Hannibal Pimp Post for Sherlock Fans
I did one of these for Luther, so now it’s Hannibal’s turn. :)
Imagine a Sherlock AU in which the pool scene reveals that John actually is Moriarty, and then Sherlock steadily goes crazy because his subconscious can’t handle it. The plot consists entirely of set pieces to allow for some quality Sherlock whump (and, I imagine, many happy fangirls). You now have the basic structure of the first season of Hannibal.
I’ve read repeatedly that Hannibal is the closest thing on TV to Sherlock in terms of visual style, writing, acting, and structure, and I have to agree-since Sherlock’s series 2 aired, American Sherlock fans have been spoiled by both Elementary and now Hannibal, and we’re very lucky to have them both on air. Long may they continue!
The Sherlockian character in Hannibal is Will Graham (played by Hugh Dancy), complete with dark curls and startling blue eyes. Like Sherlock, Will has a unique deduction method that makes him invaluable to the top crime-catchers in his country. Unlike Sherlock’s cold pseudo-sociapathy, though, Will’s consists of “pure empathy,” or the ability to get inside a serial killer’s mind and feel what their motivation was, thereby allowing the FBI to catch them.
Lestrade’s role is filled by the character of Jack Crawford (played by Lawrence Fishburne), Will’s boss, who is willing to bend the rules for him. At times he seems even more permissive than Lestrade, and he’s definitely much more supportive of Will than Lestrade is of Sherlock. (I’m starting to feel very bad for Elementary’s Sherlock Holmes; in comparison to these two counterparts, Captain Gregson doesn’t let him get away with anything.) Crawford even has marital troubles like Lestrade-though the problems are quite different in nature. (Major shout-out here to Firefly’s Gina Torres, who brilliantly plays Bella Crawford, Jack’s wife.)
Alana Bloom (played by Caroline Dhavernas) is kind of a mix of Molly and Mycroft, sort of a love interest and background protector for Will, though not as loyal or endearing as Molly nor as calculating and manipulative as Mycroft. But she does her best to take care of Will.
There’s the Kitty Reilly character (the shady, attractive red-headed reporter) in the character of Freddie Lounds (played by Lara Jean Chorostecki). Both characters constantly play with fire, messing around with extremely dangerous people in order to get their big reporting break, and I’m interested to see what the fallout will be for both of them.
Mrs. Hudson’s role is...sort of taken over by a pack of rescued dogs, but let’s not get into that.
And then there’s Hannibal Lecter (played by Mads Mikkelsen, who will win all the awards for this show, I’m convinced of it, even though Hugh Dancy works harder), Will’s psychiatrist and Moriarty for this series. Kind of hard to get better when it turns out your psychiatrist is crazier than you are. The titular Hannibal is a beautiful enigma (the bone structure on this guy rivals Benedict’s), the driving force behind the plot, cool and calm and actually wickedly devious: a cannibalistic serial killer who loves throwing exotic dinner parties. And no one fucking knows it, which is the true beauty of this show. (That and the ambiguous role of his psychiatrist, Dr. Du Maurier, played by Gillian Anderson from The X-Files.)
Even the structure of the first season of Hannibal is similar to Reichenbach, that almost delicious inevitability as the villain’s plan comes to fruition.
The quality of acting is very strong. Equally impressive, though, is the visual style. I swear that most of this budget must have gone into the set here, making each location suitable for the real world and then also an unsettling mirror-world that Will sees in his dreams/hallucinations/murder recreations as he becomes more mentally unstable. Salvador Dalí would have a field day watching this show. At one point during an episode, things became so surreal that I said aloud, “Damn, all we need now are some melting clocks,” and then later there was a melting clock. The result is a visual style that reminded me more strongly of Donnie Darko than anything else, but still: powerful and creepy.
Thankfully, neither show is a procedural, and the writing in both is incredible. I actually think that in terms of the emotional impact of the cases, Hannibal succeeds much more than Sherlock does. Nothing ever goes away for Will: seemingly random elements from his very first case continue to haunt him in the season finale. Would-be victims continue to suffer even after their would-be murderers are gone. Our characters save people and then continue to care about them and feel responsible for them.
What’s missing from Hannibal, then, is the one thing that makes Sherlock completely unique as a show (at least in my estimation): John, the literal heart of the series. Sherlock can be grim and painful, but it’s full of emotion, surprisingly funny, even joyful at times.
I don’t think Hannibal can ever be accused of that one. Hannibal isn’t a show about love or a deep friendship or the humanization of a person or even about making a difference in the world. It’s about the dark side of humanity, the dark potential inside each of us, and how acting on that dark side through murder and violence absolutely ruins everyone it touches, including and especially the people working to catch the perpetrators. This is a problem for the show because it is so joyless, so depressing and horrific, and it goes on and on with no respite. Nothing seems to make a difference; nothing changes. I can’t remember anyone even cracking a smile in the entire first season.
Nevertheless, Hannibal is still one of my favorite new shows. Although there is no overt humor, there is a wicked kind of dark comedy in the character of Hannibal: feeding people to his dinner guests, calling people his friends while working completely against their best interests, playing around during extremely dangerous situations just to see what would happen, making all kinds of ridiculous puns. I kept wanting him to be around just to see what he would do, and he didn’t disappoint.
I’m very impressed with NBC for producing something of this quality, I’m delighted that it was renewed for a second season, and I can’t wait to see where they take the characters next. (Also, I’m anticipating a long and harmonious relationship between these two fandoms. Bring on the crossovers!)
EDIT: Check out this video from InevitableDarkFlame or daasgrrl's Dégustation for some amazing crossovers between the two fandoms.
