REVIEW: "Hannibal" Season 3

The dearly departed Hannibal completed its third and final season last week, and what a strange, bizarre, somewhat self-indulgent season it was. Hannibal has always been an odd, surreal, occasionally maddening show for a very niche audience (if not something made only for critics who appreciate the boldness), but even this year it appeared that Bryan Fuller and co. may have crossed the line when NBC canceled it midway through the airing of its third season. But still, it managed to go out on a high note after faltering through an incredibly opaque first half, and I will always be amazed that this was a series that actually made it to air on a major network for three years.

The beginning of this last run picked up with Hannibal on the run in Europe with Bedelia du Maurier (Gillian Anderson, made a regular this season) posing as his wife/hostage. The massacre of the second season finale turned out to be not so much a massacre after all, as just about everyone Hannibal supposedly slaughtered turned out to not just survive their bloody attacks, but pretty much make it out unscathed after the requisite hospital recovery time. That's right- Will, Jack, and Alana are all okay after what happened back at Hannibal's apartment, leaving Abigail Hobbs the only fatality by Lecter's hand. But I guess we have to attribute that as intentional, since Hannibal is completely omnipotent and never does anything without knowing the consequences. He's a fortune teller and all knowing seer of everything anyone will ever do or say or think- if you can't tell, yes, I became extremely annoyed with the anointing of Hannibal as a god of all worlds. I love Mads Mikkelson but now that everyone knew his secret they all began to talk about him as if he were the beginning and end of life in all its complexes, and I found myself rolling my eyes at all that quite a bit.

Joe Anderson takes over from Michael Pitt as the revolting Mason Verger

The dialogue this season was even more ridiculous than usual. Will spend a good chunk of his time supposedly on the hunt for Hannibal in Europe but in a complete daze as he wandered from place to place, ending up in a confusing semi-relationship with someone from Hannibal's past named Chiyoh (Tao Okamoto), who qualifies as the very worst character and actor who's ever appeared on this show (not everyone can pull off the dialogue anyway, but boy did this lady struggle). Jack showed up at times to join in the search but not nearly enough, since Laurence Fishburne can't help but bring with him a sense of reality and commonplace authority, something the first seven episodes of this show really wanted nothing to do with. Instead we spent most of our time listening to circular discussions between Hannibal and Bedelia, Will and Chiyoh, and sometimes Alana Bloom and the Vergers, which was a little more entertaining because Mason Verger (last season's Michael Pitt replaced by Joe Anderson) cut such a disgusting figure that he couldn't help but draw you in in a more traditionally campy, horror style performance.

I sound pretty rough on this run of episodes and to be honest, I didn't enjoy much of it, but I can't help but admire, as always, the gorgeous and surreal quality of the art direction, cinematography and montage of bizarre, Lynchian images that always infiltrated the Hannibal universe and still made the show worth watching, even in its worst moments (the kalaidescopic lesbian sex scene between Alana and Margot Verger has got to be seen to be believed). Finally, at the end of the arc, Hannibal surrenders himself for the six episode run of the Red Dragon storyline, which kind of vaulted the show back into more conventional storytelling, just in time for anyone whose patience was wearing thin. We skip over some years and now Will is brought back into the fray to do justice to Thomas Harris's famous novel, in which only a few things were altered at all, with much of the dialogue coming directly out of Harris's pages. This was a very welcome turn of events frankly, and Fuller's rendition of Red Dragon was mostly satisfying while also staying as true as possible to the Hannibal universe that he'd created (although Hannibal himself behind bars does suddenly become much more amusing and taunting than Mikkelson had ever played him on the show before). Richard Armitage's guest turn as Francis Dolarhyde was quite powerful in its way, as he turned in a physically and emotionally wrenching performance, which ends up culminating in a slow motion, threeway fight scene between the Dragon, Lecter and Will that should be everything any of fan of this show could ever want to see.

It ends as a fitting cap on the odd love/hate relationship between Hannibal and Will, and it actually works as a series finale even if it wasn't intended to be, since Will Graham's presence is no longer needed in the Thomas Harris novels that came afterwards. Even though I got a little fed up with Hannibal this season, I did enjoy the Red Dragon arc and it's a real shame that we'll never get to see Fuller's take on Silence of the Lambs. This was a bold, striking, frustrating, beautiful and always impassioned series unlike anything else on TV- and for that I'll always hold it in the highest regard. Long live Dr. Lecter, in all his glory.

