When earlier this year release of 3rd season of Brian Fuller’s “Hannibal” coincided with the news of series’ cancellation by NBC, I was utterly crushed: as the production’s loyal supporter from season one (and a major admirer of Mads Mikkelsen’s both talent and… well… the whole package) I was anxious for news of another channel giving the series a new home…
However, as the new season rolled out, my staunch support waned: each new episode was visually stunning, but I felt complete lack of sustenance; to speak in the style of the series, we are presented with a feast for the eyes, but intellect is left to hunger. A suspicion grows in me that for this season images came first and then a story to tie them together, not the other way around: the graphical side is no longer a tool, means to an end: it is the end. And the show suffers, so much so that not even naked chest of Hannibal Lecter can redeem it to me. What is the point of having a detailed, slow motion, 100% CGI scene of a motor engine starting up in a story where neither the bike, nor the engine have any significance. Or kaleidoscopic lesbian love scene, both dragging on for minutes?
Yes, it is all very beautiful but none of it challenges me on an intellectual level, none of it adds anything to the analysis of the story being told.
Such a waste, such a tragic waste. A beautiful meal that has no taste…