Hannibal Season 2: 10 Reasons You Should Be Watching

4. It Puts The "Psychology" In "Psychological Thriller"

If there is one thing this show has more of then serial killers, it is Therapists. Will Graham has Dr. Lecter as his therapist, and Dr. Lecter has his own therapist in Dr. Du Maurier (Gillian Anderson). At times it seems like the show is going dangerously meta with the amount of therapists on the table, but Bryan Fuller and his writing staff manage to pull off the balancing act seamlessly, by integrating other perspectives - Physicians, Theorists, Professors, Doctors, et cetera. The use of so many medical perspectives in this show allows the world they live in to feel more psychologically complete. They actually manage to define Will Graham's "empathy disorder" medically (part of it is advanced Encephalitis, or inflammation of the brain). And no matter how surreal the show can get, it always remains grounded in this psychological reality. Hallucinations, Cognitive Therapy, Diagnoses, and supervised drug treatment all are real medical and psychological practices the show takes seriously as both dramatic and character building tools. The most impressive thing about this may not be that they use real psychology, but that they use it to develop their characters and aesthetic, instead of just using it to make the writers seem smart (looking at you, Criminal Minds).