Editorials
Revisiting the Five Best Episodes of NBC’s “Hannibal”
“Hannibal” is one of the rare television shows where it’s difficult to single out specific episodes as one’s favorites. The series — which is based on the Hannibal Lecter novels by Thomas Harris — has one of the strongest runs of any recent television show, despite lasting only three seasons.
“Hannibal” keeps a loyal fanbase to this day — though it was canceled in 2015 — because it never truly slumped in its 39 episode run. The show works as one seamless, deeply twisted, beautiful movie. From the first episode to the last, there is a progression in both style and story that always feels natural.
Taking the heart of Harris’ novels — especially “Red Dragon,” the first Lecter novel — “Hannibal” was a television series with a poetry to its dialogue and a twisted obsession with the more macabre corners of society. Each episode went down like a glass of well-aged wine and the show broke a surprising amount of new ground despite airing on NBC.
It may be difficult to identify the “best” of a series that literally put its heart on a dish to serve up to viewers week after week, but there are a handful of episodes of “Hannibal” that particularly exemplify just why the show continues to be such a delicious obsession.
Season 1, Episode 1 (Apéritif)
With so many Lecter fans loyal to Harris’ novels and the Anthony Hopkins-starring films, there was not a lot of goodwill going into “Hannibal.” Both the book and the movie franchises had fizzled out a bit when NBC brought a new take to the world. “Hannibal Rising” the novel and “Hannibal Rising” the movie both felt like quick cash grabs in 2006. Both the novel and the movie failed to find the sizable audiences that had eaten up the previous adventures, whether they were on the silver screen or the written page.
The announcement of a new television series to be based off of Harris’ finest work, “Red Dragon,” felt like just another excuse to keep squeezing the sponge dry until it cracked. Add to that a synopsis that seemed to suggest Lecter was being turned into a sort of anti-hero cop, and the prospects for the series being anything more than a one-and-done procedural were slim.
Then something crazy happened. “Hannibal” wasn’t just good, it was great. During the first episode of the series, I had to keep checking to make sure I was actually watching the boundary-pushing series on network television. The pilot episode to “Hannibal” doesn’t open with the bloody credits every other episode would end up opening with. It instead begins quietly with the title of the series appearing briefly as we are introduced to Will Graham.
The Anthony Hopkins adaptations of Harris’ book always had their charms, but any Harris fan will tell you the characters never quite matched up to the page, even Hopkins’ Lecter. “Hannibal” was different. Despite making some gender and race changes to supporting players, the hearts of each character remained completely intact and full passages or character traits were clearly pulled straight from “Red Dragon.”
Hugh Dancy and Mads Mikkelsen play the best screen versions of Graham and Lecter and their odd connection is clear and intriguing from the beginning.
Bryan Fuller’s leadership on the series was brilliant. He took all of the best parts of the mesmerizing novel, jumbled them around and stitched everything back together to create a Frankenstein monster that was amazing to watch grow each week. What’s impressive about the first episode of “Hannibal” beyond it simply introducing a brilliantly twisted world to chew on is that it accomplishes far more than most pilots. Many pilot episodes are considered some of the weaker chapters in a show’s run because so much time is spent explaining things and introducing characters. Pilots are often held back by the crutch that is the basic need to lay a foundation before you start building the actual house.
But “Hannibal” somehow bucked the trend and gave very little time to exposition. Characters are mostly explained through action, rather than words. “Hannibal” chose ambiguity over being the traditional crime procedural and it paid off big time.
There’s also so much in this pilot that affects what comes the rest of the show. The (spoilers) death of Garrett Jacob Hobbs and the introduction of Abigail remain plot threads until the very end of the series. Unlike lesser crime shows that basically seem to start from scratch each episode, “Hannibal” was a show where characters were deeply affected and changed by everything we see happen to them each week.
Season 1, Episode 6 (Entrée)
Bryan Fuller has said in the past that if “Hannibal” were to continue into a future film or television season, he would be interested in playing with “The Silence of the Lambs,” the Thomas Harris novel that was turned into the 1991 classic film of the same name. Fuller would likely do a great job with the “Silence of the Lambs” material, and in fact he paid homage to both the book and movie in one of the first episodes of “Hannibal.”
“Entrée” introduces Anna Chlumsky (“My Girl”) as Miriam Lass, a young FBI agent clearly modeled after Clarice Starling from “Silence.” Her story of is told in flashback as we walk into the world of the Chesapeake Ripper, a killer never caught but who we know (though none of the characters do) is Hannibal Lecter. With an imprisoned doctor (a perfectly cast Eddie Izzard) trying to take credit for the crimes of the Ripper from behind bars, Lecter is faced with a dilemma that actually surprises him — surprise being a feeling he rarely comes across.
