Making a suspense/horror/thriller series of 40 minute-long episodes that keeps your interest at all times is no easy task. Having seen "Silence of the lambs" with majestic Hopkins in the role of Hannibal, I couldn't really see the direction that this series would take. At first, I was wondering if it would even be worth it. Well, to my surprise, not only was it worth it but it resulted in me watching all episodes, one after the other, in what was merely a handful of sleepless nights.

I am having trouble finding a starting point since there is very little (or even nothing) that I didn't find of my liking in this most excellent melting pot of quality acting, thrilling cinematography and a plot to match. Maybe I should just begin by saying that Dancy (portaying a most gifted but also haunted special agent of the feds) and Mikkelsen (portaying Hannibal) deliver upon us some gripping performances. Initially, I felt Dancy's performance slightly over-the-top, but as the show progressed, he turned those thoughts away, up until the moment when I realized he was an equal on-screen adversary of Mikkelsen.

Mikkelsen is Hannibal or is Hannibal Mikkelsen? How can he "step out" of this role when going back home? He is probably one of the most cleverly scripted psychopaths, and Mikkelsen seems inmerged completely in his role. Top notch to say the least. The rest are of good proportional high standards, Fishburne being the third actor to stand out.

In order to keep this review as short as possible, let me just mention a few parts that really took this viewing to the highest level for my standards : The dream sequences of Will Graham( Dancy ) are building up as the show progresses and become even spine-tingling. The relentless no nonsense action that keeps the episodes 40 minutes long but oh so dense. The oozing intelligence of Hannibal and the way it leads Graham into questioning his sanity. The excellent "full-frontal" blood and gore which I enjoy and in this case can view through a prism of exquisite taste and craftsmanship.

I mean, I could go on for quite some time but I ll just say this : "Make sure your psychologist is not a serial killer that likes to play with the human mind for fun" and of course a clear 10/10 - could have been a 9.6+ but what the heck, this kept me glued to the screen, so props to all those fine people who are about to deliver us season II in one month.