NBC's Hannibal II: A Hollow Drumming of Wings [SPOILERS]

[Sir Thursday]

I just watch this for the prettiness at this point. The buzzing, weird electro music/noise/siren sounds almost drowning out conversations, the long, lingering shots of perfectly composed stillness, the silent faces conveying layers of information that never makes into words, the occasional nature shots with their shockingly warm, autumnal color palette ...I just gave up pretending I cared about the plot and now it's just the visual equivalant of a TS Eliot poem, and it's good, but then it will suddenly be too much, take it a little too far, be a little too pleased with itself, and it just becomes funny again - not darkly funny, not gallows humor, just silly. And then it slides back. It's better than last season, anyway. I giggled my way through that from the moment the mushrooms showed up. I don't even know anymore. Well, it passed the time.

You forgot the food-porn, a critical ingredient ;).

ST

[Datepalm]

The food-porn is almost always one of the takes-it-too-far things, actually. When Will is at that renaissance-painting of a hallucination table loaded with food and decay, I was just kind of...seriously?

[Datepalm]

Speaking of too much, and gay subtext, my sister sent me this vid which was a solid laugh.

[dame]

Speaking of too much, and gay subtext, my sister sent me this vid which was a solid laugh.

:D those kind of video are just so funny. This one is pretty funny too.

[Jace, Extat]

So is it just me, or is the antler-creature (that Will sees Hannibal as) the most horrifying thing to ever be shown on TV? Every time that thing was on screen I cringed and felt like I was going to get stabbed in the back of my neck.

[polishgenius]

So is it just me, or is the antler-creature (that Will sees Hannibal as)

It's supposed to be a Wendigo.

Which I hadn't realised until just now quite how fitting it is - I only know Wendigo mythology vaguely, but they're heavily associated with cannibalism.

So Will's subconscious could be giving him a clue...

[red snow]

It's supposed to be a Wendigo.

Which I hadn't realised until just now quite how fitting it is - I only know Wendigo mythology vaguely, but they're heavily associated with cannibalism.

So Will's subconscious could be giving him a clue...

Hadn't realised it was a wendigo but (from my memory of X-men lore) a human becomes a wendigo when they eat another human. So it is a good clue.

To be honest I just thought the antlers were because of the guy Will shot in the first episode - he played the creature all last season. didn't think there was more to it than that.

[Anatúrinbor]

Never heard of a Wendigo before. But this picture might help if you find him too frightening (or it might ruin the show for you).

[Veltigar]

Just watched it...

Wow, much beauty such style!

This most be the most gorgouesly shot show on TV. Just absolutly love it and the food looks so damn tasty!!! I agree with Red Snow, I would really love to have one of those meals (without human ingredients of course :p )

Mads Mikkelsen does indeed own every scene he's in. I really wonder what's going on with Gillian Anderson's character -he's clearly got something over her, but she obviously doesn't know, for certain, though she's definitely frightened of him now.

I loved it when Mads told her that she did not know what he was capable off. Just send shivers down my spine.

Mads Mikkelsen kills every scene he is in. Every single action of his conveys this supernatural elegance and his delevery of lines seems so innocent yet laced with threats. I particularly enjoyed how I could pick up his disgust at having the other psychiatrist over for dinner whilst appearing jovial and polite. I really didn't think anyone could top Anthony Hopklns' portrayal but Mads has taken it in such a different direction it has me wondering. Maybe Hannibal is just one of those characters that a good actor can excel with - much like Sherlock and Doctor Who?

Nah, it's just Mads Mikkelsen being Mads Mikkelsen :p What a great actor he is! Just compare his Hannibal to his role in Jagten (For the Americans "The Hunt" which was snubbed at the Oscars) or in Valhalla Rising (which regardless of what those fools on IMDB think is a great movie).

