At first, might not seem like a stunt-heavy TV show, but one scene required an unusual trick, which Mads Mikkelsen revealed that he could do. Rebooting the world of Hannibal Lecter was always a risky idea, as Anthony Hopkins' performance in The Silence of the Lambs had defined the character. That said, Mikkelsen made the role his own, developing the character further and giving one of the greatest horror performances of all time. Hannibal takes place before the events of The Silence of the Lambs, so Hannibal's murders are not yet solved, and he is actively cooking.

Hannibal blended horror with art, and the show changed the horror genre with its stylish approach. The murder tableaux in Hannibal are all extremely disturbing, but they are filmed and treated like sculptures, both in the storyline and in the cinematography. , showcasing elaborate arrangements, which often included Hannibal's enemies as a key ingredient. The show highlighted Hannibal's charm alongside his brutality, and this was shown by following his murder scenes with complex meal preparation, designed by a food stylist.

Hannibal gets away with his murders for so long because he comes across as a sophisticated and educated man with a passion for fine dining. His skills equal those of a master chef, and . The season 2 episode "Mukōzuke" shows him preparing an egg, using a Japanese trick in which he throws the egg into the air and catches it on the edge of a spatula, breaking it into a bowl. This is an extremely difficult feat, and the crew had booked chefs to perform it.

The trick is often performed at a restaurant chain called Benihana, and Janice Poon, the food stylist for Hannibal, had even seen Benihana chefs get it wrong. Still, she explained to Business Insider that she had a plan for how they were going to film the egg trick for the show. "I called my Japanese food guy and asked for a Benihana chef to bring in for a potential hand double. and asks 'Ok, What are we doing?"

When Janice Poon explained the trick to Mikkelsen, he asked to try it and got it right on the first attempt. Poon accused him of practicing, but for the take. Poon said "he never tried it again until they shot it, and boom he did it, and we all were slack-jawed and happy to move on to the next thing." This dedication to detail is one of the things that makes Hannibal one of the best horror TV shows of all time.

Hannibal is even better on a rewatch as the show is so full of details that get missed the first time around. Just as many Hannibal characters' wardrobes have hidden meanings, there are also details hidden in the food. In the season 2 episode "Futamono," . Dr. Chilton is served tongue, foreshadowing his eventual fate due to speaking against Hannibal. Another character is mistakenly thought to be dead, and the episode features a seafood dish with red fish, revealing the "red herring" in the plot.

Source: Business Insider