Dawn of the Planet of the Apes Review: Shakespeare of the Apes

Apes with attitude in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Photo Credit: 20th Century Fox

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

A

A review by Frederick Cholowski

See summer blockbusters can have souls as well. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, the second film in the freshly rebooted Planet of the Apes saga proves that summer blockbusters don’t have to be a ton of flash with little to no substance. It’s a film of characters, emotional devastation, and sci-fi allegory first and action film second. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is a success on nearly every level and after a dud of a film dominating multiplexes for the last two weeks, a welcome rejuvenation.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes picks up an unspecified time after Rise, with the virus introduced at the end of the previous film having wiped out almost all of human society. The apes led by their compassionate leader Ceasar (Andy Serkis) are doing just fine in these primitive conditions having created a peaceful society in a forest after the events of the first films. All seems to be going ok until a society of humans led by Malcolm (Jason Clarke) and Dreyfus (Gary Oldman) run into the apes and the two societies clash. Both seem to see the worst in each other and seem to want nothing to do with one another. But when the human colony requires the use of a dam to try and extend their power, the apes and humans have to try to work together which disturbs certain members of each society especially the warring ape Koba (Toby Kebbell) who despises humans and even considers an uprising agains Cesar to rid of all association with them.

The plot of Dawn plays out in the style of a Shakespeare tragedy. All the characters presented in the film, especially the apes, are all set up as fascinating and complex figures from the film’s opening frame providing a great backdrop for the action to unfold. The film also takes its time to set up all the different conflicts before the inevitable clash, letting the characters and the world take centre stage in order to make all the events at the end of the film cary extraordinary weight. 

That being said it’s not as if the film is devoid of action. Cloverfield director Matt Reves really stretches his chops throughout the course of this one providing one beautifully framed sequence to another. Reves uses long sweeping takes to accentuate the action and create a beautiful almost detached look to the film. While the film features many chaotic action sequences the direction decides to keep the camera movement big and calm allowing for a coherent and beautiful experience.

The CGI in this film also adds to this gorgeous experience. The apes in this film look amazing and almost humanlike throughout the film. The biggest compliment that I can give is that the facials and eyes of the apes managed to bring me into the experience even more. I believed that these apes could exist and emote in these ways. It never looked silly and never pulled me out of the experience and it allowed me to actually relate to these apes almost as if they were humans.

Not enough can be said about the amazing work of Andy Serkis. Sure he is represented by a CGI figure but that doesn’t make the performance any less extraordinary. Serkis really makes Ceasar as close to human as an ape character could possibly be as well as a great tragic figure. None of the other performances are nearly as extraordinary but they all serve their purposes very well and don’t necessarily have to be, Oldman is there to deliver big time speeches and dramatic moments, Clarke is there to be a relatable human character, and the CGIed up Kebbell provides the perfect villain. All the performances really centre around Serkis’ work though and the film is better for it.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is the perhaps the best that 2014’s blockbuster crop has provided so far. The film puts characters and world building first and allows its elements to sizzle before anything boils. The film is also just an example of good science fiction filmmaking, great direction, a well put together allegory that can make you think and some great action. It’s a near great film and a reminder that despite a few duds the summer of 2014 has been memorable in good ways.

The Halftime Top 5 2014

An image from Like Father, Like Son one of the best films of 2014 so far

Photo Credit: Mongrel Media

It’s about halfway through the year (well give or take) so it’s time to see just how good of a year in film it’s been so far. These are the best of the best of what I’ve seen as of the end of June and I’ve got to say this is a decent list. Many of these films actually have a chance to be on the end of the year top 10 and I had a legitimately hard time pairing this down to just five. So lets get going here are my five favourite films in 2014:

Honourable Mention:

Her

Her is technically a 2013 film but it didn’t open in Vancouver until 2014 and thus I didn’t have a chance to see it at the end of last year. The film itself is a lovely and fascinating look at love of both technology and in a long distance situation. I love this film but decided to eliminate it from 2014 contention simply because it already had its awards moment and really is a 2013 film.

5. X-Men: Days of Future Past

The most ambitious of this year’s Summer Blockbuster crowd so far X:Men Days of Future Past managed to be the sweet spot of this Summer’s biggest films. The plot manages to work despite all of its intricacies, the characters are all well rounded and detailed, and it even managed to have some really cool action sequences. This is the best superhero film since The Dark Knight Rises and the best Blockbuster of 2014.

