Hannibal Review: 3.11 “…And the Beast from the Sea”

In TV by Chris EvangelistaAugust 15, 20152 Comments
Hannibal, Episode 3.11 “…And the Beast from the Sea”
Written by Steve Lightfoot and Bryan Fuller
Directed by Michael Rymer
Hannibal airs Thursdays Saturdays at 10 pm ET on NBC

Warning: Since these will serve as both reviews and recaps, beware of SPOILERS if you have yet to see the episode.

“I’m just about worn out with you crazy sons of bitches.” — Will Graham .

W ill Graham (Hugh Dancy) has come across as a bit too passive lately. This passivity is somewhat understandable — he is, after all, a traumatized individual thrust back into the place where everyone knows he really should not be: with Hannibal (Mads Mikkelsen). So it’s refreshing on this week’s episode, “…And the Beast from the Sea”, to witness Will finally say enough is enough and come close to letting all his rage out right to Hannibal’s face. Under the circumstances, Will actually restrained himself fairly well — after all, this week Hannibal decides to send Francis Dolarhyde alias The Tooth Fairy alias The Great Red Dragon (alias Richard Armitage) directly after Will’s wife Molly (Nina Arianda) and step-son Walter (Gabriel Browning Rodriguez).

Poor Dolarhyde, having last week eaten the William Blake painting that The Great Red Dragon originally resided in, wants to change. He finds he really loves Reba (Rutina Wesley), and she clearly cares for him greatly. But that mythical dragon residing inside him will have none of it — it wants Dolarhyde to kill Reba. On their latest phone-therapy session, Dolarhyde lays all this out for Hannibal, and Hannibal, being Hannibal, offers “help” in the form of more impending doom. Hannibal’s “advice” is that either Dolarhyde has to kill Reba, or he has to turn the Dragon on someone else — another family, perhaps? And what better family than Will Graham’s? After all, Hannibal is a spurned lover here, and he’s not very pleased that his ex-murder-husband Will has found another mate.

After a conversation with Jack and Alana, Will is finally on to the fact that Hannibal has been playing him. Will knows Hannibal set him up to encounter Dolarhyde at the museum, which could’ve ended in Will’s death. Pleading, he goes to Hannibal and asks him to help him stop Dolarhyde from killing another family — not knowing the next family on Dolarhyde’s hit-list is Molly and Walter. Hannibal, cheeky as ever, even drops little hints — saying, “When you close your eyes, Will, is it YOUR FAMILY you see?” and “They’re not MY family, Will!” But Will must be tired or thinking about more knit sweaters he’d like to buy, because he doesn’t pick up on any of this.

After a romantic evening where Dolarhyde and Reba sip martinis while Dolarhyde watches footage he took of Molly and Walter, Will’s many, many dogs suddenly end up sick. Could Dolarhyde have poisoned them, as is his M.O — or perhaps they’re sick because Molly served them canned dog food that maybe was from China? The dogs, thankfully, are taken to the vet on time, but because Molly fears she might be the cause of their sickness, she decides not to clue Will in. If she had, Will would likely pick up on the fact that his family is in imminent danger. The scene where Dolarhyde shows up at the Graham residence is masterfully filmed by Michael Rymer. It’s tense and spooky watching Dolarhyde stalk through the darkness, wearing his half-stocking mask. Molly and Walter get away, but not before Dolarhyde kills an innocent driver whom Molly stops for help, and also not before Dolarhyde shoots Molly as she’s driving away.

Of course by now everyone has found out that Hannibal has been talking with Dolarhyde. Jack and Alana try to get the good doctor to help trap him, but on their next phone call (placed after Dolarhyde breaks up with Reba, fearing he can’t control himself around her), Hannibal bluntly says: “They’re listening.” Because Hannibal has a habit of warning killers via phone that their goose is cooked. Alana, no longer having any of Hannibal’s shit, takes away all his trappings and toilet in his cell. The episode culminates in that much-earned tense confrontation between Will and Hannibal. Will realizes that because of Hannibal’s urging, the Tooth Fairy feels like he’s unstoppable at this point — and that he’ll continue killing his victims because in his mind, he’s not killing them, he’s changing them into something greater. “Don’t you crave change, Will?” Hannibal asks as Will looks on, his mind reeling.

After Dinner Conversation

— Now that’s more like it. I’ve been left a little cold by the previous two episodes of Hannibal, but this week was like a caffeine jolt of goodness. The last two episodes gave off the impression of padding, but this week really feels like it has a sense of purpose.

— Michael Rymer’s direction was superb in this episode. And the use of lighting was expertly handled; the red and green light in the darkroom scene between Reba and Dolarhyde gave off a distinct Suspiria vibe.

— That half-stocking mask that Dolarhyde wears when he goes to the Graham house is a direct call-back to the mask Tom Noonan wears in Michael Mann’s Manhunter:

— Richard Armitage delivers his best performance yet here. Dolarhyde gets a lot more dialogue this week than previous episodes, and Armitage nails it all. He’s actually managed to turn the character into a somewhat sympathetic creature. When he was first introduced, Dolarhyde seemed more monster than man. Armitage, over a period of episodes, has been able to subtly and masterfully bring out the humanity lurking in there.

— She hasn’t been featured much, but I continue to very much enjoy Nina Arianda as Molly. Arianda’s acting style is very natural and warm, and I’m a bit sad that she didn’t have more seasons of Hannibal to shine.

— How great was Caroline Dhavernas in the scene where she makes good on her promise and takes away all of Hannibal’s possessions that grant him dignity in captivity?

— Hey, where the hell is Dr. Chilton?

— As good as this episode was, the scene where Dolarhyde “fights” the Dragon, which is essentially just Richard Armitage punching himself over and over, was just a bit too stupid for my liking.

— In non-Hannibal news: it was announced today at D23 that Mads Mikkelsen is part of the cast of the Star Wars Anthology film Rogue One. How cool is that? And also, how cool is this photo of him at D23:

— Next week on Hannibal: get out your black candles and run your records backwards, because The Number of the Beast Is 666!
Hannibal’s Wardrobe

— Hannibal ends up in a straight-jacket, strapped to a hand truck, all while sporting a new variation on the famous half-mask made so popular by Silence of the Lambs (and worn by Will last season, although Will’s was clear, while Hannibal gets a classy all-white version).

Hannibal: He Ate It Up
Caralynn Lippo | August 16, 2015 | TV Reviews |

“And the Beast From the Sea” proved to be yet another strong episode in the Red Dragon arc. Of particular note (yet again) was Richard Armitage’s performance as the increasingly tragic figure of Francis Dolarhyde, the titular Great Red Dragon.

Francis Dolarhyde: I put my hand on her beating heart. Heard the sound of her living voice. A living woman… how bizarre. I don’t want to give her to the dragon.

I’m beginning to sound like a broken record, but oh my, Richard Armitage. To fully embody such an enigmatic, strange character and make him such a stand-out in only a handful of episodes is really an achievement. On top of that, the Red Dragon has been portrayed several times before and yet Armitage’s performance still manages to impress.

This episode really brought to the forefront Francis’ struggle against himself, against his inner dragon. As I’ve mentioned before, it has been made perfectly clear that Dolarhyde’s issue is that he’s a broken, damaged man. Contrasted with Hannibal’s cold, calculated, no-sympathy killer behavior, Dolarhyde provides a really interesting foil.

Poor Reba! She is clearly trying so, so hard to have a normal relationship with a seemingly normal man. It was so obvious that she was completely misreading the reasons for Dolarhyde breaking up with him, which added an entirely new level of sadness. Dolarhyde was legitimately attempting to do the right thing by breaking up with Reba and getting her as far away from him as possible, but she obviously took it personally.

Hannibal’s chilly attitude towards Will as of late has been growing ever more pronounced. His coldness reached its apex this week in his imploring the Red Dragon to turn his murderous urges upon Will Graham’s family. I thought this was a nice parallel of Will sending that hospital orderly after Hannibal in the second season, while Will was in the asylum.

Not only did Hannibal encourage Dolarhyde’s idea to target the Grahams — he actually gave Dolarhyde Will’s address, practically delivering the heads of Molly and Walter to the Dragon on a silver platter.

Hannibal: I think he’s earned the right to be known by the name he’s chosen. He’s the Great Red Dragon.

Luckily, Molly is a total badass, and snapped into action quickly, formulating a plan of escape. Said plan of escape was actually pretty successful, save the death of that guy driving the car and Molly getting shot in the shoulder. All in all, though, Molly has been pretty impressive so far. She’s the realest person on the show (after maybe Neal Frank) and her reaction to Will about the entire situation was justified, rational, and believable.

