"The Silence Is Over": First Impressions Of 'Clarice'
Valentine's Day marks the 30th anniversary of the second and most successful Hannibal Lecter film The Silence of the Lambs, based on the novel of the same name by Thomas Harris. Ahead of the occasion, Thursday night saw the premiere of the TV show Clarice on CBS. Titled "The Silence is Over," the series premiere takes place in 1993, a year after the Buffalo Bill investigation We catch quick glimpses of that investigation via flashbacks, which look pretty close to the film. I even wondered whether it was archive footage, but the end credits reveal that Buffalo Bill was recast. Plus, we hear "Goodbye Horses" in Clarice's flashbacks, even though Clarice was not present during that scene in the film. These signs point to the TV show being in its own continuity separate from The Silence of the Lambs film, which frees it from having to dovetail into the follow-up film Hannibal. This new Rebecca Reeds Clarice Starling is not literally evolving from Jodie Foster to Julianne Moore; she is an interpretation within a different continuity altogether.
Of course, while we are on the subject of continuities, there is an elephant in the room that needs to be addressed: Hannibal, the TV show that ran from 2013 to 2015. I will fully admit that I stan the Hannibal TV show. I did not like the ending, but the show overall had such a memorable style. Its freaky visuals and haunting music created a dreamy atmosphere. Bryan Fuller was adapting Thomas Harris through the lens of "What would David Lynch do?" The show had access to characters and story elements from three of the novels: Red Dragon, Hannibal, and Hannibal Rising. The show did such a great job remixing elements of those books, sometimes surpassing how certain events took place within those books. Thankfully, it did not rely too much on the Hannibal Rising story, but it did explore backstory elements alluded to in Red Dragon and Hannibal as they pertained to characters like Will Graham and Mason Verger.
However, MGM had the rights to The Silence of the Lambs story and any characters who originated from it. As such, the Hannibal show could only go as far as inserting parallels to Silence rather than straight up adapting it. Bryan Fuller has been wanting to adapt that book if the show ever returns, but MGM have kept the rights firmly in their grip, not wanting to collaborate. The idea for a Clarice TV show was actually considered for the Lifetime channel several years ago. There was not much news about it after that. But then a year ago, it was confirmed for CBS. And when the trailer finally premiered last month, viewers were quick to point out how "artsy" it looked compared to Hannibal. The premiere further reinforced the comparisons. The close-ups of moths and goldfish, the slow-motion rain, the glimpse of bleeding shown in reverse, and even some of the lighting felt reminiscent of the Hannibal TV show. Even the shooting in the climax of the premiere takes place in a kitchen, which brought to mind the kitchen scene toward the Hannibal series premiere. However, beyond these examples, Clarice does not really commit to dreamy surrealism the way that Hannibal did.
Obviously, the show needs to have its own identity. However, the first episode felt somewhat generic to me. Sure, Clarice investigates a conspiracy that is inspired by the Buffalo Bill killings, but there is not as much substance. At least not yet. Sure, we see her struggles with reporters and with men within the FBI itself. But I am not a huge fan of procedurals unless they indulge in elements that are weird AF, and there is not much of that in Clarice. If the character names and a few other details were different, it would kind of feel like just any other investigative procedural drama. And the music did not leave much of an impression on me. With Hannibal, I clung onto the names of many newly introduced characters. They were all memorable. With Clarice, there is not much of that going on with me.
We do get a few familiar names back. Senator Martin and her daughter are involved in this story, still being connected to Starling. Paul Krendler is still butthurt about Starling solving the Buffalo Bill investigation before he could. And Clarice has her good old friend Ardelia Mapp to confide in. But of course, there is no Jack Crawford, as he originated in Red Dragon. And Hannibal Lecter is simply alluded to as Clarice's "therapist" who was in a cell at Baltimore Hospital for the Criminally Insane. It might feel odd not having Hannibal in the story, but I do prefer the idea of a Clarice without him over the awful idea of pairing them together that happened in the Hannibal novel. As of now, I think what I want most is to see more of the Clarice Starling and Ardelia Mapp friendship. But beyond that, I am not really sure what I want from this series. With Hannibal, I knew. The books provided a roadmap offering me things I wanted to see reinterpreted. It made me speculate. And it gave me new things that were stunning visually and auditory. How does Clarice follow up an act like that?
Sure, maybe I am being unfair comparing the one episode to the show that came before. But I am just saying that more needs to be done in order for Clarice to have an identity that really makes it stand out above the sea of procedural series.
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