Hannibal: Season Two Blu-ray Review

Balinnah?

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman, September 16, 2014

If the world "Htrae" looks familiar to you, or better yet, if you actually know to what it refers, you may inherently understand what I mean when I sayhas entered its own Bizarro World as it slices and dices its way through its sophomore year. (For those whocomic book fans, Bizarro World refers to an alternate universe in DC comics where Earth has become Htrae.) The first season ofdrew raves (including here at Blu-ray.com) for its vivid reinvention of the iconic characters of Thomas Harris. The first year ofmanaged to rather artfully revisit some standard tropes in the Hannibal Lecter canon while introducing several fanciful new elements, including various psychological tics and, ultimately, a breakdown for FBI agent Will Graham (Hugh Dancy). Graham's almost hypersensitivity to crime scenes was a recurring motif of, and it alerted the profiler to the "dark side" of Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelson) long before others seemed to be aware anything was out of whack with the famous "good" doctor and epicurean. In Bryan Fuller's smartly reimagined version, Graham pretty much goes off the deep end just when Hannibal's scheming leads tobecoming the main suspect in a series of grisly murders (the show was and continues to begraphic at times). That in turn leads us to Bizarro World, where Graham is the lunatic (alleged) serial killer while the calm but menacing Hannibal Lecter is on the outside looking in.has been almost audacious in how it virtually dares the audience to guess its twists and turnsand then repeatedly surprises. That's certainly the case with this second season, which while playing topsy turvy with Lecter and Graham also has the added shock value of a discombobulating presentation of the seasonclimax as the opening sequence, leaving the rest of the season to play "catch up" to what has already been depicted.wouldto be bound by certain strictures, at least when one considers the fact that any fan of Harris' source novels is going to know that sooner or later Dr. Lecter is going to get caught and end up in stir, sometimes with a less than flattering face guard plastered across his supple jaw. It's to Bryan Fuller's credit, then, that so far at leasthas managed to dodge several potential traps, as evidenced by the fact that it'sbehind bars and not Lecter as the second season gets underway (after that unsettling "preview" of how the season will end).The preview itself helps to quash some latent fears about how far Fuller was willing to push the canon, for there were already some nattering naysayers who thought that the first season strained credulity with how much Lecter was able to continue getting away with, with only Will as a potential threat. Without spoiling too much, it's clear in the opening sequence that Will is no longer alone in his suspicions of Lecter, and in fact that element plays outtimes in the second season, with a number of supporting characters slowly coming to the conclusion that Will may not be batcrazy after all and that Lecter definitely is adept at vivisecting more than mere pâté de foie gras. In the meantime, though, "Bizarro World"continues through its first half dozen or so episodes with Will locked away in the Baltimore Hospital for the Criminally Insane while Lecter gets to put on his shiniest shoes and pretend to be a real, honest to goodness FBI profiler for several disturbing cases.There are a number of fantastic surprises in store for viewers in the second season, with two appearances that may actually shock and several gruesome deaths, including for at least one major supporting character. The series continues to strain credulity at times, with this season's gambit of Will returning to Lecter's fold after getting out of the institution not handled with any special facility. Along the way, there are the customary embalmings, entombings and impalings that have come to define this series' more gory side.builds to a fearsome conclusion that sees a handful of major characters at death's door and Hannibal himself off to supposedly calmer climes overseas. A post-credits tease hints that yet another recurring character has a more central role in Hannibal's behavior than might have previously been thought. Through all the murder and mayhem,continues to be an effectively stylish and provocative thriller that has unique amounts of character driven drama interspersed with truly creepy crime scenes. Fuller wisely reinvents standard canon fare in new ways throughout the season (revisiting such iconic images as the flaming body in a wheelchair catapulting down a parking lot ramp). If, as the saying goes, everything old is new again, there's no better proof than