Hannibal 1x08: "Fromage"

[cleolinda]

To begin: The problem with "I just really want to be your friend," the kind of philosophical rambling you have come to expect from Cleolinda Industries; I am officially threatening NBC with my wrath. Also, here's some fan street art that turned out really, really well.

Also, yes. Korea is very, very excited about this show.

@particle_p: We need

Comments

[goldenusagi]

First, I am so glad you're doing these recaps, because 1) I never would have known about or started watching this show otherwise, and 2) hardly anyone on my flist watches and I desperately need people to talk about it with. I love all the discussion here. Also, fancy cannibal is my new favorite phrase. Also, does Hannibal have special murder clothes like Dexter does? Because you just could not get blood out of those suits.

Oh man, this episode. It’s pretty clear Hannibal wants to be friends with Will at this point, but with friends like Hannibal, who need enemies? Seriously now. (Also, I would just like to point out to Will that when you show up at your therapist’s house early enough for him to make coffee for you, ask him to babysit your dogs when you live an hour away, then show up at his house again, uninvited and not even waiting for him to answer the door, you’ve already gone waaaay beyond the prescribed doctor/patient relationship.) Also, random: there was discussion somewhere on here wondering if during Will’s empathing, if he talks out loud (the conclusion was: probably not, it’s done for the audience) and what the reaction of the team would be if he did. Here, Will mutters, “Had to open you up to get a decent sound out of you,” assuming the killer’s POV, and everyone around him is basically O_o

One of the most interesting things to me in this episode was all of Hannibal's sessions with Bedelia. Obviously, the question is, how much does she know? She can’t actually KNOW, right? But some of these lines, like “He’s nothing like me. We see the world in different ways. Yet he can assume my point of view.” “By profiling the criminally insane?” are just so on point. What if she doesn't know, but suspects? Or what if she knows he’s a psychopath, but he’s obviously too smart to confess crimes or future crimes to her, so there’s really nothing she can do, and they both spend the hour talking around the elephant in the room. Obviously Hannibal is having two conversations at once, but I wonder if they both are. Hannibal also uses every opportunity to bring the conversation back around to her. Like, there’s no way he ‘hesitated’ to bring up an obsessive patient. If he did it, he did it for a reason, I’m just not sure what that reason might be. And then, of course, there's the dead patient who attacked her. I kind of doubt she killed him in self-defense, because I think Hannibal would have brought that up to establish more similarities (both attacked, both killed the attacker). Her patient could have committed suicide (unlikely, given that this is the murder show). Or Hannibal could have killed the patient (I'm leaning towards this), whether she knows for sure or not. Though if that's the case, could that be a reason why she keeps seeing him, even though she referred him to someone else (and how DID that conversation go, lol)? She could have flatly refused to see anyone, but she kept him on as a patient. Anyway, Hannibal feels 'protective' of her, and wants to be 'supportive' after what happened. And there's almost something knowing about the way she says it's good he stepped away "even if it was only for a few days" like she's implying a normal person would need much more than that. But I found their final exchange very interesting:

“No one else can take on that responsibility. Not even you.” (is she talking about more than the ‘responsibility’ he says he feels for Franklin?)
“Did you take responsibility when you were attacked by your patient?”
“Yes. But I don’t take responsibility for his death.”
(his expression suddenly goes very flat) “Nor should you.”
WHAT DOES IT MEAN.

[goldenusagi]

Yikes, long comment is long.

Tobias acts like he’s confessing a secret and says that he was going to kill Hannibal. Hannibal is all: “Of course you were,” naturally accepting that he would be an awesome victim. But Hannibal shoots down his offer of friendship, having realized he doesn’t want someone just like himself for a friend. But LOLing forever at “I didn’t poison you, Tobias, I wouldn’t do that to the food.” Poisoning would just ruin the culinary effort. But they're interrupted by Will, who just walked right in the front door without even waiting for it to be opened? Given how Hannibal dryly says, “Well. Come in.” I guess he did. That was RUDE, Will. It’s a good thing Hannibal likes you. Except that Hannibal totally sets Will up by sending him after Tobias. It's such a twisted test to prove Will's 'worthiness', and I really do think that's what he was doing. I can't see any reason that Hannibal actually wants Will dead at this point. But at the same time, he's not going to hand Tobias over on a silver plate, given how much Hannibal likes getting into Will's head and getting him to 'see' other killers. Hannibal wants Will to come out on top, but also knows that he could be sending Will to get killed. He even looks regretful at the possibility. But he STILL does it.

