Hannibal and Will’s first scene together begins in Hannibal’s memory palace but notably, the organ-based scoring for the Norman Chapel and the Italy arc is not used. Instead, we get clustered clarinets and winds.
A day after it ended, the creator of Hannibal says it could live on in movie form. In an interview with HitFix on Saturday, Bryan Fuller spoke about the possibilities of the show living on in different forms — namely a mini-series or movie. According to Fuller, it is all about financing and finding the …
With “The Wrath of the Lamb”, Hannibal wraps up its run, at least for now. While all involved have been qualifying the episode as merely the series finale on NBC, the show has yet to be picked up anywhere else and several key figures have moved on to new projects. Creator Bryan Fuller has mentioned the possibility of the team reuniting for a film at some point down the line, but for the foreseeable future, this is the series finale of Hannibal, and given its bloody, spectacular climax, that feels appropriate.
Frederick Chilton has had a rough go of it in his time on Hannibal. He makes himself an easy target—the man has learned nothing, it would seem, from his disastrous experiences with serial killers over the years—but when faced with the enormity of the Dragon, Chilton is so unabashedly human, so relatable and terrified one can’t help but feel for him. Raúl Esparza has been a delight in the role throughout his tenure on the series, often giving a comedic lift to otherwise very dour episodes and arcs, but he’s particularly impressive here. Chilton’s terrifying capture by the Dragon makes up the center of the episode, but Esparza gets much more to play than fear.
The string bass is featured prominently throughout this episode as the voice of the Dragon, groaning and growling in the shadows. Whereas Reitzell introduced the character in “The Great Red Dragon” with layers of percussion, the Dragon we hear here is very different: that was an instinctual, physical being, a wordless monster pulled to the surface by the phase of the moon.
“The Girl with the Flaxen Hair” is a lovely and simple short piece for solo piano composed by Debussy. It’s a fantastic selection for several reasons, not the least of which is that it’s a beautiful piece. The simplicity of the piece also reflects Reba’s straightforward trust in Dolarhyde and the beauty of their relationship. However, for classical music fans, this selection acts as a warning. “The Girl with the Flaxen Hair”: only two women in this season fit that description, and Dolarhyde likely isn’t thinking about Bedelia.
“…And the Beast From the Sea” is the series’ most stressful episode to date, surpassing the tense, but exciting battles between Jack and Hannibal and the tragic, but inevitable Red Dinner with a pulse-pounding central set-piece that sees the Dragon come for Molly and Walter.
The scene of Dolarhyde eating the painting has plenty of percussion, but not the same layered elements as the Dragon scoring earlier, when Dolarhyde woke up and Reba was gone. There’s a high wind chime-like sound, some rattling, and drums and cymbals, but not the different, distinct rhythms syncing up with each other, and the strings only come in towards the end, when Will and Dolarhyde see each other. The percussion builds in intensity and speed until it cuts off with Will’s discovery of Dolarhyde, leaving behind soft vocals and the aforementioned strings, and this is when we hear the more characteristic Dragon percussion.
This episode embraces the spectacle and sweep of the Blake paintings, elevating Frances and Reba’s romance to the same epic scale as Dolarhyde’s horrific killings, and in doing so, cements the story of this half season as a battle for the soul of an already damned man.
The use of strings in the Dolarhyde arc has been notable. Here we get dissonant violins and rising clusters of pitches as Abigail is faced with her father’s corpse as well as a warm, inviting string sound as Will begins to watch home videos of the Leeds family. Reitzell has previously used solo instruments, only expanding into larger sections with this arc.
Despite spending plenty of time with Will and Hannibal, “And the Woman Clothed with the Sun…” focuses on the women of Hannibal, fleshing out Molly and post-“Digestivo” Alana, resurrecting Abigail and Freddie, and introducing Reba McClane.
Between its careful handling of the Tooth Fairy’s crimes, its memorable character debuts and reintroductions, and its gentle resetting of so many pieces on the Hannibal chessboard to their pre-“Mizumono” positions, “The Great Red Dragon” is a strong and exciting midseason premiere that promises a confident, more accessible end to a previously divisive season.