Back to my Sherlock Holmes Adaptations Masterlist: ( Taxi!)
Imagine a Sherlock AU in which the pool scene reveals that John actually is Moriarty, and then Sherlock steadily goes crazy because his subconscious can’t handle it. The plot consists entirely of set pieces to allow for some quality Sherlock whump (and, I imagine, many happy fangirls). You now have the basic structure of the first season of Hannibal.
I’ve read repeatedly that Hannibal is the closest thing on TV to Sherlock in terms of visual style, writing, acting, and structure, and I have to agree-since Sherlock’s series 2 aired, American Sherlock fans have been spoiled by both Elementary and now Hannibal, and we’re very lucky to have them both on air. Long may they continue!
The Sherlockian character in Hannibal is Will Graham (played by Hugh Dancy), complete with dark curls and startling blue eyes. Like Sherlock, Will has a unique deduction method that makes him invaluable to the top crime-catchers in his country. Unlike Sherlock’s cold pseudo-sociapathy, though, Will’s consists of “pure empathy,” or the ability to get inside a serial killer’s mind and feel what their motivation was, thereby allowing the FBI to catch them.
Lestrade’s role is filled by the character of Jack Crawford (played by Lawrence Fishburne), Will’s boss, who is willing to bend the rules for him. At times he seems even more permissive than Lestrade, and he’s definitely much more supportive of Will than Lestrade is of Sherlock. (I’m starting to feel very bad for Elementary’s Sherlock Holmes; in comparison to these two counterparts, Captain Gregson doesn’t let him get away with anything.) Crawford even has marital troubles like Lestrade-though the problems are quite different in nature. (Major shout-out here to Firefly’s Gina Torres, who brilliantly plays Bella Crawford, Jack’s wife.)
Alana Bloom (played by Caroline Dhavernas) is kind of a mix of Molly and Mycroft, sort of a love interest and background protector for Will, though not as loyal or endearing as Molly nor as calculating and manipulative as Mycroft. But she does her best to take care of Will.
There’s the Kitty Reilly character (the shady, attractive red-headed reporter) in the character of Freddie Lounds (played by Lara Jean Chorostecki). Both characters constantly play with fire, messing around with extremely dangerous people in order to get their big reporting break, and I’m interested to see what the fallout will be for both of them.
Mrs. Hudson’s role is...sort of taken over by a pack of rescued dogs, but let’s not get into that.
And then there’s Hannibal Lecter (played by Mads Mikkelsen, who will win all the awards for this show, I’m convinced of it, even though Hugh Dancy works harder), Will’s psychiatrist and Moriarty for this series. Kind of hard to get better when it turns out your psychiatrist is crazier than you are. The titular Hannibal is a beautiful enigma (the bone structure on this guy rivals Benedict’s), the driving force behind the plot, cool and calm and actually wickedly devious: a cannibalistic serial killer who loves throwing exotic dinner parties. And no one fucking knows it, which is the true beauty of this show. (That and the ambiguous role of his psychiatrist, Dr. Du Maurier, played by Gillian Anderson from The X-Files.)
Even the structure of the first season of Hannibal is similar to Reichenbach, that almost delicious inevitability as the villain’s plan comes to fruition.
The quality of acting is very strong. Equally impressive, though, is the visual style. I swear that most of this budget must have gone into the set here, making each location suitable for the real world and then also an unsettling mirror-world that Will sees in his dreams/hallucinations/murder recreations as he becomes more mentally unstable. Salvador Dalí would have a field day watching this show. At one point during an episode, things became so surreal that I said aloud, “Damn, all we need now are some melting clocks,” and then later there was a melting clock. The result is a visual style that reminded me more strongly of Donnie Darko than anything else, but still: powerful and creepy.
Thankfully, neither show is a procedural, and the writing in both is incredible. I actually think that in terms of the emotional impact of the cases, Hannibal succeeds much more than Sherlock does. Nothing ever goes away for Will: seemingly random elements from his very first case continue to haunt him in the season finale. Would-be victims continue to suffer even after their would-be murderers are gone. Our characters save people and then continue to care about them and feel responsible for them.
What’s missing from Hannibal, then, is the one thing that makes Sherlock completely unique as a show (at least in my estimation): John, the literal heart of the series. Sherlock can be grim and painful, but it’s full of emotion, surprisingly funny, even joyful at times.
I don’t think Hannibal can ever be accused of that one. Hannibal isn’t a show about love or a deep friendship or the humanization of a person or even about making a difference in the world. It’s about the dark side of humanity, the dark potential inside each of us, and how acting on that dark side through murder and violence absolutely ruins everyone it touches, including and especially the people working to catch the perpetrators. This is a problem for the show because it is so joyless, so depressing and horrific, and it goes on and on with no respite. Nothing seems to make a difference; nothing changes. I can’t remember anyone even cracking a smile in the entire first season.
Nevertheless, Hannibal is still one of my favorite new shows. Although there is no overt humor, there is a wicked kind of dark comedy in the character of Hannibal: feeding people to his dinner guests, calling people his friends while working completely against their best interests, playing around during extremely dangerous situations just to see what would happen, making all kinds of ridiculous puns. I kept wanting him to be around just to see what he would do, and he didn’t disappoint.
I’m very impressed with NBC for producing something of this quality, I’m delighted that it was renewed for a second season, and I can’t wait to see where they take the characters next. (Also, I’m anticipating a long and harmonious relationship between these two fandoms. Bring on the crossovers!)
EDIT: Check out this video from InevitableDarkFlame or daasgrrl's Dégustation for some amazing crossovers between the two fandoms.
Back to my Sherlock Holmes Adaptations Masterlist: ( Taxi!)