I know it's whishful thinking but GoT really needs to cast him as Euron Greyjoy :D

[Anatúrinbor]

Just absolutly love it and the food looks so damn tasty!!! I agree with Red Snow, I would really love to have one of those meals (without human ingredients of course :P )

I don't know. If you take out the human ingredients nothing remains IMO.

[red snow]

Nah, it's just Mads Mikkelsen being Mads Mikkelsen :P What a great actor he is! Just compare his Hannibal to his role in Jagten (For the Americans "The Hunt" which was snubbed at the Oscars) or in Valhalla Rising (which regardless of what those fools on IMDB think is a great movie).

I know it's whishful thinking but GoT really needs to cast him as Euron Greyjoy :D

I'm becoming convinced he's an excellent actor too. In Jagten he comes across as so incredible vulnerable yet still with that determination you see with him in Hannibal and Valhalla rising (didn't enjoy VH but couldn't fault Mads performance)

Careful what you wish for - he could be available for the part if Hannibal is cancelled this season.

I don't know. If you take out the human ingredients nothing remains IMO.

Fair point - he could substitute the human parts with the animals he claims is present.

If the latest episode's fish dish was human, then who was the victim? I know this has happened in the past eg "the lucky rabbit's foot" but it's unnerving that he seems to eat people regularly that aren't even turning up.

My neighbour was using a garden strimmer at lunchtime. It weirdly reminded me of the show's theme tune.

[polishgenius]

I haven't yet seen The Hunt, but I'm generally of the opinion that Mads Mikkelsen is the best actor in the world today, DDL and the McConaissance included.

[Veltigar]

Fair point - he could substitute the human parts with the animals he claims is present.

Or you know we could just eat what they make on set :p Pretty sure no actual humans were harmed in the making of the meals :D

I'm becoming convinced he's an excellent actor too. In Jagten he comes across as so incredible vulnerable yet still with that determination you see with him in Hannibal and Valhalla rising (didn't enjoy VH but couldn't fault Mads performance)

Careful what you wish for - he could be available for the part if Hannibal is cancelled this season.

His role in Jagten is absolutly devastating. It really is a movie that makes you feel what the protagonist has to go through. And in VH he really is Godlike and mysterious. He was the best part of the movie.

I hope they don't cancel Hannibal. But I think Euron is such a small role at the moment that he could easily do it on the side.

I haven't yet seen The Hunt, but I'm generally of the opinion that Mads Mikkelsen is the best actor in the world today, DDL and the McConaissance included.

:bowdown: :agree:

[Anatúrinbor]

If the latest episode's fish dish was human, then who was the victim? I know this has happened in the past eg "the lucky rabbit's foot" but it's unnerving that he seems to eat people regularly that aren't even turning up.

Yeah, it's weird how he seems to always have someone to eat... On the other hand do we know how many meals can be prepared from one person? And the bodies aren't turning up because he's keeping them.

[Mexal]

I haven't yet seen The Hunt, but I'm generally of the opinion that Mads Mikkelsen is the best actor in the world today, DDL and the McConaissance included.

I really can't agree. He's ok, but I never see any true emotion from him, at least in the movies I've seen him in. I'll have to catch up on some others to see if I've just missed it.

The food-porn is almost always one of the takes-it-too-far things, actually. When Will is at that renaissance-painting of a hallucination table loaded with food and decay, I was just kind of...seriously?

There can never be too much food porn in my eyes.

[kli]

Weirdly, I'm not worried about Friday night. I'm just happy to see what a great match it is for Grimm (which got a 1.4, btw.) Dracula, which is what Hannibal is replacing, only got around a 1.0 with L+5 as 1.57; Hannibal came in at 1.1. So, the Grimm lead-in is helping. And that's just the live view--Hannibal tends to do a lot better on the +7 dvr thing than most shows--I'm guessing some folks have issues with nightmares viewing before going to bed--or actually have things to do on Friday nights. :) The Hannibal L+7 is 2.0.

