Clarice

Silence of the Lambs was a character study and thriller that was hauntingly directed. 'Clarice' is a superb homage to the original and to the title character. It picks up one year after the Buffalo Bill case and it addresses the PTSD that still impacts the young Clarice, who is played by the excellent Rebecca Breeds. She nails the part, which is daunting considering that Jodie Foster was iconic in the role. She is subtle in showing the character's enormous strength, deft at trying to politically maneuver through the male dominated FBI power structure while showing her brilliance, and honest in showing Clarice's human vulnerabilities.

The directing is way above average for a TV 'procedural'. It has an art-house feel. Maybe too many flashbacks. Some of the male leads are stereotypical and too overbearing, but we are only 4 episodes in. Hoping for more development for those characters, but TV is longform.

Overall this series is underwhelming, the storylines are disjointed and the subplots/tangents are unnecessary and distracting. The show tries way too hard to be 'Edgy', painting the main character as a psycho loose cannon who can do nothing right, which doesn't seem true to the character. A great premise that went wrong.

Wow. The writing on this, in terms of plot and dialogue is cringeworthy throughout. The acting as well is simply flat.

Clarice is an entertaining watch as long as you don't sit there comparing the main lead actress with the portrayal of the character by the legendary Jodie Foster in Silence Of The Lambs. Just enjoy it for what it is, the main actress does a fine job in the role. Although the pilot episode was not that gripping, I enjoyed it and I really feel that this series could well get better as it goes along, I will defitely keep watching it.

So if you forget the legend upon which this show is built, you are left with a good proceedural Gvt. Agency show, which is rare in these days of formulaic episodic cop propaganda; yes, they're borrowing heavily from the legend just by making the show, but it does make for a certain interesting undercurrent to everything.

The cast works well, the script isn't nearly as bad as the reviews suggest, nor is the production quality in any way lacking (I think everyone was hoping for film quality attention being paid to every detail, which isn't feasible, unless you're watching Hannibal, which raised the bar to an astonishing degree). A few less moth flashbacks, and we're good. My only strong complaint is the butchery done to Catherine Martin's character, and I don't know where that storyline is going, so I'm trying to reserve judgement.

Had to laugh at Clarice needing a better psychiatrist.