With its gory violence and occasional highbrow dialogue, it’s hard to believe “Hannibal” airs on an American broadcast network. But really, it’s hard to believe it’s on TV at all. It’s a marvelous, maleficent miracle. Fuller has said he has a seven-season plan for the show, and it would be a bloody crime if he wasn’t able to finish his design.

‘Hannibal’: Bloody Well the Year’s Best Show (x)

The subjective storytelling and flagrantly unreal atmosphere make what might otherwise be an unbearably gruesome spectacle not just tolerable but fascinating, at times weirdly stirring, in the way that a depressing opera or brutal fairy tale or Greek tragedy can be stirring. “Hannibal” showcases the most hideous violence ever seen on commercial TV — some of the murders and mutilations make the ghastliest stuff on “True Detective” and “The Following” seem mild

Vulture TV Awards on Hannibal (x)