effectively.  More than on most network shows.  On the DVD commentaries the producers discuss it.  You can probably borrow the DVDs from your local library.  Streaming lacks some fun features.  

[Sarah D. Bunting]

I talked about S01E11, "Roti," with the Sound On Sight gang: http://www.soundonsight.org/this-is-our-design-24-roti/

[Nutjob]

I'm in the middle of a Season 1 rewatch, and it's amazing the little clues to future events that are peppered throughout, particularly with respect to Dr. Bedelia (that's all I'll say so as not to spoil for those that haven't watched Season 2).

[AuntiePam]

I'm late to the party too.  I thought it was going to be like that last Harris book, which I thought was comically awful.  Plus, Mads' upper lip creeped me out -- bad childhood memory, or something [shudder]. 

 

Not sure why I gave it a try but I'm glad I did -- except that I worry about the writers' mental health.  I thought the mushroom "farm" was bad, but now I'm watching episode 9, with the totem on the beach.  Scary that people can imagine such horrific stuff!  But good that they have a safe outlet.

 

Hoping to catch up before season three starts.

[AuntiePam]

I'm on episode 11, maybe the fourth episode with Will's blackouts and hallucinations, and it's starting to tick me off, not being able to trust what's on the screen.  I hope this doesn't continue into the second season.  It adds to the tension but it also feels like a cheap trick.

[joelene]

There will become less and less of that, AuntiePam :)

[Captanne]

New to the show and about half way through series 2.

 

First, the music is incredible.  It's just stunning.  The obvious "ear candy" (ha!, see what I did there?) is great but I'm sure underneath that there are all kinds of double entendres and inside jokes.  Clever little plays for the astute watcher/listener to catch up on.  I hope there will be an opportunity for the music-folk of the show to explain it all to us.  (I don't buy DVDs in this wonderful modern world of on-demand, so I don't get those extras.)  

 

I'll add that I was on the fence about this show because I've been a Thomas Harris aficionado since Black Sunday (which dates me) -- thoroughly a fan.  To the point where I was at ground zero for the publication of Red Dragon and the ties to FBI profiler John Douglas.  (Love John Douglas.)  I was a Miami Vice fan when Manhunter was released.  I've seen the Chikatilo movie where Stephen Rea plays the Soviet chief of police trying to contact John Douglas at the FBI and was thwarted by the communists until after the Berlin Wall fell.  

 

ANYway, the show is really neat.  It took me a few episodes to warm up because I thought the acting was mediocre except for Laurence Fishburne who was SO good that he upstaged everyone else.  Somewhere around 3/4 into Series One, Dancy really stepped up his game (I can tell you the moment but I can't remember it just now) and I was hooked.

 

My only problem with the series is that the murders are too over-the-top and, in that vein (heh!), Freddie Lounds (female!) is too cartoonish for the rest of the show.  She looks like a noir DC comic to me whereas everyone else is sleek, animalistic and charismatic.  She's two dimensional and plastic.

 

By series 2, Dancy is really amazing.

 

Also, I'm getting used to the stunt casting -- because it's bringing everyone's game up.  A rising tide raises all boats, huh.

Edited May 17, 2015 by Captanne

[AuntiePam]

Captanne, totally agree about Freddy -- it's the hair.

 

I attempted a re-read of Red Dragon after watching the series.  It failed, maybe because the TV characterizations were so fresh in my head.  I stopped reading when Hannibal contemplated sending Will a colostomy bag as a joke.  TV-Hannibal would never do something that crude.

[Captanne]

Try watching Manhunter.  Brian Cox's Hannibal has a total of about twenty minutes of air time but he's unforgettable.

 

I'm trying to think of other Hannibals and Will Grahams (fair warning, though, I didn't see the Manhunter "Red Dragon" remake.)  As Hannibal, I have Brian Cox (I prefer Cox to all three, actually), Anthony Hopkins, and Mads Mikkelsen.  For Graham I have William Peterson and Hugh Dancy (I'm torn between the two.  Although Peterson is my comfort zone, I find Dancy is better cast in appearance and acting talent.)  Although I like Edward Norton, I didn't see his version of Graham.

 

For me, Brian Cox has that soft, squishy, "rotten fruit" feel while also carrying himself as a smug doctor.  He's just perfect in the role.  Hopkins tried to attain it but couldn't.  Mikkelsen's Hannibal is altogether a different animal.

