I'm not a fan of procedural series, I've made that clear in many of my posts. There was a time when I used to watch procedural series, but they are no longer to my liking. I decided to watch the Clarice series, just because it is an iconic character. The same thing happened with the Hannibal series, I watched it just because of the character.

It's hard to see the character of Clarice Starling with a new face, for me Jodie Foster will always be that character. Not even Julianne Moore, an excellent actress, could remove from my mind the Clarice played by Foster in that masterpiece of cinema: The Silence of the Lambs.

When the sequel to the film, Hannibal, was being prepared, Foster was involved, even the director Jonathan Demme was destined to direct it, but unfortunately there were differences of criteria. Foster and Demme did not like the script, nor the direction the characters had taken in Thomas Harris' novel. This caused them to refuse to remain involved in the project, and Foster also asked for a rather high sum, perhaps with the aim of not accepting the request. The film Hannibal recovered Hopkins as the mythical cannibal, but with a new Clarice and the direction of Ridley Scott, who managed to make some changes to the ending that was written in the script.

I liked the movie, but it never reached the same level as its predecessor, later they would even make a prequel about Hannibal Lecter. The idea was to continue exploiting a character that was already part of popular culture and film history.

In 2013, a series about Hannibal Lecter was released. Mads Mikkelsen stepped into the killer's shoes, based on the novels Red Dragon and Hannibal, Bryan Fuller's creation for NBC was a critical success, visually it was a marvel and despite its procedural model, it was a TV series that I loved. There is talk of the possibility of resuming this project with a new season, but they are only rumors, there is nothing concrete.

Now it is the turn of the CBS television network, which has premiered the series Clarice, based on the character of the novel The Silence of the Lambs. The series is created by Alex Kurtzman and Jenny Lumet. Kutzman is a renowned filmmaker with experience in film and television, the last film he directed was 2017's The Mummy.

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It is the year 1993, a year has passed since the events of The Silence of the Lambs, when Starling brings down the serial killer Buffalo Bill, managing to rescue Chaterine Martin , the girl he was holding prisoner. The media have exploited her image in reports, branding her as the bride of Frankenstein, for her relationship with the cannibal who helped her find Buffalo Bill. Clarice is traumatized by her experiences, the FBI psychiatrist evaluates her and finds her unfit to return to work. Ruth Martin, the mother of the girl Clarice rescued, is appointed to a high political office, assigning Clarice to a special team to capture a possible serial killer. Clarice must struggle in this man's world, where she is the only woman and where everyone looks askance at her, due to the fame she gained from stopping Buffalo Bill. She also has to struggle with the nightmares and traumas she carries inside her as she solves the cases that arise.

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All the facts will be a new creation of the scriptwriters, they will not be based on any other novel, because they don't have the rights. Something I will explain later.

The series will show us the professional beginning of Clarice Starling, within a federal forces where men predominate, she is still seen as a woman who was only lucky to find and kill Buffalo Bill, even her immediate superior does not trust her and wants to remove her from her team in case of any mistake.

Most of her colleagues don't feel much sympathy for her either, they are suspicious of all that behavioral science stuff, they are used to solving crimes in their own style. Only one of them seems to trust her, he even feels admiration for her, he is a young ex-member of the army who wants to change many things within the team. He will be one of the characters who will serve as Clarice's support.

She will also have some problems with superiors, she has an idealistic vision, as she is a recent graduate of the FBI academy. She seeks justice and to be honest, she does not understand that some things are handled in a political way and that she must follow the authority, the orders of her superiors.

This will surely be a constant in all the episodes, the confrontations with superiors, gaining confidence and courage to make decisions on her own, which will transform her into an excellent agent in the future, but for the moment it will only bring her problems.

The other important axis of the plot is the trauma, the recurring memories of Buffalo Bill, the nightmares and her struggle to overcome the experience. During all this time he has refused to talk to Catherine Martin, the girl he rescued, and who is in a very bad way, totally out of control mentally. We will see how they build the relationship between the two girls, united by the experience with Buffalo Bill.

