It's hard to write a single review for the final season of Hannibal, given how neatly split the season is into two very different segments. The first half of the season (I think it's actually slightly more than half, but you get the idea) is like a bizarre, gloriously over-the-top horror art film, as the survivor's of last season's massacre heal, regroup, and begin to track down the escaped Hannibal Lecter. There's no arguing that the early going of the season got pretentious and slow-paced; the issue really is whether you think that's a bad thing or a great thing. You can count me in the latter camp; while I totally empathize with anyone who got frustrated with the season in the early going and gave up (and don't really blame them), I loved the show's devil-may-care attitude, refusing to compromise itself for anyone and instead doubling down on all its most inaccessible qualities as it plunged into a weird landscape of psychic scar tissue, wounded victims, brainwashed captives, and more. It either worked for you or it didn't, but you certainly can't accuse showrunner Bryan Fuller of ever compromising his vision for that show. And then, just when he had pushed everyone to the limit of their tolerance (and probably pushed a lot of people beyond that), he shifted everything, turning the last half of the season into his take on Red Dragon. Taking on a familiar story like this (which has been told in three different versions even before this) could have been the ruin of the show; instead, it became some of the best, most intense, disturbing work the show had ever done, immersing itself in a killer like it had rarely been able to do and truly letting us see the world through the eyes of the disturbed, fractured Francis Dolarhyde. Fuller made the material his own, letting it serve as both an exciting and intense story on its own terms, but also using it to explore the themes he's been fascinated by from the beginning - the dangers of madness, the way empathy can blind us to the danger we're in, and the complex, fascinating relationship between Will Graham and Hannibal Lecter. And it all builds to a jaw-dropping finale that took the book and turned it on its head, letting it become the perfect send-off for the show. I'm not sure if Hannibal will ever return at this point; I certainly hope it does, and if it does, I'll be there and excited. But if it doesn't, I can't help but feel that Fuller and company sent us off perfectly, giving us a final moment (excepting the stinger) that wraps up every plot thread, every psychological scar, in wonderful fashion. And whatever else you say about the show - whatever its excesses or absurdities - it certainly wasn't like anything else on television, and that alone means I'll be missing it for a long time to come.
- Josh Mauthe
- Josh Mauthe
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