4. Locke

Tom Hardy driving a car while taking phone calls for an hour and a half doesn’t sound like a great film idea but Locke manages to make it work extraordinarily. The great performance from Tom Hardy and the fascinating character arc experienced throughout this film make it a true winner. Bring on some more great actor talking on the phone in a car films!

3. Under the Skin

Bold, beautiful, and fascinating Under the Skin is one of the strangest and most rewarding films of 2014. Anchored by a great performance by Scarlett Johanson, a truly devastating message about female sexuality, and beautiful technical filmmaking Under the Skin is a great example of thinking man’s Sci-Fi. Sure this film isn’t for everyone, on the surface it may seem like Johnanson walking around the countryside of Ireland picking up men, but look even slightly amount deeper and you’ve got something truly special in Under the Skin.

2. The Raid 2

A symphony of violence and the best action film I’ve seen in a number of years The Raid 2 is an absolute blast. This film features some of the best shot action sequences I have ever seen, from great one on one fights to the best car chase since the French Connection. But this film isn’t great entirely for its action, the film boosted the ambition with a fun undercover cop plot and some very interesting character arcs. That whole film culminates in a final hour that is one of the most intense and amazing sequences I have ever lay witness to.

1. Like Father, Like Son

A festival darling in 2013 Like Father, Like Son finally hit mainstream theatres in early 2014 and the results are dazzling. This film hit me on an emotional level that has yet to be topped in 2014 providing beautiful and challenging moments that could be devastating at one point and joyful at others. The achievement of this film is dazzling, taking a premise that might seem manipulative and melodramatic on paper and transforming it into a film that is beautifully grounded and strikingly emotional. Seek out Like Father, Like Son and don’t be afraid of the subtitles because the ultimate experience is well worth it.

Transformers: Age of Extinction Review: Robots and Explosions

Optimus Prime and his sword in Transformers Age of Extinction

Transformers: Age of Extinction

D-

A Review by Frederick Cholowski

Films are escapist entertainment. They are supposed to take you to places far away that are, most of the time, simplified versions of real life issues; I get it. My question is who the heck would want to take up nearly three hours of their lives to escape to the brain dead world of the latest Transformers film? It’s hard for me to grasp just how much money this atrocity is going to make around the world and it’s sad because without exaggeration that’s what the latest Transformers film is, an atrocity. Nearly nothing redeeming can be taken from Transformers: Age of Extinction which is an excruciating ride through the worst of American blockbuster filmmaking.

The plot of Age of Extinction is so convoluted and idiotic it might just not be worth describing. The story follows a Texas mechanic/inventor Cade Yaeger (Mark Wahlberg) and his daughter Tessa (Nicola Peltz) as they become fugitives after finding a beat up Optimums Prime sitting in an abandoned movie theatre. They’re on the run from a special CIA squad funded by Billionaire tech mogul Joshua Joyce (Stanley Tucci)  who are tasked with ridding all the Transformers from the world five years after the events of Chicago depicted in the last film. While on the run they have to find the rest of the hiding Autobots and try to stop many different evil parties from gaining “The Seed” a device that can create a mass amount of material that the transformers are made from (named Transformium by the humans in this film) and has the potential to wipe out a lot of people if put in the wrong hands.

There is so much that attempts to go on throughout Age of Extinction and a grand total of zero of those things are done well. The plot feels as if it was taken from two separate films and none of it works at all. The family portion of the film is groan worthy because all of the human characters (especially the brutally annoying Tessa) feel like they come from a cookie cutter. The action in this film feels like an animated film there is so much CGI. I nearly fell asleep during the last hour of this film because it feels like at this point I’ve seen at least twenty cities blow up in the exact same way (heck even just a Transformers film ago).  There is nothing in this film that grabs the interest which make is hard to care about virtually everything that ends up blowing up near the end.

The other massive problem with Age of Extinction is that it is two hours and forty six freaking minutes long. Not only that but because it’s so dumb and dull it feels like it takes an eternity to get over and done with. At an hour and a half this film would have already excruciating and this film almost goes twice as long. By the end of the film the only thing that was on my mind was thank goodness I can escape this theater. Whenever that is the first thing on one’s mind at the end of a film it’s hard to call it a success on any level.

