Last Friday, I was invited to the Hannibal Season 3 Exclusive Lunch Screening in Singapore. There, guests including several ‘Fannibals’ (Fans of the ANX series Hannibal) had the chance to enjoy “lunch with Hannibal” – whilst watching the first episode of the new season simulcast at exactly the same time as the US premiere. This had been at 1pm in the afternoon in Singapore and was accompanied with a three-course Western set lunch.
Hannibal “The Cannibal” Lecter is back.
Photo by: AXN.
Across Asia, the premiere episode streamed on the AXN channel website on June 5th at 1pm, nine hours ahead of AXN’s Hannibal season 3 broadcast premiere at 9.45pm on Starhub Channel 511.
Took a different turn to the first two seasons
The first episode of Season 3, entitled Antipasto, had taken a slightly different turn compared to the first two seasons – beginning with Hannibal on the run this time as a fugitive in Italy together with Dr. Bedelia Du Maurier, his former psychiatrist – and are moonlighting as husband and wife.
Oh, that’s an eyeball in my drink!
In this episode, viewers also do not get to know who had survived Hannibal’s killing spree in the Season 2 episode finale. This will most likely be revealed in a later episode this season – to keep fans guessing. Instead, we got to delve more into the strange psychology behind Hannibal and Bedelia’s relationship – she knows exactly what he really is, yet she continues to stay with him. But why is this the case? The mental side of this gets explored a little in the episode.
Pacing was slow going to set the scene for future episodes
As for the pacing, it had been rather slow going for a Hannibal episode. There were many scenes of Hannibal and Bedelia seemingly acting quite normal and engaging in idle chitchat. But perhaps this could have been a scene setter for the future episodes to come, though.
Explained Sharon Tan, 34, a fashion stylist and an ardent Hannibal fan, “There were plenty of words and few actions in this episode. But I think that was because they had wanted to draw you in and make you keep on watching. I think it should pick up later on in the season though.”
Shows a completely new side to Hannibal
For fellow Hannibal fan Richard Herrera, 35, a writer, host & actor, the scene that the first episode had set, had been to show the audience a completely different side of Hannibal.
He said, “I think that they wanted to show the cultured side of Hannibal first – that is, how he selects his victims and displays how he goes about it. It shows that he is not only into consuming human flesh and that he also has a love interest and other aspects in his life too. So it will be interesting to see how the whole thing plays out in future episodes.”
Our dessert was slow-cooked pineapple in vanilla syrup, pistachio and white chocolate crumble and cardamon vanilla ice cream.
Scenes had been shot brilliantly
Besides the scene setting, Herrera had also loved the way the style of shooting that the show had adopted in the first episode. He said, “I loved how it was shot so brilliantly and all the gory scenes were done so tastefully. I have never seen blood and guts done with so much class. It was really beautiful.
With the AXN poster of Hannibal.
“The food shots were quite a marvel too – it made me get hungry just by seeing the characters eating but you never really know exactly what is on the plate,” added Herrera.
Whetted the fans appetites for more
But whatever the case is, the first episode has definitely whet the appetite of the fans – and they want to see more. Said ardent ‘Fannibal’ Wendy Tan, 37, a home-maker, “I think Season 2 was a lot more intense but based on what I saw this afternoon, it was certainly just enough to make me want more.”
Fans speculations on what is to come
What do these fans guess, in terms of what is to come then? Said Herrera, “I suppose the tagline is, The Hunter is now the Hunted, so perhaps we will see a pursuit of some sort – which I am sure is difficult, because we will need to have someone who is as intelligent as Hannibal is. But I am sure we will see a lot of history and culture along the way – as well as several dead bodies.”
Agreed Tan, “Well, Hannibal has been killing so many people for their flesh – so perhaps we will see what it’s like when someone wants to kill him.”
What can we expect in Season 3?
Photo by: AXN.
Whatever the case that these fans speculate is though, Season 3 of the Hannibal TV series will be based on a fugitive angle, according to series creator Bryan Fuller, who has a seven-year episode plan for the Hannibal serial.
Hannibal Season 3 airs on Fridays at 10pm – within 12 hours of the US telecast.
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