I have a favorite movie that makes people a bit uncomfortable. Silence of the Lambs has been my favorite movie since I was old enough to watch it. CBS has released the first episode of the show Clarice and it was pretty much an instant watch for me. In episode one, Clarice Starling is a year out from the infamous Buffalo Bill murder case and the rescue of Catherine Martin. Officially a member of the Behavioral Science Unit at the FBI (BSU), Clarice has her dream job, but there are clear complications. At her FBI required therapy session, we begin to see the misogyny and frustration Clarice endures due to her ability to have actual emotional bandwidth; something that becomes very clear most of her colleagues lack. She has recently attended the one year anniversary gathering of the families of the victims of Buffalo Bill, and she is in no mood for her terrible therapist’s attempts to bait her with a tabloid article on the anniversary with Clarice’s photo front and center. She did her job, and she survived, but it’s clear there are some lasting effects. Thankfully, this horrible ruse by the therapist is interrupted when she is called to head up a task force lead by Ruth Martin, who has made it a promise to find a serial killer that is attacking her constituents. For those not obsessed with Silence of the Lambs, Ruth Martin is Catherine Martin’s mother, and she has never forgotten that Clarice is the one who rescued her daughter. Still, the local law enforcement and FBI task force is no having it. Jealous of all the press that Clarice has had, as well as her pre-graduation successes, they are quick to judge her and to pull cruel pranks. Her superiors tell her to keep her mouth shut and try to keep her from doing what she does best; allow her empathy and observational skills to profile and stop killers. Still, she won’t let this stop her from finding her allies and hunting down the bad guys.
So Clarice is, well, wow… the show does not shy away from incredible shot for shot remakes of some of Silence of the Lambs most famous scenes for flashbacks, even down to using Q Lazarus’ “Goodbye Horses.” The work is atmospheric, well shot, and incredibly acted. Clarice is quick to use proper FBI and trauma-informed terms, advise when she needs to think something through, or question an order. PTSD is a huge discussion point of this show. Catherine Martin is described to have lost a major amount of weight, as Buffalo Bill targeted larger women. Clarice clearly has flashbacks to having to fight her way out of Buffalo Bill’s attacks. Clarice’s nicknames “Bride of Frankenstein,” “Igor” and “Rapunzel” are just terrible, and I found myself grinding my teeth at the bullying. For those who may have obsessively watched Silence of the Lambs, there’s a part where she almost gets caught because she “doesn’t check her corners” like in the training scene from the movie. You can tell that the writers of the show have deep respect for the source material. It’s helpful that one of them is Thomas Harris, the creator of the popular book franchise based on Hannibal Lecter. Ardelia Mapp, Clarice’s roommate from the movie is a major character in the show. I’ve always loved this character, and her handwritten book of “People I’m Sending to Hell’ is like my new favorite prop I’ll need to find a way to create.
At one point, Clarice names off the victims of a killer and makes sure that the reporters know that those names are more important than the name of the killer. I sobbed, y’all. Hannibal fans this show may not reach your Bryan Fuller expectations, because it’s frankly not a Bryan Fuller show. Don’t expect to see the fancy costumes, obsessive sound engineering, and color matching. What you’ll get is an incredibly intelligent, well-shot, police procedural with one of the most incredible and powerful female characters in film having her story told in more detail. Hannibal Lecter is not the star of the show here, and I feel like that is a major strength. The direction of the series is in the hands of Maja Vrvilo and DeMane Davis; these are good hands to be in. The writing team is focused, and careful to treat the victims and survivors like people, albeit fictional, not like convenient plot points.
With just one episode, I have fallen head over heels in love with this show. Clarice airs Thursday nights on CBS, or you can catch the replay on the CBS app.
