“Does anybody see the clue?”

“There isn’t one.”

The above quote tells you a lot about the kind of show Hannibal is trying to be, and the kind of show it isn’t.

The show could’ve easily been a serial killer procedural; instead it has no interest in solving mysteries. A murderer’s grotesque garden is found, corpses sprouting with grey, misshapen fungi, and he’s found within minutes. The show doesn’t linger on the specifics of the investigation. An impudent young crime-blogger is getting information from the FBI, but the show isn’t interested in another “who’s the mole” plotline (though, admittedly, the too-obvious reveal of his identity was a clunky moment). After all, we already know the answer to the biggest mystery – the true nature of Hannibal Lecter.

Hannibal, refreshingly, isn’t focused on the details. The particulars of the narrative are unclear at times, but the show is more interested in dwelling into the psyche of Will Graham. The second episode didn’t have the sustained knife-edge eeriness of the pilot, but it had its fair share of disturbing imagery, like the aforementioned mushroom morgue, or the recurring flashes of a ghoulish Garret Hobbes. I’d much prefer such originality over another murder mystery.