A fantastic premiere. It manages to introduce and develop its characters and plot to such a great extent, which is an impressive feat for a 40-minute premiere featuring several deep characters.
The very first scene is one that you remember for a long time even after the series' end. It ensures that, from the first moment, you know this isn't an ordinary crime procedural. The intense, dischordant music starts at once and our first sight of the protagonist is of him experiencing his perfect empathy. The weirdness of blood travelling in reverse, Will walking backwards from the house, making all the police around him go away in his mind, seeing the house as it was before the murder, and killing the victims in his mind. It immediately lets you know: this is not your standard network fare.
Will's unique mind is a fascinating focus here, and how various characters use it. It's wrong to say that Jack doesn't care about Will's state of mind, but he definitely sees things in a more utilitarian way than Alana Bloom. If Will's fragile state of mind is put at risk in catching the killer before he kills anyone else, then so be it. Hannibal's relationship with Will is the most fascinating part. On the surface, the most obvious reason why Hannibal is eager to become Will's psychiatrist is so he can manipulate him away from any evidence pointing towards him. But of course it goes far deeper than that. He is interested in Will's empathy, as put simply it means he can see things the way Hannibal does. Will's empathy is also a source of humour at times, when he almost acts like he *is* the killer, even getting passionate about the fact that the killer wants his victims to suffer as little as possible.
Atmosphere is set perfectly. The scene in which Will realises that Abigail is still in her room is incredibly creepy, from the realisation that she is there to the sight of her body to the moment of brutal intensity when he imagines strangling her. Will's surreal visions are also effective.
Hannibal's desires with key role are a key factor in some of the plot twists. We have Will denying he is anything alike Hannibal but Hannibal saying they are very much alike. A similarity is definitely reflected in the final shot: they both care deeply about Abigail. Hannibal already intervening in ways that don't have a simple explanation. Killing the girl in such a savage way and leaving her body in plain sight was his first true assessment of Will. How would he react? But I guess it was also an attempt to influence Will, to use his perfect empathy to show him the attractiveness of killing. To show him how killing can be elevated to be a form of art. His phone call to Garret Jacob Hobbs is an even more complex intervention. Did it have something to do with where he wanted Abigail? Or Will? Or both? He definitely wanted Will in the line of fire, to experience violence firsthand. That much is obvious by how he lays back and lets Will walk into the danger. The climactic scene is intense and almost hyper realistic, Hugh Dancy wonderfully acting Will's shock.
This premiere incredibly manages to both have a fantastic "killer-of-the-episode" as well as convincingly introduce Hannibal as the main antagonist of the series. Both he and Garrett Jacob Hobbs are fascinating characters explored to much depth.
The very first scene is one that you remember for a long time even after the series' end. It ensures that, from the first moment, you know this isn't an ordinary crime procedural. The intense, dischordant music starts at once and our first sight of the protagonist is of him experiencing his perfect empathy. The weirdness of blood travelling in reverse, Will walking backwards from the house, making all the police around him go away in his mind, seeing the house as it was before the murder, and killing the victims in his mind. It immediately lets you know: this is not your standard network fare.
Will's unique mind is a fascinating focus here, and how various characters use it. It's wrong to say that Jack doesn't care about Will's state of mind, but he definitely sees things in a more utilitarian way than Alana Bloom. If Will's fragile state of mind is put at risk in catching the killer before he kills anyone else, then so be it. Hannibal's relationship with Will is the most fascinating part. On the surface, the most obvious reason why Hannibal is eager to become Will's psychiatrist is so he can manipulate him away from any evidence pointing towards him. But of course it goes far deeper than that. He is interested in Will's empathy, as put simply it means he can see things the way Hannibal does. Will's empathy is also a source of humour at times, when he almost acts like he *is* the killer, even getting passionate about the fact that the killer wants his victims to suffer as little as possible.
Atmosphere is set perfectly. The scene in which Will realises that Abigail is still in her room is incredibly creepy, from the realisation that she is there to the sight of her body to the moment of brutal intensity when he imagines strangling her. Will's surreal visions are also effective.
Hannibal's desires with key role are a key factor in some of the plot twists. We have Will denying he is anything alike Hannibal but Hannibal saying they are very much alike. A similarity is definitely reflected in the final shot: they both care deeply about Abigail. Hannibal already intervening in ways that don't have a simple explanation. Killing the girl in such a savage way and leaving her body in plain sight was his first true assessment of Will. How would he react? But I guess it was also an attempt to influence Will, to use his perfect empathy to show him the attractiveness of killing. To show him how killing can be elevated to be a form of art. His phone call to Garret Jacob Hobbs is an even more complex intervention. Did it have something to do with where he wanted Abigail? Or Will? Or both? He definitely wanted Will in the line of fire, to experience violence firsthand. That much is obvious by how he lays back and lets Will walk into the danger. The climactic scene is intense and almost hyper realistic, Hugh Dancy wonderfully acting Will's shock.
This premiere incredibly manages to both have a fantastic "killer-of-the-episode" as well as convincingly introduce Hannibal as the main antagonist of the series. Both he and Garrett Jacob Hobbs are fascinating characters explored to much depth.