Edited May 17, 2015 by Captanne

[AstaCharles]

Alright! Another Manhunter fan :) I'd say the only thing that was worth watching in the Red Dragon movie was Ralph Fiennes.

I love Petersen's Graham but it is a Will Graham in a Michael Mann Miami Vice world.

[Captanne]

I am a HUGE Manhunter fan and have been since the 80s when it first came out.  

 

I adore Petersen's Graham.  I find I missed him all these years, what with Clarice Starling stealing the limelight.  I really enjoy Hugh Dancy's version.  I find his Graham much more familiar than Mikkelsen's Lecter.  Which is fine.  

 

ETA:  I think Dancy is a better, more talented (versatile) actor and handles this show better than Peterson would be able to.  He is like a hyper-talented Peterson.  No slam to Peterson -- I'm just saying that, based on my impression of his performances since, like the CSI franchise, he's more limited than Dancy.  This show is amazingly complicated from almost every angle I can think of.  Dancy handles it really well.

Edited May 22, 2015 by Captanne

[supposebly]

I'm on 1x06 Entrée and

Hello Dr Chilton!

I adored the dynamic between him, Will, and Alana. Will's sarcastic "More or less" in response to Chilton's backhanded compliment to Alana and her just being slightly amused by it all.

I feel terrible for Jack and I think I never quite realized how much he really trusted Hannibal. I remember watching season 1 and all I could think of when anyone interacted with Hannibal was when and how they would find out. But I didn't really appreciate how close they became with him and that it actually made sense.

Will's recap of Gideon's murder was really creepy. Sometimes I wonder if these re-imaginations also helped in pushing his darkness to the surface. All these killers in his head and mind.

Did Hannibal leave Miriam with his drawings there on purpose or did he just forget they were there? Forgetting doesn't seem like him and he took some time until he mentioned the journals. So, I guess I'm going with purpose. Or maybe I'm also forgetting something from the following episodes. I realize I don't remember much from season 1 before Will's mind went slowly under except the gore.

[Crossbow]

Will's recap of Gideon's murder was really creepy. Sometimes I wonder if these re-imaginations also helped in pushing his darkness to the surface. All these killers in his head and mind.

 

Did Hannibal leave Miriam with his drawings there on purpose or did he just forget they were there? Forgetting doesn't seem like him and he took some time until he mentioned the journals. So, I guess I'm going with purpose. Or maybe I'm also forgetting something from the following episodes. I realize I don't remember much from season 1 before Will's mind went slowly under except the gore.

 

Yes, the re-imaginations definitely pushed his darkness to the surface. It's exactly what Hannibal was encouraging.

 

I don't think he forgot about the drawings, I think he was just overconfident that no one would make the connection. I'm not sure. In the book, Will doesn't actually see the drawing, he just sees that Hannibal has old medical texts, and he knows that illustration would be in them. Showing us the actual drawing was maybe for the audience's benefit, since we couldn't see what's going on in her head so just seeing the books wouldn't work.

[MisterGlass]

I thought perhaps he had decide before he moved away from her that she was not leaving, tenuous as the connection she had found was.

[paramitch]

Hi guys, I'm doing a rewatch of season 1 now, and I've never done that before. It's incredibly rewarding and fascinating thus far. 

 

One thing I haven't seen mentioned, is the music. I'm going to have to pay more attention now. In episode 5 during dinner with the Crawfords, the music playing in the background is an instrumental version of Mozart's Ave verum corpus (Hail, true Body). The Tchaikovsky version is called Preghiera (Prayer). Either title fits the scene and episode ;-)

Episode 9 during dinner, Beethoven's Pathétique, aka Piano Sonata Opus 13 in C Minor, 2nd movement.

I love the music for this show, especially the first season's frequent and playful use of "Aria" from Bach's Goldberg Variations. This happens both in the score, with the first two notes sounding as a constant motif in season 1 before disintegrating into psychological percussion and sound effects, and as diegetic music within several settings of the show -- most notably, the first time we meet Hannibal.

 

What I love about the use of the Bach is that it both ties back to "Silence of the Lambs" (Hannibal listens to it in his cell after killing the guards), and also I think the fractured/non-fractured use is gorgeous subtext (Will is fractured; Hannibal is whole). The entire first season is underscored with what seems to be that constant, deliberate callback to the Bach. It once again shows up and reaches fruition in episode 8 (Fromage) when Hannibal starts the few notes on the harpsichord in his office and then it plays through until the scene with Jack and Will.

