Despite my hopes, dreams and wishes for this show, it's quite mediocre. I'll address the big four: Casting, Acting, Writing and Direction.

Direction: Mechanically, there is nothing wrong with this series. It's shot well and the direction seems to be fine. I wish the other three areas had fared as well.

Casting: The casting could use some work. Alana Bloom, Katz, the forensic tech and Garret Jacob Hobb's daughter were all pretty poor casts. They don't look their parts, they're not particularly good actresses and they detract from the show more than they add to it.

Acting: Most of the actors in the show do decent enough work. Some of them do not. Alana Bloom is too emotional, irrational and unprofessional to be believable as a psychiatrist. GJH's daughter constantly uses asymmetrical facial expressions, which are fake. Other than contempt and, perhaps, puzzlement, there are no genuine facial expressions that are asymmetrical, certainly not fear, which she, unfortunately, thinks should be an asymmetrical expression. Katz's character doesn't make any sense. I will cover that more in the writing section, but the actress that plays her isn't believable in the role. She doesn't look or behave like she's in a scientific field or a member of the FBI. The rest of the acting in the show is fairly decent and even very good when it comes to the rest of the cast, particularly, the veteran actors.

Writing: This is the biggest flaw in the show. The show should have been centered on Hannibal and his killing. It's not. Instead it centers around Will, who's a nobody and isn't particularly likeable as a character, and his mental illness. Making mental illness the main conflict in a TV series is always a mistake bc people don't want to see some person struggle with hallucinations or internal demons. It doesn't translate well to film. Ever. People want to see Will do his job and they want to see how the cunning FBI catches equally cunning serial killers. As a result, most of the show's plot is tedious and dragging nonsense that quickly becomes tiresome. Poor, poor decision making when it comes to the writing in this show. When it comes to characters like Dr. Bloom and Katz, the forensic tech, they are often involved in work that has nothing to do with their professions. Bloom is constantly blurring the lines between personal and professional relationships which is fairly unrealistic. She's also overly emotional, irrational and unprofessional. Her character is difficult to believe as a psychologist. As far as Katz, she frequently wears more makeup than any forensic tech should wear to work, is constantly making irritating little jokes and often shows up to places she's not needed and operates beyond the capacity as a forensic tech. It's like the show doesn't know who she is. The same way that Will is sometimes just working with the FBI as a consultant, sometimes is a teacher at the FBI academy and sometimes is a special agent for the FBI. There's not a lot of consistency in these characters and they're often appearing in roles and taking on duties that a person in their position would not. That being said, nothing detracts from the show more than the sob, pity drama surrounding Will and whether or not he's crazy. It's tedious, it's boring and it's dragged out for far too long. The show is called Hannibal, it should center on him, his murders and the cat and mouse game with the authorities. Instead, this would be like calling the show 'Micheal Meyers' and then focusing on Laurie Strode and whether or not her experiences have damaged her psychologically. No one with even half a brain would care about that story and no one with even a quarter of a brain is going to care about this one bc of the terrible writing choices. That's too bad.