Apéritif (Hannibal)

"Apéritif" is the first episode of psychological thriller–horror series Hannibal. The episode was written by Bryan Fuller, and directed by David Slade. It was first broadcast on April 4, 2013, on NBC. The series is based on characters and elements appearing in Thomas Harris' novels Red Dragon and Hannibal, with focus on the relationship between FBI special investigator Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) and Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen), a forensic psychiatrist destined to become Graham's most cunning enemy.

"Apéritif"
Hannibal episode
Episode no.Season 1
Episode 1
Directed byDavid Slade
Written byBryan Fuller
Produced by
Featured musicBrian Reitzell
Cinematography byJames Hawkinson
Editing byArt Jones
Production code101
Original air dateApril 4, 2013 (2013-04-04)
Running time42 minutes
Guest appearance(s)

The episode revolves around Will Graham, a FBI profiler who is able to sense and think like any other serial killer during a crime scene and recreate their murders. 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. After one of the girls shows up in her house dead, Graham and Crawford receive help from Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a psychiatrist who has been dealing with sociopaths. 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.

The pilot received a mostly positive reception from critics, who praised many aspects including the acting and writing in the episode. Some critics also compared the show to other psychological thriller shows that aired at the same time such as The Following and Bates Motel, noting that Hannibal managed to surpass them.

Plot

Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) is in the middle of a police investigation of murder in a house. Using his "ability", he recreates the steps taken by the murderer that killed the owners of the house, Mr. and Mrs. Marlow. The murderer also used a voice alteration device in order to avoid the authorities and escape calmly from the scene. This is all used by Graham to make a lecture in the FBI Academy to a group of students as a way to show them "his design".

After the class is over, Graham is approached by BSU Special Agent Jack Crawford (Laurence Fishburne), who wants his help in investigating a killer that has been abducting eight college girls in the past months with the most recent, Elise Nichols, being reported as missing that day. Graham and Crawford arrive at Duluth, Minnesota to visit Elise's parents for interrogation. They decide to inspect her room and discover Elise's corpse in her bed. While 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 the wounds. Taking their case to the examination labs, Katz finds a curl of metal in Elise' clothes. Graham deduces that the victim was killed by being mounted on antlers. They also discover that the victim had her liver taken out but was then put back in the body, having liver cancer. The team discovers they are after a cannibal.

Graham begins to suffer nightmares with Elise, hunted by his "ability". Crawford consults Alana Bloom (Caroline Dhavernas) for help and she recommends him to visit Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen), a psychiatrist. Crawford takes Lecter to the labs where he meets Graham and agrees to help him. A new body appears in Hibbing, Minnesota, mounted on top of a deer's head in an open field with her lungs removed. The police have identified the murderer as the "Minnesota Shrike". Identifying this murder to be the work of a copycat killer, Graham deduces the serial killer has a daughter who is about to leave and the killer can't accept it. Meanwhile, Lecter is shown preparing the lungs and eats them at dinner. In conversation, with Lecter, Graham remarks that the copycat killing felt as though it were "gift-wrapped" as an inverse to the Shrike's killings to allow Graham to figure out how to profile them correctly.

Lecter and Graham meet and investigate a construction site which may be connected to the murder. They find a man, Garret Jacob Hobbs (Vladimir Jon Cubrt) has resigned from his job and meets Graham's profile. While Graham is distracted, Lecter makes a call to Hobbs, warning him that "they know". Later, Graham and Lecter arrive at Hobbs' house in Bloomington, Minnesota where they see Hobbs killing his wife and leaving her on the doorstep to die. Graham enters the house as Hobbs throw his wife out the door with her throat cut; after failing to save her, Graham sees Hobbs holding his daughter Abigail (Kacey Rohl) with a knife, before shooting him multiple times in the chest, but not before he cuts part of Abigail's throat. Before dying, Hobbs taunts Graham, saying, "See? See?" Abigail is taken to the hospital. The episode ends as Will sits on Abigail's hospital room along with Lecter, who is sleeping and holding her hand.

Production

Development
Bryan Fuller (pictured in 2016) wrote the episode.

NBC began developing a Hannibal series in 2011 and former head of drama Katie O'Connell brought in her long-time friend Bryan Fuller (who had previously served as a writer-producer on NBC's Heroes) to write a pilot script in November. NBC gave the series a financial commitment before Fuller had completed his script.[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.[2] The series went into production quickly thereafter. David Slade, who had previously directed the pilot for NBC's Awake, directed the first episode and serves as an executive producer.[3] José Andrés is the series' "culinary cannibal consultant" and advises the crew on proper procedure for preparing human flesh for consumption.[4]

Writing

Fuller discussed the limited episode order and the continuing story arc he envisions for the series. "Doing a cable model on network television gives us the opportunity not to dally in our storytelling because we have a lot of real estate to cover". Speaking specifically about the Lecter character, Fuller said:

There is a cheery disposition to our Hannibal. He's not being telegraphed as a villain. If the audience didn't know who he was, they wouldn't see him coming. What we have is Alfred Hitchcock's principle of suspense—show the audience the bomb under the table and let them sweat when it's going to go boom.