 

In addition to the Bach, Hannibal himself seems very fond of Mozart and Chopin, as those are the composers that seem to surround him most often when he cooks and serves. He also seems to have a general fondness for the Baroque era, since he visibly enjoys not only the Bach, but also Vivaldi and Handel. I also love the use of Gounod's "Faust" as Hannibal waits for Will in episode 7. It's so apt for their relationship in subtle ways! And it's kind of stunning when Hannibal visibly weeps at the Handel aria in episode 7 ("Sorbet").

 

The show's use of music is also slyly funny:

 

Franklyn: Being alone comes with a dull ache.
Hannibal: It can.
Cut to: (Mozart's Lachrymosa)

 

I'm in the middle of a Season 1 rewatch, and it's amazing the little clues to future events that are peppered throughout, particularly with respect to Dr. Bedelia (that's all I'll say so as not to spoil for those that haven't watched Season 2).

I love that too, I really do. It's so amazing to watch her scenes with Hannibal in season 1 with full foreknowledge of what is to come.

 

I don't think he forgot about the drawings, I think he was just overconfident that no one would make the connection. I'm not sure. In the book, Will doesn't actually see the drawing, he just sees that Hannibal has old medical texts, and he knows that illustration would be in them. Showing us the actual drawing was maybe for the audience's benefit, since we couldn't see what's going on in her head so just seeing the books wouldn't work.

I really liked the use of the actual drawing, since it gave her (and us) such an immediate and visceral moment of recognition. I do think Miriam was already doomed the moment she had mentioned Hannibal as the link to that long-ago ER visit -- Hannibal has already returned to silently stalk her even as she makes the connection.

[paramitch]

Meanwhile, it's been so much fun to rewatch this season from the beginning for the first time. Episode one, for instance, and that beautiful first meeting of Will and Hannibal, all the little nuances to Mads' performance. I think my favorite aspect there is that most of the time, Hannibal seems to play out his scenes with others as honestly as he can. I think I thought he was smirkier the first time I watched it; I felt like he was playing them. But now I actually think he's weirdly transparent. I do think he likes and respects the team and genuinely (and quite quickly) grows to care for Jack and Will.

 

And I missed the first time I watched the show how closely Beverly is involved with Will in many scenes (her shooting range scene with Will in Episode 2 is terrific), and on rewatch, it's evident to me that Beverly likes Will. I mean, I think she likes him. She visits him several times including in "Ceuf" just to talk to him, for instance. In the Angel episode ("Coquilles"), Beverly approaches Will again, offering help and asking him to confide in her (Will and Beverly again interact in Ep 6, "Entree."). I totally missed how close these two are in my first viewing.

 

In Episode 4 ("Oeuf"), Hannibal explores Will's house. And I think in rewatch this is just an incredibly rich and fascinating scene. Hannibal enters as a guest (we later learn that Will asked him to feed the dogs for him while he was gone). The dogs adore him instantly (he feeds them what we assume is soylentsausage of course), then he simply wanders through Will's home and it is just sort of mind-bogglingly, quietly amazing. Hannibal pats and feeds the dogs, then (in a poignant note for me as a classical musician) notes that Will owns a piano but that it is out of tune.

 

Hannibal also notices a full outboard motor evidently in repair in Will's living room (tellingly, Will also later In the "therapy" session with Hannibal talks about his father's work from boatyards from Biloxi to Erie), then checks out Will's bureau and there are the white tee shirts and socks, neatly stored (although I imagine they cut out Hannibal's full-body recoil at the sight). Hannibal then goes over to Will's desk, looks through the magnifying glass there (nice subtext) then plays with one of Will's fishing lures, carefully adding one of the feathers from the tray on the desk, before deliberately cutting himself with the hook he has just perfected. Then he licks the wound. It's weirdly erotic.

 

This is also the episode when Will confesses to Hannibal: "At night I leave the lights on in my little house and walk across the flat fields. When I look back from a distance the house is like a boat on the sea. It's really the only time I feel safe." Lots of beautiful boat references that come back into play in later seasons.

