Hannibal.

Hannibal is an NBC television series which prequels Silence of the Lambs to explore Hannibal Lecter's early relationship with a young FBI profiler named Will Graham.  During its three seasons on the air, Hannibal takes viewers on a disturbing journey through the early career of Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a psychologist who moonlights as a cannibal.

Every Sunday Caleb and I go to our friends Jeff and Tabby's house to watch The Walking Dead and an episode of something else.  Currently The Walking Dead is on a break so we have been watching one episode of American Horror Story: Hotel and one episode of Hannibal.  Last week we finished AHS and last night we watched the final two episodes of Hannibal.  I've had my ups and downs with this show.  Some episodes were too much for me to take and others were so enthralling I couldn't wait to watch next week.  Last night left me wanting more!

Hannibal is a psychological thriller/horror.  The show brings gruesome gore that makes me cringe and close my eyes but also provides twists and turns in the relationship between Hannibal Lecter and Will Graham that make my mind explode.  I didn't realize it until the final episode but the show is really about their relationship and the crimes are just to fill in plot.

Before this show I had never heard of Mads Mikkelsen, who plays Hannibal Lecter.  He is an actor from Copenhagen and has been in a quite a few movies and shows.  He is so incredible at portraying Hannibal that I have a feeling we'll be seeing him again.

Hugh Dancy plays Will Graham, the young FBI profiler who feels empathy for killers and uses that to help solve crimes.  Hugh is a British actor and has appeared in a few movies himself.  I recognize him as the lead male in Confessions of a Shopaholic with Isla Fisher.
 
One more person worth mentioning is Laurence Fishburne.  I mean, how could I not mention him?  He's amazing!  He's been in way too many movie and shows to list so just take my word for it that he's incredible.

There are potential spoilers ahead, so if you haven't seen Hannibal yet you may want to turn back.

Hannibal and Will share a twisted relationship that started as friends and, by the final scene of the final episode, bordered on romance.  I don't think they would actually be romantic but there is an obsession and pull between them that mirrors romance.  The final scene was incredibly beautiful and weird.  Together they brought down the Great Red Dragon and fell to their deaths in a bloody, loving embrace.

Are they truly dead, though?  I have a feeling they are not.  It's Hannibal Lecter and he always has tricks up his sleeve to create the illusion of death.  If this show is at all connected to Silence of the Lambs then we know Hannibal does not die.  There are rumors of a potential movie to continue this story that was left on a literal cliffhanger.  I would definitely watch a movie or miniseries to see where Hannibal and Will go next, if they are indeed alive (which, let's face it, they totally are).

You can catch Hannibal streaming right now on Amazon Prime!  Stick with it during those rough times because it's worth it to see the finale.  I have never seen a finale quite like that before and it left me excited and wanting more.

Check out the video below for a little insight into the horrifically elaborate murder scenes from Hugh Dancy on Late Night with Seth Meyers.

"Could you digitally add more blood?"  Always.

Joey.

Spin-offs.  We dread them yet we cannot seem to tear our eyes away from the series premier.  With this post I bring you Joey, a spin-off of the beloved sitcom Friends.

Joey follows Joey Tribbiani on his move from New York City to Los Angeles to follow his acting career.  I am a big time fan of Friends.  I have watched the series through from beginning to end at least six times.  You can catch all of Friends streaming on Netflix right now, which makes it easier to binge watch.  Joey premiered in 2004, shortly after Friends ended.  I was still young but I vaguely remember watching the first episode and thinking it was terrible.  So I never watched it again.

The thing with spin-offs is that we all just want to keep watching our favorite show that we know and love.  We start watching these spin-off shows with a closed mind and eventually these shows get canceled after just half a season.  However, after some time has passed maybe we should be revisiting these shows.  I'm always putting Friends on when I'm home cleaning, cooking, or working on a project but enough time has passed that now I'm hungry for new material and Joey is one satisfying meal.

I am here to tell you that you should try re-watching all of those failed spin-offs!  Well, maybe not all of them.  Caleb and decided to watch Joey and I have to say we both really like it so far.  We sat down and watched four episodes in a row.  It's still our favorite Joey but he's in a new setting with new people.

