TV REVIEW: HANNIBAL SEASON 1

Note: I apologize to any regular readers (if I have those, please comment and let me know!) who were reading my episode-specific reviews and wondered what happened. My real-life job has been taking it's toll on me, but now that I've temporarily rejoined the ranks of the unemployed, I have much more time for blog posts! Instead of covering the last few episodes in separate posts, I figured I'd condense them into this general overview of the first season.

If you would have told me that an NBC show about Hannibal Lecter would be one of the best interpretations of the character and his universe since Thomas Harris' original novels, I can guarantee my reaction would have been nothing short of utter disbelief. I am always thrilled when my preconceived notions get dashed on the rocks however, and this is one of those moments. Hannibal is a fresh and jarringly unique perspective on a tired franchise that was in danger of becoming woefully antiquated.

It's kind of astonishing how many facets of Hannibal are superbly executed. The most talked about has to be the hallucinatory component of the visuals. This decision alone helps set the show apart from previous interpretations of the tale, and gives viewers an immediate hook, even if they are simply channel surfing. Seeing a person with their head on fire or a midnight black elk-man is certainly a reason to stop and check out what's going on. But, the visuals aren't gimmicks. They help shape the narrative and relationship to our main character, Will Graham, and his particular perspective of the world. I'm sure it will be the most memorable aspect of the show once it's gone off the airwaves.

But, there's plenty more worth praising. Specifically, the casting is stellar across the board. The two leads (Hugh Dancy and Mads Mikkelsen) are eerily captivating, giving us two very opposed looks into the minds of monsters. There is a calm rapport between the two that fits well with the cold and almost medical tone that looms over the entire series. It's very easy to watch these two characters sit and talk for forty-five minutes. The supporting cast are all top notch, especially a steely and stern Laurence Fishburne. This is the kind of "crime scene investigation" show a man of his talent deserves to be on.

Possibly my favorite element of the show is the pacing. There is a methodical and deliberate flow felt throughout the entire series, even in the one-off "killer of the week" episodes. There's definitely a sense that showrunner Bryan Fuller knows the story he wants to tell and isn't worried about taking time to build that story from the ground up. It's the kind of pacing you'd expect from an AMC or HBO show, but it's on NBC! That still blows my mind.Let's hope they don't mishandle this show like most of their other decent programming. *cough*Community*cough*

If the show does end up spanning the entirety of the Hannibal Lecter mythos (as showrunner Bryan Fuller has indicated he would like), I am beyond excited. This series has shown the potential to be the most engaging portrayal of the world's most famous cannibal ever attempted. It's smart, slick and well aware of its horror roots. There's no winking into the camera or needless fanservice going on. Everything feels purposefully constructed and well thought out. Break out the chianti and celebrate, because this a show worth devouring.

TV REVIEW: BATES MOTEL - SEASON 1 REVIEW

Note: I apologize to any regular readers (if I have those, please comment and let me know!) who were reading my episode-specific reviews and wondered what happened. My real-life job has been taking it's toll on me, but now that I've temporarily rejoined the ranks of the unemployed, I have much more time for blog posts! Instead of covering the last two episodes in separate posts, I figured I'd condense them into this general overview of the first season.

Man, what a weird show.

And not weird in the Twin Peaks "what's going on?" way. More like this show came from some Bizarro universe where people had iPhones in the 1950's, everyone spoke in the cheesiest way possible, and having ten or so characters (each with their own side-plots) is seen as a good idea.

I've come to accept that Bates Motel is not a Psycho show. It's this Bizarro universe soap opera that happens to have some characters from the Psycho universe in it. That's probably the biggest detriment to my interest in the show, since I was really looking forward to an in-depth probe into the mind of Norman Bates and a look at the domineering figure of his mother. While the show flirts with that here and there, you can tell that's not what the creators are interested in. They spend way more time on all the mysterious goings-on that envelope the town Norman and his mother have moved to. The Bates clan just happen to be pawns in that game.

The show started off quite well, but by the end of the season, it has devolved into this wacky composite that feels completely unfocused. There are cadres of characters that are either inconsequential or downright annoying. It doesn't help that absolutely no one is giving a performance worth serious discussion. If at least one of the cast members was shining, it'd help elevate the show a bit. Alas, everyone is slumming it.

But then there's that Bizarro quality about the show that actually makes it watchable. The way people deliver lines like, "I killed my dog!" come off as unintentionally humorous. I'm not arguing that Bates Motel falls into the much-coveted arena of "so bad it's good" fare like Troll 2 and Plan 9 from Outer Space, but it's bad quality does have this spark of oddness to it that keeps you watching. I wish this were some other show besides a Psycho prequel because I think I'd like it a whole lot more.

The show is plagued by hackneyed writing and extraneous plots, but the way that those are executed with such earnest make the show strangely involving. It's not so much like watching a trainwreck as it is watching fundamentalist Christian children speaking in tongues: you know it's crazy and wrong but because they are committed to it, it actually draws you in.

By the end of the season, the big overarching plot (which has nothing to do with the relationship between Norma Bates and her son) seems to have been settled in a pretty unspectacular way. While I'm not hopeful for season two, there is an element of morbid curiosity that plagues me. There's also a chance that things could start to get focused more on the two main characters, but with worthless characters like Dylan and his crime doings around, I can't hold my breath.

At this point, the show has lowered my expectations of it greatly, and maybe that works in its favor, but it is disappointing since the idea of a Psycho prequel show does have a lot of promise. I guess I'll just have to accept this show from whatever dimension it jumped out of and see if it can top itself with its own brand of sincere wackiness. It'll be hard to beat Norma's cry of, "I murdered the crap out of him!" and Norman yelling about not having any black socks.

