When The Beach Boys came out with Pet Sounds in May of 1966, it was largely in response to the genius of The Beatles’ Rubber Soul—that bird’s first major step into its more progressive, less commercial phase that would define the rest of its career. The Beatles’ next album, Revolver, then became a response to Pet Sounds. These albums, though, were not directly tied to one another in the sense that they were companion pieces; instead, and in retrospect, they show a microcosm of how creatively flourishes within a community of artists. Television functions in a similar way. One transcendent series paves the way for another, which wears its inspiration on its sleeve while finding new and interesting ways to tell stories. The best series do, anyway. Hannibal, being among those series, is a response to many things, not just other television (but if you want to watch one of…
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