I agree. The characters and their relationships was always the most important and best realised aspect of the show. The only flat spots in the series were when the focus was shifted from that. This is why an ending which satisfyingly resolved these relationships was far more important than one which answered the big…

In interviews Gobert has said that the final shot was planned well in advance. That shot however, while still in the final episode is no longer the last shot. Does anyone know or want to guess what it may have been?

Yep. Those are the two options I see: either Victor is a kid with strange powers that he doesn't understand and everything pretty much happened as an accident, or there is some higher power working through him which does have a plan even if it's not clear what it is. To me the latter is more satisfying and fits much…

Milan says to Victor that "you told us to do it" (suicide), and Victor says that is not what he wanted, Milan then rejects the idea of death as saviour and said as much to Pierre.

Woodbine was great, loved the character. It just wasn't as demanding a role as Dunst's. It was essentially spouting lines, not a lot of emoting or development there.

This list is pretty awful. Woodbine, though quotable, was far surpassed by Dunst on Fargo, it's not even close; a great performance needs more than cool lines. Most of Hannibal's cast could be selected ahead of just about anyone on this list, and not even one mention?

I think that was an incredibly impressive ending and do not share the reservations of the reviewer. Bringing things together was always going to be difficult (I couldn't see them doing it satisfyingly, most every series has failed) but they managed it, giving enough answers and importantly leaving enough ambiguity. I…

Not the greatest final episode. The main point of interest was around Peggy/Ed/Hanzee and it was very well done, but the rest was a little flat in comparison. More than happy with a tie off finalee and no deep complaints, just an observation.

All plots are of course contrived. When evaluating the merits you need to take such decisions as a part of the whole. In Hannibal the overarching themes and character interaction always took precedence over realistic and well explained plot points. It was clearly intentional and it worked. Fargo is somewhat the same…

Me neither, but the voiceover told us he was, so it must be true. The Undertaker's death scene makes less sense if we assume he was there to kill Mike. Unless they felt he was being taken completely by surprise, their casual approach stretches credulity.

Julie hallucinating Serge and almost stabbing herself in Victor's presence confirms pretty emphatically, that at least in some cases, the returned are not purposely producing this effect. We know the last thing Victor wants is to harm her. So can we say it was his choice to kill Ms Payet? Not with any certainty, in…

Every week there's something that doesn't quite work (this time it's the patronising narration: "hey kids, here's what's been happening in case you haven't been paying attention"), but overall it's still brilliant TV. I'll take this over the more "perfect" but safer BCS or Breaking Bad for instance.

Remember also that in season 1 Victor almost caused Julie to kill herself as well. We know he did not want that.

I don't think that's certain, there's a sense that the returned, even Victor, are not in full control of how they effect the living. He may have willfully killed Frederic's friend, but as you say, I don't think that makes him evil even if he's not entirely innocent.

Victor evil or not watch: he tried to prevent Esther from going into the tunnel, then seemed resigned when he couldn't. Seems to me he's been trying to stop his dreams coming true for a long time. I think there's now no doubt that he is not actively evil. The Esther flashback means, incidentally, that he was around…

Rewatching all episodes and now almost back up to date. My latest theory?

"The Hand of God"? I was meaning the name of the town, probably shouldn't have used "hamlet".

The opening of this episode was fantastic. I don't tend to comment much here on account of the large crowds, but that was one special scene. In one episode Peggy has completely stolen the series. Mike who? And there was a cop in the show before?

True, but the dead don't tend to stay dead in "Unnamed French Hamlet". Seems he's only a minor character though, don't thing he's even been given a name.

More evidence that Helene is not Victor/Louis's mother: his fairy was meant to protect him until he was reunited with his mum. But when Helene returns in S02E02 Victor is afraid of her and still wants Julie around.