Hannibal may have been the most intense TV show to air, but it’s been grossly overlooked for all of it’s three seasons. Last night was the series finale and gadzooks did it go out with a bang.

Mads Mikkelsen might have done his career-defining role as Hannibal, he’s that good. The shadow of Anthony Hopkin’s work in the films is an epic one, but I don’t think anyone can deny or marginalize Mads work. I think from here on out I will consider him The Hannibal Lecter.

The entire run has been rather shocking. It’s amazing this show aired on NBC and not a paid cable network. I can’t think of a more beautiful but horrific show. Crazy prosthetic makeup effects, each one outdoing the last. The mayhem started as mostly aftermath visuals, but by the end much more onscreen violence was shown. Despite where Hannibal was physically at any given time, the threat of escalation was always palpable by the other psychopaths on the show. The villainy of this world is hard to match (looking at you, Mason Verger).

The production levels are upper echelon high with the often stunning visuals. There’s this crazy design logic that can’t be seen anywhere else. I’m having a hard time articulating the ebb and flow of this show it’s so overwhelming.

The cast around Mikkelsen is fantastic, so while Hannibal is a dominating presence, Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) always seems like he has a shot at getting the upper hand, albeit a small one. Hannibal is and always will be a step ahead.

I rather like that Hannibal only went for three seasons. Packed with great, memorable characters and dark plots, there wasn’t much chance for the show runners to get off track. A clear beginning, middle, and end is the best way to tell a story and the start, lead up and conclusion of last night was very satisfying for me.