Did anyone else get the sense that Molly wasn’t particularly shocked that she and Wally were being targeted by a psychopath? She hardly even spent a minute blinking an eye before jumping into action which, don’t get me wrong, was absolutely great and undeniably the vital skill that saved both their lives. I just thought it was odd that some part of Molly was really prepared for this situation to arise. I guess Will did fill her in on a decent enough portion of his backstory.

Extra Nibbles:

Will’s stepson Walter telling Will that he shouldn’t put the Red Dragon in a mental hospital but should kill him instead was a really interesting moment. It was interesting to see how a kid’s (undeveloped) view of morality fits in with all the many corrupt and varying levels of morality within the show.

Will confirmed his idea that Hannibal probably treated the Red Dragon in this episode. I’m still not sure about that. Yes, Dolarhyde was camping out in Hannibal’s old office to make their phone calls, but he could have found that address in any number of places. I don’t necessarily buy that Dolarhyde was a patient, and don’t think anything like that has been stated.

Alana is a goner. I just have a really bad feeling. Especial;y now that Hannibal has been grounded has had his toilet and fancy accoutrements taken away due to his betrayal of the FBI in warning Dolarhyde that they were listening in.

The imagined scene of Dolarhyde’s “Red Dragon” beating him unconscious (interspersed with the realistic scene of Francis knocking himself around) was surprisingly well done. A scene like that could have come across as hokey (“Stop hitting yourself, stop hitting yourself!”) but it came across as the tragic moment it was — he had attempted to conquer his demon (his dragon) by forcing it (unsuccessfully) on the Grahams, but it came back full force and knocked the hell out of him. That was the moment he knew that Reba had to go, for her own good.

I enjoyed this episode, but the pacing was a bit odd. I feel like the order of the Red Dragon’s attempted home invasion and everything that came after should have been in the later third of the episode, not the first third. It just felt off.

What did you all think of this week’s episode? What are your predictions, hopes, and must-sees in the fast-approaching final episode of the season (and, potentially, of the series)? Sound off in the comments below!

Hannibal airs Saturdays at 10 p.m. ET on NBC.

Hannibal 3.11 Recap

By Peter Counter August 14, 2015 | 2:30 pm

“I knew it was him.” - Molly Graham

Of all the deadly sins, the one God himself admits to is envy. It’s right there in the rules: Thou shalt not worship false idols. It’s the first one, actually, when you talk about the big ten, and it’s a smite-worthy offense. In the world of Hannibal the name of God is Dr. Lecter, and as soon as he thinks you’ve forgotten that, prepare to feel his wrath.

There are two false idols in the back half of season three, and both are invoked in “…And the Beast from the Sea.” Molly Graham is the first, and the second is The Great Red Dragon himself. Hannibal Lecter cannot stand by and allow these others to be worshiped by his flock, so he acts out, flexes his muscles and demands credit if not penance as he shines down from on high. Classic God move.

“Beast from the Sea” picks up in Jack Crawford’s office with a post mortem of Will’s disastrous trip to the Brooklyn Museum where he was just a bit too late to catch Francis Dolarhyde in the process of eating a William Blake painting. Alana Bloom, prescient as always, offers the possibility that the Tooth Fairy is trying to stop himself, prompting Jack to speculate whether or not they could provoke Dolarhyde to commit suicide.

Will sneers at Crawford’s suggestion, spiting his nom de guerre as an epithet. Jack “The Fisher of Men” Crawford has become wholly unconcerned with masking his lack of empathy. He has spent the series at an analytical distance from the horrific acts of men, only being moved out of a sense of pride or personal justice. It’s made him an effective teammate for Will in the past, as they used to balance each other out, but after their respective sojourns in Florence the gap between them has grown. Will has been brought to dangerous levels of empathy, and clearly Jack has become emboldened with an extra large dose of not giving a fuck about people.

That this gap between them was widened by Hannibal Lecter is appropriate, as he is truly behind everything meaningful development the two men have been through in the series including this current case of criminal art appreciation. The following scene illustrates Lecter’s agency perfectly, as Francis Dolarhyde sits down in Hannibal’s empty office for a session of teletherapy with the incarcerated cannibal.

Francis confides his worry that the Dragon will hurt Reba — the only person who’s ever shown him kindness and the only living woman he’s ever felt. Hannibal, in hearing this, sees an opportunity to mould a vulnerable beast into his instrument of divine retribution. The conversation is shot with Lecter’s face entering the frame on a closeup of Dolarhyde over the killer’s shoulder. Hannibal is made to be Francis’ conscience before uttering his immortal lines from the Thomas Harris canon:

“Save yourself. Kill them all.”

What follows is an incredibly distressing hour of television, as Bryan Fuller and company once again masterfully walk the line between pity and terror in the characterization of Francis Dolarhyde. He stakes out the Graham house, has a final date with Reba while watching his video of Molly and Walter, and under the light of a full moon attacks Will’s family (having poisoned the dogs earlier in the week).

The assault on the Graham house is about as terrifying and anxious as TV gets. Suspense is built once again by subverting the show’s source material, taking this encounter from the end of Red Dragon and displacing it in the narrative so as to free it from obligation to the original outcome. The scene is just different enough that anything could happen, including the brutal death of Will’s family.

On top of this is the weight of Francis Dolarhyde’s strong characterization in the show leading up to this scene. We haven’t seen him kill, we’ve barely seen him be violent, we’ve only really seen him as a terrified child. To then have Francis confidently stride into the Graham house with a stocking over his head, dentures in his mouth, and feeling a thirst for his specific brand of transformation, manages to be surprising despite our knowledge of what he intends to do. Bryan Fuller pulled a Jaws on The Great Red Dragon, waiting until past the halfway mark in the story to show his wrath.

Molly proves to be a resourceful bad ass though, saving her child and escaping thanks to a well timed car alarm and her capacity to drive a dead man’s vehicle after getting shot. Her ability to survive a visit from the Tooth Fairy on her own merits elevates her above the character in Red Dragon and all its other adaptations. In the book, Molly is saved by Will, in the Brett Ratner film Will teaches her how to shoot a gun, handing down the manly hidden knowledge of violence. In Hannibal Molly is on her own and escapes the dragon’s wrath on her own merits.

Of course, when I say the Dragon’s wrath I really mean the wrath of a god named Hannibal. Underlining Lecter’s unholy influence over this act of divine retribution, we see him in the scene immediately preceding the assault bathing his hand in moonlight, well aware that under that same celestial glow his apostle is doing his work. If this small act of blocking and the initial therapy scene at the top of the episode didn’t solidify his presence enough in the home invasion enough, the scenes following all serve to shed light on Lecter’s intervention from on high.

Jack and Alana start paying attention to Hannibal, now that they know he gave up the Grahams’ address and is in regular contact with the Red Dragon. They strike a deal with him, to keep Dolarhyde talking during their next call just long enough for them to trace his location. It seems to work, as Hannibal is quick to reason why he must continue to lend an ear to the poor man on the other end of the line.

When Francis does call, Alana and Jack are so enraptured by their subject that they lose focus on Hannibal and he playfully reasserts his power. Brought to gaping awe at the sound of Francis struggling to keep the Dragon contained, crying and changing voices, Crawford and Bloom forget the killer in the room with them. Mads Mikkelsen lays on some of that quotidian nuance we saw betray Hannibal’s vanity in his conversation with Chilton earlier this season, and his motivation is clear when he breaks the call off with a quick, “They’re listening.”

In the aftermath of his fickle betrayal, after the behavioural sciences unit case Lecter’s old office, Alana makes good on her promise to take away Hannibal’s dignity. In doing this, she gives him everything he craves, acknowledging his continued role in the horrors of the world despite his incarceration. The point is highlighted visually by elevating Hannibal to his most iconic form while his cell is stripped: hoisted on a dolly, wrapped in a straight jacket and muzzled; the Hannibal Lecter you can buy off the shelf in drugstores around Halloween. Ignorant to Hannibal’s motivation, Alana makes sure his toilet is taken away under the impression that humiliation will serve as punishment rather than validate his relevance.

Francis, meanwhile, fears so much what he is becoming with the help of Hannibal, that he breaks up with Reba before making the aforementioned call to his therapist. Both scenes showcase Richard Armitage deftly handling material that could so easily produce embarrassed laughs from an audience. As it is though, seeing Armitage fluctuate seamlessly between tears, cold silence and monstrous threats is chilling and heartbreaking. Add in Rutina Wesley’s confident and scared performance of Reba McClane and it’s hard not to get teary eyed in these scenes.

