[S3 Ep 6:Dolce]

Still no new news on Hannibal being picked up by someone else..but I am still hopeful.There is a chance that we will find something out this weekend at ComiCon(also hopeful)

Ratings..are what they are.Not enough to make NBC consider un-cancelling Hannibal,unfortunately. #ouch. LOL I think they're going to seriously regret renewing Aquarius come the fall..Pretty sure they saw what was being said about them after they cancelled Hannibal :P

That being said, on to the review.The usual applies.. this is going to be an all over the place review -just the way I do things/my mind works..I love being a bit stream of consciousness, me. ;)

[S3 Ep 5:Contorno]

God how I loved this episode.

But first, a few things:Ratings:not great. But it kinda doesn't matter at this point :P

Secondly, the cast have been released from their contracts.This doesn't mean the end, should Hannibal be picked up by a streaming service or cable network.It just means that the contract negotiations could get interesting. And finally, Bryan Fuller is commiting to American Gods right now,so he would  be doing that for a while.What that means is that the fourth season of Hannibal, should it get picked up, may not happen for a while.

I have resigned myself to being OK with that-I mean, we had to wait a year plus for S3..I think I could do it, if I had to. The waiting for S3 did get to me-It got to all of us Fannibals in some shape or form!

And good lord.The promo for next week's episode.I immediately was wishing that it was next Thursday already :)

[Random Hannibal thoughts]

*Am I the only one who  totally pictures the Revenge Squad picking  weapons?:P  Will has a taser,Alana has  throwing stars,Jack has brass knuckes, Chilton has a paintball gun and Mason (via Cordell) a baseball bat.

*Me, I am LOVING this season. I think I've said that more than once, and we are only 4(5 as of this week) episodes in. Don't get the hate some major TV websites have WRT the pacing and plot.It's leaving some "fans" of the show cold and it's just odd.

*Will had a nicer hospital room-like a hotel suite, really! than everyone else-maybe he has the next tier of insurance?(I heard a suggestion that  possibly everyone was at the same hospital-a private hospital-that would explain the look of it, very sparse(from what we could see.)

My theory is that Will has quite a bit of money saved up(and maybe he got some "we're sorry" money from the FBI after the Red Dinner. :P) He bought his house "as is" but was up to the challenge of fixing it up.

That also explains why he's able to buy a sailboat and fix it up.

[S3 Ep. 4:Apertivo]

I loveloveloved this episode, for a very many reasons which will be obvious  as you read through the review.

But one thing I have to mention:
I love that they showed characters  taking some time to recover from their injuries(granted, this episode *did* jump around in time,like in one scene Will is in a hospital bed and the next he's in his garage fixing a boat motor. For people who don't understand that, it's called a plot device. I saw criticism of that from a website that is normally very supportive of Hannibal.They're entitled to their opinion but IMO it seemed like they weren't understanding what was going on.

Not sure if it was the structure of this episode, but I was amazed at how fast it went by-I mean, I'm sitting there watching and half an hour has gone by already!

And how about that promo for next week! Shit is going to get real,that is all I have to say about that(I wish it was Thursday already!)

OK, that said, on to the review. If I miss anything out, I'm sorry, but I've been tweeting whilst I watch the show instead of taking notes.

[What the fuck,NBC?Not like you have much else!]

And I am not going to apologise for the swearing because honestly?it's how I feel right how.
I was all ready to blog about something else, but then *that* news dropped. Yeah, Hannibal got cancelled. I was upset. I called my mom and she was genuinely upset for me, and she doesn't even like the show! Same with my dad-my Fannibal dad -who will be 75 years young next month!

I was actually on Twitter when the news dropped. I didn't believe it until several people associated with the show confirmed it.

On the plus side though, there is a very strong possibility Hannibal will be picked up by someone-whether it be Netflix or Hulu or whoever(Netflix or one of the pay cable channels like HBO seem to be the favourites right now.) Fannibals will do everything they can-tweet and email people who like the show especially-to try and get them to support Hannibal-it's surprising how many celebrity Fannibals there are-Jordan Gavrais from Orphan Black tweeted that he's a fan recently, and then just today tweeted about the cancellation too.

