Is Hannibal the best network TV series in years?

And I can watch open-heart surgery while eating a medium-rare steak.

So really, maybe Im not the best judge of what others might consider gruesome.

And that would be a shame since NBCsHannibalis the best broadcast data pipe series in years.

And I say that believing that the past decade has been something of a golden age of scripted television.

of the protagonist, Will Graham.

Unlike Lynch, however, Fuller manages to restrain himself.

Bloom recommends her former colleague, Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen).

But its not the premise that is so successful; its the flawless execution.

His mastery is evident in virtually every artistic choice onHannibal.

Because Lecters true nature is still unknown in this universe, he operates differently.

The same is true of practically everything about the show.

Should we recoil as we see virtually every character sit down to one of Hannibals carefully cultivated feasts?

Or are we assuming too much about these culinary treats?

Like Lecters own tastes,Hannibalrequires a certain level of sophistication.

Yes, theres gore, but for the most part, Fuller presents it almost as Scorsese would.

Its displayed with a cinematic richness that almost makes you forget what youre looking at because of its beauty.

This is not for theFriday the 13thcrowd.

In films of those genres, the blood and guts are part-and-parcel of why people go.

Here, however, theres nothing of the gratuitous or the gaudy.

But what Hannibal also requires is a willingness to explore those ways of looking at the world.

Hannibal season two starts on NBC on Friday the 28th of February.

Read Lauras spoiler-filled Hannibal season one reviews,here.