Not in my wildest dreams, before starting with it, could I imagine the levels of quality this tv series would reach. The silence of lambs had been a very longtime favourite movie of mine, and it seemed almost impossible to get close to its magnificence. Yet after two seasons of the series, and in agreement with a Spanish tv series critic, I think it has become the best Hannibal-related movie ever. The only difference is that the movie is actually composed by 26 (thus far) episodes, filled with exquisite imagery, an extreme care for tiny details of sound & image, and a very elaborated plot digging for deep aspects of the relationship between Will Graham and Hannibal Lecter.
Another feature which was hard to improve (Hannibal's interpretation from Anthony Hopkins) has been also demonstrated to be possible, and Mads Mikkelssen managed to create a Dr. Lecter who combines the activity of a young man (unlike Hopkins) and the sophistication of the smartest criminal ever, equaling also in this facet the almost supernatural capabilities of Hopkins in his finest hours. Will Graham/Hugh Dancy proves the perfect counterpart, and the work of Dancy is clearly growing in complexity along the two seasons, finely merging with the progressively complicated history.
I could follow with the quality of the rest of interpretations, but it would be pointless. Bryan Fuller's design of the series is working extremely well (it has been recently renewed for a 3rd season), and the more it advances, the more excited I am to watch the full 7 seasons, including inclusions in the timelines of The Silence of Lambs, among others.
My only criticism (which is purely for convenience) is the extremely dark lighting of many moments, which is probably requested by the storyline, but still makes somehow uncomfortable the watching of the exquisite scenes depicted in any of the frames of the series (I often said to my wife that you could make a beautiful poster from any frame).
If I had to select a single quality of Hannibal, I would find hard to choose between the absolutely astonishing aesthetics of the series (even in the most insignificant detail) and the patient, delicate, elegant, superb way to progress in the story, in a master lesson of how to build suspense without hurries and with a tremendous care to avoid losing any tail.
In short: I would suggest J. J. Abrams and his team of miserable trickers to watch attentively Hannibal to learn, once and for all, how to atract the interest of the audience and keep them glued to the screen without treating them like stupids and without using inelegant, ugly or directly tricky strategies to keep them watching the next week.
But you need respect for the audience, talent, intelligence and good taste for this to work; and I'm not positive any of those features are fully understood by Abrams and his team.
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