Even though it’s one of the most consistently profitable film genres, horror doesn’t usually rear its ugly head on network television. Of course, there have been some that snuck through the cracks and many shows, especially the more intense police procedurals, have had horrific episodes but actual series are few and far between. Come midseason, however, NBC’s Hannibal should sate those craving more terrifying television from their prime-time line-ups with the show being based on Thomas Harris’ famous cannibal; Dr. Hannibal Lecter. Hence, the title. It could have been about the Barbarian.
From Gaumont International TV and creator Bryan Fuller, NBC's Hannibal takes place before the events of Thomas Harris' “Red Dragon” but features many of the same characters like Lecter (Mads Mikkelson), Agent Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) and Senior Agent Jack Crawford (recently confirmed, Laurence Fishburne) as well as at least one who had their gender reversed to find a role for Wonderfalls alum Caroline Dhavernas. The showrunner himself shared the news via twitter with a short and simple “CAST #Wonderfalls #Hannibal” with a photo of Dhavernas as Jaye Tyler, her character from the former Fuller series.
Dhavernas’ credits obviously include the wonderful Fox one-season wonder but also roles in HBO’s The Pacific and Devil. TVLine ‘hears’ that she has been cast as Dr. Alana ‘Al’ Bloom (who, regarding the aforementioned gender swap, was Alan in the books, hence the ‘Al’), a series regular and Lecter’s protégé. The character, working under the cannibal while he teaches psychology at Georgetown, is the one who first brings Lecter to the FBI criminal profiling team headed by Crawford. And I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if there happened to be some sparks between the actress’ Al and Dancy’s Will, especially since Dr. Bloom is one of the few psychiatrists in the novels that doesn’t view Graham as an interesting scientific study in himself.
Lastly, I think it’s worth noting that Dhavernas could be made to look a lot like Jodie Foster’s Clarice Starling, hinting at an interesting backstory for Hannibal’s odd attraction to the FBI Trainee in Silence. Maybe it’s just me but some food for thought.
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