AS Cobrai Kai has proven for Netflix by karate-chopping its way into the zeitgeist, TV viewers love a spin-off series when done correctly.
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But other examples like the lame duck Four Weddings & A Funeral TV spin-off proved the opposite.
Unfortunately crime-drama Clarice lands closer to Four Weddings than Cobrai Kai. Let's be honest, nobody was expecting Clarice to surpass its predecessor, 1991 Academy Award-winning film Silence Of The Lambs, which remains arguably the greatest serial killer movie ever made.
What happened years after FBI rookie Clarice Starling caught serial killer Buffalo Bill with the assistance of Hannibal Lector has already been explored in the 2001 sequel Hannibal. Clarice investigates the immediate aftermath.
Clarice begins a year after Starling killed Buffalo Bill and she is struggling with post-traumatic stress. However, the case has made her a media star, much to chagrin of her senior male FBI counterparts.
Australian actress Rebecca Breeds (Home & Away, Blue Water High) receives her career break as Starling and she manages the west Virginian accent suitably, but she never feels entirely comfortable in the overbearing shoes left by Jodie Foster.
Clarice focuses on the political corruption within the FBI as Starling attempts to solve a series of murders which have been made to appear like the work of mad man.
As the series progresses Clarice becomes more Criminal Minds or CSI than Silence Of The Lambs, with each new case beautifully wrapping up in a 42-minute episode. Starling seemingly being the only FBI investigator intelligent enough to unravel the clues.
If you love modern American crime dramas, Clarice has enough meat to satisfy. But those desiring a true psychological thriller, would be best served watching the original.