10 Things You Learn Rewatching Hannibal

Season three of Hannibal had a lot to squeeze in; the conclusion of the Chesapeake Ripper investigation plus the events of three novels (Hannibal, Hannibal Rising and Red Dragon), all whilst reshaping a timeline that excludes The Silence Of The Lambs (TSOTL).

With Martha De Laurentiis as producer of all on-screen material save for TSOTL, owned by MGM, Fuller was unable to portray Clarice Starling in the series (Ellen Page was lined up for the part and would’ve been a fine fit). News came in January 2020 of a CBS produced Clarice Starling series, minus Lecter himself, that would take place after the events of TSOTL, meaning that season four of Hannibal, with Starling showing up, looks less and less likely.

Starling is a very different adversary to Lecter than the ones we have been given before, mostly consisting of either doctors in the field of criminal psychology or baffled FBI agents. Starling is much more representative of us, the viewer; she’s a rookie, naïve to the horrors of behavioral science projects and therefore instantly more compelling.

Less vulnerable to Lecter's mental manipulation than Will Graham and more open minded than veteran gumshoe Jack Crawford, Starling has one thing they do not – Lecter's respect.

Graham may as well be a ball of string to Hannibal as he happily ruins lives just to see what will happen. Starling is made of stronger stuff and we simply have to see her against Mikkelsen’s Lecter, whoever gets the role.