Hannibal 3x04: "Aperitivo"

[cleolinda]

So this was the week that the hammer dropped.

NBC Has Canceled "Hannibal"

I did not take it well.

Comments

FOOTNOTE: Mason Verger background

[cleolinda]

Back when Margot first appeared in 2x08, I screencapped the worst Mason Verger passages from the Hannibal ebook, because if you had to hear about it, at least you could hear about it from someone willing to trigger-warn for it:

@NerosLyre: I thought I remembered so I read your post. I thought I was safe. I was wrong. I was so wrong.

@cleolinda: I wanted to put trigger warnings for the trigger warnings. It’s so vile.

‏@beamish_girl: “This post has triggers for…actually, everybody should probably just leave now.”

@cleolinda: [DATA EXPUNGED]

‏@NerosLyre: This is how I know our brains are resilient and want to protect us because I remembered almost none of this.

@beamish_girl: Data corrupted. System at risk. Data not saved. Terminating memory processes.

‏@NerosLyre: [“The Girl from Ipanema” plays] We will be back shortly with kitten videos and a candy bar OH NO

FOOTNOTE: Mason's physical appearance and pet eel

[cleolinda]

On the show, Faceless Mason either wears a mask

FOOTNOTE: Show Mason #1: Michael Pitt

[cleolinda]

Michael Pitt brought us an unexpectedly springy, whimsical, pineapple-haired Mason--at times almost manic, leading to one of my most favoritest scenes in the entire series--and I will never forgive him for making me really enjoy his screen time last year. NEVER, DO YOU HEAR ME. And yet, we also fucking hated his Mason by the time the show needed us to, so: A+ work there.

FOOTNOTE: Show Mason #2: Joe Anderson

[cleolinda]

@BryanFuller: PLEASE GIVE JOE ANDERSON A WARM #FannibalFamily WELCOME TO #HANNIBAL AS OUR NEW MASON VERGER

If you have to recast a character on this show, "Mason Verger" is the one and "after he loses his face" is the time, so the switch to Joe Anderson is less distracting than it could have been. His performance is very different, however--interestingly, he seems to be taking his continuity cues from Gary Oldman rather than his show predecessor. Does it work, psychologically speaking? For me it does, but not for everyone, from comments I've seen; it's not unreasonable, IMO, that a post-defacening Mason would have a more vengeful personality, his sadism brought to the fore. A deeper voice and a heavier drawl, though? Is it plausible as the character putting on a performance? Hard to tell. We only have a brief scene of "faceless" Michael Pitt behind a mask at the end of 2x12, his final appearance on the show, to hear how he might have played this season. I'm inclined to give everyone the benefit of the doubt on this one, considering

Movie Mason: Gary Oldman

[cleolinda]

I've seen the movie several times and I still can't handle the Gary Oldman makeup. (So of course, it's what the movie opens with, ditching the coy reveal most movies would have drawn out.) If you just need to see it, here's screencaps from the beginning and the scene where Clarice (Julianne Moore) interviews him. It's incredibly difficult to look at, and it had to be hell to wear. Wikipedia: "Make-up artist Greg Cannom said: 'It's really disgusting... I've been showing people pictures [of Oldman as Verger], and they all just say "Oh my God," and walk away, which makes me very happy.'" FLAWLESS VICTORY, DUDE.

Side note: It is entertaining, however, that it's something of a reunion for him and Anthony Hopkins, considering that they were in Bram Stoker's Dracula together nearly ten years before. It seems from the behind-the-scenes features that everyone had fun--as much as you could have with whatever the hell they did to his eye, anyway; Oldman goes full ham, as a Mason Verger probably should.