TV REVIEW: BATES MOTEL - SEASON 1 EPISODE 8 - "A Boy and His Dog"

Why does Bates Motel have to tease me with little bits of goodness? The opening bit with Norman and his quasi-girlfriend's taxidermist father is wonderful, and perfect Psycho prequel stuff. Why? Because it lets us into what makes Norman tick, and even accentuates some positive aspects of his character. Guess what the rest of the episode is filled with? Same old side-plots and silly soulless "tension." Is the season over yet so I can stop reviewing it?

Dylan does some homoerotic bonding with his partner-in-crime in a good old-fashioned barfight. He also shows he has the guts to be a criminal head honcho by kicking a hippie out of a van. RIVETING!

The bypass storyline that hasn't been mentioned since the pilot gets a brief shoutout when Norma asks Sheriff Eyeliner for a political favor, and he promptly shuts her down. ENTHRALLING!

Emma tells some girls that Bradley slept with Norman, since they were dissing him and she's all protective of her boy(friend?). This upsets Bradley, which upsets Norman, who gets upset at Emma and then they make up next to Norman's stuffed dog. HAIR-RAISING!

Norman's teacher suggest he sees a therapist, and Norma agrees but sits through the session with him. Afterwards, the shrink tells Norma she may be a little controlling, which turns on Norma's incredulous anger mode. SPINE-TINGLING!

The Man in Number 9 does some mystery stuff and Norma follows him around. They dryly banter back and forth, and Norma kicks him out of the motel. He responds by digging up Deputy Shelby's autopsied corpse and putting it in her bedroom. ...Hey, that was actually kind of fun! Goddamn it, Bates Motel. Can't you just commit to this kind of kookiness weekly? With only two episodes left, I'm hoping we get a heap of corpses coming our way. If Norman can start doing his Psycho thing, maybe the show is savable. That's a big maybe. I leave you with my Freddie Highmore Face of the Week.

TV REVIEW: HANNIBAL - SEASON 1 EPISODE 6 - "Entrée"

It seems appropriate that the halfway point of the series should be the real kickoff into focusing on Hannibal and his career as the unimaginatively titled "Chesapeake Ripper." And it's quite a kickoff, giving us our first taste of the most familiar setting in the mythology: the maximum security psychiatric ward that Hannibal is fated to become an occupant of. This means we also get introduced to Dr. Chilton, the eventual head of the institution and future tormentor of Lecter's. Played by Raúl Esparza, Chilton is just as smug and full of ego as his previous incarnations, but Esparza imbues something original into the character: insight. In other mediums, Chilton has always been the bully who grew up to be the jailer. He's not as bright as he thinks he is, but in the end, that never mattered because he knew he held the keys to the kingdom. Lecter always despised Chilton for his ineptitude and boorishness, but this time around, Chilton may actually have something resembling a brain beneath his thick skull. The little scene with him and Lecter preparing dessert is wickedly fun. I love that this show is taking characters and doing unexpected things with them. Purists of the Lecter canon (are there actually any of those?) may find it blasphemous, but I think it makes the characters more interesting than they have been in years. I'm sure we'll be seeing Chilton sooner than later, and I'm all for that.

Although the search for the identity of the Chesapeake Ripper unknowingly revolves around Hannibal, the real focus of this episode is on Jack Crawford and the agent-in-training he sent out two years ago to do some digging on the case. She never returned and was the Ripper's last known victim. Fishburne does more excellent work, and I'm loving any scene that puts him and Hannibal together. He gets to be vulnerable and honest, and it's great stuff. I also love that Hannibal is actually extremely comforting to Jack, letting him know that even though his wife's cancer has her losing hope about life, she's revealed to Hannibal that she, "didn't marry the wrong guy." That's the kind of humanizing a monster like Hannibal needs. Though he is a villain, he doesn't come off as particularly villainous and that just makes him more entrancing to watch. Have you figured out that I'm gaga for Mads Mikkelsen yet?

However, there are two elements to this episode that didn't completely win me over. The first is the guest appearance by Eddie Izzard. His usage is a little too dead-on when it comes to referencing Lecter's memorable moments from The Silence of the Lambs. His opening scene is a lot like Lecter biting the nurse's face, and his performance even feels directly inspired by Anthony Hopkins. It's not that distracting, but it just feels a bit too derivative. I know the show has to deliver familiar elements to remind people, "Hey! This is like that one really popular movie from over twenty years ago!", but I hope they can spin that material into something unexpected and new like they have with every other aspect of the show.

But, that I could look over. The ending of this episode is what really gave me pause. So, we flashback two years prior to when agent-in-training Miriam Lass is looking around for clues to the identity of the Ripper. They figure he has a background in surgery and decides to visit some of the doctors that treated one of the Ripper's victims. Smart move. Naturally, this leads her to Lecter's office. He invites her in, deflects her questions and offers to give her his journals from his time in the ER. While he's grabbing these journals, Miriam waltzes around Lecter's office and sees two of his etchings on a desk. The one on top is a nude portrait and underneath that is a drawing of his victim. You see, the Ripper likes to impale his victims multiple times with various instruments, and Lecter has not only drawn that, he's left it on top of a table in his office. This just seems ridiculous for someone so methodical and smart. I can understand him making the drawing, but leaving it out in plain sight? The writers could have had Miriam looking at his library of books (which she did!) and find one of peculiar interest, like something on Vlad the Impaler (an appropriate reference for someone who feasts on people). She takes it out, flips through it and the picture falls out. The way it's presented in the show makes Lecter look a lot stupider than he has been portrayed. This has been the only serious misstep the series has had so far, in my opinion, so hopefully it's the only one. Still, I can't get over that. Next week better overcompensate and have Lecter solve cold fusion or something.

TV REVIEW: BATES MOTEL - SEASON 1 EPISODE 7 - "The Man in Number 9"

Another week of Bates Motel, another week where I feel like calling up Gus Van Sant and letting him know he's not the worst thing that ever happened to the Psycho franchise.