Armitage and Wesley are such a natural addition to the show that it’s difficult to feel like it doesn’t belong to them (though it occurs to me that if Hannibal Lecter were to read that sentence I’d probably be in a bit of trouble). Hannibal has long benefited from the experience of excellent guest stars, but these two take the top prize, able to conjure the amount of emotional investment normally only won from scenes involving the series’ central family — Will, Hannibal, and Abigail — despite only having three episodes together by the end of this hour.

All this time, Will has been in the hospital waiting for Molly to come out of her anesthetic reverie following her post-gunshot surgery. He has a heart to heart with his stepson, who having recently read about Will in TattleCrime has come to resent his formerly interned father figure. Will doubles down on his empathy for Dolarhyde, insisting that he intends to catch him and help him rather than kill him (as Jack would have no qualms with), and Wally can’t stand by it.

Molly, when she comes to, is similarly angry, by he is able to see the true man behind her torture, and indeed all the terrible things that happen on the show. She says she knew it was Hannibal, and expresses her worry that good things are too slippery to hold onto in this world. This is especially true when the good thing you want has already been claimed by a Dracula-esque psychiatrist with a God-complex.

Will’s empathy for Francis, along with Hannibal’s posturing as the supreme being of all things terrible, comes into play in the final scene of “Beast from the Sea.” Graham visits Lecter, who promptly confesses to sicking the Dragon on him, denies Will his family, and positions his attack as a revelation rather than a punishment. In bringing his patients together through violence and threats, he has made them just alike: two men possessed by something bigger than themselves, each a monster in the other’s eyes, and both living in service to the vain God at the center of their dark universe: Hannibal Lecter.

Recipe Box:

Privacy Settings - Hannibal is given a hilariously meta line when confessing to his contact with the Red Dragon:

“How do you imagine he’s contacting me? Personal ads in the paper? Writing notes of admiration on toilet paper?”

This is a direct nod to the source material in which Hannibal communicates to Francis Dolarhyde through personal ads in The National Tattler (the book version of TattleCrime) and correspondence written on bathroom tissue. This is how Hannibal originally suggests Francis kill the Grahams.

The reference is funny for self-reflexive reasons, but it’s also a cheeky jab at the book. One of the primary criticisms I have of the novel is that the Dolarhyde story and the actual investigation seem too compartmentalized. Bryan Fuller has found a way around this thanks to clever framing and moving Lecter and Dolarhyde’s communications to the phone.

The Supermarket – Dork Shelf Games Editor Eric Weiss and I talked about Hannibal on last week’s episode of The WhaleCast and touched on a scene from the book we didn’t expect would translate to the world of the TV show. Namely, this was the heart to heart between Will and Wally. In the novel and both the film adaptations, this talk about insanity takes place in the aisles of a supermarket and neither Eric or I could imagine the show shooting a scene in that kind of environment. Hannibal just doesn’t seem like a show where its main characters eat cereal, least of all the Graham family.

Red Dragon Remix – As I touched on above, the Graham home invasion doesn’t normally happen until after the case is closed. By displacing the event in the chronology of the story, Fuller has has once again opened up his options in terms of how the story arc can end. Having used up nearly all of Red Dragon’s iconic imagery already, Hannibal is free to explore new territory in its final two episodes.

The Shy Boy – Speaking of new territory, neither of the previous Red Dragon adaptations tackled the upsetting backstory of Francis Dolarhyde childhood under the care of his grandmother. We’ve already seen a glimpse of this in a flashback, but I really hope next week we get to really delve into the story behind the shy boy who’s becoming a monster.

Review: 'Hannibal' - 'and the Beast From the Sea': Why are you hitting yourself?
Hannibal gives the Red Dragon a new target, and Molly begins to question Will's job
By Alan Sepinwall @Sepinwall | Saturday, Aug 15, 2015 11:00 PM


Thoughts on tonight's "Hannibal" coming up just as soon as I have to justify myself to an 11-year-old...

Bouncing around this week's developments as I recover from press tour...

* "Hannibal" is one of the darkest shows in television, and occasionally that becomes literal, as in a scene like the Red Dragon's attempt to kill Will's wife and stepson. For the most part, I was able to follow what was happening as Molly and Wally were able to barely escape the Dragon's wrath, but it was more effort than was perhaps intended by the storytellers. Earlier this season, Fienberg interviewed the show's director of photography and asked about where the show draws the line at filming in darkness; that sequence was perhaps too far over the line.

* That said, this was another winner overall, with Richard Armitage continuing to bring both Dolarhyde and the Dragon to life with his intense physicality. Because we have such a history with Hannibal, it would be easy for Dolarhyde to feel like a distraction, or a plot device to force Will and Hannibal to resume their interactions. But Armitage and the way Fuller, Lightfoot and company have chosen to represent Dolarhyde's madness make him every bit as compelling as our two main characters.

* Some great work, for that matter, by another late addition in Nina Arianda as Molly. As she acknowledges to Will in the hospital, she was the one who encouraged him to go with Jack, for very sound reasons, and thus it's not entirely fair of her to blame Will for what happened to her and Wally. At the same time, she's a human being and a mother who was shot and nearly had her son butchered by a serial killer, and it's impossible for her to not feel furious at and mistrustful of her husband after what his scorned ex-lover put her through.

* Molly's not the only bitter player in this game. Alana is understandably furious with Hannibal for not playing along with Jack, Will hates Jack for pulling him back into this and Hannibal for pointing a weapon at his family, and Dolarhyde has come to hate the Dragon for the danger it poses to Reba and the unexpected happiness he found with her. This is never a particularly happy show, but things are especially bleak between everyone at the moment.

* Hannibal's jokes about communicating with the Dragon using personal ads or notes on toilet paper were references to how they communicated in the novel. The joke about Dolarhyde finding his subjects through social media, meanwhile, has me wondering how he's actually doing it, since the method from the original tellings of this story doesn't really apply anymore. But we'll see.

What did everybody else think?

Richard Armitage Shines In Thrilling ‘Hannibal’ Episode ‘And The Beast From The Sea’




Posted in: TV Posted: August 16, 2015
Richard Armitage Shines In Thrilling ‘Hannibal’ Episode ‘And The Beast From The Sea’
Richard Armitage as Francis Dolarhyde Hannibal
Richard Armitage shined in the heart-stopping, full of action, edge-of-your-seat Hannibal episode Saturday night, and if you were live tweeting with the show executives, it was also pretty entertaining.

Hannibal has been cancelled by NBC, however, showrunner Bryan Fuller is proving that perhaps it was not the best decision. Many are still shocked that a show with such impressive cast and stunning visuals will no longer be around next season.

However, this doesn’t mean there is no thrilling action, as the latest episode titled, “And The Beast From The Sea” proved. British actor Richard Armitage took his portrayal of Francis Dolarhyde/Red Dragon to a whole new level, and fans were thrilled.


There’s no question that the star of Saturday’s Hannibal episode was Richard Armitage — who made serial killer Francis Dolarhyde even more of a sympathetic figure, instead of a hated character because of the despicable criminal he really is. If you have not watched this episode yet, we warn you, spoilers are coming.

The evolution of Francis and Reba’s relationship has Richard Armitage’s character clearly struggling. He is falling in love for the first time in his life, and at the same time, he doesn’t want to hurt her. Reba is special. Otherwise, the Red Dragon would have already destroyed her. Francis clearly realizes this, but she is also interfering with his carefully laid out plans to become the Red Dragon.

But what was so stunning about Richard Armitage in Hannibal’s latest episode was that he truly exploited the arc of his troubled character. The 43-year-old actor put all the different and terrifying personalities that make up Francis into action, and it was simply breathtaking. It was explained on Twitter that Armitage did those handstand pushups unassisted multiple times. Some other interesting tidbits were shared by sound department staffer Sean Armstrong on Twitter.

Francis beats himself up — literally — for getting involved with Reba, and in his twisted mind, holds a session on Doctor Lecter’s (Mads Mikkelsen) couch trying to put his feelings into words.

Armitage was also the ruthless killer for the first time, going after investigator Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) and his family. The edge-of-your-seat encounter leaves his wife Molly (Nina Arianda) in the hospital, having barely escaped the crazed murderer, and now she even doubts that she and Will can be together.


Richard Armitage shined, proving he is the man for Fuller and executive producer Martha de Laurentiis. There is little doubt any other actor could have gone trough this transformation in such an impressive manner. After Reba kicks him out in a heartbreaking scene, Francis is a man on a mission. His Becoming is here, and viewers certainly got a good taste of what Richard Armitage is all about. Impressive stuff indeed.

