"Hannibal" Season 1, Episode 6 Review "Entree"

“Hannibal” Season 1, Episode 6 Review: “Entree”

“Here we are, a bunch of psychopaths helping each other out.”

That really hits the nail on the head for this episode of “Hannibal”, and for the series as a whole. I am not as familiar with the source material as I would like to be, but this episode had quite a few connections to the Harris novels/ Silence of the Lambs.

The always awesome Eddie Izzard comes in to play Dr. Gideon, or who he is suspected of being in this episode, the Chesapeake Ripper. Of course, anyone who is familiar with the novels knows that Gideon is not the Ripper. This is the set up for this weeks episode,”‘Entree”

The start of the episode echoed “The Silence of the Lambs” aesthetically with a nicely constructed cell block that closely resembles the one Hannibal Lecter is kept in during the first film. Due to copyright issues, “Hannibal” isn’t able to use characters like Clarice Sterling or anyone introduced in “The Silence of the Lambs”. That doesn’t stop the creators from dropping some pretty big nods to the film.

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The biggest nod is in Jack Crawford’s story, who again had a lot of this episode’s attention. Jack has several flashbacks about a young agent at the academy, Miriam Lass (Anna Chlumsky), who was a protege of Jack two years earlier. Jack’s drive for closure is the fuel of this episode and it is fun seeing him chasing ghosts. In some parts, I even though Jack was just imagining the phone calls he was receiving. With the news of his wife dying of cancer, Jack is clearly going through some issues he isn’t fully equipped to deal with.

This episode also introduced us to Dr. Chilton, another character from the novels/movies. It was fun watching him at dinner with Lecter, especially knowing what eventually happens between the two characters. Though I do have to wonder if they will take Chilton in a different direction since he gave off such an eerie vibe during the episode.

Graham really didn’t have a lot to do this week. His crime scene reenactments are becoming a lot more natural, which is nice. This show continues to be a staple of sharp dialogue with malicious undertones. We all know who Lecter is, so there aren’t any surprises to be had there. On the other hand, how they get Lecter to his destination is completely up in the air.

What continues to make Lecter so wonderful in this interpretation, is how much smarter he is than everyone else in the room. Even in a room full of analysts, who all play in each other’s heads for fun, Lecter is always somewhat on the outside looking in. He is able to observe others without being fully infiltrated himself. This was another strong episode and I hope that the low ratings don’t hinder the show’s chance for renewal.

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