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Hannibal – Season 3, Episode 12: “The Number of the Beast is 666”

NBC’s Hannibal
Season 3, Episode 12: “The Number of the Beast is 666”
Directed by Guillermo Navarro
Written by Bryan Fuller/Angela LaManna/Steve Lightfoot/Jeff Vlaming

* For a review of the next & final episode, “The Wrath of the Lamb” – click here
* For a review of the previous episode, “…And the Beast from the Sea” – click here

DISCLAIMER: THIS IS SPOILER FILLED! TURN BACK OR BE FOREVER SPOILED.
Will: “I look at my wife and I see her dead. And I see Mrs Leeds and Mrs Jacobi lying where Molly should be.”
Bedelia: “Do you see yourself killing her?”
Will: “Yes. Over and over.”
An excellent opening scene between Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) and Bedelia Du Maurier (Gillian Anderson). Finally, we’re seeing Graham come around to what has been happening between himself and Hannibal. The repartee between Will and Bedelia is something to behold. Two excellent actors giving it their all, always. Anderson is enormously talented and I think Dr. Du Maurier has been a significant and excellent addition to Hannibal, which gives more depth to Lecter, and is also proving to add further depth to Will. In these last two episodes, we’re going to see all the full effects of the Hannibal-Will relationship come together in front of us. At least that’s how I think it will play out. Because Will was blind but now he can see, the blinders are slipping from his eyes and all is revealed. He has long ago since discovered the true nature of Dr. Lecter. What he has yet to see the entirety of is the way in which Hannibal has made him into a different person. He saw the immediate effects, now he’s coming to discover there’s much more beneath the surface.

Will: “Is Hannibal in love with me?”
Bedelia: “Could he daily feel a stab of hunger for you and find nourishment at the very sight of you? Yes. But do you ache for him?”
An excellently tense scene with Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen) and Jack Crawford (Laurence Fishburne). There’s no clear reason why Jack is there, other than he wants more information out of Hannibal. Meanwhile, Dr. Lecter sees fit mostly to taunt his former dinner companion. A lot of talk about the Great Red Dragon, the Lamb, God. Very good stuff and I like that we’re still getting scenes between these two. While the focus of the series is obviously the Hannibal-Will dynamic, we can’t forget the history and intensity flowing between Hannibal and Jack. They were quite close, right from the beginning. So much has happened between these men, there can only be an ending of massive proportions coming.
Hannibal: “The seals are being opened, Jack. The lamb is becoming a lion.”