Can I just say: I have made So.Many.  friends because of this show, and I would hate it if that went away.This fandom feels more like a family than any fandom I have been in. The cast also feels like a family-mind you this is a cast and crew who are on social media interacting with fans. Sure, other show's casts and crews are on social media, but it just doesn't..searches for a word and settles on "ring as true" as  it does with the Hannibal cast and crew.

NBC are really fucking themselves over  by cancelling Hannibal-they really do not realise what they are losing by cancelling Hannibal-Hannibal is a show that is not afraid to take risks, and NBC really were taking a risk in the first place by airing it. NBC could use a lot more risky shows..they play things way too safe.

Now,NBC're  going to coast along on the few "successful" shows they have, and hope that some of their new shows are going to be successful in the fall(not fucking likely.. most of those shows will get one or two episodes before they're cancelled.)

I seriously doubt that NBC are paying attention to what's being posted/tweeted about them,but I hope if they are, they feel really fucking stupid about canceling Hannibal.That won't uncancel Hannibal but it's something.

The ultimate irony would be Hannibal being a HUGE hit with whoever picks it up and NBC  face-fuckingpalming that they cancelled it.

[S3 Ep 3:Secondo]

The ratings were not great(initially) but went up a little(some websites and a few..fans is the wrong word for them since they only seem to shit-talk the show,want to believe that that is not the case.) Things moved along much more this episode but I loved it,I just loved it anyways(Yes, I know,I have kind of  hard time being objective about the show. I know this! ;) )

Now that I'm rambled a bit,I'll talk about the show(and about the previews for next week a bit at the end.)

[S3, Ep 2:Primavera]

This is going to go under a cut because it's a little long and also because there may be some people who haven't seen it(in Europe, mostly.)

The ratings:again, not great.Abysmal, actually. Not going to play fan excuse bingo here.Not at all.

A great subtitle for this episode would be "What we talk about when we talk about God", because there is a lot of talk about God, and believing in God.We've seen that before, in Season One. "Killing must feel good to God too.He does it all the time."

Bryan Fuller's Catholic upbringing shows in this episode..I was raised Catholic myself and certainly  got enough of that dogma myself.

The imagery with the saints, and with the churches is very evocative(the early promos had a very cinematic feel, and it has been the case for the first few episodes of S3.Very much so.Especially WRT to severa; scenes in this episode(more about that in a minute, though!)

Some people have been a bit impatient with wanting to find our what happened to the people who were at the Red Dinner. It's been too slow of a roll-out. But I have to say: I really do get  why they're doing it this way.

Alright, now that I've rambled a bit, my actual thoughts on the episode:

[S3 Ep 1:Antipasto]

It feels strange-but right-to type that!

So this review is going to be a bit free-form, less structured than the ones I was doing before.

Before I start:The ratings were not very good. Hoping that changes.
****

So..Oh my goodness. So much to love about this episode-I was actually OK with the time jumps(though I think I have permanently gone off of snails..) to explain what was going on-though I can't wait for the later episode where we see Bedelia's patient(played by Zachary Quinto) alive.

Will Graham's name was mentioned, more than once. I'm also very curious to get the flashbacks with what happened to the people at the Red Dinner right after Hannibal left(we sort of got that with a scene where Hannibal is at Bedelia's house washing the blood off of him from the Red Dinner, and it seemed like a lot more than it was(though some of the blood was probably Hannibal's own blood.) Obviously Bedelia knows that something happened, and she asks Hannibal about it.

In this episode, it's clear that Bedelia is scared-and wants to leave. I increasingly-watching the episode-thought that she had been subjected to some sort of hypnosis in order for Hannibal to be able to get her to go with him. But she has moments of..searches for a word and settles on "lucidity" where she realises "Oh shit,I gotta get out of here".But Hannibal's not going to let that happen.