He went on to call the relationship between Graham and Lecter as "really a love story", saying "As Hannibal has said [to Graham] in a couple of the movies, 'You're a lot more like me than you realize'. We'll get to the bottom of exactly what that means over the course of the first two seasons".[5] Regarding the series' influences, Fuller stated: "When I sat down to the script, I was very consciously saying, 'What would David Lynch do with a Hannibal Lecter character? What sort of strange, unexpected places would he take this world?' I'm a great admirer of his work and his aesthetic and his meticulous sound design. Those were all components that I felt very strongly needed to be part of our Hannibal Lecter story. Between Lynch and Kubrick, there's a lot of inspiration."[6]

Casting
Hugh Dancy (pictured in 2011) was the first actor to be cast.

English actor Hugh Dancy was the first actor to be cast, taking on the lead role of FBI criminal profiler Will Graham, who seeks help from Lecter in profiling and capturing serial killers.[7] In June 2012, Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen was cast as Lecter.[8][9] Soon after this, actor Laurence Fishburne was cast as FBI Behavioral Sciences Unit commander Jack Crawford.[10] Caroline Dhavernas was later cast as Dr. Alana Bloom, a former student of Hannibal Lecter, and Hettienne Park was cast as CSI Beverly Katz.[11][12] Lara Jean Chorostecki, Kacey Rohl, Scott Thompson and Aaron Abrams were cast in recurring roles.[13][14]

Reception

Viewers

The episode was watched by 4.36 million viewers, earning a 1.6/5 in the 18-49 rating demographics on the Nielson ratings scale, ranking third on its timeslot and tenth for the night in the 18-49 demographics.[15] This means that 1.6 percent of all households with televisions watched the episode, while 5 percent of all households watching television at that time watched it. With DVR factored in, the episode was watched by 6.77 million viewers with a 2.7 in the 18-49 demographics.[16]

Critical reviews

The episode received mostly positive response from critics. Eric Goldman of IGN gave the episode an "amazing" 9 out of 10 and wrote, "Hannibal is launching on the heels of both The Following and Bates Motel, giving it a disadvantage in this odd timing of series about serial killers (or, in Bates' case, a serial killer to be). But even if you're already watching one or both of those other shows, Hannibal is well worth your time as well. It quickly has become one of my absolute favorite new shows so far this year (The Americans being the other), and I'm very excited to see what's to come as the story continues."[17]

Emily VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club gave the episode an "A-" and wrote, "Watching Hannibal almost seems an entry-level course in what this show gets right that The Following and Bates Motel get wrong. Where The Following is possessed of glib, nihilistic violence that means nothing beyond pushing the plot forward, Hannibal understands that for every moment of gore, there must be just as much consideration of the effect that gore has on those who must suffer on without the deceased (and those tasked to find the killer). Where Bates Motel seems borderline obsessed at times with painting a portrayal of a budding serial killer and using the audience’s knowledge of what said killer will get up to in the near future, Hannibal makes Hannibal Lecter a supporting player in the show named after him, the ultimate bogeyman in a world that doesn't lack for them. The title doesn't refer to the show's main character; it refers to the show's mission statement: This is a fallen world, a world full of evil. The best we can do is root out the darkness."[18]

Tim Goodman from The Hollywood Reporter gave a positive review for the pilot, writing, "Going well beyond expectations, Hannibal is a series that at one point seemed forgotten in NBC's schedule (it's starting late and ending in the summer) but could end up quickly becoming one of its most important dramas."[19] Maureen Ryan from The Huffington Post wrote, "As it stands, NBC can't afford that kind of one-off success — if the show is successful at all, that is. Strange as it feels to voice the sentiment, I hope this serial-killer drama works for the network. Hannibal isn't a dumb or cynical attempt to mine dark material; the cast, the direction and the adaptation of Thomas Harris’ novels are all quite solid, and if Mikkelsen isn't nominated for an Emmy, that will be a crime right there."[20]

Donal Lynch from The Independent wrote, "Will Graham does justice to his role as a male version of the Jodie Foster character and Mads Mikkelson is brilliantly icy and creepy as Lecter."[21] Jeff Jensen of Entertainment Weekly gave the show an A- and called it "... finely acted, visually scrumptious, and deliciously subversive."[22] 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.[23] 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."[24] Alan Sepinwall of HitFix called Hannibal "creepy, haunting, smart, utterly gorgeous..." and the best of this season's serial killer shows.[25]

Not all reviews were positive, Mary McNamara from Los Angeles Times wrote, "No, the problem with Hannibal is Hannibal. 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."[26] Verne Gay from Newsday gave the pilot a "C+" rating and wrote, "And if Will is such a genius at reconstructing crime scenes, why can't he look into that sinister Lecter soul to see the crime scene going on in there? Everyone else in the audience can. Hannibal just feels like a waste of a big talent - Fuller's."[27]

