“Clarice” the Unnecessary Sequel
A trend in modern television is to desperately search for classics to reboot or to somehow continue a few decades after the original. CBS’s “Clarice” arrives almost exactly 30 years after the Oscar-winning “The Silence of the Lambs” first made its main character a household name. Well, you could say there were two main characters since the real show stealer was imprisoned psychologist and cannibal Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins in an immortal role). But the sophisticated maniac is missing this time around and the show’s sole focus is FBI Agent Clarice Starling, played now by Rebecca Breeds.
The pilot takes place a year after the events of “The Silence of the Lambs,” as Starling attends therapy to process the events surrounding her rescue of Catherine Martin (Marnee Carpenter) from the clutches of the serial killer known as “Buffalo Bill.” Starling has garnered front page coverage on the papers and tabloids for her feat, as well as jealous resentment from male peers. Then Martin’s mother, U.S. Attorney General Ruth Martin (Jayne Atkinson) recruits Starling into the Violent Criminal Apprehension Program (ViCAP). There’s a killer on the loose targeting young women in Washington, D.C., or so it seems from the two bodies that have been found. Martin wants Starling to assist in the hunt, which also places her in the uncomfortable orbit of ViCAP head honcho Paul Krendler (Michael Cudlitz). Starling and Krendler butt heads when she suspects the murders are not the work of a serial killer, and hint at a different kind of motive.
It takes a bit of gravitas to make yet another project inspired by the novels of Thomas Harris, whose Hannibal Lecter books have been adapted into multiple films and shows, all known by a big fan base. While this series picks up after “Silence of the Lambs,” visually it owes a lot more to Bryan Fuller’s cancelled cult NBC show “Hannibal,” now streaming on Netflix. Due to rights issues, Lecter can’t even be mentioned by name in “Clarice,” but the shadow of his other franchises is all over it, just not their superior writing. Creators Alex Kurtzman and Jenny Lumet combine Fuller’s gothic dreamlike style with standard network procedural plotting. The aesthetic of “Clarice” is its most engaging aspect, from the opening scenes with slow-motion rain to the camera following agents into vast, menacing dark tunnels. Wide overhead shots of a body being carried down a river or the opening title sequence, reviving the iconic Harris image of a death’s-head moth, have hypnotic qualities.
It’s when the characters start talking that the spell is broken. The dialogue is written as if from a TV world before better shows, where terms like “serial killer” are thrown around like the titles of Marvel villains. It takes Starling just a few seconds to look at a fresh corpse and determine the killer is not of the serial category and might not even be a sociopath. As she explains to her roommate, there’s no “spontaneity” in the slashing. After more serious shows like “Mindhunter” or the ongoing wave of true crime documentaries like “Night Stalker,” a show like “Clarice” feels cartoonish by comparison. Krendler is upset Starling refuses to tag the murderer as a serial killer for no other reason than it sounds better, and why she has to be shifted from the FBI to ViCAP, which reads like a tech firm, has little logic. Then there’s the issue of what kind of cases Starling will investigate this season. The first one turns out to be quite anti-climactic, with a plot involving evil big pharma that is both simplistic and absurdly tricky to follow.
Next to the richer visuals, the other noteworthy element of “Clarice” is its lead actor. Rebecca Breeds has some major badges to follow. Starling was first played by Jodie Foster in the 1991 Jonathan Demme movie and won an Oscar. In 2001 Julianne Moore gave a worthy follow-up performance in Ridley Scott’s stylish “Hannibal,” an adaptation of Harris’s own sequel novel, not to be confused with the show. And now in 2021 Breeds proves this is a great role for strong actors. She has the sense of intelligence and strong-willed, homegrown honesty. Yet it’s a convincing performance in a diluted show. Missing is the intense psychological atmosphere of the films. Starling in the first incarnations is a skilled agent maneuvering in a chauvinistic world where there are predators both in the street and in the office. Krendler, played like an acidic creeper by Ray Liotta in the Scott movie, is just a grumpy boss here. There’s a moment of dumb frat house humor when other agents leave a bottle of lotion in Starling’s desk (a reference you won’t get if you haven’t seen “Lambs”), but for the most part her battles have more to do with proving the non-serial killer is not a serial killer. Thomas (Lucca De Oliveira) provides the role of the nicer agent who becomes Starling’s investigative partner.
As good as the cosmetic production values are, “Clarice” might struggle with justifying its necessity. This is such a great character, taken from a classic series of novels and films, that she deserves a show up to her level. Consider that in the pilot we don’t even see any detailed police work take place. While Hannibal the Cannibal takes away much of the attention in the other titles, they also took time to explore how fingerprints are found, or what clues you can find on items as mundane as tissue, all the while building dread. This series could be about any random TV detective, investigating the same tired old TV cases. Instead of inspiring fear it may just inspire changing the channel.
