Hannibal

I had only seen Manhunter and Silence of the Lambs before binge-watching the series. Its dreamlike, macabre aesthetics and metaphysical ramblings are best savored in small doses, like all the gourmet meals Lecter meticulously prepares for his guests. One could superficially boil down its theme as a debate between ethics and justice. Murder victims become grotesque works of art. Can one turn down an exquisite meal made from human flesh? While logic dictates that killers would have to be superhuman to a) be undetected while lugging, dissecting, and rearranging multiple corpses for theatrical purposes; b) leave little or no evidence for the authorities, and c) have the patience to do all that surgery along with mixing in other media for effect, again with nothing for medical examiners to follow up with. The police procedural aspect is really beside the point. I wondered why no one ever bothered to go through Lecter's trash or excreta to gather evidence. Counterintelligence as well as police stoop that low. We know there are many murderers and mutilators in society, some of whom cannibalize their victims, or preserve parts of them for study or admiration. H. H. Holmes, during the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, comes to mind. In the world of Hannibal Lecter, we are asked to see killers as perverse artists. Hannibal himself is a sadistic god who likes to put friends in harm's way by betraying them and their loved ones to their murderous adversaries. Why? To see what they would do to extricate themselves. You could call it Nietzschean psychology. That which doesn't kill us can only make us stronger. Since most religiously observant people can't account for unmerited suffering, grief, and adversity in life, a god who is either indifferent to our plight or who delights in our misery would make sense. I don't believe that personally, but I also believe there is no gain without pain. We live in a world of fallen nature where, as Werner Herzog observed in Burden of Dreams, we can't escape the chaos of copulation, consumption, and death.

I am 2/3 through the series. I saw Mindhunter and Silence of the Lambs, but hadn't really explored the Lecter universe beyond that. The idea of turning one's murder victims into works of art or gourmet cuisine dominates the show, along with questions of guilt, evil and consciousness. The crimes depicted frankly stretch credulity (why and how would someone go to all that effort to mutilate and display so many bodies?). It would require superhuman strength, speed and meticulousness to accomplish these on one's own without being noticed. The FBI, police and guards are all too sluggish and unsavvy to prevent escapes and being overpowered. The police procedural and forensic aspects are less believable than NCIS. Still, the eeriness of the plot and the wit in the dialog have kept my attention. The mind games played here would be especially meaningful to those who have had extensive psychotherapy.

i bought shudder just for this 😭😭

Everything one can ever want: lovable & interesting characters, excellently engaging & driven plot, and gay Hannigram 🥰

This is one of the best shows I ever watched. I’m so picky with what I watch and I kept coming across this everytime I open this app. I don’t regret watching this.