To start things off, Dylan proves his continuing horribleness in the pre-credits scene by getting all haughty with Sheriff Richard Alpert. Why is he feeling so perturbed? Because he and his family are getting away with murdering a both Keith Sommers and a deputy and he's not getting any credit for it. I really hope he falls down a bottomless pit that's mysteriously located in the woods next to that marijuana field that obviously didn't matter. Maybe it leads to the overpass that Norma mentioned in the pilot, you know? The one that would affect her hotel's livelihood? The one that hasn't been mentioned for the entire season?

This is another classic Bates Motel episode where things do progress, but it doesn't feel like it at all. Norma finds out about Norman's tryst with Bradley, and gets...jealous? Protective? It's hard to figure out exactly what her response to this knowledge is, but that's probably because the writers don't understand their characters at all (there's a big rant at the end of this article all about that). Norman is all head-over-heels for Bradley, oblivious to the fact that he was a grief bang and nothing more. The only bright spot in this episode is near the end, when Norman goes to profess his love to Bradley and she shuts him down. He walks away and starts talking to himself, repeating the words his mother said about Bradley verbatim. This is one of the first real bits of familiar mythology the show has given us, and while it's not worth exalting, it is nice to see something resembling the Psycho characters we know. I wonder if the show will ever go the distance and have Norman speak in his mother's voice. Maybe he takes up ventriloquism? I won't hold my breathe.

As far as the titular Man in Number 9 goes, it's classic Lost mystery-baiting at its worst. Oooooooo, he's got lots of money but we don't know why! Stay tuned for more secrets. The show has an over-abundance of this kind of stuff, and I guarantee that whatever Nine-Man is involved with, it'll be thoroughly underwhelming. As boring as things have been, he better be part of a monster brigade that meet every two months to sacrifice virgins to the blood god Mammon. Or he's a government agent that meets up with aliens in the hopes of developing a serum that turns people into pure energy beings. That's the kind of batshit insanity the show needs at this point.

This episode does have one thing worth extolling, and it comes from the one area Bates Motel is spectacular at: unintentional comedy. Norman befriends a stray dog that slowly begins to trust him. When he returns from his "breakup" with Bradley, he sees the dog standing across the road and asks it to come to him. Well, what do you think happens? A car passes by and roadkills the poor mutt instantly. This leads to Norman cradling the canine corpse and sobbing, "I killed my dog!" Comedy. Gold.

And that's pretty much it for this episode. Another slog through various plotlines, all ending up as uneventful and uninteresting as the last batch, and just setting up even more threadbare plots. What follows below is a (probably incoherent) rant about the show that has been bugging me since last week's episode. The review is over, but the raving starts...now.

Last week, it was revealed that Norman actually killed his father and had no memory of it. Norma then reveals to Dylan that she has been "protecting" Norman from himself and the knowledge of what he did. When I first saw this (as I noted in last week's column), I really enjoyed it. It was a decent enough twist and it got the story back around to the character we came to see. But, over the course of the week, I started reevaluating what it actually meant, and I came to this conclusion: the writers/showrunners have absolutely no idea (or just don't care) what the characters of Norman and Norma Bates were about. Now, you can argue that since this is a reimagining (or whatever term you wish to apply) that these aren't the same characters as the ones introduced in Robert Bloch's novel, or more directly Hitchcock's film. That's fair, but there are fundamental things about those characters that make up the core mechanics of who they are. The big reveal that Norman actually killed his father and has always been crazy completely undermines what Psycho is about: an innocent boy driven completely insane by his domineering mother.

Hitchcock's Norman Bates was the poster child for nurture over nature. Norman Bates was a nice guy (except for being a perv), and would have remained that way if not for his dementedly overbearing mother. Bates Motel's Norman is troubled from the outset, and his mother (while not completely rational) is forced to try and protect him from himself. Now, this could all get rectified if they show flashbacks of Norma with Norman as a child, conditioning him and imposing a psychological control over him early on. They could end up (in a boringly roundabout way) still blaming Norma for the madman Norman becomes, but as far as we've seen, that's not the case. This Norman is the very opposite of Hitchcock's: his nature dooms him to evil. That makes Norma a fairly useless character. She is supposed to be the force that shapes an otherwise normal boy into a cross-dressing murderer. This show is positing that Norman was always going to be unhinged, and now his surroundings are simply bringing that part of him out. It not only makes the character predictable, but it takes away a crucial component of Norman Bates: pity.

In Psycho II, Norman is released from the mental institution and reenters society. All the while, he's afraid of "Mother" coming back, and the audience feels sorry for him. It's not his fault that he is the way he is, and we actually want Norman to stay sane and beat the curse his mother put on him. It's impossible to feel sorry for Bates Motel's Norman because it's not his mother's fault he is the way he is. He's crazy from the get-go, so why should I feel bad for him? This makes me feel like the show's creators had no idea what made these characters so morbidly enticing in the first place. I hope they do some retconning in order to course correct, but it'll still feel roundabout and lazy. They should have had a better grasp on the characters from the beginning. AND THEY DID! The first two episodes positioned Norma as a conniving manipulator, and even acknowledged the incestuous chemistry between Norman and his mother. At this point in the series, all that has taken a backseat to soap opera plots and mystery boxes filled with nothing but hot air. I'm committed to reviewing the entire first season for this blog (and will do so as objectively as I can), but it'll take time-traveling cyborg werewolves kidnapping Norma to get me invested into a second season. No matter what happens from here on out, I have to declare Bates Motel deader than Marion Crane.