Chlumsky is pitch perfect in a role that many actresses likely couldn’t do well, considering the Jodie Foster shadow they have to perform under. And “Entrée” is an essential episode because it is when it becomes clear how Fuller is adapting Harris’ work. The way he twisted the “Silence” storyline to fit into his almost-fanfiction Thomas Harris world made it clear that there was no predicting where this show was going or how it was going to be pulling its Harris material.
The script showed off new layers to the show, as well as characters like Jack Crawford, an interesting Harris creation who never really got his full due on cinema screens. With more time to develop the character, Laurence Fishburne inhabited the best version of Crawford in “Hannibal.”
Season 1, Episode 8 (Fromage)
This episode might be a guilty pleasure for some, but I think it is one of the most unique and memorable episodes of “Hannibal.” Lecter often hunted (or helped) serial killers, but this episode offered him the chance to face off against one. The story was wonderfully cheesy and yet written with a deadly serious tone. It was serial killer vs. serial killer in the eighth week of the first season of “Hannibal” and it was far more exciting than any recent “vs.” movie we’ve been victim to at cinemas.
The episode acts as the loony payoff to a plotline teased early in the series. Dan Fogler stars as a patient a little too desperate to be Lecter’s friend, and he himself has a friend who Lecter discerns to have the look of a man who may be up to devious things. This man who may or may not be up to bad deeds reaches out to Lecter, somehow knowing the good doctor’s bloodiest secrets. This serial killer wants a friend. The story of the two starts rather innocently for being about two evildoers. It’s one monster hiding away from society looking for friendship from another monster hiding from society. Despite his fondness for connecting with Will Graham, Lecter denies this new friend and the two quickly become enemies.
It all culminates in a wonderfully zany hand-to-hand fight in the very office where Lecter and Graham chat about their problems week after week.
What this episode also accomplished was showing just how deadly Lecter could be. Not only was this a man who could manipulate in ways most cannot even dream, he is also a cunning animal with a strong instinct for survival. He was dangerous before, but seeing him come so close to death’s doorstep and fighting it with everything he had in him made Lecter a far more dangerous character to fans in the series going forward.
Season 2, Episode 8 (Su-zakana)
The second season of “Hannibal” took on the personality of a procedural in some ways, which definitely irked fans looking for more time to be focused on pushing forward the Graham and Lecter relationship. But those week-after-week crimes also provided a great platform for Fuller and the other writers to let their imaginations run free and to tell some unique tales that had never been seen on television before.
“Su-zakana” finds Will Graham out of the hospital and back in the world, cleared of the wrongdoing that had found him accused of being the Ripper. The character’s constant questioning of his moral standing in the episode makes for gripping television, but guest star Jeremy Davis is what really propels this episode to greatness.
If you want evidence that the “Saving Private Ryan” star is criminally underrated and more talented than most actors working today then just flip on this hour of television. The tragic character he creates in Peter Bernadone, a man in love with animals despite being mentally stunted by one thanks to a kick to the head. He’s one of the best characters introduced in “Hannibal” and his interactions with Dancy’s Graham make for some of the show’s best writing and acting.
As unpredictable and dark as every other “Hannibal” episode, “Su-zakana” also has a hopefulness fighting to be noticed through the grime and muck infecting Graham and the world he inhabits. This episode is where moral lines and their importance to characters and places in this world become clearer.
Season 3, Episode 13 (The Wrath of the Lamb)
After surviving a couple close call cancellations, “Hannibal” finally got the boot after its third season. Luckily, the show managed to tell the actual “Red Dragon” story (with a brilliant Richard Armitage taking on the serial killer role of Francis Dolarhyde) and leave us with a surprisingly satisfying conclusion to the saga of Will Graham and Hannibal Lecter.
As the two come face to face in the final moments of the show and death can be read in both of their eyes, the two men are finally forced to draw a line in the sand and choose who they are. Even as they fight and rip each other apart, there is a beauty to the connection and closeness these two seemingly polar opposite characters feel towards each other.
It’s difficult to say this as a fan, but even if we never get another chapter in the “Hannibal” storyline, that’s okay. This episode acts as a delightful series finale that is as exciting as anything that came before it.
One of the best parts of the episode is, of course, a vague scene tacked on at the end that sees (spoilers) Bedelia (Gillian Anderson) alive and being served at a dinner table. As the scene goes on, it is suggested that an alive-and-well Lecter is about to serve the woman her own leg. The scene is great in that it suggests a world of possibilities, but none of those possibilities need to be realized for it to be satisfying. It’s a wonderful little wink to the audience and its amusing ambiguity fits with how “Hannibal” chose to tell each and every one of its stories.
After fifty years of continuous writing, Stephen King has become a genre unto himself.