Grade: B- 

Hannibal Lecter says goodbye

Diggle Gets a New Costume in Trailer for 'Arrow' Season 4

And it looks pretty terrible- the costume I mean. The trailer itself looks like a big improvement on the godawful third season of this show, thankfully. But I have never bought into the Oliver/Felicity stuff, so I'm not looking forward to too much of that. To me, Felicity was a great comic relief character that happened by accident, and then the writers became so obsessed with her that she quickly became way too much a focus of the whole show, which is always a huge mistake. Comic relief supporting characters, even scene-stealers, should never take over an entire show- you'll get sick of them fast. Not to mention the fact that Stephen Amell, cute as he is, is so inherently wooden that he has zero chemistry with any actress he's paired with (he always looks like he'd rather be vomiting than kissing somebody), so I'm just plain not a fan of this pairing. In fact, after last year I might have tuned out completely on this show, if not for the fact that I feel obligated to keep up with it for the numerous crossover stuff that happens with The Flash.

Bryan Cranston Channels LBJ for HBO Biopic 'All the Way'

Bryan Cranston won a Tony for his performance as President Lyndon Johnson on stage, and now he's reviving the role for an HBO adaptation of the play directed by Jay Roach. Pretty uncanny resemblance, don't you think?

Colbert Burns Jeb Bush Ahead of 'Late Show' Premiere

So, I guess this an indication that I may have nothing to worry about as far as Stephen Colbert losing any of his edge by heading over to CBS. Stephen was obviously pretty pissed about Jeb using his show to raise money for his campaign, and let the former governor have it the way only Colbert can- with searing sarcasm and barbs that often go over the heads of people too dumb to understand that he's insulting them (I don't think Jeb got it one bit, from his mild twitter response). I still don't like that he thought it was so important to have a Republican on his very first show of all the times to do it, but if he's not gonna pull any punches with these guys then I guess I can take it. This was classic Colbert and that's what I wanted to see going in. The Late Show is premiering next Tuesday night.

Trevor Noah Ribs the Correspondents in New 'Daily Show' Promo

The Daily Show is going all out for marketing for its new host, who's taking over starting Sept 28th. It's going to be interesting to see what he brings to this. I was considering not tuning in anymore, but my curiosity will probably get the better of me to at least check it out. Although the rule with late night hosts is that nothing will be settled in their first few weeks- three months in and you get a better feel for what their show will actually be, so it takes some time.

Liv Craves New Brains for Season 2 of 'iZombie'

Yay! One of the shows I'm most excited about returning for its second season this year is iZombie, and the new promo is here for the show, which is premiering Oct. 6th, right after The Flash. That's a pretty good night of programming, isn't it? Well done, CW peeps. Can't wait.

REVIEW: "Jane the Virgin" Season 1

Jane the Virgin was the breakout show for the CW this year that, along with The Flash, placed the network on a newfound course of critical acclaim and cultural buzz in the increasingly packed landscape of television starting to be known as "peak TV," where it's becoming harder than ever to be caught up with anything and everything that just might be worth watching out there. But yes, this is another series that's definitely worth your time, since it's a fast moving, highly inventive riff on telenovelas and an addictive soap in and of itself, mixing campiness and earnestness at equal levels, and filled with a game cast that mostly does its job, with one particular standout on another level entirely, but we'll get to him in a minute. Overall, it's a delightful lark.

Like Ugly Betty about ten years ago, Jane the Virgin is based on an actual telenovela that Jennie Snyder Urman and her writers adapted to a 22-episode network series, but thankfully, unlike Ugly Betty, which began running out of steam and plotlines near the end of its first season, this one shows no signs of fatigue or story burnout despite the rapid pace at which the show is wrought. Gina Rodriguez plays Jane, a 24-year-old devoutly religious young woman who was raised by her mother Xo (Andrea Navedo), who had her as a teenager, and her grandmother, who instilled in her the special virtue of her, well virtue. So Jane has managed to hold out despite being engaged to her boyfriend of two years, Michael (Brett Dier), and despite having the hots for former playboy Rafael (Justin Baldoni), who owns the hotel she works at in Miami, and happens to be the father of the baby she was accidentally inseminated with (a crazy premise, yes, but played for laughs and even sweetness that actually manages to make it work). The setup of the hotel allows for Rafael and his madcap wife and family members to run ragged with plots dragged straight out of telenovelas involving murder, adultery, drug smuggling, scandal, you name it, while the show both acknowledges and embraces the over the top soapiness of it all as it tries to play in those waters.

It does this via the extremely creative use of an all-knowing third person narrator (Anthony Mendez), probably the best and funniest one on TV, who's so involved in the goings on of each and every episode that he feels like a character himself, the most developed one since Ron Howard on Arrested Development (who also got some of the very best punchlines). The jokes come fast and furious from him, but also from the superimposed text onscreen at any and all moments that will tell you who someone is and a sarcastic version of their backstory in quick succession, and then of course there's the fantasy sequences, flashback scenes, Jane's daydreams and/or novels...it can sound exhausting, but this is not a show that you casually watch while doing something else, it actually does demand your attention for forty minutes so as not to miss anything, even as it flies by.

