‘Clarice’ Recap: ‘The Silence Is Over’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the series premiere of ‘Clarice’.
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It is definitely safe to say, that the Thomas Harris novel, The Silence of the Lambs, was revolutionary in nature. Simply because this particular book held nothing back in its portrayal of how the twisted mind of a serial killer works and its harrowing story and dynamic characters… made it a pop culture icon. Because it managed to spawn a five-picture movie franchise and a hit television series that further explored the fascinating mind of one Dr. Hannibal Lecter, to the point where he is a monster that is as famous and as recognizable as Freddy Krueger or Jason Voorhees and well… that’s downright incredible since that kind of iconic status isn’t easy in the slightest.

But while we often talk about Hannibal and celebrate his demented legacy, something we don’t discuss/celebrate enough in regard to that particular novel… is Clarice Starling. For she too is/was a dynamic character in that book, one that stood toe to toe with not one, but two outright monsters. And of course, she even managed to take one down by using her keen intellect to assemble the clues before her. But after that story, she basically disappeared into the creative void until Hannibal came about. Leaving all of us to wonder, what happened to Clarice in-between those two stories, and what did her career as an FBI agent look like? Well thankfully, after years of silence on that particular matter, CBS has opted to explore those lost years and give this incredible character her day in the sun by way of the new series, Clarice.

A show that picks up a year after the events of The Silence of the Lambs, and when we catch up with now Agent Starling in ‘The Silence Is Over’, she is in quite the unique place. For the PTSD she’s suffering from has left her a shell of the bold agent she once was, to the point where she’s haunted by dreams of that fateful day in Buffalo Bill’s basement, and she’s working hard to stay out of the field while she heals. But her notoriety and ability to capture the most deranged of minds, motivates now Attorney General Ruth Martin to assign Clarice to a special task force designed to fight the kind of violent crime that nearly claimed the life of her baby daughter, Catherine. Which means that like it or not, Special Agent Clarice Starling is going to have to heal on the fly as she faces the cruelty that man is capable of, once again.

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Which… is quite the wonderful setup for this series. Since it acknowledges that PTSD is something quite real and quite tangible for someone to experience when they are forced to traverse a house of horrors and kill a serial killer. Plus, such a move should add all kinds of new dimensions and layers to a character that outright intrigues us, and it also leaves one hopeful for a dynamic season of storytelling, one where Clarice will have to earn her status as an FBI agent on a more intimate level. But alas, the pilot episode of this series only toys with those wonderful concepts, and never once dives into them in a proper manner and that’s an outright shame. Because this really is the kind of groundwork that says to an audience to buckle up and prepare for a powerful and emotional ride, the kind that will inspire and move a viewer as Clarice fights to shed her demons and her pain so that she can become an incredibly strong hero.

But instead, this pilot episode opts to rush through a case that could have added some fine commentary on the modern world and it barely deals with Clarice’s pain by rushing her healing process as well, and that is frustrating to say the least, especially when one considers why. Because rather than making this decision to get the story moving toward something bigger or juicier, the episode pushes all of these important moments aside to focus heavily on some serious Silence fan service. The kind that features far too many flashbacks to Buffalo Bill’s menagerie of terror, and it even shoehorns in a throwaway conversation between Catherine Martin and Clarice. All to further hammer home that this is a sequel and that really does do the story disservice and it detracts from Clarice’s journey to establish herself as an independent agent that is eager to make waves for the right reasons. Now, that’s not to say that the series should ignore what happened in Silence of the Lambs in the slightest. Since Clarice wouldn’t be here without that tense showdown with Buffalo Bill.

But it needed to make the echoes of the past more organic in nature, and gradually ease us into her attempts to face it and recover from it. Which would give those flashbacks impact as she learns to live with those memories and make peace with them and it also would give a conversation with Catherine Martin more gravity, since it would signal that Clarice was ready to face her and make amends for ignoring her. But while this pilot struggles to find its voice, all is not lost. For this was but a single episode, and we have a season ahead for this show to course correct and hopefully it does. Because the casting is top notch since Rebecca Breeds is phenomenal as Clarice Starling and she is balanced out nicely by Michael Cudlitz’s portrayal of Paul Krendler and the groundwork is there for some powerful storytelling to take place. Which means all we can do at this point is sit and wait and see, if Clarice embraces its potential in the weeks to come. Until next time.

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