Jack, Hannibal, and somewhat Alana Bloom (Caroline Dhavernas), are hatching a plan in order to lure and catch Francis Dolarhyde (Richard Armitage) – who is going PROPER INSANE as the claws of the Dragon come out and tear at his skin, at the painting, looking to get out.
At the same time, Dr. Frederick Chilton (Raúl Esparza) is more than pissed off with Lecter. Their professional lives are jamming up against one another, the former doing all he can to mess up Chilton’s reputation. We can get the sense Hannibal is ready for another round of murder, as Frederick yells and rants – quite rude, no? We’ll see.
Hannibal: “Fate has a habit of not letting us choose our own endings, Frederick.”
Getting a scene straight out of Michael Mann’s Manhunter, and of course Red Dragon by Thomas Harris, we watch as Freddie Lounds (Lara Jean Chorostecki) is recruited to do a piece featuring Chilton and Graham. As Chilton comes up with things to taunt Dolarhyde out of the shadows, Graham aggravates them and makes them nastier by using words like pervert and impotent and ugly, all in an effort to make the Dragon angry enough to be lured into a trap. This is where we’re seeing shades of Hannibal in Will Graham.
When Will puts his hand on the shoulder of Chilton, it is a turning point. Mr. Graham has ultimately become bottom barrel desperate. Everything is pushing him – he sees the dead eyes of the women around him, Molly (Nina Arianda), Alana, bloody and stuffed with shards of glass. His world is falling down around him again, he does not want to go plunging further down the rabbit hole like he last went under the drive of Dr. Lecter. I think now, Will would do absolutely anything in order to get away from it all.
Bedelia comments on this later saying “the touch of others makes us who we are“. Will calls it a plea of authenticity. Unfortunately, Dr. Du Maurier digs deeper wondering if Will did so on purpose, perhaps wanting to put Chilton in the Dragon’s way. What we’re watching is Will becoming slightly too much like Lecter – he did this all in curiosity. Like Bedelia says: “That’s participation. Hannibal Lecter does have agency in the world. He has you.” An interesting turn earlier when Will said the same thing, minus the last bit. We’re officially watching the evil of Hannibal come to bear on Will Graham, big time. Possibly the worst it ever has. Even in a prison cell, Lecter will always affect Will deeply.
Big time Red Dragon/Manhunter feel here in this episode.
Poor Chilton – switched from the source material where it was Lounds in this predicament – finds himself taken, kidnapped by Francis Dolarhyde.
This scene went incredibly well. Not only is the acting incredible, the mood and atmosphere – as is usual for the series – feels so dark and ominous. Some people hate that Chilton and Lounds have been switched out. However, where Chilton was made a bigger character in the Bryan Fuller adaptation, I think it’s appropriate there’s a changed adaptation for this part. Lounds has served her own purpose. Chilton needs to get what is coming to him – he lead Abel Gideon into believing he was the Chesapeake Ripper, he didn’t divulge everything he knew about Dr. Lecter and his love of the unorthodox, and so on. I mean, I LOVE THE CHARACTER!
I think Fuller and Co. have done a great job taking the character and fleshing him out, but I love where it has ended up. I don’t worry that him and Lounds have been swapped, I found it incredible. Plus, every incarnation of Chilton is such a snivelling little bastard, I’d almost expect Lara Jean Chorostecki’s version of Freddie Lounds to be a tough woman; not that she wouldn’t scream once the Dragon took hold, however, I doubt she’d do much pleading.
Chilton: “I am scared. Man to man, I am scared. It is very hard to concentrate when you are scared.”
Then we see Armitage in fine form. He has a bit of Tom Noonan, a bit of Ralph Fiennes, and every bit of Harris going on. Dolarhyde, his face covered in the stocking-like cap, wears a kimono and sits behind Chilton. His voice feels deeper, changed now. Is he becoming, more and more now? Has his becoming pushed him to the next stage? I think so. We watch as Francis Dolarhyde slowly slips into the darkness. Who/what emerges, pushing itself into the foreground, is the Great Red Dragon. His becoming is nearly complete now.
Richard Armitage is a blessing. I love to see a role that’s already classic to so many film fans/book readers become a fresh, new vision in the arms of an actor. It just goes to show that many of these modern literary characters and villains we come to enjoy and love so much are similar to stage characters – just as actors, like Armitage and many others who have graced the stage before and continue to do so, play the characters of Shakespeare over and over yet actors bring new things to the role, nowadays actors on television and film can do the same. We have people like Hannibal Lecter, Francis Dolarhyde, and so many more (I won’t go on with all the great literary characters brought to life in film/television – you know there are tons). Here, we get to see Armitage bring that type of sensibility to the small screen. That’s a huge reason of why I love Hannibal, we get highly gifted actors like Armitage, Mikkelsen, and Dancy tackling these well-known characters and giving them new life.
Having Reba McClane (Rutina Wesley) show up during the middle of Francis beginning to terrorize Chilton was a nice touch. That part of him grabs hold for a moment. In the end, it’s too late. There is no hope any more for Reba to bring Francis back from the edge. Like I said before, the Dragon has snatched him up completely and there’s no letting go. His becoming has moved past the point of no return.
There is a viciousness present in “The Number of the Beast is 666” which I feel hasn’t come across so present ever before. While a ton of macabre visuals and situations have struck us, in many an episode, there’s something so brutal about the scenes involving Chilton and Dolarhyde. When Francis becomes the Dragon and lurches towards Chilton, I knew what was coming, I just didn’t see it coming so savage! This was downright gory. But it’s the whole build-up towards this which makes it feel so nasty.
The makeup effects here were out of this world. Seeing Frederick Chilton scream in pain, his mouth basically gone, only teeth and meat left… what horrific joy.
Francis: “I am the Dragon and you call me insane. Before me, you are a slug in the sun. You are privy to a great becoming. You recognize nothing.”
MADNESS! HANNIBAL ATE ONE OF THE LIPS!
The editing on this show truly helped this moment. As Jack asks “Where’s the other one?”, we see such a quick cut to Hannibal – before Alana or anyone could get into the cell and snatch up his newly delivered mail – and he greedily slurps down one of Dr. Chilton’s bitten off lips. I could not believe it. The obviousness of it might be there, I just never saw it coming. Especially how they didn’t show it immediately. Another reason I love the visual storytelling of Hannibal because it likes to stutter step and give things up at intervals, even if they’re quick ones. It’s a great technique, which has paid off over and over for the series.
This is the first time we’ve seen him consume uncooked human meat, in its pure form. Undeniably and unbelievably chilling, I couldn’t get it out of my mind. The dark look, always taunting, on Lecter’s face. Probably my favourite moment EVER on the series.
After the video of Chilton reading the Dragon’s words, then having his lips chewed off bloodily, Graham gets worse. Even more so once Chilton turns up – set on fire and wheeled down a park lane into a fountain. He goes to see the unfortunate doctor, whose entire body is burned and his face mangled. AMAZING MAKEUP EFFECTS AGAIN! Brutal and well-done.
Frederick knows Will basically set him up for horror during their Lounds interview/the photograph. It’s sad because there is a part of Will which intentionally made that gesture, knowing full well it would draw the ire of the Dragon. So while Chilton’s own hubris and rudeness brought him to his destiny, and many other horrific situations along the way, it ultimately was Graham who did this to him. While Will is the hero in a sense throughout the series, he finally becomes the full-on antihero at this point.
In the source material, Reba McClane is ultimately safe. This adaptation sees Francis Dolarhyde with Reba in his claws much the same as Tom Noonan’s Tooth Fairy had Joan Allen cornered in Manhunter. We’re not sure exactly what might happen – especially as Reba utters the name Tooth Fairy, to which Francis shushes her with a finger to her lips. It’s an extremely tense, suspenseful way to cliffhang this penultimate episode.
While the episode finishes, Francis tells Reba “I am the Dragon“, and his wings open up, spreading about the room and filling the air with darkness. Love the visuals, as always. We get a couple Dragon shots in this one and I love them. Foreboding and creepy.
This episode gave us so much. A ton of impressive makeup effects, a saucy Hannibal the Cannibal getting his first taste of human flesh in about THREE WHOLE YEARS, and most importantly Will Graham has begun to fall apart but at the same time he is coming together and recognizing himself to be more like Lecter than he’d ever cared to admit.
The final episode is upon us, Fannibals. Can we still #SaveHannibal or is it a lost cause? Watching City Tv last night, they called it a Season Finale. Is there hope yet? We shall see. Next week is “The Wrath of the Lamb” directed by series regular Michael Rymer. I’m beyond excited to see this finale.
Stay tuned, my fellow horror hounds, Lecter lovers, Graham groupies, and the all the wonderful Armitage Army who’ve joined us for the Hannibal swan song!