 

But although it's fun to watch Hannibal become fascinated with Will, I forgot that Hannibal befriends Jack much faster than Will, and that Jack joins him for many more dinners at this point, actually. Jack and Hannibal become good friends, and Hannibal's friendship visibly means something to both men.

 

"Coquilles" is also the episode where Hannibal sniffs Will! And Will notices! It's weirdly awesome. (Will: "Did you just... smell me?" Hannibal: "Difficult to avoid. I really must introduce you to a finer aftershave. That smells like something with a ship on the bottle.")

 

I also love Will's conversation with Jack:

 

Will: This is bad for me.
Jack: I'm not your father, Will. I'm not going to tell you what you ought to do.
Will: Seems like that's exactly what you're gonna do.
Jack: You go back to your classroom, when there's killing going on that you could have prevented, it will sour your classroom forever.
Will: Maybe. And then maybe I'll find a job as a diesel mechanic in a boatyard.
Jack: You wanna quit? Quit.

 

Interesting that Jack smiles to himself as he says that. He knows Will can't quit.

 

Ep 7 ("Sorbet") is pure genius with its series of therapy sessions -- Hannibal with Franklyn, Bedelia with Hannibal, Hannibal with Will. In each session there's this incredibly strong subtext of yearning and loneliness -- Franklyn trying to impress Hannibal, Hannibal trying to impress Bedelia, and then having a glass of wine with Will. There is something sort of poignant and lonely about Hannibal saying, "I have friends." And we know who they are and how much he hides from them.
(I also think that it's telling and important that Jack dreams of a mutilated Will in Ep 7, too.)

 

In episode 8, my favorite moment is when Will says, "I feel like I dragged you into my world." and Hannibal quite truthfully replies, "No. I got here on my own. But I appreciate the company."

 

What's interesting as I round out Season 1 (just a few more to go), I've really been struck by how palpably lonely everyone seems. Not just Will, but Hannibal himself, and even Jack, Bedelia, Bella, and Beverly. They all seem like characters seeking connection and safety. Alana is the only one who, to me, implies a rich other life elsewhere, and it's interesting to watch her move in and out of all these other lives with so much ease, especially knowing what lies before her in later seasons.

 

Most of all, I'm so pleased that I'm finding the show even more rewarding upon rewatch, not less. There's so much detail to Hannibal's world that there's always some new little treasure to notice.

[paramitch]

I finished my Season 1 rewatch, and one thing that really struck me was just how fantastic the actors are. Caroline Dhavernas is just wonderful -- much stronger than I remember her being (and it really sucker-punched me when she goes to the car to scream and cry -- I realized then how much she did truly love Will). I also thought Kacey Rohl was amazing as Abigail Hobbs. She has to walk so many lines in so many conversations and she was able to do that with a lot of delicacy and fragility.

 

And then of course there's Fishburne's presence and gravitas, Dancy's vulnerability and anguish, and wonderful Mads and just how much he's able to communicate in every single graceful movement and microexpression.

 

While it's hard to watch Will spiral downward in the final episodes of season 1, I do love the conversation in "Buffet Froid" (Ep10) when Will is ill and floundering, and Jack is surprisingly warm and supportive:

 

Jack: Let me tell you what I think. I think that the work you do here has created a sense of stability for you. Stability is good for you, Will.
Will: Stability requires strong foundations, Jack. My moorings are built on sand.
Jack: I'm not sand. I am bedrock. When you doubt yourself, you don't have to doubt me too.

 

Near the end, when Hannibal brings Bedelia the veal, what's fascinating is that

especially in light of seasons 2 and 3

you could strongly argue that she is aware of exactly who Hannibal is and what (who) they're eating.

 

And before she does so, she blatantly warns Hannibal:

Bedelia: You have to be careful, Hannibal. They're starting to see your pattern.
Hannibal: What pattern would that be?
Bedelia: You develop relationships with patients who are prone to violence. That pattern. Under scrutiny, Jack Crawford's beliefs about you might start to unravel.
Hannnibal: Tell me, Dr. Du Maurier, have your beliefs about me begun to unravel?

 

The way she takes the bite with her eyes on Hannibal, very slowly, implies to me that she is doing this deliberately, perhaps almost as an odd form of communion.

