Will Graham is an FBI instructor who suffers from some light mental disability. He's antisocial, introverted, he sleep walks, has nightmares, but he's highly functional and has a peculiar skill that he can empathize with killers to such an extent that he can basically relive and re-enact the killing when he sees a crime scene and puts himself in some trance-like state. And Jack Crawford from the FBI sure sees use in him as some killers commit violent murders and tend to leave elaborate orchestrated scenes for law enforcement to find.

The FBI also consults with psychiatrist Dr. Hannibal Lecter, whose motives are anything but pure. Eventually he becomes the friend/therapist of Graham, Crawford, and another lovely FBI psychiatrist named Alana Bloom who has a soft spot for Graham and tries to protect him. All the psychiatrists here act more like psychologists conducting therapy instead of prescribing meds.

Every episode involves some killing for the FBI team to deal with. But not every killing/episode has one unique killer. Usually 3 of 4 episodes make up the life of one killer. Occasionally it's a single episode.

Those looking for "The Hannibal Lecter Show" will be disappointed. The main character here is Graham. And Hugh Dancy can and does carry the show easily. Graham's character is fascinating and so unique in television. Lecter starts out almost as a tertiary character but comes to the fore more and more in later episodes. If you're looking for some deliciously wicked Hopkins-like performance, you won't get that either. Mikkelsen's Lecter is different. Younger of course, stiffer, but no less vicious when necessary. He enjoys classical music and cooking elaborate meals that rival stuff found in the most fancy of restaurants. Hannibal features the best, if not only, use of gastronomy on television. And it's no accident that the producers had to get a Spanish chef to advise because Lecter cooks nothing but entrails for him and his guests- which are usually our FBI friends and unsuspecting potential victims. The dishes sure look pretty but not very appetizing I must say. And by Lecter giving their French names, diners are none the wiser. Where the entrails come from are for us to guess.

Hannibal features not one but three forensic pathologists one lamer and uglier than the other. They are there I assume to provide some comic relief and to dispel a bit the tension and seriousness of the rest of the show. They usually speculate who the killer is and why he's killing. But aside from these three, the entire cast is very solid. Caroline Dhavernas stands out for her beauty and class.

Hollywood has had a difficult time in successfully bringing horror to television. And I don't include the gore-porn cop procedurals. While very gory they are in no way a match for Hannibal. Hannibal can be gory but it's not as vile as those shows, whose cameras linger for hours on wasted corpses zooming in on the devastation with glee. Hannibal is almost reluctant to show gore. But when it does, it's excellent and original. But gore doesn't make horror. And Hannibal is truly a horror show both story-wise and by creating a scary atmosphere. The credit goes to the sound in this show, which is exceptional. And while things tend to move slowly in Hannibal, things don't get boring. The pace and style goes very much with Lecter's characters- methodical, exact, patient. The cinematography also stands out. It must be harder and harder for shows to create unique looks but Hannibal has a very interesting look. The colors, the furniture, the tapestries, the fashions all look like they came from the 70s and yet the look is combined with modernity and technology.

A bit frustrating is knowing what we know about Lecter while the FBI folks wine and dine with Lecter, and spill their guts to him, both personally and professionally, giving him insights on their investigations, investigations which should lead them to Lecter. But that has the effect of making Lecter one menacing friend to have.

Hannibal, like it's lead Dr. Graham, is all business, without a whole lot of silliness, without posing and posturing, without gimmicks, without neurotic editing. It doesn't treat the audience condescendingly, it doesn't preach about morality or the latest fashionable social issue, it's just about the story. And that is very refreshing. I sure hope that we'll see more television shows made for an audience with a healthy attention span. Hannibal isn't just the best horror TV show, it's also among the very best shows period.