[Image via Martha de Laurentiis]

‘Hannibal’ Recap: Caught Between Two Gods
By Libby Hill August 16, 2015 12:30 pm August 16, 2015 12:30 pm

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

The Old Testament book of Job centers around a fundamental disagreement between God and Satan, as to what drives the faithfulness of Job, a wealthy, righteous man. Satan suggests that Job is loyal because he labors within God’s good graces and, were God’s favor to be removed, so too would Job’s fealty. God, however, is confident in his servant’s faith and grants Satan the ability to strip all of the good things from Job’s life. The two settle in to watch how one man reacts to losing everything in order to settle a disagreement between higher beings.

It’s a story I find myself returning to in the back half of this season, as Will Graham gets lured deeper and deeper into the web of treachery constructed by Hannibal Lecter and Jack Crawford. But given the complicated relationship that “Hannibal” has with the idea of traditional deities, the comparison isn’t as straightforward as it might seem. Within the universe of Bryan Fuller’s show, Satan (Hannibal) is the reigning deity and it is God (Jack Crawford) who is scheming to see if he can’t get Job (poor Will) to finally cast off his burden.

That is, of course, an over-simplification of the impulses driving characters within the show. But at its heart, the Red Dragon story arc makes it clear that the show is settled wholly within the confines of an Old Testament world. For the first time in “…And the Beast From the Sea” we see a vengeful Hannibal, the likes of which we’ve not seen before. Though still wholly in control of those in his thrall, even from his cell, Hannibal issues his orders to Dolarhyde with newfound vindictiveness. In the past, despite knowing his capacity for passion, Lecter has exclusively been seen operating with the cool, collected remove of a surgeon. But when he instructs Dolarhyde to “Kill them all. Save yourself,” the bite in his words is palpable, a testament to Mads Mikkelsen’s impeccably understated work as Lecter.

And this isn’t just advice for Francis, but regret for failings that Hannibal recognizes in himself. After all, had he only killed Will when he had his chance, he never would have had to send Francis to do it for him. From his perch in the mental hospital, Hannibal is toothless, yet still anxious for blood. He wants his vengeance, wants the teacup reformed, wants his family returned to him, and will do whatever it takes to get them, even if it means giving up the niceties Alana previously afforded him.

In that way, perhaps Hannibal is as much Job as Will is. What is it for a god to be stripped of his omnipotence and made to exist on the human plane? And what lengths will he go to in order to be made whole again?

But ultimately it is Will who suffers the greatest indignities. His family is stalked and attacked by a serial killer, his dogs poisoned (but not killed), and, more than that, he’s forced to stay the course, as the only way to truly keep the people he loves safe is to put the dragon behind bars. Though Molly and Walter were spared by her quick thinking, a schism is already opening up between Walter and Will. The boy asks Will about if he’ll kill Dolarhyde and Will tells him that he will catch the man and put him in a mental hospital where he can get help. Walter then asks him if it’s true that he killed a man and went to a mental hospital once, before he married Molly. Will hesitates but admits it to be true, after which the 11-year-old sizes him up and informs him that he should really kill Dolarhyde, not put him in the hospital, before exiting the conversation.

The implication is clear — Will is a broken, dangerous man, and broken, dangerous men should not be afforded the opportunity to rehabilitate and marry the mothers of innocent children. And maybe Walter isn’t wrong. Beautiful, empathetic Will, friend to victims and dogs everywhere, will always attract the focus of powerful men who wish to see what it takes to break him. Will is a puppet, a weapon, like Dolarhyde, and all that matters is who’s pulling the strings.

Fast Five

• Francis informs Hannibal that he saw Will and that he found him not very handsome, but purposeful. I guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree on that point.

• The more time the show spends with Molly, the more I like her. It’s clear why Will would gravitate to someone like her: a survivor who loves animals and has little interest in the siren song of Will’s past life.

• In keeping with his routine, Francis attempts to poison the Graham family dogs, though his efforts are thwarted by Walter and Molly’s quick response time. At this point, threatening the health and happiness of that rambling group of canines is the quickest way for the show to demand audience investment, much like the old “Kill a parent” trick from Disney animated films.

• Seeing Hannibal in the mask is just as gorgeously iconic as you might expect.

Review: 'Hannibal' Season 3, Episode 11, '...And the Beast From the Sea": Home Invasion

By Jeff Stone | Indiewire August 16, 2015 at 4:48PM

Appetizer

Last week, Hannibal was able to procure Will Graham's address, which I'm sure won't come up again. And Francis Dolarhyde got a girlfriend just when he's at a very awkward time in his life (i.e. becoming a murder dragon).
Behold The Great Red Dragon

The big reveal this episode is that Francis has a soul. His relationship with Reba is continuing to blossom, and he's become concerned that the Dragon wants to make her its next meal. There's a great deal of dragon transformation business in this episode, and it all skirts the line between effective and silly. However, in one late sequence, Francis gets into an actual physical altercation with his alter ego, and the cross cutting between him fighting a CGI dragon man and beating himself up becomes a tad too literal to work. Richard Armitage is still giving a fine performance, but some of the material this episode fails him.

As Francis worries about what he might do to Reba, he pours out his feelings to Hannibal, who encourages him not to give in to weakness. Instead, he offers an alternative target: Will Graham. Francis eagerly jumps at this opportunity, hoping it will sate the monster within him, and it leads to this episode's best sequence.

In a remarkably tense scene, Francis breaks into the Grahams' home and stalks Molly and Walter. Molly hears him outside, so is able to wake Walter and escape in time, but only through quick thinking and the unfortunate death of a random passerby whose only sin was being anywhere near Will Graham's crap. Molly is wounded in the escape, but survives. The scene is executed well, with Molly barely being able to outwit the crazy armed home invader coming after her and her son, and it also benefits from the element of surprise. Since there's no equivalent scene in "Red Dragon," there's a strong sense that anything could happen. It's well within the realm of possibility and Bryan Fuller could opt to kill either Molly or Walter, and not knowing what was coming made the scene all the more effective. If you're going to deviate from the novel, this is the way to do it.
Hannibal Behind Bars

For this episode, Hannibal's much more in his "master manipulator" role that most audiences will remember from "Silence of the Lambs." Admitting to Alana that he would have told her all those calls weren't coming from his lawyer is she had only known to ask is a classic Hannibal dick move. Hannibal even gets a little meta this episode, suggesting alternate means of communicating with Francis (personal ads, toilet paper notes) which sound silly, provided you don't know those were the actual means of communication used in the novel (which, granted, was written in a much less digital age). Between that and Hannibal's suggestion that Francis is finding his victims through social media ("Can't be too careful with privacy settings."), Hannibal is downright cheeky this episode.

Of course, once it's discovered that Hannibal has been talking with Francis, Jack and Alana want to turn it to their advantage so they can trace Francis's calls. Hannibal is complicit, up to a point. He allows Francis is go on about how he's worried he'll hurt Reba, but abruptly ends the conversation with a curt "They're listening." Francis clears out and Jack gets nothing. I'm not sure what else they expected, but I suppose they had to try, since Hannibal was their only lead. Alana, true to her word, strips Hannibal's cell of all its amenities, including the toilet. Alana can play hardball, too.
Molly Is a Saint Who Will Probably Doesn't Deserve

Molly, once she recovers from surgery, is remarkably even-tempered for someone who was attacked in her home by a vicious madman. She blames Jack Crawford, but Will knows where the blame really lies. "Jack knew what he was doing. And so do I." Now that it's personal, Will's in even deeper than when he started. It doesn't help that even his step-son is suggesting that the best way to deal with Francis isn't to capture him, but to kill him. The audience knows the dark path Will could go down if he takes another life, so as we move towards the finale, the question will be, who will ultimately be saved?

Grade: A-

Hannibal: ‘And the Beast from the Sea’ Review – S03E11
Posted by Samuel Brace On August 16, 2015

While last week’s episode focused on supporting characters Bedelia and Francis, this week things were brought back to the core of the series. Hannibal and Will took centre stage, and while Francis was still integral to proceedings it was his effect on the Hannibal/Will relationship that was the most pertinent aspect of this week’s instalment. ‘And the Beast from the Sea’ — the 11th episode of season 3 — felt like an important episode or rather a moment in the story that defined what will likely come in the series final two episodes.

As mentioned at the top; this week was all about centralising the story. There wasn’t much time at all spent on off shoots from the main plot, the battle for Will’s soul, fought by Jack, Hannibal, Molly and indeed Francis was where our focus was drawn. I’m reluctant to include Will as a participant in that battle as he doesn’t seem to have much of a say in anything as he is so malleable to the forces around him. If Doctor Lecter is the driver of the proverbial vehicle that is HANNIBAL the show, then Will is the car itself, left to be helpless as others modify his body and inner furnishings.

