NBC’s Hannibal
Season 3, Episode 11: “…And the Beast from the Sea”
Directed by Michael Rymer (Queen of the Damned)
Written by Bryan Fuller & Steve Lightfoot
* For a review of the previous episode, “…And the Woman Clothed in Sun” – click here
* For a review of the next episode, “The Number of the Beast is 666” – click here
DISCLAIMER: DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU DON’T WANT TO BE SPOILED! I shouldn’t have to put this here, but people whine and complain. Why are you looking if you haven’t seen yet? This is a review, it’s bound to contain spoilers. GET OFF THE INTERNET!
Will: “He ate a painting”
Jack: “He ate it!?”
Will: “He ate it up”
Now the hunt is on. With only two episodes left after this one, “…And the Beast from the Sea” has started off directly after Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) and Francis Dolarhyde (Richard Armitage) had their brief meeting at the end of last episode.
Will: “Jack Crawford, fisher of men. Watching my cork move against the current. You got me, again.”
Francis: “The Dragon has never spoken to me before. It was frightening.”
Hannibal: “What did it say?”
Francis: “It called my name. It wants her.”
Hannibal: “If it weren’t for the power of your becoming, if it weren’t for the Dragon you could never have had her.”
We’re seeing the vengeance in Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen) come out of him. He has found a new friend, one who embraces him without the need for law, justice, or order. Someone else amongst the chaos of life and abroad the ocean of murder upon which they’ve both set sail. Lecter and Dolarhyde are kindred spirits. Will has scorned Hannibal; two heterosexual lovers, one turned away ultimately by his empathetic need to help, the other stuck in a muddy world of intellectualism and cannibalism.
The naughty doctor does one of his naughtiest deeds yet. Over the phone with Dolaryhde, he says the unthinkable.
Lecter: “Save yourself. Kill them all.”
Armitage continually proves he has the chops. Incredible actor. Not only is the physicality he’s bringing to the role of Francis Dolarhyde marvellous, the gentle and quiet way in which he portrays the madness of Dolarhyde is a revelation. Again, as I’ve said before, I love both Tom Noonan and Ralph Fiennes in their respective performances – Manhunter and Red Dragon – however, it’s Armitage who is able to bring the full scope of emotions, the density of the torment and suffering inside the character into our eyes right before us.
Scenes with Francis and Reba (Rutina Wesley) are very tense in this episode. Dolarhyde, in a scene familiar to many, watches some ‘homework’, as Reba lays in his lap drinking with him. All the while, Francis is watching footage of his possible next victims: through the frame walks Molly Graham (Nina Arianda). DAMN! Not that I wasn’t expecting it, but still – chilling, to say the least.
Slowly, it looks as if we’re seeing the Great Red Dragon head towards Graham and his family. Ominous and very terrifying. First, the dogs are sick. Though the doc tells Molly and her son it’s possibly due to the Chinese dog food she’s feeding them while Will is away, I know it’s Dolarhyde. He’s watching them, he takes care of the pets before moving in, and that’s just a part of the system.
As Molly leaves the vet, there’s a warning sign from the FBI on a bulletin board. Unfortunately, Mrs. Graham is not thinking about any of this. We watch on helplessly.
Will: “He’s contacted you”
Hannibal: “How do you imagine he’s contacted me? Personal ads? Writing notes of admiration on toilet paper?”
Constantly there are wonderful nods from Bryan Fuller & Co. to the source material. Those familiar with Red Dragon will remember these bits as they pour in. Excellent little bites of Thomas Harris coming out the woodwork.
In the scene where Will heads back to visit Lecter, there’s so much animosity between the two which works up more and more every episode. They have an even better repartee now that Hannibal is the rejected lover type. Such a saucy and angrily ignorant Hannibal! Mads is also a revelation. I love that Armitage fans have come to the series, but don’t forget: both Mads Mikkelsen and Hugh Dancy have been putting in consistently nuanced performances since the start of Season 1.
Hannibal: “They’re not my family, Will. And I’m not letting them die – you are.”
Another familiar image crops up in maybe one of the most intense scenes ever on Hannibal. Tom Noonan had the whole creepy pantyhose thing going on over the top half of his face in Michael Mann’s Manhunter, and as Francis Dolarhyde makes his way into the home of Will and Molly Graham, where she and her son are sleeping alone, he has a similar style thing happening – teeth grimly apparent, stocking-like hat drawn down to his nose.
Such a creepy look for Dolarhyde. He looks just downright horrifying here, stalking around quietly over the property looking for the Grahams. It is incredibly tense, I can’t get over how much I was biting my lip during this scene!
Afterwards, as Molly escapes, Dolarhyde lets rip a gruesome scream “NO” into the air, his haggard teeth in full view. As if the Great Red Dragon were bellowing up and out of his guts.
