Clarice's best character reinvention is Michael Cudlitz's Paul Krendler, and this new vision of Agent Starling's FBI boss redeems the villainous version seen in 2001's Hannibal. While Rebecca Breeds has made the character of Clarice Starling her own, the show's reboot of Krendler is a surprisingly positive evolution from Ray Liotta's smarmy spin on the lawman. Krendler actually first appeared in The Silence of the Lambs, where he was played by Ron Vawter. Krendler was a bit player in the Oscar-winning 1991 film; as Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the United States Justice Department, Krendler was at the side of Senator Ruth Martin (Diane Baker) when she met Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) in Memphis, Tennessee.
Krendler rose to Martin's defense when Lecter played cruel mind games with the Senator and he later barged in on Starling's (Jodie Foster) meeting with Hannibal, throwing her out before the cannibal made his gruesome escape. Krendler reappeared in Hannibal, set a decade later, where he was played by Ray Liotta as Starling's devious nemesis who was out to get her. Krendler worked with the film's other villain, Mason Verger (Gary Oldman), to ruin Starling. For his trouble, Krendler was captured by Lecter, who literally forced him to eat his own brains in an unforgettably grotesque dinner scene.
In Clarice, which is set one year after The Silence of the Lambs, Cudlitz's version of Krendler was revamped as the head of the Violent Criminals Apprehension Program. This made Paul Starling's new boss when now-Attorney General Ruth Martin (Jayne Atkinson) assigned her to ViCAP. Krendler was introduced as still bitter that Starling found and killed Buffalo Bill before he did. He was suspicious and antagonistic towards her with Krendler outright denigrating Starling as Martin's "drop of honey", i.e. someone to throw to the press to make ViCAP look good. Krendler had a withering view of Clarice's skillset in behavioral science too, and Starling made an enemy of him when she went against his direct orders and told the media the criminal they captured, Karl Wellig (Kris Holden-Reid), was not a serial killer but part of a conspiracy.
The way Clarice set up Krendler and Starling's rivalry, it seemed like he would be a thorn in her side like Liotta's movie version. But Clarice has slyly revealed surprising shades to Paul, who Starling also misjudged. Krendler has shown greater regard for Agent Starling's talents after she took down Novak (Tim Guinee), the leader of the Statesmen, in Tennessee. Little by little, Krendler has allowed glimpses of what's underneath his no-nonsense demeanor, and he is actually a reasonable, if tough and demanding, boss - which is not like Liotta's version at all.
In Clarice episode 4, "You Can't Rule Me", ViCAP came under fire after Wellig was murdered under their noses in their own office in the previous episode. Krendler selflessly rose to ViCAP's defense and took the hit as his team was investigated by a Justice Department bureaucrat named Herman (David Hewlett). Krendler also displayed a remarkable amount of understanding when Clarice told him she hasn't chosen a new therapist yet after she fired the headshrinker he assigned her. It's hard to imagine Liotta's scheming Krendler making such noble gestures, especially towards the Starling (Julianne Moore) he loathed so much.
Many characters related to Hannibal Lecter are legally unable to appear in Clarice due to rights issues, so it made fans nervous when Krendler was one of the leftover characters allowed to be part of the show. The expectation was obviously that Krendler would continue to torment Starling but Cudlitz's more tenured, cerebral, and even heroic version is a breath of fresh air, and it casts his working relationship with Starling in an interesting new light. It's also another clue that Clarice is forging its own canon and may not synch up with the 2001 Hannibal. Right now, it's hard to imagine Cudlitz's Paul Krendler devolving into someone so vile that Lecter will make him eat his own brains.