The acting (well if you can call it that) in this film is nearly non apparent. The Michael Bay formula is such that most of the actors job is to deliver a few lines of unfunny stinted dialogue and then stare at things whether through amazement, frustration etc. The one exception and the one dim light at the end of this terrible terrible tunnel is Stanley Tucci who gets to chew on some scenery and also gets the one good one liner of the film (that gets the token f-bomb of the film). The most excruciating piece of acting (although I am sure the script had more to do with it than the performance) is Nicola Peltz who plays the single most annoying female character in the history of film (ok maybe not but close) as she is as bad if not worse depicted than any horror film femme fetal.

The film doesn’t look particularly good either. There is an obnoxious amount of slow motion in this film to the point that it is aggravating. It seems like every second scene of this film uses the device and by the end of the film it is used so often that it has no effect whatsoever. As mentioned earlier the action sequences aren’t particularly great either as they all have way to much CGI and no one to latch on and thus I don’t care at all. Seeing this in IMAX was also distracting as well as some of it was shot in Digital IMAX and thus aspect ratio changes were a plenty. This doesn’t usually bug me in fact it often enhances a film but in Age of Extinction the aspect ratio seems to change every second scene. It seems that there was no plan to what exactly what was shot in IMAX or how the film would look when it would ultimately come together and that’s just lazy. Ultimately it seems that IMAX actually takes away from the film, something I don’t say too often.

Simply Transformers: Age of Extinction is just atrocious. There are so many reasons why that it begins to be a headache trying to list all of them let alone sit through the film. The most frustrating thing of all is that this terrible film is going to potentially 100 million dollars on its opening weekend. Why people are going to see this terrible terrible film is mindboggling and if you are even thinking about the possibility of doing so I have two words for you, do not!

Orange is the New Black Season 2 Review: Don’t fear the reaper

Suzanne and crew having fun on Valentines Day on Orange is the New Black

Photo Credit: Netflix

Spoilers for all of Orange is the New Black Season 2 ahead…

A Review of the Second Season of Orange is the New Black as soon as I feel like I’m in a Shalamalan film…

So much to talk about it’s hard to find a place to start…

How about we start at the end; the final sequence of the second season of Orange of the New Black, that of a dying Rosa escaping the prison in the very van that takes her back and forth to her now useless Kemo with the perfect musical choice (Don’t Fear the Reaper is always a great choice) blaring through the speakers is a perfect example of what exactly makes Orange is a New Black, and in particular the second season, so special. The show finds something intriguing and fascinating about even the most minor of character and plays it out in the most perfect way possible. Rosa as far as I can remember was a pretty big non factor throughout the entirety of the first season, and by the end of this season I cared about as much about Rosa as pretty much any character on television.

The magic of the second season of Orange is the New Black lies in just how well creator Jenji khoen uses the ensemble cast and makes all of the characters, even the most minor of them, into a three dimensional human being. Given an ensemble so diverse and deep this has to be a near impossible challenge, but yet throughout Orange is the New Black it feels like it comes so easily. By the end of the season I cared about nearly everyone on the show, no matter how flawed the character is because they’re presented as human beings and not as constructions or even at times characters on a television show.

To get us to that point we have to have some plot constructions of some sort and the show’s use this season of almost Lost esque flashbacks was the perfect device. Each character had an increasingly fascinating backstory from Suzanne’s out of place family vibe, to Rosa’s epic robberies and the curse that accompanied them, to the broken lesbian love story of Poussey, to Tastyee’s relationship with the manipulative Vee, to Red’s introduction to prison, Morello’s obsession with a guy that she had one date with, and the list goes on and on. Every flashback sequence is done with a certain beauty and sadness that really humanizes all of the characters on the show.

It’s amazing with all these character beats happening and the scope of development that the show is trying to achieve that the show still has time to tell a cohesive storyline in which it does very well. Unlike last season Piper is very much a background character this year and instead the driving force of the narrative comes from the big battle between Vee and, well everyone who isn’t in her crew. It’s a solid driving force that allows the fears and anxiety of the characters to come out in full force, while the manipulation of Vee dances all around them. It especially allows for both Tastyee and Poussey and their awkward friends but one of them wants to be more relationship to really come into the forefront. It also works as a bonding exercise for the characters, bringing them all into focus in a show where each of these characters could be lost in their own little worlds (ie the Boardwalk Empire approach).

