Human Mural – Hannibal
I ask you, is there a more violent or shocking show that has ever been on mainstream network TV than Hannibal? Part of me thinks not. I had to sit down and whittle down so many moments from this sick (and really good) series just to find the one that stood out most to me.
While the human cello almost won, as did the guy who flays the people into angels using the skin on their back to make wings, the human mural takes the case because of the basic idea of being the survivor who wakes up sewn into that thing is incomprehensible.
I have had many discussions with many people about this, and we have no idea how Hannibal gets away with what it does. The fact that it is well written and fits into the mythos of that already established universe helps, but the stuff they get away with is quite literally, insane.
This particular scene, when a character on the show wakes up to find out he has been sewn into a human mural, was about as freaky as television can get. It wasn’t the gore that did it, as the show has had much gorier moments. Rather, it was the sheer concept and execution of it.
Well played, NBC. I have no idea how you get away with this stuff, but I am curious to see just how much further you can take things before getting cancelled. I bet the moment that will do it is when something insane, like a man falling out of the stomach of a dead horse, is shown.
Oh wait, that already happened.