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. (When asked what it's like to put himself in the place of a killer, Graham answers: "It's like I'm talking to a shadow suspended on dust.") Ultimately, the artfully staged but repellent murders is what did me in. I just don't have a taste for Hannibal."[28]

References
  1. Andreeva, Nellie (November 7, 2011). "NBC Buys 'Hannibal' Series From Bryan Fuller & Gaumont International Television". Deadline.com. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  2. Andreeva, Nellie (February 14, 2012). "NBC Gives Straight-To-Series Order To 'Hannibal', Picks Up 'Notorious' Drama Pilot". Deadline.com. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  3. Hibberd, James (March 30, 2012). "'Twilight Saga' director to helm NBC's 'Hannibal'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  4. "Is Pushing Daisies Bound for Broadway?". TVLine. July 16, 2012. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  5. Hibberd, James (April 19, 2012). "'Hannibal' on NBC: How Bryan Fuller will reinvent Dr. Lecter". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  6. Votaw, Melanie (April 8, 2013). "Exclusive Interview: Hannibal Creator Bryan Fuller on Dream Sequences, David Lynch, and FBI Consultants". reallifewithjane.com. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  7. Ausiello, Michael (March 22, 2012). "Scoop: Hugh Dancy to Star in NBC's Hannibal". TVLine. Retrieved April 21, 2012.
  8. Ausiello, Michael (June 4, 2012). "Scoop: NBC's Hannibal Casts Danish Actor Mads Mikkelsen in Title Role". TVLine. Retrieved June 4, 2012.
  9. "David Tennant to play killer in Hannibal". list.co.uk. April 25, 2013. Retrieved June 15, 2013.
  10. White, James (July 28, 2012). "Laurence Fishburne Will Be Back On TV". Empire. Retrieved May 20, 2013.
  11. Porter, Rick (October 2, 2012). "'Hannibal' casts 'Wonderfalls' star Caroline Dhavernas". Zap2it. Retrieved May 20, 2013.
  12. Franklin, Garth (October 23, 2012). "Hettienne Park Joins NBC's "Hannibal"". Dark Horizons. Retrieved May 20, 2013.
  13. Gelman, Vlada (August 14, 2012). "Exclusive: NBC's Hannibal Taps Camelot Actress to Fill Philip Seymour Hoffman's Shoes". TVLine. Retrieved February 15, 2017.
  14. Goldberg, Lesley (September 6, 2012). "'Hannibal' Adds 'Kids in the Hall' Alum to FBI Team (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 15, 2017.
  15. Bibel, Sara (April 5, 2013). "Thursday Final Ratings: 'The Big Bang Theory', 'American Idol', 'Grey's Anatomy', 'Two and a Half Men', 'The Office', & 'Wife Swap' Adjusted Up; 'Scandal' & 'The Mindy Project' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on April 8, 2013. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
  16. Bibel, Sara (April 22, 2013). "Live+7 DVR Ratings: 'Modern Family' Leads Adults 18-49 Ratings Increase & Total Viewership Gains, 'Grimm' Earns Biggest Percentage Increase in Week 28". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on September 27, 2017. Retrieved June 17, 2016.
  17. Goldman, Eric (March 30, 2017). "Hannibal: "Apéritif" Review". IGN. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  18. VanDerWerff, Emily (April 4, 2013). "Hannibal: 'Apéritif'". Retrieved September 16, 2010.
  19. Goodman, Tim (April 4, 2013). "Hannibal: TV Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  20. Ryan, Maureen (April 4, 2013). "'Hannibal' Premiere: This Serial Killer Drama Is To Die For". The Huffington Post. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  21. Lynch, Donal (October 17, 2016). "New on netflix: Pig out on Black Mirror and Japanese intrigue". The Independent. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  22. Jensen, Jeff (March 28, 2013). "TV Review – Hannibal (2013)". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 29, 2013.
  23. Lowry, Brian (March 29, 2013). "TV Review: 'Hannibal'". Variety. Retrieved March 30, 2013.
  24. Rackl, Lori (April 2, 2013). "NBC's new 'Hannibal' has a look and a feel worth devouring". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved April 4, 2013.
  25. Sepinwall, Alan (April 3, 2013). "Review: NBC's 'Hannibal' a riveting 'Silence of the Lambs' prequel". HitFix. Retrieved April 4, 2013.
  26. McNamara, Mary (April 4, 2013). "Television review: 'Hannibal' drains the mirth out of Lecter". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  27. Gay, Verne (April 4, 2013). "'Hannibal' review: Worth all the blood?". Newsday. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  28. Hyman, Vicki (April 4, 2013). "'Hannibal' review: Come for the cannibalism, stay for the psychoanalysis". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
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