As for Piper, who was essentially our main character throughout most of last season, gets a little less to do throughout season 2 while still being important. Khoen does something rather interesting by beginning the season with an all Piper episode. It’s not that Piper is a terrible character but the critical and internet reaction to the character was lukewarm at best. After the first Piper centric episode we don’t get as much Piper, but what we do get for the most part is pretty solid stuff. The season’s Piper arc focused on taking away all the things that Piper had pre prison sentence. Her fiancé decides that he likes her married best friend more than he likes her and ends up shacking up with Polly at the send of the season. Piper’s family comes to visit less and less and start to seem better off without her. Alex has left for the hills after she gets a deal to get out of prison after testifying against her former drug lord boss before leaving for the hills again in fear of said drug lord coming after her. Piper is basically left with nothing that made her the Piper we knew at the beginning of the series leaving her with a bit of an empty slate to build upon throughout the rest of the season.

As a show Orange is the New Black isn’t without its subtle problems. The show’s plot thread seemed to get more convoluted as the season reached its conclusion and there are a few times here or there that the show seems to get a little too exposition heavy. Ultimately these things are so marginal in the whole scheme of the show it doesn’t seem like it maters at all. Orange is the New Black season 2 is about as near perfect a season of television you get. Forget that the show beautifully written or perfectly acted for a second and look at the whole picture. It’s an ambitious achievement on a grand scale and it’s simply beautiful.

That’s just me though. What did everyone else think?

How to Train Your Dragon 2 Review: Dragons have feelings too!

Hiccup looking mighty in How to Train Your Dragon 2

Photo Credit: Dreamworks Animation

How to Train Your Dragon 2

A-

A Review by Frederick Cholowski

Dreamworks Animation seemed to be in a slump for a decent amount of time. The company doesn’t seem to want to produce any films with value, instead focusing on strange farcical animated comedies with little heart or emotion. The exception as of late was the surprise 2010 film How to Train Your Dragon, a film that hit all the right notes of humour and heart at all times and became one of my very favourite animated films of the last several years. Safe to that my expect say its follow up, the aptly titled How to Train your Dragon 2 were sky high, given both the greatness of the first film and the want for more amazing non disney animated films. Gladly How to Train Your Dragon 2 lives up to most of those expectations by continuing to play to the series’ strengths while going into darker and deeper directions with its plot and characters.

How to Train Your Dragon 2 opens with the city of Birk with Dragons and Vikings coexisting in peace. Our main character Hiccup (Jay Baruchel), son of the chief of Birk Stoick (Gerard Butler) is trying to figure out who he is and what his destiny is. His father wants him to take over as chief and settle down, but Hiccup has bigger ambitions of exploration and discovery. On one of his many adventures leads him to the sinister plot of Drago Bludvist (Djimon Hounsou),a plan that could tear apart the very fabric of their world. Hiccup is torn between protecting his people and trying to convince Bludvist that peace could actually be possible.

The main strength of How To Train Your Dragon 2 are the emotional situations that the characters find themselves a part of. The film goes into deeper and darker places with these characters than ever before, providing some really dark plot points and some really mature themes. In the era of Dreamworks animated films being entirely farcical it’s both a surprise and a great reminder of just how interesting the first film was.

The film is also absolutely gorgeous both visually and from an audio standpoint. Like the first film this is one of those films that needs to be seen in 3D. The flight sequences are even more exhilarating in 3D as the layers really ad something as the characters are swooping through the air. Beyond the flight sequences the film amazes visually on so many different levels. From the creativity of some of the different landscapes that the characters discover to the size and scope of the battle sequences everything in this film looks very impressive. John Powell’s score also amazes the second time around as it really accentuates the events that it is under.

If How to Train Your Dragon 2 had a single problem it’s that the plot feels a little rushed through at times. The film doesn’t seem to slow down nor let any of the plot points (some of which can be quite heavy) set in. It’s not a big problem considering how well it does its character beats and themes, but the film could have used some more time in certain scenes. The film seems short at one hour and forty seven minutes and if it were not a kids film I would love to see a much longer cut of this film.

How to Train Your Dragon 2 is a great animated film with high minded ambitions. The film has a great emotional plot line a great maturity that makes it a winner for both parents and kids. Not to mention that this film is gorgeous on absolutely every level becoming more and more eye popping as the film carries on. With Dreamworks animation there is a lot of crap to endure but when films like How to Train Your Dragon 2 comes out it almost feels as though it.

