“…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.
We knew it wouldn’t be long before Frederick Chilton was a goner for several reasons, but one can’t help but think it came a little too soon. Not only has Raúl Esparza provided the series with some much needed dark humour and a superb performance, but his character has a prominent and important role in both Thomas Harris’s novels and in their cinematic adaptations. That said, this is an adaption and a very different medium, and so Fuller is wise in deviating away from the original source material. Nobody needs a page by page, word by word, reenactment of the books; so while Fuller is using Harris’s novels as inspiration, this is his baby, and based on the week to week quality of the show, we shouldn’t complain. It’s unsurprising that the many literature-based TV series currently on the air have approached their source material with varying degrees of success
After her encounter with Hannibal in last weeks cliffhanger, the chances of Beverly coming out alive were extremely slim. But while her death doesn’t come with much of a surprise, the reveal of her fate is shocking, to say the least. Kudos to showrunner Bryan Fuller and Battlestar Galactica’s Michael Rymer, who directed “Mukozuke,” an episode crammed with stunning and unsettling images, and a tour-de-force performance from Hugh Dancy and Laurence Fishburne.
Just two episodes in and this season of American Horror Story is already a wicked melange of body horror, black magic and female empowerment. Two major themes prominent so far, are that of resurrection and science versus magic. But Coven is essentially a story about a group of women desperately trying to remain relevant in an ever changing world.
The Killing, Season 3: Episodes 4 and 5 – “Head Shots” and “Scared and Running” Directed by Michael Rymer (4) and Dan Attias (5) Written by Dawn Prestwich and Nicole Yorkin (4) and Coleman Herbert (5) Airs Sunday nights at 9 on AMC Apologies for missing last week due to technical difficulties. As The Killing …
The penultimate episode of Hannibal’s first season offers up a much more low-key hour of television, but it sets up what is promising to be a hell of a finalé. Hannibal is sure to deliver its finest course next week with tensions escalating to a fever pitch. Lives and reputations are on the line and Will (Hugh Dancy) is slowly putting the pieces to the puzzle together. The death of Georgia Madchen (Ellen Muth) leads Will to realize the truth about the copycat killer, while Jack (Laurence Fishburne) begins to have suspicions, and Hannibal (Mads Mikkelsen) reveals his true self to poor Abigail Hobbs (Kacey Rohl). For a series that is usually dialogue-heavy, Hannibal does an excellent job in ratcheting up the tension.