We get a Will doppleganger, Anthony Dimmond. From the start, it's obvious that he is doomed(and yes, by the end of the episode, he is dead.. and put on display.)

The first bit of the episode takes place in Paris, and then moves to Florence. This is TV show as travelogue(it  *definitely* made me want to go to Florence!)We get food/cooking porn almost right out of the gate(one of the big reasons that I watch this show,TBH) but several of them were equal parts "that looks so good!" and nausea inducing(see my earlier comment about the snails.)

 Bedelia goes to a store a couple of times in this episode and buys a VERY expensive bottle of wine and truffles(?). Being on the run hasn't changed Hannibal's tastes-and in fact I'd guess that one of the reasons that he picked Florence(apart from that he had probably,at a guess, been there before, and the other being that it being Florence there are so many good ingredients are readily available at hand for him to cook with.

One of the most striking scenes(and there were a few in this episode) was the scene  with Hannibal lecturing on Dante, and a picture of the devil is superimposed over his face. Seriously... It is one of the most nightmare-fuel inducing things I have ever seen on this show and this is Hannibal we're talking about!

 It's eerily similar to a similar scene in  Ridley Scott's Hannibal(I think they may have even used some of the same pictures,too)

Hannibal has always been very cinematic, but that has been taken to a whole new level in S3....especially a scene with Bedelia  in the bath(and I want that bath so bad!I can't even imagine how expensive it might be!)

I couldn't believe how fast it went-I blinked and we were already halfway through it! There was so much going on I'm pretty sure I missed some stuff but yeah.. 10 plus out of 10.(Am I biased?probably.LOL).Can't wait for next week, which is very Will-centric(yay!)

[Premiere Day! at long freaking last!]

Season 3 predictions:

OK, well, I am going to put  most of this under a cut as it's speculation and a zillion other things;I may   do another post on this after I've gotten to watch a couple of episodes;however this is a show that can be hella twisty and hella dark( Mizumono,much?!) so I could be completely wrong about anything that is past the cut.

But I  have to say:This is  a day that I've been looking forwards to for a very long time(a year plus!) and us Fannibals are going to enjoy it together-we've been blowing  up Twitter for the past few days-it's crazy today(and with good reason, of course!)

So now to the rest of the post:

[Countdown to Hannibal, Day 7]

A assortment of random questions :)

1)Most "did they really just do that?" moment?
Jack:What am I about to put in my mouth? Hannibal: Rabbit. Jack: He should have hopped faster. *cut to a terrified man running through the woods* ROFL.


2)How has Hannibal changed your life?
I have met so many great people because of this show,especially on Twitter. Fannibals are amazing people. I love that the Hannibal fandom is so chill.We've been brought together by this amazing TV show.


3)Your dream Hannibal merch?
I think the shirts are good enough but..plates with a Hannibal theme(deer  as an example)maybe?


4)What Hannibal quote(s) do you use in real life?
"Yes,I think is the answer to that" and "You heard me..USED to" get adapted for everyday use.

[Countdown to Hannibal,Day 6]

Something you never noticed 'till recently:

How *angry* the lyrics of Piangero(the song in the opera scene in Sorbet) are:I was curious, so I looked them up: Cleopatra is talking about haunting everyone who has wronged her..from the afterlife. Yikes.

As one comment I read said.... If you didn't know any better you would think this is a love song!

[Countdown to Hannibal, Day 5]

Which ship do you ship the most?

Hannigram.I'm chill about it, though. I've been in other fandoms where shipping ruined  it for me..but I get that not everyone ships Hannigram.

This fandom does have the best shipping names though: Katz and Dogs(Beverly and Will) Hannidelia(Hannibal and Bedelia) Preller(Price and Zeller) and Willana(Will and Alana) among others.

