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Friday 26 April 2013

"Hannibal" NBC TV series Series 1, Episode 4 COMPLETE "Ceuf", Episode 5 "Coquilles" review

Unfortunately, due to the pulling of Episode 4, the series has lost some of its impetus. I applaud Bryan Fuller's sensitivity. This is me, being purely selfish -  it has stuffed up the flow of the series. After watching the complete "Ceuf" episode (thanks to Sony run cable, AXN Asia), I am bewildered why it was pulled. Sure the family dinner scenes were disturbing, the bodies slumped around the dinner table, but the violence was mainly off camera and part of Will's mental reconstructions. There is so much violence on TV. For example, "The Following" Ep. 14 "Carrie"-like gym massacre. Was it merely timing with "Hannibal" Ep 4?
I hope we can return to the fascinating relationship between Hannibal and Abigail. Didn't quite know where the magic mushroom scene was going.
It is a shame Episode 4 got reedited so drastically in the web version. Veteran director Peter Medak directed "Ceuf". The theme was family - Will's family of stray dogs, Joe's lack of children, Lecter trying to make Abigail a new family and the families of  'the lost boys'. The web version was a waste of time. Scenes referenced previous scenes, so it made no sense.
Molly Shannon plays a great psycho - I remember her deranged character in "Will & Grace". The 'lost boys' and Molly should have been a two-parter, there seemed a lot of back story, more could have been explained about how the mock-family of runaways operated. "You don't know what it's like" says the kid to Joe about his real family. Perhaps it is best if we didn't find out the background to these affluent but twisted families.

Episode 5 was noteworthy because of Laurence Fishburne's fine underplaying - where he gradually realises his wife has cancer (while listening to the angel-maker's wife talk about his cancer) was a classy scene.
Lots of scenes of Will sleepwalking in these 2 episodes. Is this so the audience can see more of Hugh Dancy in his boxers? Funniest line: Will turns to Hannibal, "Did you just smell me?"

The 'angels' tableaux created reminded me of Dexter, Season 6 with Edward James Olmos.
Hannibal's sumptuous banquets staged in his "Architectual Digest" dining room are becoming my favourite scenes in the series. Jack asks what he is eating. "It's rabbit" Lecter replies. Jack, "He should have hopped faster!" (Cut to a running, strumbling man).  Also liked when Lecter stressed that he "only uses an ethical butcher".


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