Hannibal

China Bat Soup said:

Does it get better?

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Yes. Season 1 has some of the "villain of the week" nonsense but it pays off.
Season 2 finale is one of the best episodes of any TV show in recent history.
Season 3 is slow in the first half. If you're impatient, fast-forward until you see Thorin from The Hobbit.

I'm three episodes into this. When does it get good? It's hammy as fuck. And so many dumb, predictable things happen in just about every scene. That reporter shows up out of nowhere everywhere and somehow is always able to get into crime scenes. Actually all the characters show up out of nowhere - like the brother Abigail murders. And the cops always show up just in time or just too late. Just typical network TV cop drama.

I think premium channels have ruined me. I need shows that are slower and more methodical than this.

The show is about Will's relationship to Hannibal, and how Will's empathy gift/disorder gets manipulated to different ends. The TV cop drama wrapper is a consequence of the show being on NBC and needing to fit a mold to survive past season 1. It fades into the background over time, and is completely non-existent from early Season 2 onward.

If you're expecting a realistic whodunit, you will be disappointed. The show is naturally extravagant and unrealistic, and the killer-of-the-week baddies are just fodder for incremental developments between the main characters. Most of the "action" happens off-screen. The only killer in season 1 that matters, aside from Hannibal, is Garret Jacob Hobbs and that's really just because Abigail survives. This show isn't for everyone and I can't change what you focus on when you watch it, but it's very far from a typical network TV cop drama.

If you find the surrounding minor weekly plots/characters distracting, you can watch seasons 1 and 2 in movie format instead. Guaranteed slow and methodical at nearly 3 hours a piece;
Season 1 and Season 2