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[TV Review] “Hannibal” Season 3 Episode 02 – ‘Primavera’

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Hannibal, image courtesy of NBC

The second episode of Hannibal’s third season, ‘Primavera’ served up a gigantic rehash for its first course. While the fate of Will Graham was made abundantly clear rather quickly, it was delivered in a heavy retread of last season’s finale. It wasn’t the most exciting way to begin the episode but is perhaps the only bad thing about the hour.

The episode begins with revisiting the moment that Will is betrayed by Hannibal. Will lies in bed broken and hurt, and descends into the red the ocean of blood – the image of a shattered teacup in his guise shows that his psyche is coming apart only to be put back together. He’s alive and on life support. Thank god for that.

Abigail is alive too! Which rubbed me the wrong way at first. Of course I was very happy to now that I was being maniuplated. It wasn’t supposed to sit right, and just as I came to justify it in my own way – Hannibal pulls the rug out from under me. (More on that later) I bought that it’s intimate that he knew exactly how to cut them – he’s a master and he wanted them to live – but left them to die. It’s beautiful, chaotic, and speaks to Hannibal’s malignant love for Will, and Will’s delusional devotion to a man who perhaps tried to kill him.

But Will is certain that Hannibal didn’t give him an ending just yet – he wants Will to find him. Will’s on this righteous quest believing he can never do the wrong thing – that he’s just doing what he’s supposed to. The surreal dream sequence brought it all together in Hannibal’s office. As Will stood dazed in a sea of  floating notes we’re reminded that Will knows  this memory palace. Will is too intimate with Hannibal to not know his next move. It’s surreal in a brand new way.

With the 8 month flash, we’re in Italy. Will and Abigail enter the chapel. Will is on Hannibal’s trail. And he’s close. “God’s not who I came here to find.” We’re shown a much more fixated and obsessed Will than ever before. He doesn’t believe in the divine but as he spits out dialogue about his beliefs it’s difficult to determine if he’s talking about God or Hannibal. For Will, defying God is Hannibal’s idea of a good time.

Will is speaking for Hannibal now. Almost that he’s in his head – not realizing how behind he is and his visions still cloud his sense of reality. But just as we begin to doubt Will’s hold on reality its revealed that Will knows Hannibal better than we think. That doubt – it was wrong. Will is brilliant but fixated.

 

And with that fixation, Will meets a fellow traveler in this strange world of obsession. Rinaldo Pazzi’s monster of Florence created images like beautiful paintings only it was 20 years ago. We watch as Will learns about Hannibal’s past and can’t help but also be transfixed by the idea of this  young Lithuanian man. For the first

And, for the first time we see Will use his gift on Hannibal’s crime scene. We get to see just how well he knows him in one of the most disgusting and violent hallucinations the show ever tossed at us. The torso unfolding and evolving into the stag-man will be with me for a while. God only knows where the show would be without the horrific visualizations. It’s a powerful sequence because it reminds us just how broken Will is.

Hannibal is playing with them – always. He misses being hunted. But he’ll always be ahead. This proves  true right in that moment after they decide to hunt him. It’s all about Will being bold and brash basically learning nothing from his final moment in season 2.

This season’s theme is all about contradictions. About the idea of figuring things out just for the reality to be the furthest thing from that. Immediate juxtapositions that undermine what you’re seeing. Like good philosophy that spends its time convincing you the world works in a certain way only to undermine everything, you’ve come to believe with the next theory.

Abigail is dead. Will is alone and deeply troubled and Hannibal is toying with him. She is the manifestation of his underlying need to go back to Hannibal. Will was seemingly at peace with everything  but it’s clear he’s a jilted lover. This is a man reborn with a singular and scary purpose: to forgive the man who left him for dead.

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‘Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire’ Review – Latest Monster Mashup Goes Bigger and Sillier

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GODZILLA X KONG review

The heavyweight championship event that was Godzilla vs. Kong ended in a tenuous truce that saw Godzilla holding dominion over Earth while King Kong claimed Hollow Earth. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire introduces a new Titan-sized threat from the depths of Hollow Earth, one so dangerous that Kong and his human allies will need all the help they can get to defeat it. Director Adam Wingard continues the kaiju spectacle with the latest Legendary Monsterverse crossover event, this time injecting an even greater sense of adventure and silliness. It’s the type of epic-sized popcorn movie that unleashes nonstop monster brawls and tongue-in-cheek humor in equal measure.

Since the events of Godzilla vs. Kong, Godzilla spends his downtime curling up for naptime in Rome’s Colosseum when not snuffing out rogue Titans that emerge. The kaiju king’s activity is closely monitored by Monarch and Dr. Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall). Dr. Andrews also keeps a close eye on Kong through stations established around Hollow Earth access points, and poor Kong is lonely as he still searches for others like him. Then there’s Dr. Andrews’ adoptive daughter Jia (Kaylee Hottle), the sole survivor of the decimated Iwi tribe from Skull Island. Jia’s struggles to find her place in school and society at large get exacerbated by strange new visions that seem directly tied to Hollow Earth.

Dr. Andrews enlists Bernie (Brian Tyree Henry) to help her navigate Jia’s new plight. Once the new threat makes itself known, all three, along with wisecracking kaiju vet Trapper (Dan Stevens), descend into Hollow Earth for answers. Instead, they find a terrifying new battle heating up for kaiju sovereignty. 

Rebecca Hall and Dan Stevens in Godzilla x Kong

The Monsterverse franchise often struggles with its human characters and how they fit into the kaiju mayhem, but screenwriters Terry RossioSimon Barrett, and Jeremy Slater may have finally cleared this hurdle by trimming down the human cast and keeping it simple. Jia’s heritage creates an emotional conflict between her and her adoptive mother that injects a sweet earnestness, while Brian Tyree Henry’s Bernie brings levity. Then there’s the scene-chewing Dan Stevens, whose Trapper gets introduced in style as he performs a tooth extraction from an aircraft with infectious exuberance. Stevens plays the character with the bravado of an ’80s action star but one that’s fully aware of himself and the absurdity of his unique gig. Trapper’s boisterous personality goes far in demonstrating to audiences just how much we’re meant to be having fun and not take everything seriously, so much so that Godzilla x Kong could stand to see more of him.

Of course, the real stars are the monsters, and this, once again, is Kong’s show. Godzilla remains the undisputed heavyweight champion, but it’s Kong’s pursuit of finding his place in Hollow Earth that drives Godzilla x Kong. The required exposition delivery as Wingard corrals the converging plotlines into an action-heavy final act does slow the momentum in the first two-thirds, despite frequent action set pieces. But the main event delivers the promised team-up and then some, thanks to at least one pivotal surprise up Wingard’s sleeves that brings the wow factor to the final battle. That key surprise is pivotal, not just for fan service, but to offset how underwhelming the new enemy is, a generic mirrored inverse of Kong and his frenemy. 

Angry Kong

Wingard and crew seem fully aware of that and play up the cartoonish quality of the premise to maximize the fun factor. While it does indeed evoke the intended sense of fun, especially when Kong flings a smaller ape around as a weapon or dons a power glove, there’s a weightlessness to the whole thing. There’s no real impact to any of it, even though it often looks cool.

It all amounts to a visually polished Saturday morning cartoon filled with monster brawls and the humans who love them. Beyond the charming entertainment, though, Godzilla x Kong is more hollow than Hollow Earth.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire roars into theaters and IMAX on March 29, 2024.

2.5 out of 5 skulls

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