Hannibal S02E01 "Kaiseki" Review

Ya know I joke a lot on this blog but I gotta say this one is gonna be hard to generate some "hahas" for because this series is DARK and RUTHLESS and good gravy was this ever a way to kick off a Second Season. While Kevin Williamson and his team scrambles to recapture the magic that was the first season of "The Following", DADDY'S BACK in "Hannibal" and he's showing everyone how it's done.

For starters, in a mere 12 weeks Jack Crawford and Hannibal Lecter will be thrown into a knock-out, bare-knuckle, bloody fist fight that will result in Jack fighting for his life while Lecter struggles to gain entry to his wine cellar. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE, LOVE, LOVE early reveals! Because now that we know Jack WILL discover who Lecter REALLY is, it's just a matter of how he arrived at such a conclusion. GOOD GRAVY this is insane! That being said let's handle the episode proper. I was incredibly amused to find little references to "Red Dragon" here and there with Dr. Chilton quoting Hannibal's "panty griddle" line and of course Will Graham stealing Hannibal's line of "Do you have the case file? And pictures?", just an absolutely delicious easter egg for Hannibal fans such as myself.

I was almost 100% certain there was going to be a tarantula on this table...I'm glad there wasn't.

As for the episode, not much ground to cover aside from the fact that Hannibal has now taken on Will Graham's role as FBI consultant and Beverly (and I regrettably had to consult Wikipedia for her name because I don't know the names of any of the supporting case...specifically the people in the lab) is regretful enough to seek Will's help on a case. This case is TERRIFYING! This show does an excellent job of being masterfully disturbing without being out and out distasteful. It'll be interesting to see what other memories Will gets a hold of because that ear thing was just...wow...But it's good to see Will Graham sane and no longer suffering from encephalitis, although he still seems...jittery to me. Hopefully that'll wear off.

I imagine many alien abductions feel just like this.

More curious to me is Lecter's relation to his psychiatrist Dr. Du Maurier, it was made clear that she was attacked by a patient of Lecter's and I'm assuming Lecter killed him to defend her but that part hasn't been made clear. However, it's safe to assume that she may not know EVERYTHING there is to know about Hannibal. Why? Because Hannibal himself told her she has NO idea what he's capable of and that's the truth. It's been an AMAZING start for this series and I cannot wait for Michael Pitt to pop in with his own brand of craziness. Welcome back, Hannibal.

This is how you end an episode...Geez!