The unrivaled Master of Horror made a splash in 1974 with his debut novel Carrie and has been terrifying readers ever since. Two years later, Brian De Palma brought this shocking story to the screen with an equally electrifying horror film that remains a genre classic and a prototypical example of “Good For Her” horror. This dual debut seemed to open the floodgates, unleashing endless waves of Stephen King films.
From the highs of Misery, Cujo, and The Shawshank Redemption to the schlocky fun of Cat’s Eye, Creepshow, and Children of the Corn, the last five decades have seen just about every notable horror creator take a stab at the author’s massive collection.
In recent years, this singular subgenre has begun to burst at the seams, expanding to include Stephen King-esque fare. In 2016, brothers Matt and Ross Duffer debuted Stranger Things, a sci-fi series heavily inspired by two of King’s most famous books. The Netflix series remixes Firestarter and It by following a little girl with psychic powers and an intrepid group of kids on bikes who must battle an otherworldly foe and a sinister government agency. With its clever blend of modern effects and comforting nostalgia, this gateway horror series paved the way for Andy Muschietti’s It adaptation which remains the highest grossing horror film of all time.
Four years later, Mike Flanagan would create Midnight Mass, a spiritual adaptation of King’s second novel Salem’s Lot. Published in 1975, the book sees a tiny New England town torn apart by a centuries-old vampire. Though Flanagan’s story is perhaps more tender, both iterations of the classic horror tale follow close-knit communities shaken to their core by the presence of an ancient evil.
In addition to these recent hits, 2025 was a banner year for the Master of Horror. Audiences delighted in six mainstream adaptations, including the massively popular It: Welcome to Derry which chronicles earlier cycles of the titular clown’s reign. With this boost to King’s cultural cache, it’s no surprise that we’ve begun to see more unofficial adaptations of the author’s work and horror creators who build their own unique castles in King’s creative sandbox.
So what defines a Stephen King-esque story?
For the past fifty years, the prolific author has dipped his toes in nearly every subgenre from supernatural stories and grisly gore to western fantasy and science fiction. Including his vast catalogue of short fiction, King has tackled ghosts, demons, werewolves, zombies, aliens, mutants, and self-driving cars, not to mention bizarre monsters of his own creation. But what truly unites this vast array of horror is King’s focus on relatable characters. In his 2000 memoir/instructional text On Writing, the prolific author describes the amusement he finds in writing disparate characters, placing them in horrific scenarios, then exploring the ways they try to survive.
An unofficial Stephen King adaptation may take place in the author’s native New England — bonus points if it’s set in Maine — and reference his well-known heroes and villains. But what makes the King connection unbreakable is a character-driven story about average people who band together in the face of abject terror.
Weapons Captures Small Town Stephen King
Following his 2022 shocker Barbarian, Zach Cregger returned with Weapons, a sprawling story that begins in a doomed elementary school. On an otherwise ordinary day, Justine (Julia Garner) arrives at her desk to find that all but one of her students have disappeared. As the mystery grows increasingly violent, Justine and Archer (Josh Brolin), the father of a missing boy, find their way to the home of Alex (Cary Christopher), the class’ only surviving student. In some ways reminiscent of Salem’s Lot, Weapons swings wildly through the unfortunate town, introducing us to its flawed inhabitants as we watch their lives fall apart.
Cregger’s setup nods to a pair of King short stories. Both “Suffer the Little Children” and “Here There Be Tygers” tackle monstrous presences in elementary schools, but as Weapons reaches its final act, Constant Readers may remember another Stephen King tale. Featured in his 1985 collection Skeleton Crew, “Gramma” introduces us to George, a little boy tormented by an aging witch. On an afternoon alone with his sickly grandmother, the frightened child gradually realizes that the imposing old woman has been waiting for an opportunity to cast a spell that will extend her own life by possessing his body.
Alex finds himself similarly tortured by his aunt Gladys (Amy Madigan), a garish witch who orchestrates a desperate plot to sustain her own strength. Transforming humans into mindless weapons, Gladys has taken over Alex’s family home and lured his classmates to the basement. Holding them in a comatose state, she syphons off their energy to extend her own supernatural life.
Vastly different in many ways, both “Gramma” and Weapons hinge on a sinister witch who uses horrific magical spells to sacrifice the bodies of her vulnerable prey.
Hokum Echoes The Shining and 1408
It’s nearly impossible to watch a film about a haunted hotel without thinking of King’s third novel, The Shining. This icy story follows Jack Torrance, an angry writer struggling with his sobriety and a shameful incident haunting his past. Accompanied by his wife and young son, Jack has taken a job as the winter caretaker for the Overlook, a haunted hotel situated high in the Rocky Mountains. Snowed in, Jack finds himself tormented by dangerous ghosts who amplify his greatest fears.
