I've just watched Season 2 I may return after watching Season 3 but I feel like a break from the show... I see a lot of reviews having only seen 1 episode or giving up way before I did so thought a 2 season review may be worth putting out there.

Here is my spoiler free take on it:

Season 1 was pretty cool in hindsight, the idea of an agent getting too involved in the mind of a killer, it was tense and thought provoking as Hannibal's motives and unstoppable scheming made an interesting cat an mouse game of wits and philosophical questions as the viewer related to Will's journey of reluctant hero being sent crazy. I think the best part of it is how Will goes further from sanity and pushes people away while Hannibal's world becomes less and less hidden, it's like one character going into the darkness one character getting a light shone on them more and more, it created an interesting dichotomy with audience slowly relating more to concerned supporting characters like Frank and Alana.

Season 2 started with a huge moment that wouldn't happen til the last episode as a teaser, there is a big problem with this and retracing some plot moments of Silence of the Lambs. The issue is if you are a fan of the movies you will start wondering if they are retranslating the books or the whole show is a prequel to the movies. Similarly starting a season with such a significant plot moment removes much of the tension throughout the other episodes. This issue was also found in Red Dragon and most prequels, you can only create so much tension in a prequel because you know who will be in the next movie it's like watching a movie backwards. What results is a visually interesting but gory season with heaaaaps of interesting discussion around psychology and life and death but the season left me really disappointed in how it was constructed, so much bizarre stuff thrown in for filler and strange drum music everywhere. They could have left that plot point out of the first episode and it be a much better season though the parts that repeated moments from Hannibal movie and Silence of the Lambs also take the viewer out of the show and force comparisons and questions of where it's headed.

The climax of the season was massively disappointing and made me wonder if I should give Season 3 a go, I wasn't even sure if there was a Season 3, I hear reviews that it is a let down retreading more of Hannibal (which I wouldn't actually mind at least then the show is more like Gotham was than a straight prequel to the movies, I initially thought Will was Edward Norton and the show was a prequel to the prequel); the whole show feels like they wrote themselves into a hole and Season 2 lost pretty much all tension as characters made choices that didn't make sense, they fixed it a little explaining their motives in the latter half but you stop caring what happens, I started being more interested in Freddie character while Alana Will and Jack all became stupid and/or irredeemable. I can't believe the actor they got to fill Gary Oldman's shoes too, some really bizarre line deliveries that remind you how good the movies did it, I just can't really recommend anyone sit through this trauma fest just for the moments of intellectual conversation. That said, the intellectual statements the show makes are some of the best of any show, but it makes me wonder if I should just read the book instead of giving them any more chances as the show is consistent decline and Season 2 was a chore to get through, I really hoped it was the end and then when I saw how 2 ended I just felt like the show had spat in my face.

If season 3 redeems the ending of season 2 I may come back to bump this review up a bit, I just get tired of shows sucking up my time with cliffhangers, it's like every show saw how much it worked for Breaking Bad and did the same what results is like drug TV.