“The Dragon is in your belly now”.

One of my favourite new features from these most recent run of episodes is the Hannibal/Francis conversations, the strangest of dialogues that happen between spaces, in the present but within the confines of a memory palace, one apparently shared between the two with Hannibal’s old office being the venue. It’s clever, dynamic and a great way to add some visual interest to what would normally be a straight forward phone call. Francis, being the twisted individual that he is, is constantly struggling with his feelings, his feelings for his girlfriend, Hannibal, the Dragon and himself. Hannibal seeing an opportunity to poke, prod, sculpt and mould, decides to insert himself a little more into proceedings and gives Francis the idea to go after Will’s family which sits rather well with Francis. What was most interesting here was the looks on Hannibal’s face as this exchange of words took place.

Through the storytelling device mentioned earlier, we saw Hannibal looking at himself as he spoke to Francis and the very real conflict in his eyes as he gave up Will’s family, knowing the horror that would find them. It was fascinating to watch. He really seemed to struggle with what he had just done. Maybe I am reading too much into a look but I think there was something there, something new to add to his character.

“He knows who the dragon is”.

Will is back in deep with Hannibal, he didn’t last long and with every second he spends in his presence his armour deteriorates a little more. After Will’s meeting with Francis at the end of last week’s episode, the gang (Will, Jack and Alana) come to realise that Hannibal has been pulling some of the strings, withholding information about the Tooth Fairy’s identity. But of course Hannibal won’t admit such a thing. He does admit to Will that he knows of the next family to become victims to his malice but he does refrain from openly telling Will that the family in question is his own.

Hannibal’s motive, what that it is or if he indeed has one, is always one of the more salient things that we as an audience have tried to decipher throughout the shows run. It always ends up being rather fuzzy and right now it’s no different. It could either be — in my mind — that he feels the need to break Will again, disassemble his person in order to have him back by his side or maybe this is all just an act of revenge, revenge for Will discarding him and breaking his heart.

After Francis enacts on the first step of his ritual, taking out the family dogs, he proceeds to move in on Will’s home in order to unleash the Dragon on Molly and son. Somehow, if by a sixth sense, Molly knows something is up, she cleverly and quietly, navigates her home and takes herself and her son out towards the car, slipping by Francis and his evil intentions. Ignoring the fact that she got a passerby killed while haling him down from the side of the road, it was a successful escape, making it away with just a single bullet wound.

This sequence was tense; it was scary and was a big moment for Molly and her character. This is a strong woman and it was cool to see her get some of the spotlight (moonlight). And it was a big sign of the show and the scenes success that I felt genuinely fearful for the two of them, that they both might perish. This is something that HANNIBAL might do, it wouldn’t be all that shocking, this is a show that takes risks and the fact that it always has done paid off nicely here.

“You have hubbed hell, Doctor Lecter”.

After the incident at Will’s home, Alana and Jack confront Hannibal about his actions, about knowing and talking with Francis and decide to use Hannibal to get to him. Hannibal is more than happy to play along of course; Francis is just a toy after all. Speaking of whom, Francis, distraught after failing in his latest mission, starts chastising himself, beating his own body as punishment, shown to us as if the Dragon himself was the one attacking him. All this leads to him breaking up his only relationship, afraid that this new woman in his life doesn’t threaten him, that he might hurt her and also because he probably associates his failure to kill Will’s family with the commencing of their relationship. It was a touching scene that continued to help sculpt his character beyond the monster he has become. He really is a broken soul that needs fixing and care, just not the care Hannibal is willing to provide.

With all this talk of the Dragon within him and what he is becoming, it is appearing more and more clear that the demon on his shoulder, the dragon, is actually Hannibal himself. Francis doesn’t realise as much but I suspect he will soon. What he will make of that I don’t know but for now Hannibal — as long as it suits him — continues to be on Francis’ side, deciding last minute to tell him that Jack and Alana are listening to their telephone call, that they are coming for him, helping him to get away by the skin of his teeth.

“It’s tough to hold on to anything good, it’s all so slippery”.

After the attempt on his family’s life the stakes are particularly high for Will now in his battle with the dragon. His family hangs in the balance and not just in terms of their safety but in terms of what he wants. One could get the feeling that he might end up seeing it as more of a decision whether to leave them and be with Hannibal then how to protect them from Francis. Will is a hard man to label and you can judge him all you want but it won’t get you anywhere. His relationship with Hannibal is one that defies classification. There is so much subtext here, so much history to go along with the confusion of feelings. I really wouldn’t be surprised to see Will eventually forsake his family, actually causing them harm in order to be with Hannibal. You see, I’m not sure he actually loves them, cares for perhaps, but love? I don’t know about that. They are more of a replacement, a distraction from his diseased mind and true feelings. His anger at the situation could itself be a slight of hand, trying to convince us of a conventional response to what has happened but Will is not a conventional man. Perhaps he is not so much mad at Hannibal for endangering his family as he is at himself for being so besotted and infatuated by this man that he both loves and loathes in equal measure. It’s really quite the pickle and I can’t wait to him tackle it, though knowing Will, he’ll just let it all wash over him and try to live with the result.

‘And the Beast from the Sea’ took us one step closer to the end, to everything we have been building towards. It’ s hard to tell exactly where we are going but this episode gave us more of an idea, the frame is being filled now but what the final picture will look like and who will be in it is still to be made clear. What is becoming obvious is that Francis — while dangerous — is just a pawn, a tool to be used by Hannibal against Will, the purpose of that tool is what will drive these last two episodes forward and help define how we will remember this most special of series.

SIDE NOTE: This episode at long last brought to us the first time seeing Hannibal in his infamous muzzle, after deciding his comforts getting taken away was worth messing with Jack, was worth “having his fun”. It was a nice moment and nod to the films that preceded the show.

overnights
August 16, 2015 12:25 p.m.
Hannibal Recap: She Called Me a Man
By Greg Cwik


"He ate the painting," Will says.

"He ate it?" Jack responds.

Will intones, with a verbal shrug, "He ate it up."

Jack Crawford, fisher of men (Manfisher?), sounds surprised by this scenario. Apparently he's the only person who hasn't seen Manhunter or Red Dragon.

Will's irreverent demeanor, juxtaposed with Jack's typical straight-faced severity, suggests someone amused by the absurdity of the situation in which he finds himself, but who is unable to do anything about it. This opening conversation is indicative of the entire episode's wry attempt to twist the various moments from Red Dragon and its subsequent adaptations into something new, or at least something self-aware enough to acknowledge its own redundancy, a sort of perverse play on Ezra Pound's famous line.

Hannibal interprets Ezra Pound literally: He’s helping to make a man new. Francis is scared; he doesn’t want to hurt Reba. Francis is losing his struggle with the Dragon, that malevolent beast lurking within him (and Hannibal has routinely suggested that we all have a Red Dragon lurking within us). Hannibal advises Francis to pass the Dragon off to someone else. Someone like Will Graham. “Odd-looking,” Francis says. “Not very handsome, but purposeful.”

“He has a family,” Hannibal says. “Save yourself. Kill them all.”

We’ve seen this scene four different times now, between Thomas Harris’s novel and the various adaptations, all of which retain basically the same dialogue. It’s an integral scene, but Bryan Fuller and Steve Lightfoot could’ve changed the line “Kill them all” to something else. They could’ve change most of the scene to something else and kept the essence. That they kept the line the same, particularly in an episode that constantly plays with itself, suggests that Hannibal knows its own needs better than anyone else. There are so many winks, nods, and jabs in “And the Beast From the Sea,” you might feel bruised by the end. But it works.

Now Francis looks at the moon with resentment. He’s torn between two clashing, co-existing selves. (Picture Hannibal and Will inhabiting one body together.) The moon dances around Francis as wings and a tail protrude from his back, appearing more painful and less triumphant than before. He feeds film into a projector and sits on the couch with Reba. “I have some homework to do,” he says. She nestles with him, feeling safe and secure, as Francis watches footage of Molly and Walter recorded from afar.

“Are these your nocturnal animals?” Reba asks innocently.

“Yes,” Francis mumbles.

“Do you think they know they’re being filmed?”

“No.”

Francis doesn’t look at the Grahams predatorily, or with any relish. He views them as his salvation, killing them as a way by which he can expunge the Dragon and feel like a man instead of a monster. The scene, a slight alteration of similar scenes from Red Dragon and Manhunter (his refusal to go digital in an earlier episode was a nice joke about the show’s modernization of Harris’s story), has a tragic air that eluded previous versions. Francis really doesn’t know if he wants to be the Red Dragon anymore, but the Dragon certainly isn't done with him yet.

