Actually NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN is also — generously put — not one of my favorites either. Describing Malvo as "having murky motivations that functions more as a symbol than character that's totally invincible until he suddenly isn't" makes me confused. Confused not because I disagree with you, but because that's…

The show absolutely abuses the idea that the audience knows who these characters are and where they're going to end up. Hannibal is cracking cannibalism jokes in the most obvious way from the beginning of the show and it's a lot more than simple foreshadowing.

I never missed her quite as much as I did after the interview where she talked about always trying to point her butt at the camera — it was a sarcastic response to be sure —oh but the image it put in my mind!

It's certainly the best show on television by many legitimate measures (art direction, attention to detail, and its broad genre horror) and tied for the best in most others (cinematography and overall directing would be shared with Breaking Bad/BCS, as an example). Best show overall will be more subjective.

There is no emoticon that can accurately describe my level of excitement and fear. It's mesmerizing how meticulous the detail is on this show.

I was more into Mia Kirshner .. but we can still be best friends!

The best reference is calling the butcher shop the "Meat Cute." If you don't understand what that's referencing here's something to make you go "ohhhhhh"

Yeah, he's so dreamy isn't he?

The religious symbolism was all over the tv season of Fargo, he was very appropriate.

Yes yes, of course you're correct. The show benefits greatly from its spot on NBC's lineup and so it behooves them to cleave to NBC's standards.

Precisely. If anyone doesn't yet "get" that the show exists in a whimsically macabre reality just go look at the greater character reaction to the killing of the judge — the characters were practically yawning.

It's not a serial killer of the week concept.

Except that Chigurh was clearly a stand in for death and Malvo was clearly a stand in for the devil. The symbolism couldn't be more overt unless they had a damn nametag. The bad haircut is like they're beating you over the head with the inspiration but you refuse to see it.

I don't change my opinion if it's in the majority, I reevaluate.

I try not to dominate the top level comments but I see this mistake being made so often in the comments below I just have to say something:

Of course it's surreal, the show is being written by Bryan Fuller. Hannibal is every bit as whimsical as Dead Like Me and Pushing Daisies .. only it's a macabre whimsy.

I wouldn't call it the best show on television but it did a lot of new stuff that television didn't do before and it most certainly did stick the landing. The climax was INTENSE.

You don't see the parallels between Malvo and Anton Chigurh? Come on.

I went and watched the first few episodes of The X-Files a week or two back and I gotta say .. Gillian Anderson is far more attractive now than she was then. SO beautiful!

It's even worse when someone really likes a show and feel like they have the weight of a majority opinion behind them to make those assertions. You always hear GOAT's thrown about for shows like The Sopranos or The Wire or Breaking Bad but I haven't really heard a legitimate case for any of them yet. I don't want to…