Clarice
Firstly, a shout-out to the Fanibals who got #HannibalDeservesMore trending every Thursday when Clarice aired because this is a statement which I will never disagree with. But, the good news for Fanibals is that Clarice would in no way contradict or conflict with the continuation of Hannibal because this show doesn't take place in the present, like Hannibal, but right after the events of The Silence of the Lambs film, placing it firmly in 1992. So now that I've gotten those concerns addressed, lets talk Starling! From beginning to end this show had me on a roller coaster of emotions. There was a lot of bait and switch going on. You kind of expect a show following on the heels of The Silence of the Lambs to be about serial killers, and when at the end of the first episode they pull the rug out and are like, nope, it's about whistleblowers, it took me a few more episodes to lean into this new arc. Because this show doesn't really do "monster of the week." Each episode ties into the greater arc of what is going on with VICAP's investigation into Alastor Pharmaceuticals. So I had to embrace the whistleblowers and I heartily did. Because this isn't just relevant to now, but relevant to then. This was when Erin Brockovich was raising the alarm! And seriously, why have we stopped talking about Flint, Michigan, it's not like that magically got fixed? But Clarice also does an excellent job of discussing other issues of import that still matter, from sexism, to racism, to trauma, to transphobia. And what it did was eloquently handle transphobia. If you think about it, the original movie did a lot to make a monster out of Buffalo Bill because he was trans and as the trans character Julia Lawson played by Jen Richards puts it, this did a lot to hurt the trans community. Not just in the world of the show but in the real world. Her character arc over the three episodes she's on felt like an apology that we've been waiting a long time for and I applaud the show for leaning into the problematic source material versus just pretending it didn't exist. I do hope that this show is somehow able to continue because it is continually breaking down preconceptions and that makes it unique. Though I have to say circling back round to a serial killer by the end felt a little messy. If it wasn't for the amazing acting of Douglas Smith, previously killing it as Marcus Isaacson on The Alienist, it just wouldn't have worked.
I don't think it's just me, but I feel like there has been a plethora of book adaptations over the last year. Not only have I not gotten around to watching them all, but of the ones I've seen I feel like I'm barely touching the tip of the iceberg! I want to binge them all! Bridgerton, The Stand, Clarice, Resident Alien, All Creatures Great and Small, and on and on. Because if there's one thing Covid has done it's to let us fully embrace the binge on a level heretofore never seen! What's Bridgerton or The Queen's Gambit in a day? That's nothing compared to not leaving your couch for months on end! In fact it gives you something to do while on your couch! But what I'm amazed at is that we're constantly getting new shows, how is it that the film industry has kind of wobbled but television and streaming have continued on so robustly? Oh, does it really matter? Not when so many beloved books were finally adapted this year. Terry Pratchett? Yes please! Alan Tudyk is a what? I'm overjoyed! Regency England is cool again? What, is this 1996 again? Because at this moment I think I'd be OK with that. So here's to all the shows I've watched, I'm watching, and I plan to watch, all emanating from my favorite medium, books! Because I want to make it abundantly clear, an adaptation doesn't legitimize a book, a book is a perfect finished product in it's own right. An adaptation just gives me joy at seeing what I envisioned on screen. And even if they get it horribly wrong... well, they tried right? Plus, I do kind of like complaining when things go wrong...
