There's a lot of dramas on right now. Game of Thrones, Blacklist, Person of Interest, Breaking Bad. I've not seen all of these, but it is my entirely biased opinion that Hannibal is superior to any of its peers.

Hannibal sees Hugh Dancy's FBI consultant Will Graham and his incredibly complex relationship with Mads Mikkelson's exotic Hannibal, as initially 'patient and psychiatrist' before developing into an astounding game of cat and mouse.

Based on the books and movies, there are many homages to those previous material, but generally most of them should be forgotten in terms of relevance to this.

Hannibal stands alone and is all the better for it.

As those familiar with the franchise will know, Hannibal's intellect is intimidating, with an uncanny knack of penetrating the epidermis of everyone around him, and Mikkelson absolutely nails the psychological nature of such borderline non-lingual-persuasions.

Hannibal programs and controls those around him in a vast maze while they scoot around like mice as he watches on, adding obstacles and variables to make it more interesting.

Graham is the victim, yet Hannibal's actions upon him aren't deliberately to make him suffer, but due to how much of himself he sees in the FBI's lead profiler. They are genuinely friends, yet the worst of enemies at the same time.

A word has to go also to the quality of the show. From the writing, to the acting, to the absolutely exquisite direction and editing, Hannibal is a pretty perfect show, which, admittedly, due to the gruesome nature of a great deal of the content, is not for the faint-hearted.

Hannibal, is, of course, a cannibal, but it's delivered in such an eloquent way as to give his behaviour purpose, meaning and even beauty. He respects every living thing he kills, and loves them, considering consuming them the highest honour to their life.

And that theme of beauty and death is the perfect summary of the show - two opposite, irreconcilable concepts blended wonderfully together to create a masterpiece of a production.

I won't spoil much more of the plot, hence this review has focused more on the show's structure than its actual content, but it's safe to say Hannibal is untouchable as far as current drama goes.

Beyond highly recommended.