Hannibal – Season 3, Episode 11: “…And the Beast from the Sea”

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

Hannibal – Season 3, Episode 10: “…And the Woman Clothed in Sun”

NBC’s Hannibal
Season 3, Episode 10: “…And the Woman Clothed in Sun”
Directed by Guillermo Navarro (D.P on Tarantino’s Jackie Brown, Robert Rodriguez’s Desperado, & Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim)
Written by Bryan Fuller & Don Mancini

* For a review of the previous episode, “…And the Woman Clothed With the Sun” – click here
* For a review of the next episode, “…And the Beast from the Sea” – click here
This week’s episode, a slight different wording from last week’s episode which corresponds to the William Blake paintings “…And the Woman Clothed in Sun”, begins as Francis Dolarhyde (Richard Armitage) prepares himself.
For what? A conversation over the phone with an understanding ear: Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen).

Being an avid fan, an impressed spectator to the greatness of Hannibal’s crimes, Francis prepares himself. He doesn’t want his speaking voice to affect anything on his way to Lecter. He jacks into an abandoned building’s phone line (pretty sure that is actually Dr. Lecter’s old home/office if I’m not mistaken: look in the background carefully) to get in touch with the naughty doctor; he has on a telephone company uniform and all, SureTalk. This will hopefully quench the thirst of people bitching last week that there’d be no way Francis would’ve gotten through to Lecter. Solved now? Then all of a sudden, we are in Lecter’s Memory Palace it seems. Perfect little evolution to the scene, especially if Dolarhyde is in fact at the old office where Lecter himself once saw patients. He and Francis now sit and talk to one another. Here comes friendship again in Hannibal as an over-arching theme. Hannibal is looking for a friend, as is Francis. While Dolarhyde has certainly come to like Reba McClane (Rutina Wesley), he is still searching for that kindred spirit which understands the part of him that loves to – needs to – kill people.
So again, we’ve got this duality going. Added to the fact Hannibal is mad at Will, like a lover scorned and turned away, there is something dangerous and horrible brewing between these two. Worst part is, Francis Dolarhyde is half in, half out, as he struggles against the Great Red Dragon when he’s with Reba; her humanity brings him back to his own, in a sense. Francis: “I want to be recognized by you”
Hannibal: “As John the Baptist recognized the one who came after”
Francis: “I want to sit before you as the Dragon sat before 666 and Revelation. I have… things, I would love to show you. Some day if circumstances permit, I would like to meet you… and watch you meld with the strength of the Dragon.”
Hannibal: “See how magnificent you are. Did he who made the Lamb make thee?” Impressive image as this conversation closes, just as opening credits cut. I actually went “Phewf”. Incredibly powerful and so darkly vibrant looking. Couldn’t get enough of this bit! Now we’re seeing Dr. Bedelia Du Maurier (Gillian Anderson) spinning a web of lies. I suppose it’s no different from Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) and Jack Crawford (Laurence Fishburne) passing the events three years ago off as something they were not. However, I’d argue that Bedelia had a hand in far too much to truly sit by and believe anything else. Regardless there she is, in all her glory, still on top of the world. She reels off tales of Hannibal Lecter and her forced captivity, when she was “swallowed by the beast“, and a whole room of people clap. Will: “Poor Dr. Du Maurier – swallowed whole, suffering inside Hannibal Lecter’s bowels for what must’ve felt like an eternity. You didn’t lose yourself, Bedelia, you just crawled so far up his ass you couldn’t be bothered.”
Bedelia: “Hello, Will.”
Will: “You hitched your star to a man commonly known as a monster. You’re the Bride of Frankenstein.”
Bedelia: “We’ve both been his bride.”
Will: “How’d you manage to walk away unscarred? I’m covered in scars.”