Damian McCarthy’s Hokum follows a similarly troubled figure. Ohm Bauman (Adam Scott) is a surly writer who travels to the Bilberry Woods Hotel in rural Ireland to spread his parents’ ashes. Haunted by his own tragic past, Ohm finds himself trapped in the honeymoon suite, a decaying room that’s been permanently closed to protect visitors from a dangerous witch trapped within its walls. Visual nods to King’s text abound with woodcut figurines and an animated clock, mirroring ominous descriptions found in King’s text.
Another terrifying sequence sees Ohm staring with horror at a closed door, the only thing separating him from the approaching witch. As the door knob slowly turns, Constant Readers remember Jack’s narrow escape from the ghostly woman in room 217. And Ohm’s popular Conquistador books directly reference King’s long-running fantasy series The Dark Tower which follows a gunslinger named Roland Deschain tasked with protecting the nexus of the universe.
In addition to these thematic comparisons, Hokum bears striking resemblance to King’s terrifying short story “1408.” Collected in 2002’s Everything’s Eventual, the terrifying story follows Mike Enslin, a dejected writer who’s risen to fame penning essays about his adventures in haunted locations. Mike arrives at the Hotel Dolphin and bullies his way into the titular room, despite the manager’s dire warnings. McCarthy nods to this story with an ominously misplaced hotel room door, reminiscent of King’s entry to 1408, an unsuspecting portal that appears to move each time Mike looks away.
However, McCarthy’s most direct reference lies in a minicorder Ohm uses to capture notes. Trapped inside the dreaded honeymoon suite, this device offers well-timed messages while sitting next to a decomposing corpse. Mike records his time in 1408 with his own trusty minicorder. Described for the reader, his tape has captured the man’s slow descent into madness as the room prepares to swallow him whole. With conclusions that differ wildly in tone, both Ohm and Mike find their lives irrevocably changed by encounters with the supernatural realm.
Widow’s Bay Builds Its Own Version of Castle Rock
Katie Dippold’s Widow’s Bay has taken the idea of an unofficial King adaptation and turned it into an art form. The Apple TV series sees the residents of the titular island plagued by a curse that dates back centuries. Not only does the picturesque hamlet not accommodate wifi connections, those born on the island face certain death should they ever try to leave. Desperate to modernize the tiny town, Mayor Tom Loftis (Matthew Rhys) draws in waves of tourists just as a new cycle of terror begins.
Blending horror with deft comedy, Dippold makes cheeky references to King’s body of work. Tom warns that, “there’s something in the fog,” reminding readers of King’s 1980 novella The Mist. And Loftis’ own stay in the town’s haunted hotel sees him tormented by the ghost of a murderous clown. We even spy a vintage King hardback peeking out of a local book trade box.
In many ways Widow’s Bay feels like a new iteration of the author’s Little Tall Island, a tiny village off the coast of Maine. In addition to the 1992 novel Dolores Claiborne and a handful of harrowing short stories, this quaint fishing village is also the setting for King’s 1999 teleplay Storm of the Century. Premiering on ABC primetime, this tragic tale follows a terrified group of islanders who batten down the hatches for a dangerous Nor’easter only to find a more sinister threat lurking within.
Constant Readers may also be reminded of Castle Rock, the author’s favorite fictional town.
First introduced in the 1981 novel Cujo, the charming village becomes the star of Needful Things, King’s satire about consumerism. After several Castle Rock stories, we’re reintroduced to its residents as they gossip about the arrival of Leland Gaunt and the grand opening of his curio shop. Anything their hearts desire can be found in his varied inventory, so long as they’re willing to pay the price. Pitting cantankerous neighbors against each other, Gaunt ignites a wave of grisly violence by exploiting long-held resentments and feuds.
The town’s only defense against this supernatural threat is beleaguered sheriff Alan Pangborn. Still grieving the deaths of his wife and younger son, Alan struggles to connect with his older child and pick up the pieces of his shattered life. Also a widower, Loftis struggles to raise his own restless son and explain the strange details of his wife’s tragic death. Attempting to unravel the island’s dark secrets, Tom is aided by quirky residents including a surly fisherman named Wyck (Stephen Root) and Patricia (Kate O’Flynn), an earnest Town Hall employee. King’s own novels feature many of these proactive alliances with disparate characters combining their strengths to overcome insurmountable odds.
With Widow’s Bay renewed for a second season and Mike Flanagan’s Carrie series on the horizon, the future seems bright for new King adaptations, both spiritual and directly pulled from his catalogue. The prolific author also shows no signs of slowing down with two publications nearing release. His upcoming novel, Other Worlds Than These, is the long-awaited third Talisman book which teases direct ties to his Dark Tower world. Holly Forever will be a new installment of his crime series, offering a different kind of genre fare.
This embarrassment of riches spawning multiple worlds seems ripe for spiritual adaptation and will likely inspire horror creators for decades to come.
Kate O’Flynn, Stephen Root and Matthew Rhys in “Widow’s Bay,” now streaming on Apple TV.
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