Apparently not much love for this series. I'm not quite so hostile, but have to admit that I did consider leaving the series after the first four episodes.

My wife and I have been pretty lucky, if that's the right word, insofar as newly-released Netflix TV series are concerned. I managed to score the first disk of Person of Interest Season Two, and we power-watched the entire season in just over a week. I had Hannibal and Bates Motel lined up in my disk queue, and got the first disk of Hannibal right after returning Person of Interest. I suspect that Bates Motel will go the same way. When combined with the recently-released to streaming The Following and Arrow, we have quite a bit of viewing ahead. Or at least I do. My wife has lost interest in Hannibal, The Following, and Arrow so I must watch them myself if they catch me.

Hannibal has issues -- it is grimly moody throughout each of the 7 eps I've viewed thus far, and the character of Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) seems to be constantly tormented by his "gift" of assuming the character of serial killers. It gets a bit wearing. But I think I'm gonna stick it out after completed the first 2 (of 4) disks. The acting is quite good, somewhat better across the board than in The Following, and I'm picking up some of the early references and the changes made.

The series is based primarily on the events preceding Thomas Harris' novel, Red Dragon (or Manhunter if you prefer). In addition to the main suspects, the tabloid journalist Freddie Lounds is now an obnoxious woman. Jack Crawford is played by Lawrence Fishburne (I do miss Dennis Farina) as a stronger, highly-driven FBI chief who pushes Will to the max. The strongest characters is Hannibal Lecter, with a terrifically understated performance by Mads Mikkelsen. I can't remember how many early serial killers were referenced in the first novel, but I think the Minnesota Shrike was in there, and perhaps the Chesapeake Ripper. 

I can see where someone would be turned off by this if they'd watched any of The Following beforehand. There are striking similarities, but even with Kevin Bacon and James Purefoy, there is too much resonance with the Harris canon, and it seemed to me that the scripters/creators took the Lecter novels and spun them just enough to make a new series. A very cynical view, but hey, that's Hollywood.

Can't recommend watching both series back to back, or even in close proximity of each other. If you're hooked on The Following, this series just might be too much of the same thing. But... I think I'm gonna stick it out, power-watch the last 2 disks and see where the story goes. I can really see this as a one-season production, similar to Harper's Island, but I have some difficulty with the idea of this being an ongoing series. Has anyone heard of there is a second season currently running or planned?

... Reed