Amazon's Hanna: 10 Questions Season 2 Needs To Answer
Dang it, Wiegler, stop playing mind games and just tell us about the dogs!
Based on director Joe Wright's 2011 Grimm-inspired thriller, Amazon's Hanna tells the story of a young girl's fight against teenage hormones and ruthless CIA agents (sometimes in that order). The new series follows the film closely in some regards, but shifts its story around in crucial ways while adding entirely new elements that may surprise fans of the original film.
The series' first season has received mixed reviews, largely due to some major pacing issues that start to creep up around the third episode. David Farr, creator of the series and co-writer of the original film, further alienated fans of the original film by removing its fairy tale themes from the show. Instead, Amazon's Hanna replaces the fairy tale with the Bildungsroman, telling a pubescent coming-of-age story about family, identity, friendship and murder.
Amazon hasn't announced a second season yet, which is just as well since Farr doesn't actually know exactly what Season 2 would be about. The show could go in a number of directions, but one primary concern should be addressing the first season's numerous unanswered questions. Following are just 10 mysteries left open to explore further in future seasons of Hanna.
Warning: Even if you've seen the original film, you'll want to beware of some major spoilers ahead.
10. What Was Utrax Doing With Those Dogs?
When Erik Heller enters the Utrax facility in the first episode, the sound of whimpering is heard as he goes down the first hallway toward the nursery. Viewers who look closely will see that each of the two labs behind him contains Utrax personnel performing some type of medical procedures on dogs.
Not only is the purpose of these dogs never explained, but the dogs themselves are never even mentioned. There are, however, two obvious possibilities.
First, these dogs may have been used in the genetic modification of the Utrax subjects. Both Hanna and Trainee 249 demonstrate exceptional hearing abilities. Hanna also has a keen sense of smell, able to whiff Anton's pheremones from across a crowded room. A bit of canine DNA might explain these heightened senses. It would also explain Hanna's ability to communicate so easily with the dogs she meets in Berlin and Darabani.
The second possibility is that Utrax attempted genetic modifications on non-human test subjects. This could be an intriguing storyline, since the canine subjects may still be alive. When discussing the 2003 Utrax termination and subsequent disposal of evidence, Wiegler just mentions incinerating a ton of babies. Either the dogs were spared, another supervisor oversaw their executions, or their deaths simply didn't weigh on Wiegler's conscience. Better yet, perhaps a dog-loving Utrax staffer pulled their own Erik Heller-style rescue, and is currently training the dogs to seek revenge.
It's probably not that last one. Either way, the dogs should receive mention if Season 2 dives deeper into the methods used by the original Utrax program that created Hanna.