It's not the same Hannibal as the original films, it's different, and intentionally different to keep the series running (rather than something 1-dimensional). The plot itself is a drawn out version of the movie, wherein Hannibal helps the FBI catch serial killers. Sometimes I get lost in the show thinking, how does this one city have this many F'd up serial killers? Despite that, the visuals are pretty incredible and a lot of thought was put into the kills/deaths. Storyline is lacking, but the gore makes up for it.