[Countdown to Hannibal, Day 4]

Do you have a favourite RP(role play) blog related to the show?

willgrahamjournals.tumblr.com

It was the first RP blog I discovered, and the one I go back to time and again.I know there are others out there..there are also people who RP as characters on Twitter and that's a lot of fun, too(and, despite what some think, is harmless fun! )

 Fannibals have a lot of fun with RP-ing for sure :)

[Countdown to Hannibal, Day 3]

Most watchable moment:

The first few minutes of the pilot and the opera scene in Sorbet. They're both very visually stunning in their own ways.

In S2,I'd have to say the human mural, by far.

[Countdown to Hannibal, Day 2]

Do your family/friends like the show?

My dad LOVES Hannibal, and at 74, he's well out of the intended demographic!

My mom is most definitely NOT a fan, but the other day we were talking about the Red Velvet cupcakes I'm making for the premiere. My dad said we should put red food dye in the frosting and my mom  thought it was too much!I was kinda like "where did *that* come from?" LOL. She makes appreciative noises when I show her pictures of Mads and Hugh(I may have ruined it for her by saying that they're both young enough to be her sons!)

As far as family goes, I've Fannibalized a bunch of family members, including my brother and his wife..and several online friends who said "no way am I EVER watching Hannibal".. several episodes later: "I can't quit watching..it's SO good!" Me: "Told you so". Heh.

[Countdown to Hannibal, Day 1]

A few words about why you love the show:

Well, this is going to be more like a dissertation than anything else!

Like a lot of people, I was very skeptical when I heard that they were doing a TV series about Hannibal Lecter. I think a LOT of people were. But after I saw the first episode, I was in.

So...what do I love about the show?

The actors/actresses. They are exceedingly well cast(and it doesn't hurt that the two male leads are good looking, either!)

The writing. Bryan Fuller(and all of the people who write for the show for that matter!)take the source material from the Thomas Harris books and they work their magic with it. They play fast and loose with the source material(characters have had their genders changed, Will knows Hannibal a lot more on the show than he did in the books, where they hardly knew each other.

The aesthetic and look of the show-there are scenes that have a dreamlike quality. It's not something every show could do and have it be believable, but Hannibal does it, and quite well, I might add!

Another aspect of the show that I LOVE is its  willingness(heh) to take risks, in terms of content especially. Other shows would shy away from the graphic(and it is graphic, make no mistake about that!) content.

Hannibal might not get the best ratings, and that has won the show some enemies in fans of shows who get slightly(You  heard me, I said *slightly*[/Mrs. Komeda]) better ratings than Hannibal. But the fact that those shows are expensive to make and Hannibal is(comparatively) cheaper to make, along with having a foreign interest in the picture,means that Hannibal has more of a chance. But  ratings come into play, yes they do.

People talk a LOT about the ratings and about lead-ins. I'm hoping that Aquarius is a good lead-in for Hannibal. OTOH, ratings have always been a concern and here we are on the verge(r) of S3 so there is that.

[S1 Ep13:Savoureux]

*Will out in the woods  hunting-the bullroarer gives.me.the.creeps. He shoots at a deer which turns into the wendigo. He follows the wendigo and finds its blood on a tree and on the ground.

*Will wakes up-his dogs are barking-and his feet are muddy.He goes into the kitchen and takes a couple of aspirins..and throws them up..along with an ear.

*He's sitting on the front porch waiting for Hannibal who eventually *does* show up.

*Will has lost time again-he says he let the dogs out(who who who)

*Jack shows up and takes Will to Quantico. Team Sassy Scienece walks by Will and can barely make eye contact with him.

*The scene where Winston is like "Daddy?where are you going?" breaks my heart.

*Hannibal is observing everything like "My work here is done".

*Will gets processed by Bev(we get several similar scenes-one with Miriam and one with Chilton) in S2.)Bev was always the one person that Will could bounce ideas off of..she was on the same..wavelength, for lack of a better word for it- as Will.

*Alana(understandably) reads Jack the riot acts.Jack is in a LOT of denial.I love the scene with Alana losing her shit in the car.It's done without any sort of sound and is very effective.