An impressive exchange between Bedelia and Will. I love the pure sass coming out of Graham, like he’s just chewing on it. Furthermore, we’re getting so much in the way of the relationship between Will and Hannibal; it’s the truest, purest heterosexual male love story of the 21st century this far in. There are some enlightening bits here, especially one of Dr. Du Maurier’s last lines in the scene…

Bedelia: “I was with him behind the veil. You were always on the other side.” Perhaps one of my favourite moments of the entire episode is when Francis takes Reba to see the tiger who is under medication for surgery. There’s this part where Reba is touching all the way up to the tiger’s face, the music is so tense and suspenseful as if we might get a crazy dream sequence where Reba gets her hand bitten off, and Francis has this look on his face, he’s almost biting his own hand, then nothing happens and Reba goes on touching the big animal, rubbing its fur. Just shows how much of a fixation Francis has on mouths, teeth, et cetera, he could barely even handle seeing Reba touch an animal’s mouth. So intriguing and also had my heart rate pumping a few times. How many times can I say it? Richard Armitage is doing a superb job with the character of Francis Dolarhyde.
I mean, I’m a massive fan of Ralph Fiennes – total nut for the guy’s filmography, but still… I think because of his performance, and plus the ability to play the character in a handful of episodes as opposed to a single two hour film, Armitage has the advantage here.
There’s something about his quiet physicality. It moves me, honestly. Even in the beginning when he’s practicing certain sounds, making sure he can sound appropriate enough to make it through so he can speak to Hannibal, I felt this insanely vulnerable feeling for Dolarhyde. Not that he doesn’t scare me at certain times, but Armitage truly makes me feel bad for the guy.
The other incarnations – both Fiennes and also Tom Noonan – really came across with the insane aspects of the character; they didn’t overdo things, they just played it quite well on that end. With Armitage, I’m impressed by how he brings out that vulnerability and the traumatic past so much better. It’s really something to revel in. So glad he was chosen to play this part because even if someone else could’ve done a decent job, Armitage is making Dolarhyde one of the best villains ever on television. The essence of a sympathetic killer, if there ever was one. P.S. The love making scene between Francis and Reba went insanely well. I love how those types of scenes in this series come out as these trippy, psychedelic affairs, which keeps up with the whole weird aesthetic Hannibal has going on. We’re seeing more and more now that struggle of Dolarhyde against the Great Red Dragon, bursting inside him, calling out from the painting, telling him to kill. Because now, the Dragon wants Reba, it does not need that side of Francis clogging things up. The pain, the sound in Francis’ head returns, but he wants to overpower it. No matter how strong the feeling that he is becoming, Francis clearly does feel something for Reba. Good dose of Thomas Harris’ Red Dragon.
Hannibal is able to dial his way into Dr. Frederick Chilton’s (Raúl Esparza) office. He manages to con his way into getting Will Graham’s home address, the sneaky, dirty doctor.

Will: “If he does end up eating you, Bedelia, you’d have it coming.”
I’m truly enjoying the scenes between Hugh Dancy and Gillian Anderson this week. Great episode for them. It’s like a tit-for-tat type of situation, the two of them going back and forth – Will trying to get to the bottom of things, Bedelia toeing the edges as long as she’s permitted. Bedelia: “Do no harm”
Will: “And did you?”
Bedelia: “I did. Technically.”
Will: “You dared to care.”
Bedelia: “Not the first time I’ve lost professional objectivity in a matter where Hannibal is concerned.” I fucking love this! Zachary Quinto shows up again, finally not as a corpse like when we last saw him in Bedelia’s office. He was the patient she ended up killing in her office, the one whose death Hannibal Lecter, that damned dirty dog, helped to cover up. I think he’s an incredible actor, despite what anyone else wants to say. He has this very gentle, subtle quality that helps to frighten when things become intense.
His turn in American Horror Story: Asylum is one of my favourite characters on television – ever. Great to see him here. Adds to the ever increasing list of awesome guest stars the show has had in its jaw-dropping three seasons. Not only that Quinto is awesome, his character clearly knew how messed up Bedelia and Hannibal both were. Unfortunately for this he had to go.

Bedelia: “My relationship with Hannibal is not as passionate as yours. You are here visiting an old flame. Is your wife aware of how intimately you and Hannibal know each other?”
Will: “She’s aware enough”
Bedelia: “You couldn’t save Hannibal. Do you think you can save this new one?” The way we learn about Bedelia’s patient, Neal Frank (Zachary Quinto), the one who formerly went to Hannibal, is a great example of why Fuller & Co (this week’s episode is written by him and the most excellent Don Mancini) have done such a fabulous job fleshing the story out in an appropriate way. At least in a way I see as appropriate.
We’ve already seen bits and pieces of this stuff, but now we’re getting the full story, a better look at everything going on. The manner in which Fuller & Co. drop things into the story, little subplots and sidebars, then come back to things later instead of explaining things full-on right away, I think that’s the mark of some excellent storytelling.
Another reason this series is great, and another reason some adaptations are better off on television than necessarily becoming a series of films – I love, love, love the films featuring Hannibal Lecter, there’s just a special place in my fandom of the Thomas Harris novels for this particular version. So much room to move around and play with themes, characters, arcs, and so on.