TV REVIEW: HANNIBAL - SEASON 1 EPISODE 5 - "Coquilles"

Before getting to this week's episode, some clarification is needed. Showrunner Bryan Fuller personally pulled the actual fourth episode from airing, due to some reservations over content being insensitive towards those affected by the attacks in Boston. The parts in question had to do with the "freak of the week" killer, nothing involving the over-arching plot. NBC has truncated the episode into a series of webisodes, excising all the possibly upsetting material. From what I gather, they will eventually release the episode (on home video, I'm sure), but this does make things a little weird from a reviewing standpoint. I caught last night's episode (which I'm labeling as "Episode 5" since that is the intended slot it fills within the show's timeline) first and still have to watch the webisodes as of this writing. I'll do a follow-up article once those have been viewed. I also won't get into my personal feelings about the episode being pulled or anything like that. If you are interested in that kind of discourse, please comment below and I'd be happy to discuss it. Now, on with the episode!

This week is another solid episode, mostly focusing on Jack Crawford (Laurence Fishburne) and his newly introduced wife Bella (Gina Torres). It's nice to see Fishburne play something other than stone cold hardass in this show, and this week reminds us that this guy was the kid who conned his way in front of Francis Ford Coppola's camera in Apocalypse Now. The moments we get to see Fishburne vulnerable are really strong stuff. I hope the show gives him some more versatility, and he's not just back to being the boss-man with a face like granite and an attitude to match next week. The guy has serious chops. Gina Torres, however, is just okay. Her character as written is pretty good (with an interesting bit of development along the way) and her acting isn't bad at all, it's just kind of...there. She's a little too stiff, and although that can be attributed to what her character is going through, it doesn't make for a very relatable performance. Still, I hope we get to see more of her since she has great potential. Plus, it's just more of an excuse to see Morpheus get all teary-eyed.

I've heard some people aren't too crazy about the "killer of the week" format the show has going, but not only am I enjoying it, I understand it. The showrunners need to wrangle in those CSI viewers, and trick them into watching a show that explores the nature of evil and violence in man. Padding things out with a weekly investigation will help ease those people in with familiarity. I'm sure if the show goes on for another two seasons (fingers crossed), we'll see a move away from that format into something more directly serialized. I'm fine with a "freak of the week" if they keep being so delightfully grand guignol. This week's madman (The Angel-Maker. I love how each killer gets a comic book villain name) gives us some of the goriest displays yet seen on the show. People's backs skinned and hung so they look like angels? Fantastic! The show can continue to get away with such incredibly gruesome displays because everything is composed beautifully. The screenshot below is damn good enough to be a painting. And I love that we are getting to see what the killer's "see", enforcing the show's theme of perception. It doesn't hurt that what this week's psycho sees is people WITH FLAMING HEADS! Hannibal, you know my twisted sense of enjoyment far too well.

Will's story continues to be interesting. He seems to be both sleepwalking and sleep-deprived, which makes for more hallucinogenic head-trips. Where things end with Will and Crawford at the end of this episode actually could spring the show into that slightly more serialized format I mentioned earlier. I doubt it will be permanent, but it'd be nice to get a breather episode that focused directly on Will and didn't have to worry about any other gory shenanigans. ...I do enjoy the gory shenanigans though.

At this point, Mads Mikkelsen has won first place in the "Reinterpreting a Well Known Character" competition. His Lecter is far more complex than Hopkins' Shakespearian monster. Mikkelsen's Lecter can be genuinely comforting and helpful at times, although you can still see the wheels spinning behind his dark eyes. He's always learning about people as much as he can, and it's a delight to see Lecter interacting with people in the real world. Even though we know he's a murderer (and a cannibal), it's impossible not to like him. I never wanted to sit down and chat with Hopkins' Lecter, but I would definitely schedule an appointment with Mikkelsen's character. He's very approachable and inviting, if you don't know what he really is. I can't get enough of him.

This show better go on for at least two seasons. It's leaps and bounds above anything else in it's genre, and things can only get better once we've gotten to know the characters fully. At this point, I want them to rewrite Red Dragon and do an entirely new version of the Hannibal Lecter story. We know that this show isn't connected to any other incarnation, so I hope it lasts long enough to get to that point. I also hope we get a completely different version of Hannibal's past than the abysmally absurd Hannibal Rising. I can't believe I even acknowledge that thing's existence. I'm going to go watch some webisodes.

TV REVIEW: BATES MOTEL - SEASON 1 EPISODE 6 - "The Truth"

I think I may have discovered how to endure the rest of Bates Motel's inaugural season: viewing it as a comedy that's completely aware of its own absurdity. For the majority of this episode's running time, I was outright guffawing. Right from the opening scene, when Norma breaks into a jaunty little sprint, I couldn't help but find it funny. Everyone's facial expressions, lines and delivery all just seemed to tickle my funnybone this week. At this point, it's a welcome change from the casual disinterest the last few episodes have left me with.

And things actually happen in this episode! Deputy No-One-Cares-About is dispatched of, and in a pretty enjoyable (but not in the least bit suspenseful) gunfight inside the Bates house. There is still some horrible writing stupidity going on (Deputy Sexfiend runs after the Asian girl Norma was holing up in the motel, and right after that, Dylan, Norman and Norma proceed to have a conversation about Norman living with Dylan! WHILE THERE'S A SEX MURDER GUY IN THEIR IMMEDIATE VICINITY) and we get more development on Dylan's life of crime storyline (oh joy...), but for the most part, this is one of the more fun episodes of the season so far. That's mostly due to the fact that this episode has some momentum to it, and things actually get resolved. Well, as much as Bates Motel can resolve things. Events are written (like the trashy soap opera the show is) so that they can be ends to plot-lines, but also could be left open in case of a lack of ideas in the writers' room. Keith Sommers' belt? Could be gone for good, or could come back. Deputy Dumbo? He's offed, and we may deal with one episode of fallout, but he could easily be swept under the rug. Or they could stretch out his death's investigation for at least two or three more episodes. Considering how many plot branches the show has, I'm hoping these are definitely getting lopped off.