From the opening scene, Reitzell stretches himself with the scoring for Francis Dolarhyde. While the thread of heavy, layered percussion for killers connects the Dolarhyde scoring to the rest of the series’ approach, Reitzell thickens the texture with not only winds, but strings.
The opening scene of the episode features electric keyboards/organ, a contrast to the pipe organ that has been so prominently featured in the scoring for Hannibal’s time in Europe. For me, this speaks to a perversion of what should be happening: the Polizia should be rushing in to save the day, but they’ve been bought by Mason and are instead quite content to kill Jack to strengthen their story of Hannibal’s escape. The majesty of the organ, which has signaled sacred spaces this season, is replaced with the artificial, modern sound of the keyboard.
It feels safe to say that everyone watching the series Hannibal knows that at some point, barring a complete break from the source material, Hannibal Lecter will end up in police custody. With “Digestivo”, Bryan Fuller and company finally bring this moment to pass, catching up to the lesser informed segment of the audience—those only peripherally familiar with Red Dragon or Silence of the Lambs—and doing so in style.
Most of the episode is scored with what to this string player’s ears sounds like rolled percussion: covered mallets (comparatively) gently striking what sounds like brass percussion instruments to create a shimmering sound. (Note: Any corrections from percussionists absolutely welcome—please chime in in the comments!) This contributes to the impressionistic and dreamy feel of much of the episode, particularly the beginning, as Hannibal wanders through Florence.
If “Antipasto” is the bright, sparkling fantasy of Hannibal’s life in denial over Will’s betrayal and “Secondo” is the dark fairy tale of Will embracing and coming to understand Hannibal as never before, “Dolce” is the glistening sunset of their courtship, and it’s only fitting that Natali is back to finish the journey with them.
The wonderful use of the La gazza ladra overture in this episode is a reference to A Clockwork Orange, in which the main character attacks two compatriots to the strains of this overture, which he hears playing from a nearby stereo. It works on many more levels than this simple homage, however. There’s the obvious connection of Rossini being one of the most famous Italian classical composers, but the piece also suits the situation well.
Among the more critically acclaimed network shows over the past few seasons has been the NBC series Hannibal. Developed by Pushing Daisies and Wonderfalls creator Bryan Fuller, the series, which follows the titular character of Dr. Hannibal Lecter, played by Mads Mikkelsen, began its third season roughly three weeks ago, to the excitement of many. Now …
“Primavera” ended with a stunning surprise, Will standing in the catacombs under the Norman Chapel and, upon sensing Hannibal’s presence, offering his forgiveness to Il Mostro.
While it references the new sound Reitzell established for season three in “Antipasto”, the score for “Primavera” is much closer to those of the previous seasons than the premiere’s. In particular, the dense scoring for Will, with layers of instrumentation, sound, and white noise, stands in stark contrast to the solo, muted trumpet for Hannibal or synth for Bedelia in “Antipasto”.
Michael Pitt, who played Mason Verger in NBC’s Hannibal, is leaving the show, according to TVLine. Joe Anderson (Across the Universe, The Divide) will continue the role of the sociopathic heir of a meat-packing dynasty who is full of himself for the third season. Some SPOILERS for Hannibal Season 2 follow, as well as descriptions of some …
2014 has been yet another fantastic year for television, one that continued the nichification of the medium, with highly specific and underrepresented voices breaking through in every genre. There was a comedy explosion, particularly on cable, with dozens of new series presenting confident first seasons and several returning shows reaching new heights. The dramas didn’t disappoint either, with visionary creators bringing new life to familiar settings and taking greater risks with their returning series, deepening their worlds. Throughout the year, directors and cinematographers brought lush visuals, composers pushed the auditory envelope, and an astonishing number of actors gave fantastic, memorable performances. More than a few shows delivered spectacle on a weekly basis, while others went small, deriving incredible power out of stillness and self-reflection. Some series swept the audience up, week in and week out, and others built subtly, only showing their hand in their season’s final episodes. There truly was too much great television this year for any one person to see it all (95 separate series were nominated by our contributors!), so limiting the discussion to 10 or even 20 series would be ridiculous. Instead, here is Sound on Sight’s list of the 30 best series of what has been another wonderful year for television.