Also, we come to see how Bedelia is actually more like Hannibal than Will. At the key moment between her and Neal Frank, she does what she does out of pure curiosity. For a moment, I thought it was actually going to be an accident what happened in the end, however, it’s curiosity that drives Bedelia – and drives her hand further down Neal’s throat instead of helping open up his airway. Very interesting. Then it feeds her continuing chat with Will Graham.

Bedelia: “You are not a killer. You are capable of righteous violence because you are compassionate.”
Will: “How are you capable?”
Bedelia: “Extreme acts of cruelty require a high level of empathy. The next time you have an instinct to help someone, you might consider crushing them instead. It might save you a great deal of trouble.” We get more of Will and Hannibal together, working once more in unison towards understanding a killer. Of course, Hannibal has not revealed his call from the Tooth Fairy, Mr. Francis Dolarhyde; though, Lecter does not know the man’s name, only that he is… becoming.
Hannibal certainly didn’t tell Will that he has gotten a home address for the new Graham family. Mostly he is teasing Will; that jealous lover side of him coming out, pissed that Will has decided to have a family, a wife, a child to look after. When Francis Dolarhyde makes his way into the museum, I got giddy. This has always been one of my favourite things out of Red Dragon, particularly because it shows just how beyond deranged Dolarhyde is, I mean, if it wasn’t sickeningly obvious. It has this fascinating quality that speaks to Dolarhyde’s delusions. Further reinforcing the fact he wants to gain control over the hold the Great Red Dragon has over him. Armitage had me just creeped out here, enormously. The teeth come out, he’s sniffing the painting, then starts biting into the thing. BUT WAIT!
WILL GRAHAM. WHAT?
He shows up to see Blake’s painting just as Dolarhyde is chowing down, having himself a nice little snack. I was so blown away by this little moment, the meeting between Graham and Francis – the power of the former comes out as he manhandles Will, literally tossing him like a rag doll, beating him against the elevator’s insides and then throwing him out. What a spectacular end to this episode. I cannot wait to see the next one, to the point I’m freaking out here. One of the greatest yet. Puts a wild twist on Harris here, which I think works perfectly.
We’re going to see one odd love triangle between Lecter, Dolarhyde, and Graham play out. Especially once the bad doctor drops Will Graham’s address to the Tooth Fairy.

Soon, my fellow Fannibals…. soon. The next episode is “And the Beast from the Sea” – so stay tuned with me!

Hannibal – Season 3, Episode 9: “…And the Woman Clothed with the Sun”

NBC’s Hannibal
Season 3, Episode 9: “…And the Woman Clothed with the Sun”
Directed by John Dahl (Rounders, Joy Ride, Breaking Bad, Dexter)
Written by Bryan Fuller/Steve Lightfoot/Helen Shang/Jeff Vlaming

* For a review of the previous episode, “The Great Red Dragon” – click here
* For a review of the next episode, “…And the Woman Clothed in Sun” – click here
Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) has become distanced from Dr. Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen) since three years ago, when they were still sickly close to one another, tit for tatting with arterial spray all over the place. Now they’re no longer on a first name basis, as Will seems to completely refuse calling him by name – always doctor, or Dr. Lecter. Evidence of Will truly wanting to have a life separate from their odd connection that once was, and still is – deep, beneath the skin, down in the heart. As always, Hannibal mines for details trying hard to uncover all he can about Will’s personal life: his new life, without Hannibal. It’s intriguing and sad all at once.

We’re served up a flashback from events in the very first season with Hannibal and Abigail Hobbs (Kacey Rohl), as he prepares the crime scene he concocted which framed Will for a time.