The most shocking thing about the whole episode is easily the ending, which is actually good. It almost starts to course-correct the fact that this is a show based on Psycho, and hopefully the writers stay on that track. We get the motel's first guest next week, so maybe things will start to fall into a better groove. I'm sure we'll still have to deal with uninteresting sub-plots (Dylan's hoodlum hijinks and Norman's high-school drama), but if the main thrust of the story can stay with what's revealed in the ending, things may be looking a tad bit up for Bates Motel. I won't hold my breath, but I will cross(dress) my fingers.

TV REVIEW: HANNIBAL - SEASON 1 EPISODE 3 - "Potage"

Is it even possible for Mads Mikkelsen not to look like a stone cold pimp in every suit he wears?

This week, we get back to directly addressing the aftermath of Garret Jacob Hobbs' demise, namely his surviving daughter, Abigail. The pre-credits scene with Hobbs and Abigail hunting a deer is exactly the kind of character insight other shows desperately need to focus on. We learn so much about Abigail in just this one scene, and it informs our opinion about her throughout the entire episode. While everyone else is wondering whether or not Abigail was an accomplice to her father's crimes, the audience (and one other person, who I'll get to in a second) knows she's innocent. She had a moral dilemma about shooting and gutting a deer, so she's definitely no murderer. While this might run the risk of making everyone else's deductions about her seem wasted, the writers know how to curb that problem: Lecter knows she's innocent as well. This forces the audience into taking Lecter's view of events as the most informed, and that's wonderfully twisted. This show definitely wants to put the audience into some devilish places (like Will Graham's head!), and I enjoy that kind of storytelling. But, while a show like Dexter makes the protagonist debatably heroic or villainous, Hannibal gives us a lead character (Will Graham) who is definitely on the side of good, but cursed with a dark gift, making him much more interesting than a murderer who fancies himself a bringer of justice. On the other side of that, we get Lecter, who is unquestionably a monster but is so damn charming and intelligent that you can't help but find him extraordinarily compelling.

And Mads Mikkelsen makes Lecter even more enticing. Every shot of him standing by silently would be just another reaction shot in any other show, but here you can see every little machination behind his eyes. You can actually see him processing the information the other characters and surrounding events are providing him, and because this show has been so clever at crafting his character, you can deduce his line of thinking almost instantly. It's almost mind-boggling how, in just three episodes, we are inside of Hannibal's head just as easily as we are Will's.

I'm really enjoying Freddie Lounds as an antagonist to both Will and Hannibal, and I hope she's going to stick around for the whole season. For all intents and purposes, she's actually the villain of this episode, provoking Will into issuing her a veiled threat, and even sicking the brother of Hannibal's victim (who he thinks was killed by Hobbs) on poor traumatized Abigail. I wonder if she'll end up meeting the same fate as her former iterations?

But, the main focus of this episode is Abigail, and it's an interesting (if not entirely exciting) road her character is traveling. She wrestles with the idea if she's as messed up as her dad, and is forced to endure the scorn of her neighbors. Except for her one friend, who is immediately dispatched of after one scene! It was almost laughable how this poor girl showed up to be the one person who believes Abigail is innocent and wants to comfort her, and she gets murdered by Hannibal (in order to blame his victim's brother for his copycat murder) just minutes later. I'm actually a little pleased at this show's willingness to off characters as soon as we meet them. No one's safe, I guess! And now that Abigail and Hannibal are both harboring secrets against each other, I'm hoping Abigail pops back up around series end in order to throw a monkey wrench into Hannibal's attempts at covering up his darker side.

The visual style of this show seems like it's going to be consistent, and that appeases me to no end. The shot of Abigail stroking the deer carcass and then cutting to a hand running through a dead girl's hair is horrifyingly beautiful. This looks like it's going to be a show you could watch muted and still enjoy. Next week's "freak of the week" killer looks to have a ridiculously visual kick where they open up people's backs and style them like angel wings. I love it! It's so gratuitously violent, but passing it off in an artful way. I can't believe NBC even showed that in the preview, and quite extensively. I'm glad they know how to market a show about serial killers and a lead character who eats people.

This show has passed my "three episode" trial period and has hooked me for the entire season. It looks like we'll get a nice helping (it's hard to avoid food puns with this show) of one and done killers and a furthering of the main story arc. I'm fine with that, as long as Mads Mikkelsen gets to wear a new baller suit every week. Not even Anthony Hopkins made cannibalism so damn cool.

TV REVIEW: BATES MOTEL - SEASON 1 EPISODE 5 - "Ocean View"

After last week's dismally disappointing excuse for an episode, I had hoped that Norma's arrest would help bring some focus to this week. I need to stop hoping when it comes to Bates Motel and just expect at least three or four plots an episode, laughably unrealistic dialogue (practically every scene between Norman and Emma is unintentional comedy gold) and characters ripped out of The Young and the Restless. I thought I could deal with the soapy melodrama and fluctuating character motivation, but after these last two episodes I'm ready to check out.

And for the second week in a row, even though things technically do progress, why does it feel like nothing happens? The only exciting bits come from Dylan's storyline, and they are so random and ridiculous that it's impossible to feel any dramatic impact from them at all. Why should I be shocked or concerned that some skeevy guy (who we've never even seen or heard of before!) shoots Dylan's partner-in-crime randomly? What does it matter that Dylan finds him and runs him over? Sure, on a purely visceral level it is entertaining, but there's no compelling narrative behind those actions that make them enjoyable. Maybe if Dylan was a more likable and provocative character, things would be better. But, he's not and neither is his relationship with his "Someone just gave me a new throat hole" buddy. At least we got to see some blood this week. Remember what movie this show is based off of? Me neither.

Also, I'm officially over iPhone text message screens in this show. Not only are they tiny and tough to read (that might just be my eyes' stupid fault) but they are so frequent that they become a lazy form of character interaction. It is incredibly difficult to make a text message dramatic, and this show isn't proving to be the exception to that statement.