Mad Men “Waterloo” Review: Bert Cooper the Musical

 Roger Sterling looks serious on Mad Men

Photo Credit: AMC TV

My review of tonight’s spectacular Mad Men “mid season finale” (curse you AMC) as soon as I fire everyone but Harry and the computer…

“The best things in life are free.”
-Bert Cooper

Rest in peace Bert you shall be missed, especially after your amazing song and dance number. Seriously though can’t every character that dies in every show ever have a post mortem song and dance number and in particular to “The Best Things in Life are Free.” Boy was that fantastic and I would love to think that that’s how Don handles grief or how he always thought of Bert as a mysterious figure. Either that or it’s a warning to Don to not give up his freedom to McCann, or something. Either way it was a fantastic, if not surprising, send off to one of the most mysterious of Mad Men characters.

The rest of the episode, sorry I mean mid season finale, was equally as fantastic with everything falling in line so very perfectly. Heck Sally even avoided the cynical shirtless hunk in favor of the optimistic nerd! “Waterloo” was another special episode of Mad Men and a beautiful way to end this year’s batch of episodes.

Peggy has been a frustrating character for a lot of people this year but because of her moody loneliness early on this season her redemption over the last two weeks has felt all the more satisfying. Said redemption comes full circle in “Waterloo” where she gets her biggest pitch ever in Burger Shack. Fearing the end of his tenure at the agency (more on that in a second) Don decides to give Peggy the go at the pitch and she knocks it out of the park. It’s a fantastic pitch, one comparable to Don’s big carousel speech way back in season one, and it’s especially satisfying given the time that she’s spent into darkness. It’s a huge sigh of relief for the show and gives Peggy her big rise from the ashes that so many (including myself) have clamored for throughout this half season.

Speaking of rising from the ashes let’s talk about Roger freaking Sterling. After Bert Cooper tells him that he was never a leader the day before he dies, Roger decides to take Cutler’s big threat to take Don down to heart and cut Cutler down before he can get the partners to do so. He does this via a bold move to have the firm be bought by McCann Erickson and for them to remain independent. This allows Roger to finally prove to everyone that he’s a leader by being the big figurehead of the firm and keep the people who he wants to have around the firm, namely one Don Draper. It’s one of the biggest power moves in Mad Men in a long time and the first move that Roger really spearheaded a deal on his own without following anyone else’s ideas. This is a huge and amazing step for Roger for the first time he gets to step out of the shadow of Bert and really get the chance to spearhead his own agency his way, while redeeming himself as a human being as well. Sure the agency goes to McCann and that might be problematic in the long run but for now this is Roger winning the war and getting his friend back into the fold finally after Cutler has been trying to push both Don and himself eventually out of the fold.

That’s the big stuff of this episode but that’s only the begging of what happened throughout “Waterloo.” Don Draper’s second marriage finally came to an end in the most perfect and least dramatic way possible, a simple phone call. The call was so perfect and so subtly emotional; we really didn’t need the big yelling and fireworks that came with the Don and Betty divorce because that wasn’t what this marriage was. Don and Megan always loved each other but it never felt like the thing Don had with Betty. This marriage almost felt like an extended fling of Don’s with a little more attachment in between. Don never fully felt there throughout many parts of the marriage and considering how it ended it all seems to come around full circle.

We also get brief glimpses of Sally oh sweet, sweet Sally. Much throughout the episode we (along with Betty and the rest of the crew) think Sally is going to fall for the cynical hunk who parades shirtless through the halls of the Francis residence, but instead she ends up kissing the nerdy telescope guy ironically named Neil. It’s a sweet way to end off the half season for Sally as it shows that despite hitting the puberty stages and starting to grow up a little too fast that there is still a sweet girl behind that vale, and that she’s not going to allow herself to be potentially trapped in a situation with a disingenuous hunky prick like the one we get to see enter the Francis residence.

Finally all of this takes place during the moon landing of Apollo 11 which, unlike many of the past real life events that passed through Mad Men, provided the episode with some amazing structure. The characters at the start of the episode felt fear of what was coming ahead, such as Don fearing the leave of the agency, Peggy fearing where her life is going, and Roger fearing the life after Bert and ended up in a place of hope where everyone gets to make their big move. It provided a perfect and optimistic ending for these seven episodes of the show as we get liftoff from Don, Peggy and Roger at the most ideal time.

