The word on the third season of Hannibal, which returns to US screens on 4 June, is that things take a very dark turn. Let’s put that into perspective; in previous episodes, this show killed off one of its most decent, honest characters, then displayed her corpse cut lengthways into strips in a manner Gunter von Hagens would deem “a bit much”. They’ve had one character kept conscious while most of his internal organs were removed; another was sat down to a fancy meal that consisted of part of his own anatomy; yet another was drugged, given a blade and ordered to eat his own face. And now it’s getting dark?



So what can we expect now that the hitherto unnoticed light-heartedness of the first two seasons has gone? For many shows, it’s the third season where things truly take flight. Season one can often be a struggle to get everyone working on the same page; season two is usually where everyone pushes and pulls at their tasks to see how far they can go in whatever direction. Season three is where confidence and talent gel to produce something remarkable, something classic. That’s where we are now with Hannibal.

The scope has widened. Now Hannibal is hiding out in Europe, enjoying the “free range rude” folk of Paris, where he’s assumed a new identity. Along for the ride is Gillian Anderson’s Dr Bedelia du Maurier, who we once assumed was on the run from Hannibal and now know to be on the run with him. As if the story of two insane psychiatrists on the lam wasn’t enough, we soon return to the US to incorporate the story of serial killer and avid Hannibal fan Francis Dolarhyde (aka the Tooth Fairy, aka the Red Dragon) played by Richard Armitage in a role previously taken on the big screen by Tom Noonan and Ralph Fiennes (so no pressure there). Hugh Dancy, Laurence Fishburne and Caroline Dhavernas all return as the forces of good out to capture Hannibal. And, of course, Mads Mikkelsen is back and clearly having a great time as the titular cannibal.

Showrunner Bryan Fuller continues his excellent work weaving his web from whatever Lecter lore he can get his hands on. It’s an incredible juggling act, as some important characters, such as Clarice Starling, are out of bounds due to rights issues with MGM’s movie The Silence of the Lambs. Fuller also has to dance around network rules – there’s no anything-goes, Game of Thrones-style cable freedom here.

So it’s almost impossible to show people actually being murdered, but you can show the explicit and grotesque end results in the show’s spectacular postmortem tableaux. And, bizarrely, you can show them being eaten. You can’t have nudity or swearing either, but Fuller uses these limitations to create an off-kilter, surreal world for the show to play out in.

In this much-touted golden age of television, you’ll regularly hear it trumpeted that it’s a writer’s medium. True enough, there are plenty of shows that live or die by the pen of such talents as Matthew Weiner, Vince Gilligan or David Simon. But for Hannibal, the visuals and sound are easily as important as the words. Style and substance occupy the same ground here. Everything from the shifting, shallow focus of the darkly colour-saturated camerawork, to the wardrobe of strangely patterned fabrics, to the extreme sonic palette of the music and sound effects all conspire to assault the senses.

If you are watching this show on a laptop or, heaven forbid, a tablet or phone, then you really aren’t watching it at all. Hannibal demands a big screen and a loud sound system. Perhaps only Penny Dreadful has such commitment to its visuals, but that show utilises the tools to portray the supernatural. Hannibal goes much further and employs its bag of tricks to explore a psychological landscape, where we are seeing things from the point of view of unstable, overstimulated and oversensitive minds. It really is unlike anything else that has ever been on TV.

The first few episodes are directed by Vincenzo Natali of Cube and Splice fame. Those who think a TV director just rocks up on the day and shouts action should check out Natali’s previous Hannibal episodes, some of the most stylish and gruesome, and get suitably excited for what’s to come.

So even if you’ve never seen an episode before, now is a great place to start. This is unique television.