I also can't believe how quickly (and stupidly) Norma's arrest is swept under the plot rug. Norma was the one character that really hooked me in when the season started, and now she's one of the reasons I want to tune out. Her screaming and childish behavior is just silly now, and any hints at her being a Machiavellian schemer have been thrown out the window in favor of her playing second fiddle to her deputy boyfriend. And looks like next week will just be a whole episode of her in denial about said boyfriend's serial killing tendencies. Greeeaaat.

The only way Bates Motel can possibly save itself is if all its plotlines get resolved by season's end and the show turns into what it's supposed to be: two crazy people running a motel. Get a focus on your main characters and let us see what makes their cuckoo clocks tick. No one cares about Bradley and if she updated her relationship status on Facebook (that line made me pause for an actual facepalm) or about drop dead gorgeous Deputy Sexfiend. The show is called Bates Motel. "Bates" should be the operative word.

TV REVIEW: HANNIBAL - SEASON 1 EPISODE 2 - "Amuse-Bouche"

First of all, those opening credits! They perfectly establish the blend of elegance and viciousness this show is striving for, and in my opinion, is achieving.

Looks like my prayers are going to be answered as far as the stylish aesthetic is concerned. The icy beauty of every shot gives me plenty of screenshot options. And we get plenty of striking imagery in this episode. From Garrett Jacob Hobbs' cabin, to our killer of the week's mushroom garden and plenty of Will's hallucinations and dreams in between. Even if people don't like the plotting, characters or anything else, it'll be hard to argue that the show doesn't look superb.

But, how could they not like the plotting or the characters? I hope each episode can stay as structured as these first two. While they are part of a continuing story, they manage to deal with their own arcs and themes in very dynamic and satisfying ways, helping to retain the "mini-movie" feeling the pilot established. In this case, the focus is Will's inner conflict in regards to him gunning down Hobbs. The ending with Lecter and Will discussing whether or not God feels good when he strikes down humans is wonderfully dark territory for a network show to be treading, and it also gives us even more insight into each of our main characters.

We also get introduced to tabloid reporter Freddie Lounds, who Thomas Harris fans will notice has undergone a gender change since his original appearance in Red Dragon. I really like her! I wonder if this means the show is willing to deviate from our expectations completely, and if it will eventually get brave enough to rewrite all of the established canon. If so, I'm all for it. It means we'll have no idea what's lying in wait around the corner, which is what you want from any suspenseful storytelling.

I'm also pleased that the show is going to keep a wry bit of dark humor in its pocket every now and then. My favorite moment of the episode was when Lecter confronted Freddie for recording his and Will's therapy session and after saying, "You've been terribly rude. What's to be done about that?", we cut to a dinner plate full of meat with a suspiciously red sauce being poured over it. Haha! While it turns out it's not actually Ms. Lounds, it's a great use of the audiences knowledge about Lecter. If we get little bits of beastly fun like that once an episode, I'll be delighted.

And I am sold on Mads Mikkelsen's Lecter. Although he's still being kept on the sidelines for now, I eagerly anticipate our first Lecter-cetric episode. Mikkelsen's calm and almost surgeon-like demeanor makes him the most interesting of monsters: one with precision. It's also clear that he's having fun with the character, really selling it in the few scenes he and Hugh Dancy have together (expect to see lots of these scenes in Lecter's office). If there's any compliment I can give, it's that I have put any preconceptions about the character off to the side and am just taking in every sinister scene Mikkelsen gives me.

Honestly, this show is proving to be better than the last two movies made about the Hannibal Lecter character. They have a definitive story they want to tell but manage to make each episode somewhat standalone as well, the look of the series is well-established and gorgeous, the characters (not just the villains, mind you) are interestingly twisted and compelling, the actors are doing great work and everything feels deliberately paced and thought out. Looks like I'll have at least one horror prequel show to look forward to every week. Start watching Hannibal, if you aren't already. This one looks like it's going to be tasty.

TV REVIEW: BATES MOTEL - SEASON 1 EPISODE 4 - "Trust Me"

If it wasn't for the fact that I have committed myself to reviewing the entire first season of Bates Motel, this episode would have been the drop off point. Even though things "happen" throughout the course of the episode, it's all presented in such a bland and mechanical way that it feels like nothing really has progressed.

The only real event worth mentioning is the ending, where Norma is arrested for the murder of Keith Sommers, the rapist from the first episode. I'm sure she'll be out of shackles by the next episode's end, so that drama just comes off flat. I did love the sudden switch to slow-motion when the police come to arrest her. Vera Farmiga also gets two really unintentionally funny lines this episode ("I killed the crap out of him!" and "Putting up with my ass?") that saved me from total boredom.

Ugh, what else? Norman has sex with a grieving Bradley. Nothing really interesting there, except to fuel the high school drama plotline once Anna comes out of her episode hibernation cave. I'm so excited for those scenes.

I can't even muster up much else about this episode. Did the show forget it was a Psycho prequel and drift off onto the Lifetime Channel? When other networks are showing how to do a horror prequel right, it really makes Bates Motel look even worse. Any interesting and risque ideas that were being floated around seem to be drowned in the soap opera shenanigans this episode strictly focuses on. I kind of want the show to go completely bonkers and have alternate universes where a black and white Norman Bates appears and starts slapping everyone silly. I hope next week is better, or else alcohol may start factoring into my viewings.

TV REVIEW: HANNIBAL - SEASON 1 EPISODE 1 - "Apéritif"

After a certain other horror prequel show failed to completely deliver on it's promise, I had severely managed my expectations for NBC's new take on the charismatic cannibal Haniibal Lecter. Much to my delighted surprise, the inaugural episode comes out of the gate swinging and works like all pilots should: as a mini-movie. In fact, this episode is probably better than the majority of Brett Ratner's Red Dragon (Ralph Fiennes performance excluded). It sets everything for the series into place perfectly while simultaneously succeeding at telling its own self-contained story.