What I find most interesting about this whole angle is that now it’s not only the FBI work affecting Will himself, the madness is spreading out from him and touching his new family. Molly takes a bullet, in what looks like her shoulder. Poor Will shows up at the hospital where Jack Crawford (Laurence Fishburne) is waiting with Molly’s son.
Amazing scene between Will and his adopted son. Incredibly moving to see Graham and the boy together; he asks about Will and his time in the Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane. Tough, rough stuff, and it’s a well-written, well-adapted scene from the work of Harris. More of the ongoing adaptation I love so much.
Wally: “You shouldn’t put this guy in a mental hospital. You should kill him.”
Smarty pants, one of my favourites, Dr. Alana Bloom (Caroline Dhavernas) has figured out that Hannibal hasn’t been on the phone talking with his lawyer as of late. She’s a sly one. Not only that, Jack Crawford shows up much to the chagrin and simultaneous pleasure of Dr. Hannibal Lecter. Though, the naughty doc is peacocking like a real saucy serial killer. He has this strut when Jack walks in, as if he’s holding every last card in his palm. Love the way Mads pulls off the classic character with his own way of doing things. Helps to separate himself from Anthony Hopkins, whom I also love. It’s just that Mads is another beast entirely; incredible performer.
Alana: “Would you have told me the truth?”
Hannibal: “In my own way, I always have.”
In this amazing episode, we actually see a physical fight between Francis and the Dragon. We get little bits of him fighting the fictional image of the Dragon, juxtaposed with the reality: he is beating the life out of himself. Dolarhyde beats himself bloody onto the floor. One of my favourites thus far including Armitage.
There’s a bunch of excellent imagery in this episode concerning the Dragon. Over and over, we see it. More and more, the Dragon wants Reba. Though, dear ole D is trying his hardest to suppress the desire to let the Great Red Dragon emerge. This is perfectly shown in their fight together, cutting back and forth between his vision of the Dragon and what’s truly happening – the battle within himself.
Another scene with Dolarhyde and Reba is impeccably done: she touches him over the lip, running her finger over his most maligned physical feature in his own mind. There’s an acceptance, but Francis tells her he’s afraid he will hurt her, that they cannot continue on. This hurts Reba, naturally, but something dark all of a sudden appears across his face. He’s basically watching the only good thing in his life be left behind, walking away from their relationship. Dolarhyde will now, no doubt, spiral downward further into the clutches of the beast within.
Francis: “How do you know it’s dark?”
Reba: “The lights aren’t on”
Francis: “Do you remember – the light? Is it worse to have seen it and lost it?”
Reba: “I know I can never have the light. But there are things I can have.”
More Hannibal and Francis bonding time now, except Dr. Bloom and Jack Crawford are listening in. While the two eavesdropping hope to hear something, Hannibal abruptly tells him they’re listening. I actually dropped my jaw! It was an awesomely devilish moment that I’d not seen coming. What I imagined happening was that Hannibal would stay silent and soon Francis would soon come to understand something was not right. However, Lecter shuts it all down in an instant. He loves it, too. He loves to see Jack get frustrated.
Francis: “Do you know how easily she will tear?”
Finally – FINALLY! We get to see Dr. Lecter in a version of the iconic mask put on Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs. He’s being held in stasis, as Alana has everything stripped bare. It looks as if those privileges Lecter had are quickly going out the window. More and more, the sweet adaptation continues with recognizable scenes twisted into something slightly new. Dig it.
Will: “I’m just about worn out with you crazy sons a’ bitches”
Hannibal: “The essence of the worst in the human spirit is not found in the crazy sons a’ bitches. Ugliness is found in the faces of the crowd.”
Will: “What did you say to him?”
Hannibal: “Save yourself, kill them all. Then I gave him your home address. How’s the wife?”
The wear and tear of dealing with Hannibal is breaking the seams at the edges of Graham’s existence. When he goes to see Hannibal, the bad doctor helps him realize that Dolarhyde did not murder the families, “he changed them”. This is an excellent closing scene to another fantastic episode. Will is really starting to get angry and we’re seeing a different side of him now: a clear, angry Graham. So many times before, he has either been too forgiving with Hannibal, or too damaged by encephalitis and people not believing him to effectively do anything. Now, I’m wondering where Will is headed after this intense episode.
Hannibal: “When you look at her now, what do you see?”
Will: “You know what I see”
Tune in next week with me, as the penultimate episode of Hannibal‘s swan song airs – “The Number of the Beast is 666”. We’re about to see an amazing send off to this series, one of the greatest television has ever seen I predict. Because these two final episodes are going to get serious – Will Graham is not happy, Hannibal Lecter is in a corner, and the Great Red Dragon keeps on becoming.
Stay strong, my fellow Fannibals! Keep trying to #SaveHannibal
