Thirty-nine episodes spreading across 3 seasons (2013 - 2015) [Spoiler Free]

TLDR: Its dark, its beautiful, and it holds your attention to the very end. In many ways than one, it keeps you hungry 😋 for more.

I watched Season 1 back in 2013 and I recall not enjoying it. Perhaps, I lacked the maturity back then and in hindsight, this show is not for everyone.

I am spending more time at home and therefore gave Hannibal another go. This post is not about the actual storylines or the plot of Hannibal. Let's face it, it's not easily digestible and therefore complicated to define it with words.

This post is about my fascination with Hannibal's cinematography and the cooking scenes. I am in no position to do justice to it. However, I wanted to capture my thoughts and document my admiration of the tv show.

Hannibal is a disturbing show, and that is an understatement. The art subtly demonstrated here is making Hannibal wonderfully beautiful while preserving the dark theme of the show. The following are a small subset of what piqued my interest:

• The BLOOD WORK is AMAZING: Never have I seen blood so beautifully presented. From throat silting to blood droplets 🩸 on surfaces. Hell, anything that drops, drops in slow motion and beautifully. There is an art to this and capturing this (regardless of the use of computer graphics) requires a special mind and exquisite talent and attention to detail. I am clearly filled with jealously and envy.
• Character depth: each character has a purpose and is unequivocally unpredictable.
• The Chemistry between HANNIBAL and WILL is special and the relationship after three seasons still cannot be categorised. I suspect an actual psychiatrist cannot define their relationship.
• The perfectly dressed Hannibal in every scene is delightful. With those expensive-looking suits, to his cooking attire and the special suit for his kills. Even in season 3, where he is restricted to a room in the hospital, his clothing is ironed, hair in place and clean shaved. This is the attention to detail that is evident throughout the show. This is not the show that can play in the background while you do other things. It held 100% of my attention and that is not easy, considering how hooked we are to social media etc.
• Season 3 - while in lockdown, it was magical to see Europe through the lens of Hannibal. It was a pleasant change and brought back my memories of when I visited Italy and France. There is a lot of history in those countries and they have preserved that history and the culture.
• Dialogs - words have never pierced so sharply as the words delivered by Hannibal and Will.
• Gillian Anderson🥰 - I had a crush on her since the X Files series. Pleasure to see her here, and even her character had depth and unpredictability.

I was not taking notes, and therefore the above is entirely from my untrustworthy memory.

Coming back to the two foremost reasons that kept me glued to Hannibal other than the storyline was cinematography and cooking scenes. Neither of which I can do justice to in words. Therefore, I link the following YouTube videos (all in HD) and you decide for yourself.

COOKING

ASMR HANNIBAL COOKING - 2 December 2017

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Watching these videos in years to come will take you back in time where you enjoyed the masterpiece that is Hannibal.

Closing notes

We will watch television for millions of hours in our lifetime and we are always seeking for the next entertainment hit. In years to come, we may even forget Hannibal😢. This blog post to me will serve as a reminder of the greatness that is Hannibal.

Give yourself the gift 💝 of Hannibal and enjoy all three seasons.

Wiki and Netflix links

NBC has cancelled many tv shows and life moves on. However, I will not forgive NBC for denying Hannibal another season.

Hannibal will look even more perfect in 4K. Hopefully this dream comes true soon.