Molly takes the dogs to the vet. They’ve been poisoned, but she doesn’t know how. Maybe they ate something they shouldn’t have, or maybe they got sick from the canned food from China (Will usually makes their food from scratch, Molly explains, but while he’s away chasing serial killers, she’s been feeding the dogs canned food). Maybe something more sinister happened. As she and Walt exit the vet’s office, the camera pans to a notice pinned to a board advising people to report any pet mutilations. Did Francis poison the pets instead of killing them, as he did the others? It would be, comparatively, an almost altruistic display of empathy, and another minute detail of his internal struggle.

Will flat-out asks Hannibal if he’s spoken with the Tooth Fairy. Hannibal thinks the killer has earned the right to be called by his desired name, The Red Dragon, an upsetting bit of identity commentary from Doctor Lecter.

“How would he have contacted me?” Hannibal asks. “A personal ad? Toilet paper?” Again, mocking the redundancy of the arc, again riffing on the show’s modernization.

Will wants to know how he’s choosing his victims: “Social media, I’d imagine,” Hannibal taunts.

Hannibal doesn’t care what family the Dragon hurts next. “They’re not my family, and I’m not letting them die. You are.”

Will is Hannibal’s family, and the Dragon disposing of Will’s wife and son would bring Hannibal and Will closer again. This is, in his own way, Hannibal showing his love for Will.

Francis visits the Grahams. With crooked teeth in his mouth and a hat pulled over the top of his face, leaving only the Dragon half exposed, Francis carefully, quietly prowls the house. Francis moves vigilantly, his feet pressing into the wooden floors in measures. Molly sits up in bed. Her eyes widen. Francis traverses the darkened hallway, approaching the bedrooms. Molly gets out of bed, Wakes Walter, helps him out of the window as Francis draws his gun, hearing Molly at the end of the hall and quickly approaching her, pushing the bedroom door open, raising his gun at an empty bed.

Molly sneaks out a door behind him and descends the stairs as Francis stalks from room to room, looking for her. He grows desperate, worried – this is the first family he has to kill, the family for which he’s been searching. His salvation is escaping out the front door.

Walter crawls behind the car and Molly ducks below the front porch. Francis stands on the porch, gazing out into the darkness. He moves towards the car; Molly makes a sound and Francis pivots, heads towards her. The boy scampers to her and she hits the car alarm, triggering the car into a fit of flashing lights and shrieking sounds. Francis turns back towards the car and unloads his gun with deft precision into the empty vehicle. By the time he realizes his folly, they’ve made it to the road. Molly runs in front of an oncoming car, which swerves and spins out, just missing her. The driver gets out and starts to yell, only to be cut down by Francis. Molly and Walter get in and she hits the gas. Bullets whiz by, punching holes in the window, in the seat, in Molly’s chest. She leans into the blood-spattered steering wheel and straightens out the car, leaving Francis behind in the dark.

In the hospital, where Molly is recovering, Will has the conversation with Walter. In Manhunter, the famous scene happens in a grocery store aisle; here, it’s in a waiting room, and the outcome isn’t a loving embrace and "That Folger's stuff." Walter asks Will if he really spent time in a mental hospital after killing someone; Will says Yes. Walter asks if Will is going to kill the Dragon; Will says No, he’s going to catch him. Walter says, “You should kill him,” and walks away to watch a baseball game.

Will can’t go home. Not now. Resentment’s raising a blister in him.

Alana has figured out that Hannibal’s lawyer wasn’t the one calling. “Would you have told me the truth?” she asks him.

“In my own way, I always have,” he says.

Hannibal, Alana points out, is relevant again now. He’s manipulated his way into the spotlight again, a ventriloquist of men and murderers. Jack wants Hannibal to talk to Francis on the phone so they can track him. “I can’t refuse him a sympathetic ear,” Hannibal says.

Francis needs that sympathetic ear. He's hurting. He’s been hurt by Hannibal, by himself, but mostly by the Dragon. Exercising in his room, toning his body, he abruptly slumps to the floor as the Dragon overtakes him. Francis's futile attempt to wrestle with the Dragon manifests as a Fight Club-style fight with himself; pulling a Tyler Durden, he punches himself in the face, over and over until he falls, quivering in a heap, his fist banging the floor in vain. It may be as subtle as... well, a punch to the face, but Hannibal's scenes of Francis struggling with the monster skulking within extrapolate the tragedy of his situation. Tom Noonan, for all the looming anxiety he instills, couldn't make Francis a real person with real emotions. Noonan has great presence, something you can't teach, but his persona is rooted in a sense of emptiness, like there's a void behind those eyes. Armitage is the opposite, creating an entire indiscernible person hiding behind the flesh-and-bone one we see on screen.

Francis visits Reba at the photo lab. He asks her if it's worse to have seen the light and lost it. He's confused, afraid. He doesn't want to hurt her, so he breaks up with her.

“She called me a man,” he tells Hannibal on the phone, his face swollen. “A sweet man.”

He’s looking for help, for a friend. Jack watches Hannibal, tracking the Dragon’s location on a computer. Hannibal look up at Jack and tells Francis, “They’re listening.”

Hannibal is having his fun.

While this episode is maybe the most visually restrained of the season, failing to conjure any shocking images that will linger (despite its occasional tonal gaffs and the miscalculation of William Peterson's quote-unquote performance, Manhunter is rife with moments that stay like a splinter in your mind's eye), "And the Beast From the Sea" is a clever, subtly amusing episode. The self-referential jokes and nods to its own retreading of well-known material feels like Fuller and co. are letting the episode slap itself in the face, not unlike Francis kicking his own ass. It's a dangerous, daring move with only a couple of episodes left, to tone down the insanity instead and give us an episode of inside jokes and elusive nods.

Will visits Hannibal. “Ugliness is found in the faces of the crowd,” Hannibal says. He confesses to Will that he sent Francis after his family, that he told him to “Kill them all.”

“When you look at her,” he asks of Molly, “what do you see?”

“You know what I see.”

Francis, Will realizes, didn’t “kill” those families. He changed them, transformed them. Francis craves change, and Hannibal is more than willing to help him. The question remains: How badly does Will crave change?

Here's Why Hannibal Is the Best Crime Show on Television
Cheryl Eddy

Oh man. Have you been watching Hannibal? There are only two episodes left in the entire series, and despite its cancellation and its death-knell move to Saturday nights, it’s still the best crime show on TV. And amazingly, as season three has progressed, it’s only gotten better with each episode.

Spoilers if you’re not yet caught up to episode 11 ...

The 13-episode season began in Italy, where a crafty Hannibal Lecter fled all manner of bloodshed in Baltimore with his psychiatrist and eventual accomplice/faux wife Bedelia Du Maurier. The first seven episodes, named for Italian cuisine (like season one’s menu of French courses, and season two’s Japanese), were visually lush, setting new standards in creepy-beautiful TV production design, and meandered along at a dreamy pace, with surreal sequences coming courtesy of Will Graham’s troubled mind. The storyline got mega-weird (even for Hannibal, holy snails) and lots of distressingly tasty-looking human body parts were served to unsuspecting diners.

But just when Hannibal was about to make real his desire to get inside of Will’s head, by applying a saw to his skull—as Jack Crawford, the most manipulative yet also patient boss ever, watched in horror—everyone was “saved” by greedy Italian cops hellbent on collecting the massive bounty on Hannibal’s head. Vindictive wannabe Mason Verger tried to kill Will and Hannibal next, but instead enabled his own demise, though neither Hannibal (who turned himself in) nor Will (haunted 4 life) walked away from their Muskrat Farm unscathed.

We’ll always have Florence, y’all. But while these episodes were eye-gougingly gorgeous (and the dialogue knowingly pretentious), Hannibal’s gory heart is in Baltimore, which is why it’s so appropriate that the show is ending its run there. And it was so genius for Bryan Fuller and co. to shift the action three years into the future midseason: it’s long enough so that everyone has settled into their new lives, but short enough so that the insanity of season two and the first half of season three still feel fearfully fresh.

When we see Will Graham has a wife and stepson, then hear that he’s tracking a killer who specializes in taking out entire families, even those who haven’t seen/read Manhunter or Red Dragon know what’s coming. But because Hannibal offers such a fresh spin on the story as well as its characters—which it’s had hours and hours to develop over three seasons—the fact that the material is so familiar isn’t a negative here. Instead, Hannibal uses that to its advantage; though it does take its own liberties with the story, it’s thrilling to see iconic moments, like the blind Reba McClane’s close encounter with a sleeping tiger, presented from a new point of view.