The premise of the show has Joey moving to L.A. with his Sister, Gina Tribianni played by Drea de Matteo.  You might recognize Drea as Adriana in The Sopranos or more recently as Wendy in Sons of Anarchy.  Originally Joey's sister Gina was played by K.J. Steinberg in "The One Where Chandler Can't Remember."

Gina had a baby at age 16 and her son is now 20 years old in this series.  Michael Tribianni, played by Paulo Costanza, is a rocket scientist which is pretty funny considering what a dope Joey is.  You might recognize Paulo from his role as Evan in Royal Pains.

Replacing his quirky agent Estelle is Jennifer Coolidge as Bobbie.  I adore Jennifer Coolidge!  I love her in everything I've seen her in.  She even had a guest role on Friends as Monica and Phoebe's frenemy Amanda Buffamonteezi (Monica darling!  It's Amanda calling!).

An unfamiliar face to me is Andrea Anders, who plays Alex, the super at Joey's apartment complex.  She's no Mr. Treeger but she's still a great character.  She has a slew of recurring television roles you might want to check out!

One more character worth mentioning is Joey's potential best friend, Howard!  Howard is played by the hilarious Ben Falcone.  Ben is married to Melissa McCarthy and has appeared in many of her movies as well as his own.  New Girl, Bridesmaids, Tammy, and even Gilmore Girls are just a few of the great projects he's been a part of.

I am only about six episodes in but I could not wait to write about this one.  I will make another entry about Joey when I finish the series.  Luckily this particular spin-off managed to last for two whole seasons!

Check back in a few weeks for more on Joey!

The Walking Dead.

HAPPY OCTOBER!  October is my favorite month of the year.  Why?  Because the whole month is dedicated to celebrating Halloween!  Halloween is my favorite holiday!  There is just something about Halloween that makes me extraordinarily happy.  The decorations, the celebration, the costumes, and of course the candy.  Also, with October comes Autumn, my favorite season of the year.  I live in Maine and Fall in Maine is gorgeous!  Fall in Maine means cooler weather, beautiful changing leaves, and pumpkin flavored everything.  What's not to like?  So, dressed in plaid flannel and boots all October I will be writing strictly about horror!  I'm hoping to write a new horror post each week of October in celebration of Halloween!  So, to start us off I bring you The Walking Dead.

I admit, I was late jumping on this bandwagon.  The Walking Dead series has been in my Netflix instant queue for at least a year, maybe more if it's even been on Netflix that long.  Finally last week I decided it was time to give it a try.  I'm not really sure why it took me so long to watch but it just never felt right.  But holy-moly I'm glad I finally gave it a shot.

The Walking Dead is AMAZING.  There is so much to talk about and I know I won't even be able to touch on it all.  First of all, let me start by saying how great it is to have a gory horror television series.  Besides American Horror Story, there really are no other horror shows out there.  Which is too bad because horror is a wonderfully disgusting and much loved genre that could be touched on a bit more on television.

This horror/drama series follows a group of people led by former Sheriff Rick Grimes.  I suppose Rick is the main protagonist of the show, as the series started with just him and he is the leader of the group.  The rest of the group does question his authority and decisions from time to time, including his own wife and son, but I find Rick to be a solid leader and his choices for the group usually have a way of working out.

For those of you unfamiliar with the AMC original show The Walking Dead, let me offer a little plot.  The series was created in 2010  by Frank Darabont and is basically about a zombie apocalypse.  Though, in the show no one ever refers to them as zombies, they call them "Walkers" and also one group calls them "Biters."  The world, or at least we assume the entire world, somehow gets overtaken by Walkers and most people either die or get turned into a Walker.  It is a creative take on the whole zombie thing, which is a popular topic in horror right now.

The show is totally gruesome and graphic, so if you don't like gore than this is probably not the show for you.  There are some heavy zombie head bashing moments but also quieter human interaction moments.  The acting on The Walking Dead is superb!  The intense fighting or conversation moments between characters are just so well written and acted.