Basically we are seeing Hannibal, jealous of Will’s new life/fatherhood, looking back at the closest he’ll ever come to that sort of life – the family life. Abigail became like the child of Hannibal and Will. Hannibal reverts back to moments with Abigail, to both capture that feeling Will has which he is missing out on and also to feel close with Will; like a divorced parent remembering the good times with his child that helps him simultaneously remember the good days with his ex-partner.
“You accepted your father. Would it be so difficult to accept me?” Hannibal asks.
“I don’t know if it would be smart,” replies Abigail.
“We don’t get wiser as we get older, Abigail. But, we do learn to avoid or raise a certain amount of Hell. Depending on which we prefer.
“I’ll need to collect some flesh,” says Hannibal. “Not a pound, only a piece.”
Incredible exchange here as they play on the phrase of “The King is dead – long live the King“…
Hannibal: “Abigail Hobbs is dead.”
Abigail: “Long live Abigail Hobbs.”
Poor Will is being reluctantly sucked back into the entirety of his old life, working with the FBI and Jack Crawford (Laurence Fishburne). Also there is Dr. Alana Bloom (Caroline Dhavernas) who has brought a Verger baby into the world herself, a true son of her own with Margot Verger (Katharine Isabelle).
But it’s Will who is in the most danger. Everyone else seems sort of sectioned off and encased in their own new worlds, yet Will is always in that danger, the peril of slipping back into the arms of Hannibal.
Hannibal: “This is a very shy boy, Will. I’d love to meet him.”
As they work together, Will and Hannibal inhabit the Memory Palace. It goes to show how Will and Hannibal are so intricately linked in their psyches now that the Memory Palace where they go together is something of their simultaneous creation; they are partners, in so many senses of the word. They have rooms in their Memory Palace which are identical, perhaps even meant solely for the two of them and no one else. It’s a great visual representation that doesn’t have to do a big ton of exposition to get the point across.
Furthermore, Hannibal and Will walk around in the crime scene together. A testament to both of their powers to empathize, their twisted minds much alike, and also that connection constantly running strong. It’s as if they hadn’t skipped a beat in those years apart, each living other lives yet yearning to be together in some way.
“Have you ever seen blood in the moonlight, Will? It appears quite black.”
A great image of Will standing like Francis Dolarhyde (Richard Armitage) did in the previous episode, painted in the black blood of his victims and naked in the moonlight.
Back again is Freddy Lounds (Lara Jean Chorostecki), the awful and immoral tabloid reporter. Snooping around, watching Will Graham. Naughty, naughty. Tsk. How rude, Ms. Lounds!

Will: “You called us Murder Husbands.” – CLASSIC LINE! I fucking loved that.
I like the new dynamic between Dr. Bloom and Dr. Lecter. Very interesting. They’ve crossed so many borders in their relationship. Especially when Alana let him go at Muskrat Farm when she could’ve just as easily let Mason Verger (Joe Anderson) eat him, torture him kill him. So it’s fun to see scenes between them both now. Once lovers, now enemies, at odds with one another. Furthermore, Hannibal is in a different position from before. He is uneasy now because of being trapped in that big cell, that fish tank, that observatory – like some bug, there to be studied. And Alana is there, poking, prodding. We also find out that the reason Lecter has cushy surroundings is due to Alana getting some of that Verger cash from the new male heir she gave birth to along with Margot, so that’s how he has been afforded some luxuries. It’s also a way for Alana to existentially torture him, I suppose.
More Francis Dolarhyde moments bring us deeper into the psyche of Mr. Tooth Fairy himself. INCREDIBLE MOMENT = as Dolarhyde squirms and groans in his becoming there slithers a dragon’s tail back beyond the projector – amazing little shot thrown in there.
What interests me here is we’re seeing Dolarhyde trying to come to grips with who he is – he does not know, he thinks he’s becoming and he’s undergoing a transformation – meanwhile, Will is trying to get inside this guy’s head. It’s an almost impossible task; surely why Will feels the need to go back to Hannibal. However, it’s still an excellent duality where we’re seeing Will fall apart again, at least slightly, while trying to figure out who this man is: a man who does not even know himself.
There’s some amazing yet brief shots giving bits of insight into the past of Dolarhyde. I’ve included a couple screenshots that show a wonderful scene that goes so quick you can almost miss it. Includes some stuff from the Thomas Harris novel Red Dragon in a real intense, fast moment.
I cannot get enough of Richard Armitage as Dolarhyde. I mean, it’s incredible. His physicality, the way he embodies the character and truly becomes him; it’s the essence of the character. Plus, he has several episodes to flesh out that performance. Perfect actor to have chosen for this role. Armitage rules – I am now a believer!
Here in this episode, “…And the Woman Clothed with the Sun”, Dolarhyde meets his blind love interest. A perfect fit I always thought, for a man who has truly disturbing issues surrounding his own physical appearance. Rutina Wesley plays Reba McClane, previously a role inhabited by both Joan Allen and Emily Watson – so I’m interested to see Wesley’s take on it and see how well she handles it. From what we get to see in this episode, she will do great! She has a nice presence and tons of charisma.
I find the relationship between her and Dolarhyde so ripe for tension. It just fits so perfectly. Incredible adaptation here of Harris’ work. However, the original characters in the Harris novel are just amazing as is; what a writer.
Again, again – love the visuals!
While the conversation between Will and his wife Molly (Nina Arianda) happens, Will uses his Memory Palace to imagine the two of them on the bed together, sitting, in love. It’s an awesome little use of the imagery we so often get on Hannibal. Plus, a nice scene between Will and his loving wife; she is good for him, even if he’s beginning to tear at the seams of his being. The dreams are starting to reappear, he’s sweating: harkens us back to the first two seasons when he descended into madness and instability.
Jack: “We’re all in this stew together, Dr. Lecter.”
Such a fitting line for Jack to say. It describes everything so perfectly, almost literally at times as Hannibal has made plenty of stews/other dishes out of people, ones they’ve known, and at the same time they’re all just boiling in one big pot together with their hatreds and their grudges and ill feelings towards one another – Hannibal, Jack, Will, Alana, Bedelia – like a giant circle, swirling in that pot, they all curl around each other. We’re constantly wondering: who’s the next to die, to be eaten, to feel the full length of the horror?
The end of the episode is excellent. We get another great flashback involving Hannibal and Abigail; right after Will called Hannibal in the Season Two finale. There’s lots of good things here, giving us more and more insight into the “sensitive” side, if you will, of Hannibal Lecter; if there truly can be one.
Then of course we see another relationship budding – a new one for Hannibal onto which he can latch (because for all he is Lecter is a parasyte). Francis Dolarhyde reaches him by phone, posing as Lecter’s attorney.