Episodes 10 (“And the Woman Clothed in Sun,” a slight variation on episode 9’s title that refers to a specific version of a William Blake painting; here, it’s the one in the Brooklyn Museum that Francis Dolarhyde furtively gobbles) and 11 (“And the Beast from the Sea,” also a Blake reference) are two of the season’s more action-packed, although the actual crimes aren’t really what Hannibal is about. It’s what motivates the crimes, and the emotions surrounding them, and the relationships which spring up as a result of both ... taken together, often wreaking more horrifying results than anything else.

While Hannibal was more of a deliberate, elegant killer, Dolarhyde is frantic and driven by a power he doesn’t understand. He reaches out to the imprisoned Lecter, in a phone call we see from both perspectives, because he’s an “avid fan” of the famed cannibal, and just as skilled in telephone-line hacking, too. “I want to be recognized by you,” he admits, in a scene that uses the recurring motif not just of imagining Hannibal back in his analyst’s office, but also the depiction of one character split into two.

The ongoing theme of duality, formerly chiefly focused on Hannibal and Will, becomes even more important as the season nears its close. Will and Bedelia have a grudging couple of meetings, where she sticks to her narrative that her time with Hannibal was beyond her control. “You didn’t lose yourself, you just crawled so far up his ass you couldn’t be bothered,” Will sneers. But though they agree “we’ve both been his bride,” only Bedelia has been “behind the veil,” or so she thinks. But she is most definitely a killer in her own right, as we finally see an flashback showing what really happened to her patient, Neal Frank. It’s unnerving and it includes a Scientology reference.

So Will and Bedelia are linked by their “marriages” to Hannibal. And Will has a violent run-in with his new and growing obsession, Francis Dolarhyde, whose greeting of choice is a hearty body-slam, and who’s grappling with his own multiple selves anyway. But the main “couple” of the show, Hannibal and Will, have seen their strange magic grow even stranger and more complicated than ever before. And it looks to only get weirder as the season ends.

Witness: Hannibal instructing Dolarhyde—who fights an imaginary dragon and then engineers the most awkward breakup scene ever; it’s debatable which is more uncomfortable for the viewer—to target Will’s family next: “Save yourself, kill them all.” Maybe he knew Dolarhyde would fail, managing only to wound Will’s wife, Molly, and awaken his 11-year-old stepson to Will’s disturbing career. Maybe he figured the failure will drive Dolarhyde even more over the edge, making him easier to capture. Maybe he did it to get back inside of Will’s head.

But Hannibal has an endgame, and even behind Dr. Chilton’s glass walls, he’s the most powerful character on the show, even with only a prison phone as a weapon. He has always been in control ... and he always will be, and dammit it sure would be amazing to have one or three more seasons to see what this show could make of Clarice Starling and Buffalo Bill and yet another splatter-ific Lecter escape. Sigh.

“I’m just about worn out with you crazy sons of bitches!” Will barks at Hannibal after his family narrowly evades the Tooth Fairy’s latest full-moon rampage. Sorry, Will, but you’re the only one, buddy. Hannibal forever!

‘Hannibal’ Review “…And the Woman Clothed with the Sun”

Posted on August 18, 2015

Robert Tiemstra ’16 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer

“One must show some consideration for the neighbors.”

The most unsung strength about Hannibal thus far has to be its use of physical versus imagined space. There is a scene in this week’s episode during which Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) talks to his wife Molly (Nina Arianda) over the phone. In any other show, it would be a charming and nonintrusive scene in which we cut back and forth between their hotel rooms as they sweet-talk each other over the many miles that separate them. This show starts off in that direction, but as they talk, it places them in the same room together, allowing them to share their phone call as if they’re lying in bed together (interestingly, a similar tactic is used when Hannibal and Will explore the case file of the Tooth Fairy murder). Molly is a relatively new face in the show, having only been introduced one episode ago, but this type of scene magnifies the marriage between her and Will, allows us to see a fully grown relationship between the two of them. And after this scene, we finally understand how difficult it is for Will to return to Jack Crawford’s employ as the most morally questionable method actor the world has ever seen.

“…And the Woman Clothed with the Sun” (an episode title that has given many TV reviewers headaches this week) is an episode of two halves—one centered around Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen) in his cell, and another around Francis Dolarhyde (Richard Armitage), the serial killer known to the public as the Tooth Fairy. The structure isn’t entirely clear until they come together at the end—a concept that appears to be a staple of this show as a whole—which is why this week is a perfect week to sum up why the structure of Hannibal works so well.

During one scene in “…And the Woman Clothed with the Sun,” Will Graham stares at himself in a mirror, and he starts to crack and shatter as if made of glass himself. Hannibal Season 3 is like a piece of fine china that has been smashed and is slowly being reassembled in front of our very eyes. Some pieces don’t come back until we’ve almost forgotten they were missing—this particular episode contains a series of flashbacks that detail exactly how Hannibal taught Abigail Hobbs (Kacey Rohl) to play along with his series of deceptions throughout the second (and latter half of the first) season, leading up to the fateful night in “Mizumono” when he cuts her throat. As he remembers these, Hannibal gives no indication—facially or through dialogue—how he feels about brutally murdering his surrogate daughter.

Many of the scenes in this week’s episode are lifted directly from the novel Red Dragon, particularly the scene in which Will and Hannibal meet for the first time in years. Like the best scenes with the characters, the camera makes tactful use of reflections in the glass to keep both subject and interviewee in frame as much as possible. The end result is two characters who can’t get out of each other’s heads, visually-speaking. As Hannibal faces down a parade of visitors, he makes his contempt for each of them known in a way that only he can, with condescending witticisms and sly compliments. These scenes alone would be enough to sustain the whole episode, but there is another serial killer who requires development, so to speak.

Fans of Red Dragon will be pleased to find that Francis Dolarhyde’s job as a courier to a film lab remains unchanged, despite the updating of the series’ time frame. The real heart of this episode is the interactions between Dolarhyde and Reba McClane (Rutina Wesley), a blind woman who works in the darkroom that supplies him with the film on which he shoots his murders. Although there are many logistical questions as to why a serial killer would prefer to use film rather than digital (Dolarhyde simply states that he doesn’t like the format), the series brushes it off in favor of fidelity to the source material, as well as interesting character setup. Rutina Wesley is an absolute delight as Reba, finding a heart in this emotionally stunted man that of which he is is barely aware. The scenes between her and Armitage strike a remarkable balance between sweet and suspenseful, playing to the best of both actor’s talents.

Richard Armitage in particular is a revelation here—last episode didn’t give him much of a chance to do anything else besides stare ominously and writhe in emotional agony—because he starts to peel back the layers of this character and reveal some glimpses at the insecurities that drive him, which Reba keenly points out, since she worked as a speech therapist. Without a wasted word, Armitage is a magnetic presence, matching an iron stare with a stuttering mumble of a speech pattern to great effect. This may prove a relief to some who thought this version of the Tooth Fairy would be simply a psychotic Thorin Oakenshield with a fiendish overbite. Throughout his half of the episode, we get inside Dolarhyde’s head in a way we haven’t with any other character in the show, save Will. Paradoxically, Dolarhyde demands both sympathy and fear from the audience to work as a character. He is a torn monster that Thomas Harris couldn’t recapture in any of the antagonists in his following novels. According to series creator Bryan Fuller, we have already seen one of Dolarhyde’s murders before—the very opening scene of the series, in fact. Time will tell if this little detail comes back, but as this episode proves, Hannibal is not a show that wastes its crime scenes.

Episode Grade: A-

“Trust me, I’m smiling.”

Hannibal: The Number of the Beast is 666
Release date: Aug. 22, 2015

9.5
OVERALL SCORE
Amazing


If you play, you pay
By Eric Goldman Aug. 21, 2015, 10:50 a.m.

Note: While Hannibal has been moved to Saturdays in the US, it continues to air on Thursdays in Canada. That being the case, I’m running my reviews Thursday nights for IGN Canada readers and then re-promoting on Saturday night for the US.

Per usual, full spoilers for the episode follow, so beware if you haven’t seen yet!

The penultimate episode of Hannibal was a very busy, bloody and audacious one that found Will and Jack embarking on a dangerous plan to lure the Dragon to them – with dire results for Chilton.

I must say seeing that plan in motion was a lot of fun, complete with some very funny moments, as the unlikely group of Will, Jack, Chilton, and Freddie all worked together - mostly from Will going so far over the top with his goading language about "the Tooth Fairy," and Chilton's reactions to what he was saying. Of course, what followed would hardly be funny...

