Review: Hannibal, Episode #3

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

EPISODE 3: Potage

THE MENU: Near victim of her own fathers rage Abigail Hobbs is awake from her coma and looking for answers, Will Graham happens to be just as curious and brings Hannibal Lecter and gang along taking a trip down memory lane of the tragic day Graham would like to forget.

THE MAIN COURSE: I really hope the network has enough faith in this show to really let it give itself some traction and let it show what it has in its bag of goodies, because tonight shows that even a slow burning episode will make for compelling television. Tonight we were introduced to an awakened Abigail Hobbs (Kacey Rohl) and the beginning of her story was more riveting than I figured it would be. Rohl put forth a moving performance and kept me sympathizing with her throughout, my heart broke for her unraveled life and up to the final frames I still remained wary of her not knowing if all the screws in her cranium were in place. We know she’s disturbed, but how screwed up is she? They did an excellent job not letting the cat jump its way out of the bag as it pertains to that.

The rest of the cast continues to own their respective roles beautifully. I love the slow subtle glimpses into Lecter’s true nature. He seemed stand-offish for most of this episode, yet Mads conveyed more than he could ever put into words with just his menacing/curious facial expressions, a favorite moment being Graham’s reaction when Abigail asked him an interesting question about the nature of killing. That brings up Abigail’s dynamic with Graham, which was okay except I wish Abigail’s cold reaction to him for the fact that he killed her father be explored a little more, seemed to be resolved a bit too quickly. But I think there is potential there as Abigail seems to be fascinated by the ability Graham has to climb inside the mind of a man like her father (as seen in a dream sequence that matches the stylistic tone the previous two episodes had).

What is the shows main strength moving forward? The “bomb under the seat” style of suspense that Hitchcock loved so much in the form of the cat and mouse game for who the copycat killer is. We know the score, it’s just a matter of Will Graham catching up and I love it. By the end of the episode we’ve taken another plunge into Hannibal’s devious deeds and it moves the story along in a way that I can dig my teeth into. Since I’m on that subject, and I didn’t last week when I meant to let me praise the set design this show has sported so far, I LOVE Hannibal’s digs. Bottom line there, I dug last weeks ending more…but tonight had the bigger bang. Tonight got it right.

DESSERT: Tonight was essentially an awesome character study, we had new sh*t to introduce and plot to move forward so we had to risk the overwhelmingly beautiful cinematography of the first two episodes. The addition of Abigail added a lot and it served as a catalyst for Hannibal to enjoy being naughty, brings more of that right on. Also of note is Crawford’s diminishing faith in Graham, which is leading to some interesting conflict. Fans of this material know where this road will lead, but this show has managed to maintain an aura of mystery all the same. We are let in on some things without really being let in on some things, and there’s some things we still need to guess at. Hannibal wouldn’t work any other way.

Next week’s episode is entitled “Coquilles” and looks to get back to the cringe inducing sh*t we saw in the first two episodes. Bring on the goods that make me want to sleep with the light on. Check out what to expect here.

RATING ON 10

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