The third season of “Hannibal” is underway, and from what we’ve seen so far, it’s shaping up to be a very interesting set of episodes, while previews for the rest of the season indicate that it could see a very noticeable shift in tone for the show as a whole, bringing it to true maturity in its direction and style. So far, we’ve seen Dr. Hannibal Lecter and Dr. Bedelia du Maurier trying to win the hearts of those around them in Italy, but as can be expected, there is more to the situation than meets the eye.
Curiously, we didn’t get to see Will in the premiere for the third season, the arch nemesis of Dr. Lecter. Fans have been wondering what this could be indicating, but the show’s episode director who was responsible for that particular episode stated that this is just a sign for the show’s transition into maturity.
The producers saw the new season as an opportunity to give the show a redesign and change its visual approach somewhat, while at the same time preserving the overall continuity and the connection to the previous seasons. It sounds like it’s going to be a very unusual season, but we trust the producers of “Hannibal” to know what they’re doing. Plus, experimenting with a TV show is always a great idea when done in moderation, as it’s usually the way to explore new ideas that fans like.
Vincenzo Natali further added that from his point of view, the first season of the show was its childhood, the second was its adolescence, and now the show is entering adulthood and finally maturing. He sees the evolution of the show from a very peculiar perspective, but it definitely seems to be working so far, as fans have been very satisfied with the progression through the first two seasons.
In addition, the new season might tone down the gothic and romantic themes that we saw in the last ones, as Natali expressed that he felt like these themes were becoming far too prominent lately, and we might also see less plots involving the FBI, which were apparently Natali’s least favorite part of the show.
Will Graham will definitely be back later on too, so fans shouldn’t have to worry about the character’s absence from the first episode. It was expected that we would see new developments on that front, some kind of deepening of the relationship between him and Dr. Lecter, but it looks like this is going to happen at a later stage as the writers have something more special planned.