Hannibal: S01E04 - Oeuf.

Because of the tragedy in Boston, this episode was banned in the US/Canada. Pretty much everywhere else showed it anyway and we have that magic called the internet these days anyway. I don't mean any disrespect in watching or reviewing this.

Both Will and Abigail continue their quest to come to terms with everything that happened involving Hobbs, luckily for them both however, Hannibal is there for them. Hannibal feeds Will's dogs for him and gives Abigail drugs...yeah. We also learn that Hannibal himself was orphaned at a young age, until he was sixteen where his uncle took him in. Will also lost his Mother at a young age but was raised by his Father and they moved around a lot.

I guess that is part of the reason why Hannibal is so effective in this show, because he does come across as so kind. The creators of the show have said that they wanted to construct Hannibal in such a way, that if you didn't know the twist already, you'd never see it coming and I think they've really nailed it. I know it's easy to see everything Hannibal does as sinister, because we already know his character so well and I know he really showed his true colours at the end of the last weeks episode, but honestly without that cynicism Hannibal really is very kind, if not a little odd. And it is really hard to not be charmed by him, rather than scared of him.

It isn't exactly original but it's always a good device to use your case of the week to explore other aspects of your show and characters so it has a sense of purpose. This weeks theme is family. Losing my own Mother when I was a teen and bouncing around from home to home over the last four or so years, I'm starting to find the concept of family as ill-fitting as Will does. We are also once again given some truly haunting and grizzly imagery in our crime scenes, with quite a few moments that actually made me gasp out loud.

I also had a weird problem with the episode...okay just hear me out on this, okay? Caroline Dhavernas is a gorgeous woman and Hannibal costumes her as if every moment of her life is a photoshoot, even the camera itself lingers around her like it doesn't want to look away and personally I find this extremely distracting. I couldn't work out if an attraction was supposed to be suggested between her and Hannibal or if that was simply mine and the camera crews own attractions being projected onto the screen. Her construction simply became a distraction from the meaning of her scenes.

Honestly, I really don't have a lot to say on this episode. Although I praised the shows choice to explore the aftermath of things in depth, to give them a sense of consequence, what this has actually done has largely ground the entire show to a halt. So much of the same ground has been retread over the last three episodes with very little new insight added to any of it, to the point now where the show doesn't really feel like it is moving at all. I think this was easily the weakest episode since the pilot. There were a few moments of new information here and there but this may as well be a filler episode.

Pros;

• Hannibal.
• It's always good to connect your case of the week to your over arching stories and character conflicts.

Cons;

• Is this show gonna start moving forward any time soon? Is anything new going to happen? 

Think About It!

-Locke

What would you rate, 'Oeuf'?