Some other musings:

• It’s sweet that Julio gets to be the most important person (well maybe other than Don at this point) in Peggy’s life at the moment. The scene where the two share a hug is truly a sweet and somewhat heartbreaking moment as two lonely people who have seemed to find solace in each other might be separated due to people looking for houses.

• Lame Ted is a little bit lame, but Don’s speech to get him into the agency was awesome and the best pitch that don has thrown in a little while.

• Also Harry really needs to get in on this whole talking to people about this partnership idea as he again got thrown way under the bus here (which in very many ways was wholly satisfying).

• Meredith gets to play Hannibal Lector for this one as she tries to get Don to pull himself together by an attempted verbal (and a little bit physical) seduction. Didn’t quite have the charms of Lector but with time and practice she’ll get there.

And Folks that’s it for this year’s batch of episodes. As much as I don’t want to say goodbye to this show seven episodes for now the wait for the final seven is going to be unbearably long. This has been a really good first half of a season with two nothing short of spectacular episodes to cap it off. I’m going to miss this show when it’s gone that’s one thing I know for sure.

But we’ve still got seven more episodes and a year’s wait to go before we get there (Curse AMC for this stupid split). It’s going to be a wild ride.

That’s just me though. What did everyone else think?

Hannibal “Mizumono” Review: Let the bodies hit the floor!

 Hannibal Lector standing tall on Hannibal

Photo Credit: NBC

A brief review of Hannibal’s season 2 finale as soon as I do what needs to be done…

Due to time restrictions let’s go straight into point form musings:

• Boy is David Slade a great director and that is sure evident throughout this episode. One of the magical things that Slade pulls off is that he adds a hauntingly beautiful quality to all the violence that unfolds throughout the end of the episode. Horrific things are occurring throughout the last half of this finale but they never feel gross or played for shock value, instead it seems that Slade finds a sort of operatic beauty to the carnage. Take for example the beautiful shot of Alana being pushed out a window to her potential death; what’s occurring is horrifying but the shot is played in such a way that it lingers not only on the potential final struggle on the character but on the glass of her life breaking around her as she stumbles to the ground below. Even when Will is stabbed and the returning Abigail throat is being split it’s not the actual act of bloody violence that is being focused on but instead the direction (and due has to be given to the great writing as well) makes the viewer focus on the emotional strife of the scene. There are so many more examples of just how well shot and directed this episode was we could be here for a few thousand words just talking about the fight scene and the nightmare quality to the visuals the list goes on and on. In all Slade has crafted a visual masterpiece in “Mizumono” and it’s one of the best shot and directed episodes of television I have ever witnessed.

• While we’re on the technical end props have to go the unrelenting nature of the score and the sound design throughout this episode. The relenting clock like nature of the score during the last half and the wispy nature of the sounds of the actual action that is occurring give the feeling the horrid nightmare that we are witnessing. Not often do I mention Sound design or score when talking about television shows but it was so great throughout this episode that it’s really hard not to.

• Ok on to the finale from a point of wrapping up a season of television. “Mizumono” didn’t answer any questions about the how of the investigation, it didn’t pull back the curtain on how exactly Will pulled off his wizardry and it left us to our own accord about how exactly everything worked for the last half of this season; at the same time nor did it have to. The second half of the season seemed to me to be very disinterested with the how of everything and instead looked into the emotional end of the duel of Will and Hannibal; as a finale of said second half of this season of the show “Mizumono” worked fantastically. There has been a since of surrealism to the last half of this season in contrast to the cold realism of the first half and “Mizumono” took that to the brink essentially acting as an hour long nightmare of sorts. Everything from Will’s still dulling mind to the big Jack Hannibal fight to Will getting a glimpse of Abigail before her dying to Alana falling out a window felt less like a straightforward thriller and more of a lucid dream from the mind of Hannibal Lector. It’s a near perfect episode especially after the way the last many episodes have been slowly burning to this point.

• As for the season as a whole I have very few complaints. This was a fascinating and experimental season of television that built to a finale that caped everything off perfectly. Did I prefer the more straight forward start to this season than the dream like second half, probably, but most of that stems from the fact that the second half of the season was much harder to watch because it was so creepy and disturbing in its nature. I loved this season as a whole better than the first it seems as well and it seems at this point that Fuller really has a handle on this show and where he’s going with it and is not afraid to step into some wild places.

Let’s just say it’s going to be a long wait for next season.

That’s just me though. What did everyone else think?