So, the doctor officially confirmed I have strep throat this morning, which explains why swallowing even the smallest drop of water has been difficult, why my tonsils (yes, I still have mine) look like a mine field and why silence is preferable to talking. However, once the fever and chills subsided last night I took to the television and started binge watching, beginning with finishing the first three episodes of HBO’s “The Leftovers” and then digging in to my DVR and the second season of “Hannibal“, which…
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…didn’t disappoint. One thing I got to thinking was just how much better all those television adaptations of Stephen King novels would have been had they been made today rather than back in an age where violence was nowhere near as acceptable, because this show if fucking gory! Apologies for the vulgarity, but the gore in this show, I want to say, would easily get an R-rating if it was in a movie. There’s a scene where Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) is seen in his visioning state, cutting a man’s cheek open… just sawing right into that fatty flesh, no biggie. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg as the sound design on the show is equally disturbing.
Beyond the gore, however, I think they’ve done a wonderful job creating a compelling narrative even if they let story strands sort of flay in the wind until they need dealing with — Jack’s wife if you want me to be specific. I understand the story wouldn’t be all that interesting if we kept cutting back to the woman with cancer just to remind us she exists, but when I see Jack (Laurence Fishburne) sitting down with Hannibal (Mads Mikkelsen) for whomever he’s recently chopped up to serve and we haven’t heard from Bella (Gina Torres) in some time it does raise an eyebrow.
That said, I’m more than happy with the focus of the story and I think I have three more episodes in the second season to go. I also finished watching the third season of “Sherlock” this past Sunday… Man, it sure seems getting sick may take a bite out of your workday, but it doesn’t hurt the amount of television I’m watching.
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