Dolarhyde: “The important thing is what I am becoming.”
This moment with Hannibal and Francis on the phone at the end is a creepy bit. There’s a duality again between Hannibal and Francis, just as there exists one between Hannibal/Will and Will/Francis. So much going on, like a twisted and scary love triangle of the worst kind.
Gets really tense especially after Lecter asks him what he’s becoming, to which Dolarhyde replies, in an awful tone: “The Great Red Dragon”
We’re building more and more to see a huge confrontation between Will and Francis Dolarhyde, ultimately another game initiated by Hannibal. This time, I think it’s also a confused bit of revenge/an attempt at bringing Will Graham back into his world on Hannibal’s part. Either way, there are so many things happening and I can’t wait to see how Dolarhyde is slowly going to go further mad and twist things up.

Stay tuned for next week’s episode, directed by Guillermo Navarro, titled “…And the Woman Clothed in Sun”

I hate that this is cancelled, shame once more NBC! I say it again. Such great horror. I hope this will somehow help mainstream horror television, maybe, maybe not. Wish there was some way to #SaveHannibal – alas, it looks as if it is dead. Hannibal, we hardly knew ye.

Hannibal – Season 3, Episode 5: “Contorno”

Jack finds and confronts Hannibal Lecter

NBC’s Hannibal
Season 3, Episode 8: “The Great Red Dragon”
Directed by Neil Marshall (Dog Soldiers, The Descent, Game of Thrones)
Written by Nick Antosca and Steve Lightfoot

* For a review of the previous episode, “Digestivo” – click here
* For a review of the next epiosde, “..And the Woman Clothed with the Sun” – click here
“I want you to know exactly where I am. That way, you can always find me.” The words of Hannibal (Mads Mikkelsen) resonate through Will Graham (Hugh Dancy). He’d only just told the bad doctor how he wished not to know where Hannibal was, so that he couldn’t find him. Now, with Hannibal turning himself over to Jack Crawford (Laurence Fishburne) and the FBI, we turn over to the part of Thomas Harris’ books where the cannibalistic doctor is behind bars, looking at the world around him, as Graham will eventually come to look for his help.
Why would he need Lecter’s help?
Introducing – Francis Dolarhyde (Richard Armitage). We’ve finally come to the Red Dragon storyline in all its glory; that is, the Tooth Fairy has finally arrived. The introduction to Dolarhyde is unsettling. He almost orgasms while looking at a magazine with William Blake paintings in it (namely The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed in Sun). He works out in excruciating form. He gets tattooed, and Francis even looks for a set of nasty old false teeth; chomp chomp. Then, he bows in his attic in front of a Blake painting, the tattoo of the Great Red Dragon on his back. Quite a creepy opening for this episode.

I think that the end of this season, with all the Tooth Fairy/Francis Dolarhyde business, will go out with a huge bang. There’s so much creepiness happening with Armitage portraying Dolarhyde. This guy is incredible! So much of that character involves the actor being alone, wrestling with his inner self that’s busting out. The visuals that Hannibal as a show has brought really serve the Dolarhyde story well; some excellent shots including shattered glass, the moon. I anticipate the Dolarhyde portion of this season will go off well, episode after episode. Now, Hannibal is in his memory palace. He sits and listens to a young boy sing a hymn, presumably in one of the Italian churches he admires so much. All the while, in reality, Hannibal is cuffed to the floor, chained up wherever he goes, and his DNA samples are being taken. Finally, Hannibal stands in a big cell with clear glass.
BUT WAIT – TIME JUMP! Three years have passed.
Hannibal is having a chat with Alana Bloom (Caroline Dhavernas). He envisions it as another chat in his grand old office. However, he’s behind bars and wearing a jumpsuit. That being said, Hannibal does seem to have garnered a bit of privilege; no doubt he offered information which lead to some sort of deal being struck. He’s able to have a bit of decent food and drink, some books and such.
“Congratulations, Hannibal – you’re officially insane,” Alan calmly tells him in a matter-of-fact tone. Even with the perks, he’s still a mad cannibal doctor. Splendid scene between Hannibal and Dr. Frederick Chilton (Raúl Esparza). They eat a dessert which Hannibal once made for him, but with cow’s blood “only in the derogatory sense” he tells Chilton.
What I love about this scene is how Chilton basically taunts Hannibal with the idea of the Tooth Fairy; you can just about feel Hannibal boil with jealousy, wishing he could still be out indulging his violent, nasty little pleasures.