*Will is in interrogation with Alana who says she will take care of Will's dogs, however long it is(and somewhere in there Alana adopted a dog of her own-Applesauce.)

*Yes, Alana, Hannibal asked Will to draw a clock.(I almost expect him to say "why?" again when Alana asks him to draw a clock.)

*Hannibal and his fake-ass tears. Abigail IS alive..as an aside, I really hope that we see if Bedelia  knew  Abigail was alive the whole time. You framed Will and you want to continue to "help" him? *flips table*.

*Hannibal stuck himself with one of those lures and in all their testing it they don't find his blood? WTF.

*"Will Graham, you're under arrest". Oh. Shit.

*Callback to Gideon escaping from the van with Will's escape. Will is pretty desperate at this point.

*The look on Hannibal's face when Alana says that it might be encephalitis.. if looks could kill...

*Will gets to Hannibal's office.Hannibal knows he's there.

*Alana knows Will's illness is fakeable..and yet all of that under-the-bus throwing in S2....

*Will is starting to put things together(as sick as he is!)

*Will wants to see where Abigail died(except she *didn't*- but Will didn't know that at the time!)

*Bedelia gets a visit from Jack who wants to know what she knows.

*Will recreates the Hobbs  murder.

*Showdown with Will and Hannibal-"Are you a murderer, Dr. Lecter?" "YES, I think is the answer to that."

*Will gets shot(my poor BB Will!) He sees the wendigo and says "See? See?" (a parallel to the first episode.)

*Another parallel with Hannibal and Jack sitting on either side of Will's hospital bed which a callback to the pilot where it is Hannibal and Will sitting on either side of Abigail's hospital bed.

*That's not Abiveal that Hannibal brings to Bedelia..so who was it? :P

*Bedelia side eyes Hannibal and tells him that he basically needs to be careful. Yet people don't see him as a suspect.Not yet.

* Will in the BHSCI."Hello Dr. Lecter". I have 2 words for Hannibal:You douchebag.

Episode insight:
So we come to the end of S1. Everything is a bit.. up in the air.

I daresay that things were even left  open-ended(I mean Will is in the BHSCI, obviously).The end of S2 isn't open ended..more like it's a cliff-hanger(OMG is it ever!)as to who lived and who died.

Hannibal can't help himself;he is seeing all of this shit going on and he is loving it-the man is a life-ruiner!

And Will..JFC..he is sick for the entire episode(admits he didn't take all of his antibiotics- tsk tsk LOL) He's finally in his right mind at the end of the episode and Hannibal comes to visit him at the end of the episode(even though Bedelia tells him it might not be the best idea. Hannibal's like "Eh I'll do it anyways. Shits and giggles and  lulz all that good stuff". :P

Quotes:
According to the evidence, I killed Abigail Hobbs.-Will

I don't feel like I dodged a bullet.I feel wounded.-Alana

Controversial dish, veal.-Bedelia

[Another new Hannibal promo ,version...I've lost count!]

*Alana and Margot(apparently-and Alana has a cane!)

*Mason(who is standing up(?)-maybe it's some sort of assistive device, or he's gotten surgery so he can stand up *sometimes*?)

*Zeller and Price

*Dolarhyde!

Seriously, can it be June 4th already?(as of today,it's 2 weeks!)

Lots of Florence,Lithuania and Paris. Can.Not.Wait.

[S1 Ep12:Releves]

*Will talking to Georgia.

*Sleepy Will waking up in his hospital bed. Hannibal made him chicken soup :)

*Will really ought to have lied to Hannibal when he asked what was going on with Georgia :(

*At least Jack isn't *completely* clued in about what's going on with Will.

*Poor Georgia.. I have a phobia of static shock and this doesn't help.Her hand on the glass..

*It was definitely NOT a short circuit.