Because there are so many main characters I will list them to help you get a clear picture.  Now, of course with a show like this there are many casualties!  So, some of these characters last a long time, some a short time, and some are not introduced for quite a while.  Here's the main players:

• Rick Grimes: Played by Andrew Lincoln, is the leader of the group, a decent father and husband though he does like to go off and save the world, and an all around nice guy.
• Lori Grimes: Played by Sarah Wayne Callies, is Rick's wife, she's kind of annoying but she's a good worker and a solid character.
• Carl Grimes: Played by Chandler Riggs, Carl is Rick and Lori's son.  He's pretty young but he carries a gun and wants to help, almost to a fault.
• Glenn Rhee: Played by Steven Yeun, Glenn is one of my favorite characters.  He's the token Asian and a very good guy.
• Daryl Dixon: Played by Norman Reedus, is my favorite character and will probably be yours as well.  You want to hate him at first but quickly learn he's a super dude.
• Dale Horvath: Played by Jeffrey DeMunn, is the voice of reason and understanding in the group.  Dale is the group mechanic and is an excellent and willing lookout.
• Andrea: Played by Laurie Holden, Andrea is kind of annoying and does not listen to people.  She gets herself into trouble by not listening to people like Dale and Michonne.
• Shane Walsh: Played by Jon Bernthal, Shane pretends to be a good guy but is he really?
• Merle Dixon: Played by Michael Rooker, Merle quickly gets cut off from the group (get it??) but I always knew he'd be back.  No body, not dead.  That's my slogan for The Walked Dead.
• Carol Peletier: Played by Melissa McBride, I weirdly really like Carol.  She's a little pathetic at first, well kind of the whole show.  Her husband is a jerk-face but Carol makes it through.  I'm rooting for a relationship between Carol and Daryl.  I'm pretty sure it will happen.
• Sophia Peletier: Played by Madison Lintz, Sophia is Carol's daughter.  She gets lost in the woods and Daryl stops at nothing to find her.  That's why I think he and Carol will get together, because he cared about Sophia so greatly.
• Maggie Greene: Played by Lauren Cohan, Maggie is Hershel's daughter and Glenn's love.  She and Glenn immediately fall in love, it's pretty sweet.  She's one of the few female characters I like in the show.
• Hershel Greene: Played by Scott Wilson, Hershel is cool!  At first I wasn't sure about him, he seemed kind of mean and harsh.  But he quickly becomes a total bad-ass.
• Beth Greene:  Played by Emily Kinney, Beth is Hershel's younger daughter.  Her character is fairly minor but she's always there.  I have a feeling she'll somehow become more focused upon.
• Michonne: Played by Danai Gurira, Michonne is AWESOME.  I liked her the second the saw her slice a Walker's head off with her sword.  Oh yeah, she carries a SWORD.  It does not get any cooler than a sword.
• The Governor: Played by David Morrissey, this guy is a total DB (douche bag, for those of you who don't know what that stands for).  I hate him because he's crooked but pretends to be perfect. 
• T-Dog: Played by IronE Singleton, T-Dog is just a good man.  Super nice, puts his life in jeopardy for others and has a very unfortunate nickname.  I mean, T-Dog, really?  How much more stereotypical can you get for the token black man of the show?  Geesh.

I hope that's everybody important!  There are tons of characters, as you can see.  Something neat about The Walking Dead, if you look at the cast on IMDB, it lists people as "Walker" and they'll be in like thirteen episodes which I think is super cool.  They don't just have random people every single time they need Walkers, they use the same actors over and over.  How cool must that job be?  Sit around for a few hours, get made up into a zombie, then walk around making gross noises!  Sounds fun to me!

The Walking Dead can be complicated and there is a lot of story-line that happens fairly quickly, so I don't want to go into any more detail on the show.  I suggest you check it out if you haven't already.  The first three seasons are streaming on Netflix!  Netflix actually just added the third season a couple days ago, I'm assuming because the fourth season will be starting soon on AMC.  So you better get caught up now!  I'm almost finished the third season and I KNOW a lot will happen.  I honestly cannot rave enough about his awesome horror show.  Go check it out and as always, enjoy!  Here's a clip about season four!