Part of my love for Hannibal as a television show is how Bryan Fuller keeps everything recognizable to readers, yet fresh all the same. There are twists and turns that I understand as a reader/fan of the Harris novels, however, the way Fuller brings them in and twists them in his own right, switching up characters and certain events from the books (as well as their film incarnations); it really works magically. That’s how I feel, anyways. Plus, the visual nature of the show really works with so many of the themes going on. Added to the fact it’s just incredible to watch and look at. I find it so invigorating not to have every single little bit of character/story given up through dialogue. We get so much via visuals that I think it’s part of why NBC cancelled it, and part of why a lot of people seem to trash it. They don’t spoon feed everything to the viewer. Sometimes it may actually benefit for people to have read the books and seen all the movies, more than once even. Because there are bits of character (particularly I think of Mason Verger who was explored but only partly in the series) which come out that aren’t written blatantly for us through the script and dialogue. Will Graham is a ways down the road now, with a wife and a boy he’s adopted as his own. Things seem great, only Jack shows up needing help with the new Tooth Fairy murderer out there killing families under the moon. Graham reluctantly goes along to help, mostly because his wife Molly (Nina Arianda) insists due to the fact he would have done the right thing, and she worries that this man is killing whole families.
“If I go, I’ll be different when I get back,” Will tells her.
So we’re seeing a different side to Will now, the part that really began in Harris’ Red Dragon. Will has been scarred by Garrett Jacob Hobbs, he has been scarred even deeper by Hannibal Lecter. Now, as Jack comes knocking, we can see that at least partly, certainly never fully, Will has let go of that side of himself; he has tried to let go of the hold Hannibal had over him. He knows that going back to the what he does best will cause problems, but ultimately also understands he might be the best man to bring down a killer such as the Tooth Fairy.

“Our old lives hover in the shadows,” Hannibal writes to Will in a letter. “It’s dark on the other side, and madness is waiting.”

Watching Will Graham walk around inside the latest crime scene, courtesy of the Tooth Fairy, is a spectacularly chilling ordeal. It rings very much close to the Michael Mann-directed Manhunter scenes with William Petersen; there’s a raw, subdued quality about Mann’s scenes that I think really come through here. Not only that, Fuller shows us how Will is not coping well with having to go back into this mode of thinking. Before he is able to see the design of this killer, Will almost hyperventilates before going into GrahamVision. It’s a great, disturbing scene.
You can feel Will’s hesitation, his reluctance at having to go back into his own twisted mind to capture the thinking of another, much more violently twisted mind. Fuller knows what he’s doing, and I continue to believe that, despite my fondness for Petersen in Manhunter, there is no doubt in my mind that Hugh Dancy is the ultimate, definitive portrayal of Will Graham. Not only does TV allow for the ability to stretch out the character, really get into the meat of his development, but Graham simply embodies everything I think Graham is about; there’s that loner-ish presence, his nearly autistic spectrum attitude at times, and the PTSD of his work truly comes through, especially at this point in the series.

There’s one amazing moment as Will proclaims “This is my design” where he represents perfectly two symbols from the Harris universe: the wings of the Great Red Dragon and the wings of the blood eagle. Mostly I think it’s intended to be the Red Dragon, but I thought it was also reminiscent of that angel-like look the blood eagle attains; it has that essence of transformation, which the Red Dragon encompassed, as well. Either way – fantastic visual! I find it another great twist on the part of Fuller to have Will Graham suggest to Crawford, instead of the opposite, that it might be best for him to go see Hannibal – “before I’m driven to it through desperation,” Will tells Jack. Not only is it fun to switch things up, this serves a great purpose: we see how addicted to that sick relationship with Lecter he truly is, we see the sickness of Will’s inability to let go by him going back. He doesn’t actually have to, he is capable somehow on his own, but there’s a part of Will that never wanted to let Hannibal out of his life. Good form, Fuller. Good form! The end of the episode was classic, as we see Will and Hannibal come together, face to face for the first time now in three years. It’s a perfect moment while they greet one another and then cut to black. Neil Marshall – a fantastic director in his own right – does well at the helm of Hannibal‘s latest episode. He goes for some wild visuals, but does not go as deep and out-there as some of the other episodes of the series, and certainly some of the earlier episodes of this freaky new season. I can’t wait to see more now that Armitage is in the mix playing Dolarhyde. Getting really interesting.
I love the duality between Hannibal and Dolarhyde which is being set up. Hannibal has always been the villain, but I think we’re about to see him in a much more evil, malevolent light than ever before. Awesome scene goes from Hannibal collecting clippings about the Tooth Fairy, to Dolarhyde collecting his own scrapbook of Hannibal the Cannibal clippings. Super creepshow stuff! Stay tuned, I’ll be back every week reviewing each episode. Next one is titled “…And the Woman Clothed with the Sun”.
For now since this has been sadly cancelled, forge ahead with me as we unfortunately say goodbye TO THE GREATEST SHOW ON TELEVISION RIGHT NOW!