The opening scene lets us into the head of our main character (don't let the title fool you) Will Graham, as he visualizes how a murder occurred. It's a fantastic bit of flourish by director David Slade, and I hope the stylish liberties shown in this first outing stay consistent throughout the run. It gives the show an aesthetic that is sorely missing in genre television. Seeing what a character experiences isn't anything new, but given the dark nature of Will's ability to empathize with anyone (specifically murderers), it allows for some delightfully ghoulish bits of eye candy while also furthering the plot along in a compelling way.

Hugh Dancy plays Will with shaky certainty. He's a man afraid of the abilities he possesses, and Dancy conveys that fearful resolve very well. We also get a little peak into who he is at home, and it's a touching (if kind of goofy and sad) piece of character development. It's definitely the most complete performance of the character we've seen on the screen. Sorry, Edward Norton and William Petersen.

I'm sure plenty of people will complain about Mads Mikkelsen's accent, but those people would be taking into account only the most superficial aspect of his performance. While I didn't have trouble understanding him, I can see viewers getting caught up with that nitpick. Too bad, because Mikkelsen is doing some great stuff here. Instead of going the Shakespearian villain route Hopkins took with the character, Mikkelsen plays Lecter as cold and sharp as the scalpel he uses to sharpen his pencil. There are so many tiny moments in this hour of television that help formulate the kind of monster Lecter is. I love when he places the scalpel and pencil down and neatly arranges them on the table. It's an almost unnoticeable moment, but it adds serious legitimacy to the work Mikkelsen is cultivating. I'm very interested to see his more toned down and shark-like take on America's favorite cannibal.

The rest of the supporting cast are just as solid, specifically Laurence Fishburne doing his authoritarian thing like he wrote the book on it. I'm sure we'll be getting to know more about the investigative team we've just met, and I'm actually interested in that. Just as long as it doesn't take away from Will and his serial killer second sight.

Bryan Fuller is the showrunner for Hannibal and he also scripted this pilot. I hope his (and David Slade's) presence is kept strong, because this is a great introduction into this version of the story. It's tightly paced, a visual smorgasborg, transgressive yet not exploitative (there's a bit with Lecter chopping up some newly acquired meat that was pitch perfect), and has crafted multi-layered characters that leave me wanting to know more about them. I may have to jump ship from Norman Bates and his mother's hotel and start making appointments for Dr. Lecter's therapy.

TV REVIEW: BATES MOTEL - SEASON 1 EPISODE 3 - "What's Wrong With Norman"

Last week, I had accepted the defeated position that Bates Motel was not going to be the show I wanted it to be. Instead, I decided to embrace the soapy and overwrought nature of the material as best as I could. With just the third episode, Bates Motel is trying my patience even in the realms of trashy pulp nonsense (until the ending, which we'll get to).

Just as I had feared, Dylan's adventures in rural Crimetown are the worst kind of filler: they advance practically nothing of the plot and service no one but him. And surprise, he's still not interesting in the least. Even his little attempt to bond with Norman comes off as forced. I can't believe it's only taken two episodes for me to be completely over a character. Unless things take a drastic and heavily dramatic turn for him, I will easily crown Dylan the worst aspect of this series.

Even Vera Farmiga feels tired in this episode. Her usual sly looks and dark demeanor are almost nonexistent this week. When your show's secret weapon is faltering, the whole ship is in danger of sinking.

I don't know if it's just me, but I find it really hard to like any of the secondary cast in this show. Norman's two love interests are such stereotypes that they feel plucked from some MTV teen drama. Both Bradley and Emma are given goofy lines and are such one-note characters that there's only one way they'll become interesting: if they are murdered by Norman.

And now we get to the one part of this episode that (while not completely a triumph) is at least intriguing and somewhat compelling: Norman. His obsession with his Chinese murder book causes him to faint in class, whilst having visions of his teacher bound with rope. Now we're in some Psycho territory! He's admitted to the hospital and during this time, the local sheriff obtains a search warrant (somehow for some reason. Who cares? DRAMA!) for the Bates house. This is when Norman has to divulge to his mother that he kept the belt from the body they disposed. Fearing that the police have found it, Norma meets up with Deputy Do Good in an effort to squeeze some info out of him, and finds out that Officer Nice Guy hid the belt from the police in order to protect Norma. By now, Norman has returned home from the hospital (thanks to Norma forcibly checking him out) and is anxiously waiting for his mother to come home. Dylan tries to give Norman some advice but doesn't manage to connect with his half-brother.

Then, one little exchange plants the seeds of an entire season's worth of plotting: Dylan apologizes for fighting with Norman and for Norman almost killing him with a meat tenderizer. What does Norman say? He doesn't remember that. We now cannot trust anything that happens from Norman's point of view (although we actually can, much to the writer's chagrin. More on that in just a sec), and that is compounded even more near the end of the episode when the truly big "reveal" happens: Norman hallucinates his mother telling him that he has to go and retrieve the belt.

This one scene gives me extremely mixed feelings. Noticed that I say mixed, not definitively bad or good. On the one hand, this is exactly the kind of material I wanted from the show: the discovery and revelation of Norman Bates as a serial killer that is "powered" by his (eventually dead) mother's influence. And the scene between them is the best Freddie Highmore has done at being creepy so far. However, while this makes Norman more interesting as a character, the side effect is that it has the potential to demystify and actually soften Norma as the domineering figure we've known her to be. Is it really Norma who drives her son to become the monster he is destined to be, or is it actually Norman's perception of his mother? The performance Vera Farmiga gives as the vision Norman sees is exactly the Norma Bates we came to be familiar with through the original film. So will the real Norma actually end up being more sympathetic? That seems like a missed opportunity at showing us one of the greatest unseen villains in cinema history. But, Norma has been shown to be the manipulative and controlling figure we expect in the very first episode. I'm very excited at seeing Norman start to spiral into his eventual insanity, but if it comes at the cost of his actual mother's wickedness...I don't know if that's the best trade-off.

