Set roughly a year after the events of Silence of the Lambs, Clarice Starling has become an object of media fascination and placed very much on the FBI's backburner riding a desk. When a new string of what looks to be serial killings emerges. Attorney General, Ruth Martin, uses her sway to bring Starling into the FBI's VICAP unit.
Clarice marks yet another attempt to mine the Thomas Harris novels for television following the cult hit Hannibal which re-imagined elements of Red Dragon and Hannibal very much becoming its own interpretation that stood on its own from the Anthony Hopkins films. Clarice takes a different approach due to legal disputes between MGM and the de Laurentis family over ownership of elements from the Harris novels and because of that overt references cannot be made to certain characters such as Hannibal Lector (though in the opening therapy session they do make a passing reference to Starling's previous "psychiatrist"). The show is essentially two shows competing for attention. On one hand, it's a psychological horror that looks at the lingering effects of working with violence and becoming known for association with that violence, and on the other it's a formula procedural fitting well in line with the plethora of CSI and Criminal Minds esque shows that stuff CBS' schedule to the gills.
Rebecca Breeds as Clarice Starling is quite good in the role, and while she doesn't quite escape the long shadow cast by Jodie Foster's Oscar winning performance, she does a decent job given the weight she's asked to carry. Without having Hannibal Lector (or some equivalent) to act as a foil for Starling the show does certainly does feel like it's missing something, but the writers do try to create a different beast for her to ace off against with a combination of her PTSD and the stigma that her colleagues at the FBI and the tabloids are all to eager to remind her of.
While some of the material is approached reasonably well, others are not as well handled. The behavior from Starling's FBI colleagues (particularly a bad taste prank involving lotion that should result in a trip to HR if not outright firing) is done so over the top that it feels at odds with the gritty realism both the movie and the show try to convey. This is where the show finds itself working against its traditional procedural format as many characters surrounding Starling feel more suited to traditional procedurals than they do the Thomas Harris world. The opening plot in the show is also a massive cheat as its one of those procedural plots where everything is made to look one way when in reality its another. It's a frusturating revelation especially when finding out the "why" because a plan this convoluted and over the top just doesn't belong here.
The Silence is Over is a frustrating pilot because it feels like there's a good show to be had, but it also feels like its handicapping itself by weighing itself down with police procedural baggage. The serial killer well has been tapped for TV many times and unless you go the direction of something like Hannibal or Mindhunter where you break from the traditional approach, it's all but guaranteed it'll be an uphill battle to make your show stand out. In terms of movie based TV shows it doesn't reach the levels of Fargo or Westworld, but it also isn't awful either. It's a slightly above average procedural that tries to be a little more but at the moment isn't. Maybe it'll get better with development, but who knows?
Clarice marks yet another attempt to mine the Thomas Harris novels for television following the cult hit Hannibal which re-imagined elements of Red Dragon and Hannibal very much becoming its own interpretation that stood on its own from the Anthony Hopkins films. Clarice takes a different approach due to legal disputes between MGM and the de Laurentis family over ownership of elements from the Harris novels and because of that overt references cannot be made to certain characters such as Hannibal Lector (though in the opening therapy session they do make a passing reference to Starling's previous "psychiatrist"). The show is essentially two shows competing for attention. On one hand, it's a psychological horror that looks at the lingering effects of working with violence and becoming known for association with that violence, and on the other it's a formula procedural fitting well in line with the plethora of CSI and Criminal Minds esque shows that stuff CBS' schedule to the gills.
Rebecca Breeds as Clarice Starling is quite good in the role, and while she doesn't quite escape the long shadow cast by Jodie Foster's Oscar winning performance, she does a decent job given the weight she's asked to carry. Without having Hannibal Lector (or some equivalent) to act as a foil for Starling the show does certainly does feel like it's missing something, but the writers do try to create a different beast for her to ace off against with a combination of her PTSD and the stigma that her colleagues at the FBI and the tabloids are all to eager to remind her of.
While some of the material is approached reasonably well, others are not as well handled. The behavior from Starling's FBI colleagues (particularly a bad taste prank involving lotion that should result in a trip to HR if not outright firing) is done so over the top that it feels at odds with the gritty realism both the movie and the show try to convey. This is where the show finds itself working against its traditional procedural format as many characters surrounding Starling feel more suited to traditional procedurals than they do the Thomas Harris world. The opening plot in the show is also a massive cheat as its one of those procedural plots where everything is made to look one way when in reality its another. It's a frusturating revelation especially when finding out the "why" because a plan this convoluted and over the top just doesn't belong here.
The Silence is Over is a frustrating pilot because it feels like there's a good show to be had, but it also feels like its handicapping itself by weighing itself down with police procedural baggage. The serial killer well has been tapped for TV many times and unless you go the direction of something like Hannibal or Mindhunter where you break from the traditional approach, it's all but guaranteed it'll be an uphill battle to make your show stand out. In terms of movie based TV shows it doesn't reach the levels of Fargo or Westworld, but it also isn't awful either. It's a slightly above average procedural that tries to be a little more but at the moment isn't. Maybe it'll get better with development, but who knows?
