As Far As I Made It Into This Soulless, Bland Procedural
"Silence of the Lambs" is, hands down, one of my favorite films of all-time. As such, I was intrigued by "Clarice" and its focus on the lead character of that movie. Her working in the FBI after the Buffalo Bill ordeal seemed like a great premise for a show. CBS must have thought so too, what with this being the horse they bet on with Super Bowl ads and the like. Unfortunately, "Clarice" is plagued by just about every problem a network show can be saddled with, rendering it a pretty terrible effort by almost every measuring stick.
For a very basic overview, "Clarice" follows its titular character, Agent Clarice Starling (Rebecca Breeds), as she returns to FBI service following her capture of the serial killer Buffalo Bill (as seen in "Lambs"). Still bunking with fellow greenhorn Ardelia (Devyn A. Tyler) and hounded by supervisor Krendler (Michael Cudlitz), Clarice again ventures out into investigative work.
To zero in on the biggest problem with "Clarice", as a series: it should be about Agent Starling's emotional and psychological journey following the events of "Lambs". It is not. It drops a few patronizing hints or flashes here and there, but five episodes in and "Clarice" is a paint-by-numbers CBS-formula procedural and nothing more. Those intriguing flashes of Bill and dog Precious? They haven't meant a thing. The tease of saved Bill victim Catherine Martin (Marnee Carpenter)? Exactly that--a tease.
Sadly, "Clarice" looks for all the world to be a series that has a tremendous property and absolutely no idea how to handle it. Halfway through its slate of ten episodes, there has not been a single hour that has impressed me in any meaningful way. Not allowing even the name "Hannibal Lector" to be spoken (via a character rights dispute) certainly doesn't help matters, as that is (or should be) a key part of Starling's psyche. Also, all the "big talk" about the series representing a woman standing up to the FBI "boys club"? That amounts to about one or two pithy, out-of-place lines per episode.
The final straw? In a series with so many angles (either physical or emotional) that could be interestingly explored, the show-runners here concoct a musty, confusing, bureaucratic plot regarding paid assassins (to be honest, I never really understood what was transpiring). This would be a bad series even if with an original concept/idea, and it's an outright slap in the face to "Lambs" fans (or those who enjoyed the "Hannibal" series from about a decade back).
I wish I had more kind words for "Clarice", but that is simply not the case. It was a struggle to even will myself through five of these slogs, and at that point I knew there was no way I'd continue the rest of the way out of loyalty to the franchise. If this is as good as "Clarice" gets, let it die on the vine.
For a very basic overview, "Clarice" follows its titular character, Agent Clarice Starling (Rebecca Breeds), as she returns to FBI service following her capture of the serial killer Buffalo Bill (as seen in "Lambs"). Still bunking with fellow greenhorn Ardelia (Devyn A. Tyler) and hounded by supervisor Krendler (Michael Cudlitz), Clarice again ventures out into investigative work.
To zero in on the biggest problem with "Clarice", as a series: it should be about Agent Starling's emotional and psychological journey following the events of "Lambs". It is not. It drops a few patronizing hints or flashes here and there, but five episodes in and "Clarice" is a paint-by-numbers CBS-formula procedural and nothing more. Those intriguing flashes of Bill and dog Precious? They haven't meant a thing. The tease of saved Bill victim Catherine Martin (Marnee Carpenter)? Exactly that--a tease.
Sadly, "Clarice" looks for all the world to be a series that has a tremendous property and absolutely no idea how to handle it. Halfway through its slate of ten episodes, there has not been a single hour that has impressed me in any meaningful way. Not allowing even the name "Hannibal Lector" to be spoken (via a character rights dispute) certainly doesn't help matters, as that is (or should be) a key part of Starling's psyche. Also, all the "big talk" about the series representing a woman standing up to the FBI "boys club"? That amounts to about one or two pithy, out-of-place lines per episode.
The final straw? In a series with so many angles (either physical or emotional) that could be interestingly explored, the show-runners here concoct a musty, confusing, bureaucratic plot regarding paid assassins (to be honest, I never really understood what was transpiring). This would be a bad series even if with an original concept/idea, and it's an outright slap in the face to "Lambs" fans (or those who enjoyed the "Hannibal" series from about a decade back).
I wish I had more kind words for "Clarice", but that is simply not the case. It was a struggle to even will myself through five of these slogs, and at that point I knew there was no way I'd continue the rest of the way out of loyalty to the franchise. If this is as good as "Clarice" gets, let it die on the vine.
- zkonedog
- Mar 15, 2021