'Clarice': Release date, plot, cast, trailer and all you need to know about 'Silence of the Lambs' TV sequel on CBS
CBS's buzziest upcoming show is of course, 'Clarice'. The TV series will reveal the untold personal story of FBI Agent Clarice Starling as she returns to the field in 1993, six months after the events of 'The Silence of the Lambs'. The show, while drawing on the legacy of Hannibal Lecter, has to cleverly work around one major creative hurdle as a sequel. It can never say the name of the cannibalistic serial killer on screen due to legal restraints. How the show will address this plot 'hole' remains to be seen. Here’s all you need to know about it.
Release date
The TV series is set to premiere on February 11, 2021, at 10 pm on CBS.
Plot
As per reports, ‘Clarice’ is set in 1993, a year after the events of ‘The Silence of the Lambs’. As per the official synopsis of the show, ‘Clarice’ is a deep dive into the untold personal story of FBI Agent Clarice Starling as she returns to the field in 1993. Brilliant and vulnerable, Clarice’s bravery gives her an inner light that draws monsters and madmen to her. However, her complex psychological makeup that comes from a challenging childhood empowers her to begin to find her voice while working in a man’s world, as well as escape the family secrets that have haunted her throughout her life.
Cast
Rebecca Breeds as Clarice Starling
The 33-year-old Australian actor is best known for her roles as Cassie Cometti in the third series of ‘Blue Water High’, as Ruby Buckton in the soap opera ‘Home and Away’, and as Aurora de Martel in ‘The Originals’. She also played the recurring character, Nicole, in seasons 6 and 7 of ‘Pretty Little Liars’.
Kal Penn as Emin Grigoryan
The 43-year-old American actor, comedian, and former White House staff member in the Obama administration is best known for his comedy roles, especially as Kumar Patel in the ‘Harold & Kumar’ film series, and as Taj Mahal Badalandabad in ‘Van Wilder’, and ‘Van Wilder: The Rise of Taj’. He is also known for his role portraying Lawrence Kutner on the television program ‘House’, and as Seth Wright in the political drama ‘Designated Survivor’.
Nick Sandow as Murray Clarke
The 54-year-old American actor, writer, producer, and director is best known for his role as Joe Caputo in ‘Orange Is the New Black’. He has also appeared in television shows like ‘Blue Bloods’, ‘Unforgettable’, ‘CSI: Miami’, ‘Boardwalk Empire’, and more.
Michael Cudlitz as Paul Krendler
The 55-year-old American actor and director is best known for portraying John Cooper on the TNT drama series ‘Southland’. For his role in the show, he won the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2013. He is also famous for playing Sergeant Denver ‘Bull’ Randleman on the HBO miniseries ‘Band of Brothers’, and Sergeant Abraham Ford on the AMC horror series ‘The Walking Dead’.
Creators
‘Clarice’ has been created by Alex Kurtzman and Jenny Lumet. The show has been produced by CBS Television Studios, MGM Television, and Secret Hideout. "After more than 20 years of silence, we're privileged to give voice to one of America's most enduring heroes -- Clarice Starling. Clarice's bravery and complexity have always lit the way, even as her personal story remained in the dark," Kurtzman and Lumet said in a shared statement earlier this year.
Secret Hideout is Alex Kurtzman's own production company, which he founded in 2014. In a short video, the show creators talked about why they decided to pick Clarice, "one of the biggest heroes of the last 30 years" as the subject of their show.
Trailer
The trailer starts with a brilliant and artistic segue into Clarice's mind space after killing "Buffalo Bill" and all the publicity surrounding it. She sees a moth flutter in her nightmares. Soon she is told by a powerful Congresswoman in DC that she can't stay in hiding forever because now she has the reputation of "hunting monsters". When Clarice says she has done it "only once", she is told that she has to "own" her reputation. The music of the trailer is a sad, haunting rendition of 'Take me Home, Country Roads', referencing Clarice's roots (and source of her demons) in West Virginia. The case in front of her is digging up old traumatic childhood memories as she swims with the sharks -- both criminals, as well as dismissive male superiors who want her as a publicity puppet but not an investigator. The complex political games being played in the capital also makes her job of rescuing those with "no voice" even more difficult.
A short trailer for ‘Clarice’ features a few important throwbacks to the film. For one, it has the signature moth from ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ -- it appears on the poster and in the film, the serial killer Buffalo Bill uses the moths as calling cards, stuffing them into his victims' throats. As the clip moves forward, we see a series of quick flashes, including a shot of Bill himself seated at a desk.
Buffalo Bill, of course, is dead at the time the series takes place -- he was killed by Starling herself. So, one can be fairly certain that even if he features in the show, it may just be memories (or rather nightmares). But there is still Hannibal Lecter, who at the time the show is set in is still at large after escaping from prison. Will he make an appearance? Maybe not immediately, after all, the show really is about Starling.
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