Yes. I've been reading thefutoncritic for too many years, now.

Throw in the fact that NBC gets critical acclaim, and a lower cost because the show is foreign-financed, has a buttload of social media activity (thank you, live tweeting from Bryan Fuller) and I'm not seeing it in any serious danger, yet.

BTW, just historically, Angel skated by for years on a 2.0, and that was BEFORE the internet cutting of the cord and DVR timeshifting. I think a lot of folks like getting hysterical over perceived issues, and have never actually looked at the numbers.

The spoilery nature of the trailers can be forgiven considering it was the opening scene. Can't wait for the show to catch up to that "12 weeks later" intro - although I could easily see that being the season finale. Although I secretly hope the pacing will be faster.

Nope, that's from the finale. Fuller's said this in interviews, most notably the A/V Club "walkthrough" he'll be doing for each episode, like he did last season. I have to admit the "12 weeks ago" gave me a little thrill, as it really will be 12 weeks later for us that we're going to see that scene again.

... Mads Mikkelsen kills every scene he is in. Every single action of his conveys this supernatural elegance and his delevery of lines seems so innocent yet laced with threats. I particularly enjoyed how I could pick up his disgust at having the other psychiatrist over for dinner whilst appearing jovial and polite. I really didn't think anyone could top Anthony Hopklns' portrayal but Mads has taken it in such a different direction it has me wondering. Maybe Hannibal is just one of those characters that a good actor can excel with - much like Sherlock and Doctor Who?

I'm still just tickled that Mads's brother, Lars, was the Big Bad ("Charles Augustus Magnusson") in Sherlock's "His Last Vow". :D Damn, that's one amazing family when it comes to acting. But yes, I suppose that Hannibal is one of those canvases for an actor that's flexible enough to go wherever you can take it; writing allowed. A lot has to do with how the character is being written, though. It's not like Jeremy Brett's Holmes is the same character as Nicol Williamson's Holmes any more than Conan Doyle/John Hawkesworth are Nicholas Meyer. Hopkins portrays a caught psychopathic killer, so he gets to do different things than Mads, who's playing Hannibal pre-imprisonment and still passing for a normal human being.

... I really wonder what's going on with Gillian Anderson's character -he's clearly got something over her, but she obviously doesn't know, for certain, though she's definitely frightened of him now.

I just assumed that Hannibal killed her attacker--the one who stopped her from practicing as a psychiatrist any more. Except for Hannibal. Something similar to Hannibal and Abigail's relationship. Also, for your amusement: what Fuller was tweeting during one duMaurier/Hannibal scene in the premiere.

The food-porn is almost always one of the takes-it-too-far things, actually. When Will is at that renaissance-painting of a hallucination table loaded with food and decay, I was just kind of...seriously?

...and the bird skulls on the plate last year didn't trip the same trigger? At least this was in a dream sequence, so it actually made sense that it was so over the top. I mean, this is a Grand Guignol opera show, after all. Like Pushing Daisies, the imagery isn't going to be low-key, and I, personally, revel in all the over-the-top lushness. Even something as simple as Will's mind palace being fishing in a stream is given so much texture and beauty it's heartbreaking.

I am also absolutely loving the role reversal/twinning of Hannibal and Will that's obviously going on. "You're the new Will Graham," vs. seeing out from the bars in the cell that we've only ever peered INTO in all the film versions so far. Will's mind palace vs. Hannibal's mind palace. And that both Hannibal and Will disdain to talk to Chilton. And, of course, that moment when Beverly Katz walks in and is pre-echoing Clarice Starling consulting with Hannibal.

I don't know. If you take out the human ingredients nothing remains IMO.

Live uni (sea urchin) is NOT nothing. Granted, most folks never get it fresh enough to know how sweet/perfumed it is when it's served live. :)

[kli]

I really can't agree. He's ok, but I never see any true emotion from him, at least in the movies I've seen him in. I'll have to catch up on some others to see if I've just missed it.