*Freddie throws Will under the bus when she's talking to Abigail(funny how that changed in S2)

*Will dreams that Georgia is in his house and is walking weird-like in The Grudge- and goes outside.Will follows her and she says "See? See?" and is gored by the nightmare stag then bursts into flames. Then we see that  Will is actually in his hospital bed and his fever has broken.

*Will-even when he's not in his right mind-is starting to figure it out.

*Jack is concerned and goes to Hannibal..Hannibal is..well, we know how Hannibal is..so he goes to Bedelia who isn't much more forthcoming.

*Great Zeller and Price scenes(this always reminds me of the blooper!)

*Bedelia can only cover for Hannibal so much-she must be questioning at least *some* of what he tells her?She basically tells him not to attract attention to himself.

*Will is thinking clearly..and he knows what he needs to do:Take Abigail to Minnesota.

*Will goes to talk to Hannibal..the "girl, bye!" look on Hannibal's face when he leaves..LOL

*Freddie is at the BHSCI when Jack shows up. Jack finds out Will has taken Abigail to to Minnesota.He asks Hannibal if he knows what's going on..sort of.

*Jack really is wondering about Will at this point-thinks he might  be a bad guy(just wait 'till episode 13..oy vey!

*Will and Abigail on the plane--he takes her back to the cabin and he hallucinates impaling Abigail n the antlers.He knows that Abigail killed Nick Boyle.Abigail leaves. Will loses time and wakes up on a plane at Dulles airport.

*Hannibal  goes to Abigail's. Abigail shows up a short time later and tells Hannibal that Will flipped  out on her. Abigail says that he knows what's going on and that they will probably both be arrested.

*Abigail asks Hannibal if he is going to killl her. Hannibal says "I couldn't protect you in this life". Uh.Oh.

Episode insight:
Everything is coming together in this episode- and it isn't looking good for Will. Will, in his condition, is easily lead.And nobody suspects anything different. By the start of S2 they are so completely sure that Will is a killer..it's only in the middle of S2 that things start to get better for Will.And then it gets worse.

Hannibal is the proverbial fox in the hen house-at one point when Will is starting to  put things together he says that the copycat killer is someone close to the case-in the FBI(Really surprised that they didn't have Will accusing Jack or someone else in the FBI of being the killer outright in a way that they would be shaking her head and making comments about Will being a crazy person.That would have been a bit cliche-and I am glad that they didn't go that far.

Abigail is colluding with Hannibal(I will be curious to see-in flashbacks-what Abigail was doing in the time she was hiding out at Hannibal's.

If I'm wrong I'm wrong about this but:I think even as far back as the later part of S1 Hannibal was brainwashing Abigail,Will ,*and* Miriam at about the same time.

Quotes:
It's not that I think Dr. Lecter is dangerous-I don't. -Jack

I felt terrified.Then I felt powerful.-Will

Whatever you're doing with Will Graham:Stop.-Bedelia

Did you fish or did you hunt, Abigail?-Will

[Another Hannibal trailer!]

And I have to say, I was NOT expecting it, *and* I needed it today!

I'm going to give my opinion on a couple of(OK several) scenes.My comments are in bold.

Will walking through a field with a house in the background.
Lecter Castle?

Hannibal and Will in a forest sitting in chairs across from each other
A dream sequence,I'm guessing.

Wine(blood?) being thrown and dripping on Hannibal
Possibly Bedelia's death?However she'll be far from the only victim this season..I can't wait to see if they change Pazzi's death from the movies/boooks. 

A body(I saw a picture of this a few days ago) sans a head and legs
That's  in Europe. Will is on the trail of Hannibal and that body happens to drop. 

*Will waking up in a hospital bed in Hannibal's office
Another dream sequence, though I did see someone say the reason for that could be that(in the past) it has been a place of stability for Will.Which makes sense.

Abigail and Will-
This *has* to be part of the scene Bryan referred to recently which he said will make fans go "Did that really just happen?) I do NOT think she's still alive-I mean,surviving getting your throat slashed(especially given how much blood she lost-both times-seems very unlikely.)