Anyway, Norman goes to the cop's house and looks for the belt, only to find that the guy has a porn dungeon in his basement and...a Chinese girl? Wow! They've already given us the answer to that plotline? Fantastic and honestly surprising! I'm very pleased that we weren't going to drag out all season with the mystery of Injector Man, but guess what? Now that Norman is "seeing things", we're going to get a whole episode that discredits his discovery when we all know it's the truth. Ugh. Just when you've given me hope, Bates Motel, you make me dread your next move.

Even with all of its meandering blandness, I still feel this is a good show going through its birthing pains. When the show keeps Norman and his mother at the forefront, things at least have some momentum. And when you give particular focus to one of them (in this case Norman), there is some real meat to digest, even if some of it may not be fully cooked (Can you tell I'm anxious for that other horror prequel show starting tomorrow?). Bates Motel, stop flopping around town and just be the show your title promises: A show about the crazy family Bates (Dylan excluded, please). You'll be much more fun to watch.

TV REVIEW: BATES MOTEL - SEASON 1 EPISODE 2 - "Nice Town You Picked, Norma..."

I've resigned myself to the fact that Bates Motel is not going to be the show I expected it to be. Instead of a serious examination of what turns an innocent child into a monster, this is a soap opera through and through. That's not necessarily a bad thing (we'll get to some of the glee-inducing trashiness later), but it would be easier to swallow if there weren't tiny hints of something really smart and seductive popping up here and there. All of that has to do with Norma and Norman's relationship (the reason any Psycho fan has tuned in), and it's a shame the show's creators seem more interested in every other possible plotline they've come up with. With this episode, Bates Motel has said that the titular location isn't going to be what drives the stories, but rather the town Norma and her son have moved to. While that can provide plenty of wacky and nasty diversions, it doesn't feel very original. A town with a secret (or in this case what seems to be HUNDREDS of secrets) is an old plot device, while the concept of using the motel to wheel in various mysteries and characters seemed fresh. I'm sure that will still end up happening, but with the current setup in place, it'll only over-complicate a show that's already weighing itself down with too much.

I don't want to sound like I'm completely down on the show, so let's look at what's really good about this episode. Like I said before, anything where just Norma and Norman are together is great. The highlight is easily the comfortably disturbing scene where Norma changes in front of her son and assures him that her "date" with the local deputy is nothing more than a strategic maneuver, helping to keep the cops from discovering the body they recently disposed of. The little looks they give each other, the casual demeanor about familial sexuality, and the devotion bordering on control are all perfectly executed in this one little scene. I also love seeing the two of them scrubbing the kitchen clean, looking completely innocent while covering up a dastardly deed. If the show focused on more moments like these, it'd be more like the show I signed up for.

The other fun bit comes at the end, when we get to see what "justice" looks like in the town of White Pine Bay. I'll never bemoan seeing a flaming corpse on television, and this one is a nice bit of spectacle. Crazy little things like this are what the show is going to need to keep it afloat amidst its sea of subplots.

Now, let's get into some of these subplots. Obviously, the biggest one is the addition of big brother (well, stepbrother) Dylan. While I really dig the idea of Norma having a son that she feels practically nothing for (and him feeling the same way), I wish I could feel anything at all for Dylan. Max Theiriot is trying way too hard when it comes to Dylan's "don't give a shit" rebel attitude. Not helping the matter is that Dylan is nothing but a dickbag who only cares about money, but then the writers want us to feel bad for him simply because "he has nowhere else to go." His adventures into the criminal underworld of White Pine Bay are something I'm dreading, since it will require me to give a shit about a guy who... doesn't give a shit. When he pretty much blackmails Norma into letting him stay, it's fairly obvious that the show is trying to craft a more intimate foil for Norma, and that just doesn't work. Maybe it would if the foil was interesting.

However, Dylan does provide Norman with one of his best scenes yet. When Norman find out that Dylan has Norma listed in his phone as "The Whore", Norman attacks his older stepbrother and gets promptly shut down. Then comes the real gem of the scene: Norman spots a meat tenderizer near the sink. Any other show would just leave it at that, implying the murderous urge and setting it up for later. Not Bates Motel! Norman immediately grabs the hammer and lunges at Dylan again! He doesn't connect and ends up down on the floor, venomously stating, "She's not a whore." It's in these darker, more vicious moments that Freddie Highmore is selling me on his version of Norman Bates.

What I'm not buying into is the sweet Norman and his high school hijinks. Now that he's been partnered Hardy Boys-style with classmate Emma (whose cystic fibrosis will certainly be used for a ticking clock scenario once she gets abducted by Injection Man), I'm officially checked out of that storyline. It feels like it belongs on a whole other show, and to help complicate matters even more is when the mystery they are investigating gets interrupted by another town secret: someone's making money off of a seriously huge marijuana farm. Geez, Bates Motel. Should I be expecting aliens and the Devil to pop up eventually? You need to tighten the stories you've got before piling up more and more eventual mysteries. Could Carlton Cuse's Lost influence already be at play?

There's a couple little tidbits to like as well. Norman's first interaction with taxidermy is a plus, and since Emma's dad is the local animal corpse stuffer, expect Norman to take up some kind of apprenticeship with him, leading into more knowledge about the town and its dirty dealings. Vera Farmiga proves she's still the show's main draw, playing the doe-eyed deputy like a harp from hell. I could watch a whole episode of just her being salaciously conniving.

If the show remains as all over the place as this episode, fatigue could set in pretty quick. A little bit of focus goes a long way, and if this upcoming episode seems to be as Norman-centric as its title would imply, maybe things will get a bit tighter. The wackiness is keeping me intrigued, it just needs to be channeled more efficiently. Also, don't be afraid to let Freddie Highmore let loose. There's gold to be mined in those moments.