 

Then there's Will's beautifully gradual realization of Hannibal as the real killer throughout episode 13 (Savoureaux), leading to the conversation in Hobbs's kitchen:

 

Hannibal: At a time when other men fear their isolation, yours has become understandable to you. You are alone because you are unique.
Will: I'm as alone as you are.
Hannibal: If you followed the urges you kept down for so long, cultivated them as the inspirations they are, you would have become someone other than yourself.
Will: I know who I am. I'm not so sure I know who you are anymore.

 

There's such beautiful symmetry in the final confrontation in Hobbs's kitchen between Will, Hannibal and Jack. And it's so awful to watch Will led off as a criminal, to see him processed by the team (and to see their anguished and angry reactions), and to then see Will locked up and facing Hannibal, who is of course still free and confident and smiling. And still there! Just on some level, still so happy to see Will.

 

The music does change slightly toward the end of the season. The last Bach we get is in Episode 10 (Prelude #1 in C major), then in Episode 11, there's Debussy (Les sons et les parfums tournent dans l'air du soir) for the dinner with Chilton (I kind of love this since I find Debussy slightly fussy on occasion, and of course, so is Chilton), and then in Ep 12 at Bedelia's there's Beethoven's "Ghost Trio' which is very meditative and expressive.

 

In the final scene of episode 13 ("Savoureaux") we get Patrick Cassidy's Vide cor Meum (and which was also used in the Hannibal film). The words are strikingly appropriate and to me resonate clearly through and foreshadow the next two seasons as well:

 

I am your master
See your heart
And of this burning heart
Your heart

 

(Chorus: She trembling)
Obediently eats.
Weeping, I saw him then depart from me.

 

Joy is converted
To bitterest tears

I am in peace
My heart
I am in peace
See my heart

 

I mean, as far as looking ahead to Season 3,

the words to this song literally become reality in several images and scenes (most notably the 'origami heart' Hannibal leaves Will in the Church, and that Will then imagines coming to life and walking toward him as the stag-creature...) Amazing stuff.

 

Anyway, wow. I really loved this season, and what's interesting is it's my least favorite of the three, so I'm looking forward to rewatching the next two even more.

Edited September 26, 2015 by paramitch

[festivus]

I'm re-watching Hannibal right now with my son and we just finished season 1. The scenes I'm finding most fascinating knowing what I know now are the ones between Bedelia and Hannibal. I remember the discussion back then about how much she knew and when she knew it. I personally think she's known for a long time what Hannibal is but those scenes are still electrifying for me. You just can't be sure because of the way GA plays them. (Yes, I admit I'm a huge stan of hers.) I also remember saying back in the day about how much Hugh Dancy impressed me as an actor. I did not know him prior to this show or at least I thought I didn't. When I looked him up later I realized that he was in Ella Enchanted but I just didn't put it together at the time. Anyway, I just think it would be difficult to play someone that is constantly on the edge like Will Graham is and for the whole damn season, how ever many hours he had to play that character. I was just really impressed with him. I love the whole cast, they are one of my very favorite casts in any show ever. I also still want every one of Alana Bloom's wrap dresses. 

[lunaseas1122]

For me, this show eventually became to be just ALL about Mads Mikkelsen , who I am admittedly obsessed with, but it didn't begin that way. I knew Hugh Dancy from trivial little fluffy things, and I will admit that I haven't felt compelled to watch any and everything he's done, before or since, the way I have with Mads--I've literally tracked down everything Mads has ever been in, from commercials and shorts and snippets of plays, etc, to every film and TV show he's done, because I can't get enough of him. But I loved Will Graham too. During season three, when we had that episode with just Mads and Gillian and none of the rest of the cast, much as I loved it, I missed Will. I'm not obsessed with Dancy, but I also found his characterization of Will to be full of depth and resonance.

If I looked like Alana Bloom, I'd want her dresses too.

[festivus]

Yeah, the 25 year old me wants Alana's dresses. The 50 year old me knows better. ;)

I loved Mads in the role of Hannibal and I thought he was new to me too but then later I realized I had seen him in the James Bond movie. I think the popular opinion was that the show was about Hannibal(hence the name) but for me it was all about Will Graham and what he became by knowing Hannibal. I know I don't have the popular opinion there. As much as I loved the whole cast I didn't really get obsessed with any of them. Only GA but I was already all about her before this show. 

Edited April 13, 2017 by festivus

[Wicked]

I've been watching season one with my son, he finally agreed to watch.  Went to amazon to watch episode 11 and it's no longer streaming on amazon.