Hannibal totally startles when Tobias said he killed two men, so he snaps Franklin’s neck and then gives Tobias a smug look. Hell hath no fury like a cannibal scorned, lol. But before, at dinner? Was he sincere in asking Tobias not to kill Franklin? Even if that’s the case, in this moment Hannibal decided that taking something from Tobias was more important than Franklin’s continued existence. Another reason why you don’t want Hannibal Lecter as your therapist. I love that Hannibal kills Tobias WITH THE STAG STATUE, and so daintily fusses with the handkerchief before and after. Then he stops at the harpsichord to play a few notes, because victory. And we finally got two on screen kills! One out of the blue and one after a kick ass struggle. When Will finally walks in behind Jack, Hannibal’s mouth actually falls open a little. HE IS GLAD TO SEE HIS SORT OF FRIEND ALIVE, OKAY. “I was worried you were dead,” and he means it. Of course, he’s the one that engineered the whole situation, so, you know, the worst.

[cupcakery]

Hannibal has murder clothes. There's a picture of him in a clear zip-up suit from the instagram!

Also, the distance between Hannibal and Will's houses is about an hour's drive.

[goldenusagi]

Hannibal has murder clothes. There's a picture of him in a clear zip-up suit from the instagram!

Good to know the fancy cannibal plans ahead. :)

[kitsunec4]

By the by, I was so weirdly gleeful to see the show acknowledge the sheer amount of time it takes to get from place to place in this episode.

Yes, it takes about an hour to go from Wolf Trap to Baltimore, oh Will Graham.

[cleolinda]

And by God, just calling up Lecter on the phone would NOT HAVE BEEN SUFFICIENT.

[kitsunec4]

It's kind of odd, because one'd almost think that Will would prefer that. Myself, I greatly prefer emails and texts to awkward in person talks about Important Things because I can sit and edit several times before hitting send.

All this just makes me shake my head over how horrible finding out Hannibal's the worst is going to be for Will Graham.

[darksidhe]

I think Will showing up instead of just calling illustrates even further how he's coming to trust and even rely on Hannibal, if he's actually making the one on one in person overtures when he's dealing with someone he needs an outside perspective on (oh honey, you're gonna be so devastated when you find out!)

I liked that he shows up in a tizzy at Hannibal's house (which also shows it wasn't quite as late as it might would have seemed with Alana showing up - it was hardly the middle of the night if he was then able to turn around and go straight to Hannibal's - an hour away - with Tobias and Hannibal still having dinner. Even if it's a late dinner, it's obviously not 2am).

[goldenusagi]

I think Will showing up instead of just calling illustrates even further how he's coming to trust and even rely on Hannibal

Yes! He really is becoming quite dependent, contrasted to the first episode when he didn't even want to talk to Hannibal.

[cleolinda]

It may really be that his "realization" at the end of the last episode was just "Oh, he's really good at surgery, which is something I understand, and not something I TOTALLY DISTRUST like therapy," then. Because that's kind of a big step forward, for him to fling himself through the door and start dishing about his (non-existent) love life.

[meleth]

Now he's seen Hannibal literally put someone back together, rather than figuratively take them apart. Hannibal put his hands inside a potential victim, just as he stepped in to hold Abigail's neck shut, in order to thwart a serial killer. Will's able to empath the serial killers, but that makes him feel like one of them, whereas Hannibal's actions (in front of Will) make him the exact opposite.

[sushis]

I took the look from Will to Hannibal in the ambulance to involve a realization of Hannibal's possible guilt, given that, earlier in that episode, Will, imagining himself as the killer in the hotel room, put his hand inside the patient's body and intoned "internal..heart..massage." In the hotel room, the possibility of a person who is simultaneously healer and perpetrator, doctor and criminal, came together, and the same set of connections between diametrically opposed roles occurs in the ambulance, as first the "real" (well, yes, but not the ONLY, Will!) murderer and then the benevolent doctor (Lecter) strove the save the patient.

[kitsunec4]

Was just rewatching Fromage actually, and is it just me? Or does Will have a key? Because he totally barged in before Hannibal could open the door. O.o

Actually makes sense that Alanna showing up could have been decently early, it gets dark early in winter. It can get dark as early as 5pm, earlier if its snowing, and we see snow out of Hannibal's beautiful doors out of his dining room.

I reaaaally want the kiss to have been for real and not a Will-hallucination. Mostly so's we get the character reactions (if any) next episode.

[goldenusagi]

I assumed the front door was probably unlocked because Hannibal had a guest and maybe didn't lock it behind him after Tobias came in. Will knocks, and then probably just can't wait because he's in such a state, so opens the door himself, and Hannibal finds him in the entryway.

[cleolinda]

I assumed that, plus a dash of narrative convenience, in order to have "Well... come in."

[kitsunec4]

Hannibal's face on finding Will in the entryway was a pretty great moment.

Hahaha, the door being unlocked makes more sense than a key.

Note self, must remember Hannibal isn't a paranoid single girl living in the city. Ahahaha...ohgod.