I’ll admit that the only reason I sat through all of Hannibal‘s first season was because of Mads Mikkelsen. The characters have been done before in the many film adaptations – some for the better and some for the worst – and the show’s lax pacing and ability to create tension never quite did it for me. The television show is gorgeous, that cannot be denied, and the murders are treated so romantically that you have to admire them in a macabre fashion. It’s really in a category of its own and still remarkable that such a bloody show is on NBC. But, seriously, Mads Mikkelsen as Hannibal Lecter is truly a treat. The man was born to play this role. He is a charming anomaly, as dangerous as he is polite.
The second season kicks off on Friday the 28th with a flash-forward fight between Mikkelsen’s Lecter and Jack Crawford, played by Lawrence Fishburne. Yahoo! has a sneak peek video of the fight. Guess we’ll have to tune in on Friday to see how things go. Which is just as well. The series has thus far been faithful to its source material while still allowing itself creative liberties. I am most excited to see Michael Pitt (Boardwalk Empire) as Mason Verger, a sadistic pedophilic patient of Lecter’s who meets a gruesome end in Thomas Harris’s novel.
Watch the fight video here on Yahoo!