Rebeca Breeds is an Australian actress who has worked in several television series in her country and in the United States. She played Cassie Cometti in the series Blue Water High from 2006 to 2008. We Are Men, The Originals, Pretty Little Liars. Molly and Miranda's Rights were the series in which she participated. I haven't seen any of those series, I was totally unaware of this actress' work and I was surprised by her choice to bring the new version of Clarice Starling to life.

What did I think? In the few episodes I've seen, although she doesn't make me forget Jodie Foster, I must admit that she does a good job. I can only accept her face as Clarice. I feel the actress has studied the character quite a bit, I feel she does it with deep respect. Her work is honest and I see small details, for example, the fragility and insecurity that Jodie Foster conveyed, but she also has moments of greater determination, showing an evolution that brings her closer to the Clarice played by Julianne Moore.

Breeds works as a bridge between Foster's and Moore's interpretations of the same character.

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What is the reason for this? As it happened with the Hannibal series, where Bryan Fuller stated that Clarice could not be in Hannibal because he did not have the rights to use that character.

The rights to adapt most of Thomas Harris' novels belong to a production company, I believe, which was Dino de Laurentis Productions. But that production company sold the rights to Silence of the Lambs to MGM, which made the movie and CBS Studios is part of MGM, they can only use the character of Clarice. They have no rights to the other Hannibal novels, which creates a legal conflict of rights. That's why in the Clarice series, they won't even be able to name Hannibla, only make references to him, but without saying his name.

Therefore, as long as those rights remain divided and the production companies do not reach a commercial agreement. We will not see these characters together again in the TV series or in future projects. For us fans, it's a complete bummer. Fuller I believe made attempts to convince companies to have Clarice appear in Hannibal, but nothing ever came to fruition. So don't expect the appearance of a new Hannibal Lecter in this series. It's not going to happen.

The first thing is that they chose to make it procedural, although there is a continuous general plot, as the Hannnibal series had, but having a different case every week, is something that is no longer to my liking. That system does not allow to deepen the secondary characters, who only end up playing the role of villain of the week. The procedurals, Law and Order style, I only watch them when I'm really bored.

The second thing is that the series is set in 1993, but at times it feels like the events are taking place in the present day. I don't see a great job of recreating the era. It's not enough to use some cars from the nineties. Also, they have decided to use a multicultural cast, because that's what today's standards demand, but I can't conceive of so many multicultural characters if the plot is set in the early nineties. It doesn't make sense. It takes away from the realism of the series. Other viewers may buy into this inconsistency, but I don't.

The last thing is that they want to give a visual style in the dream or nightmare sequences that looks like an imitation of Fuller's visual style. That bothers me, because the imitation comes off very badly. I hope they get better as time goes on and it manages to have a style of its own.

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Michael Cudlitz plays Paul Krendler, the head of the unit to which Clarice will be assigned. A man of authority, used to having things done his way. The actor has a different look, but it is easy to recognize him as Abraham from The Walking Dead.
Lucca De Oliveira plays Tomas Esquivel, the Latino agent of the unit and who has a good working relationship with Clarice, he seems to be the only one who respects her. The actor was born in New York, but is the son of immigrants from Brazil, I don't know his previous work, he is a new face to me.

Kal Penn plays Shaan Tripathi, another of the federal members of the unit, a supporting role that I have only seen him make gestures, he does not have much confidence in Clarice. This actor is known for his work in films and TV series, such as Desperate Survivor and the Harold and Kumar films. He has also had a political career as an advisor to several Democratic Party politicians.

The great Nick Sandow plays Murray Clarke, another veteran agent who doesn't like having a woman on the team. I know this actor because he was Joe Caputo in the series Orange is the New Black. I like seeing him now in a more dramatic and different character. I like this actor.

Marnee Carpenter plays Chaterine Martin, the girl Clarice rescued at the end of Silence of the Lambs. She is totally traumatized and I see a bad future for this character. I know nothing about this actress, this seems to be her most important character to date.

Jayne Atkinson plays Ruth Martin, Catherine's mother who is focused on her political career and seems to want to use Clarice only for political gain. I don't quite buy that everything she does is for the sake of saving her daughter. She is a politician, they just tell lies. The actress many will remember from the series 24 and House of Cards. An excellent supporting actress who always excels in her characters.

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