All of those things about the show make it funny and fun, and innovative in the way it mixes genres, and for once I'm going to say that the way this show is put together may actually supercede the cast itself, which is a bit unusual for soap operas. Most of the good ones really require an investment in the characters, and though I like everyone on Jane the Virgin, I'm not sure that I can pick out a favorite character. Wait, strike that, yes I absolutely can. This is probably the place to sing the praises of Jaime Camil, Jane's long lost father Rogelio de la Vega, now a famous telenovela star and one of the funniest and biggest scene-stealers on television. Seriously, people were upset that Gina Rodriguez got snubbed for an Emmy nod, but if there was any justice in the world or those voters were actually watching this series, Jaime Camil would not only be nominated in a heartbeat but would win hands down over anyone else in the category. Rogelio is simultaneously a blowhard, an egomaniac and an overearnest manchild who delivers not just punchlines but random lines of dialogue that would probably never be funny coming out of anyone else's mouth but his- he makes you laugh just by walking on screen before even saying anything. That kind of presence is truly special, and invites comparisons in my mind to one of the great lovable chumps of all time- Ted Baxter himself from The Mary Tyler Moore Show (yes, that's who he reminds me of).

The show doesn't overdo Rogelio's role, as Camil is still firmly a supporting player, but that's going to be extremely hard to resist in the coming seasons, trust me, as he pretty much blows everyone else off the screen. Gina Rodriguez is a kind, spirited and confident Jane, although I sometimes wonder if she may be limited by being a little bit too perfect and good (this is a soap after all), and her relationships with her family members Xo and Abuela are the heart of the series, but the one problem I have with the overarching storyline that drives the plot of the show- that is the love triangle between Jane and her two boyfriends- is pretty major. It would be fine if Jane had chemistry with either of these guys, but the truth is she doesn't. And it would also help if at least one of them was interesting, but unfortunately, they aren't. Michael, the do-gooder detective, is nice and sweet, but incredibly boring (although Dier at least tries to play him with a little bit of humor), and Rafael should be a lot more interesting, considering his rehabilitated playboy past and associations with potential criminal organizations all over his hotel, but Baldoni plays him so flat at times and with so little humor that I sometimes wonder if this role was mistakenly cast in the first place. Especially because I get the feeling he's supposed to be "the one," considering he was the guy from the original telenovela and he's the incidental father of Jane's baby and everything.

So yeah, when you're centering a show around a love triangle, you have to have one of three things going for it. First, our lead should have chemistry with at least one of these guys. Second, the winner in the triangle is so obvious that no one bothers to care about the relationship with the loser, or third, which is the one most people hope for- that there are significant investments in both relationships so that no one knows who she will or should choose and there's real suspense involved (the best example of the latter would be the Felicity/Ben/Noel question that ended the famous cliffhanger first season finale of that show back in 1999- I couldn't sleep for months). The worst possible scenario would be that both guys are lame and there's no interest in the outcome of this contest at all, which is a little bit where this show is headed, I'm afraid. At that point, I think it's best to just pick the guy who wins and go forward with him based on how much drama you can wring from the character's external situation (in which case Rafael is still the better choice because he's tied to the drama of the hotel and the other nefarious characters involved there, while Michael is kind of a pointless outsider to everything). That's too bad, since if we're talking romances, frankly I'd rather watch a show about Rogelio trying to seduce Jane's mom- he's the best.

But the show is still so cleverly written and played out that even something as potentially devastating as a complete dud of a love triangle doesn't really hurt it that much. You know a show is good when it can overcome a hurdle like that and you still look forward to watching it just because it's so much fun. As it stands now, I think that Jane the Virgin is a great comedy that deserves every bit of the critical praise it's earned this year, and everyone should check it out, since the second season is premiering in October and I'm definitely along for the ride.

Grade: B+

Final Season of 'Downton Abbey' Coming September 20th

A trailer for the sixth and final season of Downton Abbey is here, along with a UK premiere date- Sunday, Sept 20th. See all the old gang as they wrap up their time at the big house (not in a prison sense, of course). I mostly am excited to see Mrs. Hughes and Mr. Carson's long awaited wedding this year. I'm sure that's going to be adorable.

Taylor Swift and Lisa Kudrow Bring Back 'Smelly Cat'

In a nod to the continuing and I guess forever, cultural relevance of Friends even today, Taylor Swift caused a viral sensation by bringing Phoebe herself onstage at the Staples Center last night to revive "Smelly Cat" from the show. Have a look:

Carrie and Saul Are Back in New Trailer for 'Homeland' Season 5

It looks to be several years later in this new Homeland trailer, as Carrie and her daughter are living in Germany and Carrie's retired from the CIA. Always the topical show, it looks like the threat in this new season is hackers, which seem to be everywhere on TV these days (and in real life too). Rupert Friend's Quinn is back too, as it looks like we'll finally be getting his and Carrie's long delayed hook-up. Homeland returns October 4th.