Try After the Wedding.

[polishgenius]

I really can't agree. He's ok, but I never see any true emotion from him, at least in the movies I've seen him in. I'll have to catch up on some others to see if I've just missed it.

See, this is exactly the opposite for me. In Hannibal he plays a man without real emotion, but he conveys his feelings with just the subtlest twitch of movement or posture - in a way that takes time to decipher, so seeing him at first it seems blank, but once you've watched him a bit you can read him like a book. A noted example being the first season episode where Will misses an appointment through hallucinating- to the practiced Hannibalista he's almost giddy going to the door, then disappointed and almost betrayed when Will isn't there- but when he discovers it's through a brainfart, he's delighted.

And yet he barely moves. It's all restrained, but all there.

Whereas Valhalla Rising is almost the opposite. The character doesn't speak at all, but there's raw, barely contained emotion in him.

[Datepalm]

...and the bird skulls on the plate last year didn't trip the same trigger? At least this was in a dream sequence, so it actually made sense that it was so over the top. I mean, this is a Grand Guignol opera show, after all. Like Pushing Daisies, the imagery isn't going to be low-key, and I, personally, revel in all the over-the-top lushness. Even something as simple as Will's mind palace being fishing in a stream is given so much texture and beauty it's heartbreaking.

Almost everything in season one tripped off helpless giggles. The mushrooms were the worst. (The one thing that worked for me on any serious, emotional level was the guy who kept having crushes on serial killers. Him I felt for.) This episode was a little more restrained, or maybe I was in the right mood for once. (I burst out laughing at the eye thing at the end though) I admire and enjoy the lushness and the beauty, but it also leaves me either cold or amused. It's just trying so terribly hard, that I can't take it seriously at all.

I really liked (but never loved) Pushing Daisies, but I particularly enjoyed how unabashedly comedic it was. It had this rich overlay of gorgeous but very (quite deliberately) silly candy-bright imagery, that created a spectacle of self-aware cliche. It was almost camp, even as it was being ridiculously grim, and that worked.

Hannibal is just the same, for me, and it is funny, but because there's isn't that ironic gap there, also mostly emotionally void. There's no tension, nothing to feel for yourself. (I don't think it's ever in doubt, for example, that Hannibal feels very strongly about Will, as in the scene someone mentioned upthread. It's terribly banal and staple of these kinds of things, in fact, that he does. It isn't interesting, it isn't something that demands any kind of empathy or involvement from me.) The show gives you everything you need - for that very serious reading - on, um, a platter. The interest for me is mostly, like Pushing Daisies, in the place where it is ironic, where the cliches are illuminating something - like the sexualization, glamourization, fetishization of violence, of killing, of dead bodies, of the impeccable killer himself.

[kli]

Sounds to me like the Fuller show for you, then, is Wonderfalls. :) I am, obviously, on the opposite side of that fence, as I've adored every. single. Bryan Fuller show I've ever run across. Even The Amazing Screw-On Head. Hell, even Mockingbird Lane (which I know everyone else hated).

Yes. Hannibal is a much "straighter" narrative, but unlike you, I'm not finding that makes it emotionally void, or difficult to connect to.

I do agree the mushrooms were giggle-inducing, and probably the closest we came to something straight out of Pushing Daisies or Dead Like Me; but the over all level of the grotesque kept it, for me, from being simply comedic. Could've done without that weird insert shot of the jaw being pulled off. The only really humorous moment for me in that episode, really was the Wonderfalls callout ("Lost the hyphen. Kept the ring.") and even that was overshadowed for me by the victim-targeting, the tone for me maintains, and I do still manage to get caught up in the story and characters. I'm not seeing all that frantic effort you see blocking you from connecting. To me, the show isn't trying hard--it's succeeding. I typically end up watching each episode two or three times on the night of broadcast, because there's so much there.