On the thirteenth day of Hannibal Advent Bryan Fuller gave to me #13HourDevour
twelve numbers on a very sad clock eleven re-purposed lines of narration ten perfect costumes nine fantastic guest stars eight nightmare stag appearances seven pieces of borrowed music six Ravenhamsters five empathetic murderers four fundamental changes to network television in the post-network era three sassy scientists two gender-swapped characters and insight into my own psyche.
On 23 February 2014, mere days before the second season premiered, the Hannibal creative team and social media geniuses hosted (as much as anyone can be said to host anything on Twitter) the largest/longest Fannibal event to date. Beginning at noon EST, every episode of the first season was watched virtually simultaneously by untold numbers of fans. Prizes were won, new viewers were indoctrinated, behind-the-scenes photos were shared, hashtags were trended*, hearts were broken, selfies were posted**, and a truly ridiculous amount of tater tots were consumed (by me).
I had to close at work the night before and ended up sleeping until halfway through "Œuf," but when I logged on to Twitter to check in on things, I was beyond delighted to see that my bff--who had hitherto been EXTREMELY reluctant to watch the show and was really only doing so because I talked her into helping me out with a convention event--had been watching since the beginning. I remembered how draining the 12-episodes-in-24-hours-with-a-new-viewer marathon I did the week "Savoureux" premiered had been, so I worried that 13 Hour Devour wasn't the best introduction to the show, but it's probably a good thing that she just dove into the deep end.
Now, only a decade ago, even if Twitter or a similar social media platform had been around and widely used, an event like this would have required a tv channel to broadcast the episodes, and international viewers could not have participated. And NBC would never have devoted more than half a day of airtime to a show that it would be charitable to say is struggling, anyway. Luckily, we live in a time of TECHNOLOGICAL MAGIC, so what instead happened is also why 13 Hour Devour was far more interesting than other live tweeting events, from a reception studies standpoint. Slightly less than a month earlier, Amazon had added Hannibal to its list of VOD shows free to stream with its Prime membership, which allowed people without access to DVD sets to refresh their memories or catch up before "Kaiseki." Amazon provided the means, and NBC's social media crew's 13 Hour Devour even provided the motivation to actually do so for those who were on the fence. (Here's an interesting article about the financial benefit of what they did, promotion-wise, although it overlooks the financial benefits of fostering a sense of a strong, creative, interactive community.)
Pretty much everyone who has spent any time in an English graduate program has an inner cynical Marxist. Even I am not immune, despite how alien economic theory is to me, and mine is screaming about how the cultural labor of fans was exploited by two corporations in a quid pro quo cross-promotion. But the situation is so much more complex than that, and we were--as most fans of struggling shows are--grateful to be exploited if it meant helping Hannibal stay on the air***.
I had plenty of things I needed to do that day, and I had fully intended to take a break to do at least some of them between "Fromage" and "Rôti" (my absolute favorite episodes), but I found that I couldn't walk away. It was too much fun as a viewer and too interesting as a scholar. The things I needed to do got done the next day, and it was the most intense day I've ever spent doing absolutely nothing. And so, despite how infinitely more brutal Season 2 is, I find myself hoping we have a reprise in a few months.
* This phrasing is grammatically suspicious, but I like it, and I think the passive verb actually works better in this case, so it stays.
** Note: That is one of very few images of me on the internet. Yes, I am wearing a bathrobe. Yes, it was during "Relevés." Yes, that means I woke up during ep 104 and didn't bother to change into real clothes until after ep 112. Further note: I have posted something like half a dozen pictures of myself because of Fannibal events. This represents about half of the pictures I have ever posted of myself online. I hate pictures, but I love this fandom more.
*** I once got into a heated discussion with a classmate about this kind of exploitation. I ended up declaring to the class that I am actually ANGRY that Nickelodeon won't sell me a Karai action figure. The hardcore Frankfort School scholars in the class gave me looks that ran the gamut from pity to disgust, but I would argue that I have the better grasp of the cultural economy of fandom/media here--if you don't play the buying-ancillary-merchandise game, you don't get the televisual texts. Also, I just really like action figures, and WHY THE HELL IS THERE A FLIPPING SNAKEWEED FIGURE BUT ONLY ONE OF THE SHOW'S TWO FEMALE CHARACTERS IS WORTHY OF BEING ACTION FIGUREIZED??? Also also, much respect to the artist who made his own Karai.
