Apéritif (Hannibal)
When college girls are reported to be missing and all are said to be kidnapped by the same person, Graham is recruited by BSU Special Agent Jack Crawford for help.
However, unbeknownst to Graham, Crawford and the FBI, Lecter is a cannibal who has been killing and retrieving victims in order to make them his personal meal.
Will Graham (Hugh Dancy), an FBI profiler, surveys and recreates a crime scene in which two suburban homeowners, Mr. and Mrs. Marlow, have been brutally murdered.
Later, after Graham gives a lecture at the FBI Academy, he is approached by BSU Special Agent Jack Crawford (Laurence Fishburne), who wants his help in investigating a serial killer who has recently abducted eight college girls.
As the FBI investigates the scene, Graham tries to reenact the events when he is interrupted by Special Agent Beverly Katz (Hettienne Park), who reveals that they have found antler velvet in Elise's wounds.
Taking their case back to the examination labs in Quantico, Virginia, Katz finds a curl of metal in Elise's clothes.
Crawford consults Alana Bloom (Caroline Dhavernas) for help and she recommends him to visit Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen), a psychiatrist.
They find that a man, Garret Jacob Hobbs (Vladimir Jon Cubrt) has resigned from his job and meets Graham's profile.
[1] On February 14, 2012, NBC bypassed the pilot stage of development by giving the series a 13-episode first season based solely on the strength of Fuller's script.
[3] José Andrés is the series' "culinary cannibal consultant" and advises the crew on proper procedure for preparing human flesh for consumption.
"[6] As an easter egg, Fuller later confirmed that the couple murdered at the beginning of the episode were victims of Francis Dolarhyde, the main antagonist of Red Dragon.
"[22] Donal Lynch from The Independent wrote, "Will Graham does justice to his role as a male version of the Jodie Foster character and Mads Mikkelsen is brilliantly icy and creepy as Lecter.
"[23] Jeff Jensen of Entertainment Weekly gave the show an A− and called it "... finely acted, visually scrumptious, and deliciously subversive.
"[24] Brian Lowry of Variety said Hannibal is "... the tastiest drama the network has introduced in awhile," and had particular praise for the central trio of Dancy, Mikkelsen and Fishburne.
[25] The Chicago Sun Times' TV critic Lori Rackl said, "Hannibal is a haunting, riveting... drama that has the look and feel of a show audiences have become more accustomed to seeing on cable than broadcast," and concluded that "It's also extremely well executed... bound to leave viewers hungry for more.
"[26] Alan Sepinwall of HitFix called Hannibal "creepy, haunting, smart, utterly gorgeous..." and the best of this season's serial killer shows.
As written by Bryan Fuller and played by Mads Mikkelsen, Hannibal Lecter, therapist-turned-cannibalistic-serial-killer-turned-crime consultant and possibly one of the greatest characters of 20th century popular literature, is just a big drag.
"[29] Vicki Hyman from The Star-Ledger gave the pilot a "C" rating and wrote, "That's a problem with the show: It takes itself so seriously, yet is so far-fetched, from Lounds' gonzo journalism to Graham's intuitive leaps to the cavalcade of Grand Guignol crime scenes to the pretentious dialogue.