Which is to say, holy $#*! on the visual of Dolarhyde biting Chilton’s lips off! So nasty and visceral and amazing. Yes, it’s from the books, but as always, this show doesn’t hold back when it comes to delivering the red stuff. The entire sequence of Dolarhyde holding Chilton hostage was fantastic, with terrific performances from both Raúl Esparza and Richard Armitage. Chilton, all things considered, did the best he could, after all – saying all the right things to try and appease Dolarhyde and provide him with anything he needed to calm him. But when you’re dealing with a guy like that, well… there’s only so much you can do.

Reba showing up only added to the tension, as Chilton was forced to sit there quietly, while Reba at one point seemed to somewhat sense his presence – or at least that something was wrong. The visuals here were also fantastic, from Dolarhyde looking at Reba through the distortion of the gate at his door to seeing him crawl over that desk towards Chilton like an animal.

I do want to delve further into how this storyline is adapting and diverging from the novel Red Dragon, so skip ahead a paragraph if you’ve never read that book or seen the previous adaptations and don’t want to spoil yourself on what is now a notable deviation…

So very interesting that Chilton was the one get taken and tortured here, instead of Freddie, huh? Given Freddie’s storyline in Season 2, it was difficult to see how she could be the Dragon’s victim without it feeling like they were covering somewhat similar ground, and so Bryan Fuller instead had it be another character entirely to have that fate. But one that was an excellent substitute, given Chilton’s own shameless exploitation of situations – here amplified, as we learned about all his writing plans, “Blood and Chocolate” included. It also was clever to have Dolarhyde still burn Chilton in the wheelchair, this time as a direct message to Will for using that fake out in Season 2 – which was, of course, taken directly from Freddie’s death in the book.

Of course, I need to ponder… is Chilton really and truly dead now? In the book, it’s very clear what happens after Will’s conversation with this burnt, misshapen person – their death is explicit. But not here. And given Chilton’s already been something of the horrific Wile E. Coyote of Hannibal, I wonder if Bryan Fuller intended to bring him back yet again, with even less of his body left.

It was fairly ridiculous that Alana would give Hannibal Dolarhyde’s package first, without opening it herself – but almost worth it just for the reveal that Hannibal ate one of Chilton’s lips, just because he could.

Also a bit odd was jumping to Reba as Dolarhyde’s bound up hostage herself. Yes, we’d seen the huge conflict within him over her, but what made him cross this line? I wonder if a scene was cut for time showing this moment?

Still, her finding out that this man she was falling for was this deranged killer was another riveting moment – as his true psychosis was underlined by him saying two families were “changed,” given his absolute commitment to his belief that he is transforming these people, not murdering them.

Meanwhile, this episode opened with a rather huge, much more quiet moment, as Will met with Bedelia and they got very real about Hannibal. First off, I love Will meeting with Bedelia like this, because it makes twisted sense that after everything they’ve both gone through, they would form this connection, as bad an idea as it may be.

Everything that Bedelia said about Hannibal letting Will build a family that he was confident he could then take from him sounded right – again, in that bizarre way where it’s both Hannibal destroying Will and wanting him for himself.

And then Will asked a very direct question, “Is Hannibal in love with me?” And Bedelia not only told him yes, she asked Will, “Do you ache for him?” I was surprised to see the show get so overt with defining Hannibal’s feelings for Will in such a way, only because they hadn’t before. But let’s face it, none of this is a surprise. Hannibal’s wish to make Will his true equal and partner, to run off with him with Abigail as their surrogate (murderous) daughter… It’s all been a very bloody, Lecter-ized love story since the show began. And with Hannibal coming to an end, why not put it all on the table, as it were?

I again wonder how much Bryan Fuller suspected this could be it as he conceived these episodes, as we not only got a much more direct definition of Hannibal’s feelings for Will (even if Will’s are still murky, but obviously conflicted), but some very fun mentions of “lambs” here. We may never see this version of Hannibal Lecter meet Clarice Starling, but it’s hard not to see some direct nods as Hannibal warned of “The Lamb’s wrath” whose “retribution is even greater than the Red Dragon.”

And wouldn't you know it, but next week's finale is called "The Wrath of the Lamb!"

The Verdict

My biggest anxiety is that a ton is in play here, from the Red Dragon storyline to Hannibal and Will’s dynamic, with just one episode left that now bears the weight of being The End – and set up a future we may never see. But this episode once again showed just how dynamic and thrilling Hannibal can be, so let’s just all try and treasure next week’s finale and the end of one hell of a TV show, shall we?

TV Recaps | Hannibal
'The Number of the Beast is 666'

Some get burned by the Dragon's fire as the hunt continues.

by Keith Staskiewicz • @Staskijiwczejcz

Season 3, Ep. 12 | Aired Aug 22

Posted August 22 2015 — 11:00 PM EDT


Francis Dolarhyde barely appeared in this week’s episode. Sure, Richard Armitage had as much screen time as ever, but it wasn’t as our boy Frank. No, the penultimate episode of Hannibal’s third season, as everything continues to whip up into a blood-red froth, was all about the Great Red Dragon.

While it’s certainly true that Dolarhyde is just a human being — as certain as Will, Jack and Hannibal are also technically just human beings — this show has a way of taking serial killer drama and blowing it up to Biblical proportions, sometimes quite overtly. Jack and Hannibal have a conversation near the beginning of the episode in which they lay out all the major players and what is at stake: Hannibal is evidently the Devil, even if his prisoner number isn’t 666. And much like the Devil, just because he has been cast out of our realm and into the pit doesn’t mean he can’t affect change through the manipulation of others. Jack casts himself as God, telling himself he does so because there’s no one else willing to take up the mantle. Hannibal warns that the seals of Revelation are being opened, but there’s at least one last chess game for them to play before the seventh seal cracks.

Will is the most important piece in that game. He is the Lamb of God. Or perhaps he is just the lamb to slaughter. In either case, both of them end up getting eaten around Easter-time, whether literally or symbolically. Will, meanwhile, is grappling with his role in this whole mess. He’s taken up seeing Dr. Du Maurier for psychiatric advice, which makes about as much sense as going to Dr. Kevorkian for back problems. Bedelia doesn’t do much to assuage his guilt, telling him what he already knew when he decided to visit Hannibal for the first time in three years: you have to pay to play.

The Dragonslayers — that is, Will, Jack, and Alana — come up with a plan to coax their target out of his cave. They enlist Chilton to give a tactically insulting interview about the Tooth Fairy to Freddie Lounds. Chilton, who cares more about his reputation than his safety, agrees to the clearly dangerous gambit and unsurprisingly becomes the Dragon’s next victim. Abducted from a parking garage, he awakes to smelling salts and an uncomfortable prickling of his skin. That’s because he’s be superglued to a wheelchair. Despite his well-honed talent for obsequiousness, Chilton experiences the end that originally befell Lounds in the novel (and the movie adaptations), since the show had already exploited Lounds’ canonical fate last season. But before the Dragon bites off his lying, lying lips and lights him on fire — turning him into Tarman from Return of the Living Dead — he forces him to make a videotaped confession.

The question for Will is “What was his hand in all of this?” Or, more accurately, “Where was his hand in all of this?” His jocular pose with Chilton in the Tattler photo framed him as a pet, something to be disposed of first. But Will’s motives are elusive even to himself, so he sees Bedelia once more for elucidation. She offers him her own hard-learned lesson: ““That’s participation.” Some part of Hannibal—or at least the part of Will that understands and relates to Hannibal — is inside of his head and making his decisions for him.

In the meantime, Reba finally learns the truth about her strong, silent type. She brings over chicken soup for the malingering Dolarhyde right in the middle of his session with Chilton. Unfortunate, there’s not amount of chicken soup that can help ease the Dragon’s soul. Chilton manages to tell Will and Jack that he saw a blind, black woman named Reba at his house — identifiable information that isn’t exactly applicable to a whole lot of American citizens. The Dragon must realize this as well, because he kidnaps Reba, ties her up, and finally reveals to her his true form. Now we just wait for the endgame.

Hannibal: ‘The Number of the Beast Is 666’ Review – S03E12
Posted by Samuel Brace On August 22, 2015 0 Comment


“You once fooled yourself into thinking you were in control of what was happening”.

The penultimate weekend of the month. The penultimate episode of HANNIBAL. Episode 12, ‘The Number of the Beast Is 666’. We are nearly there now and I don’t like it at all. My woes concerning the series fate aside (for now), this was another excellent episode of HANNIBAL as we lay witness to the moves that will take our heroes closer to the Dragon and whatever fate awaits them there.

This episode was all about the chase, the chase for Francis led by Will, Jack and Alana and the pursuit for Will, led by, well… I guess Hannibal mostly but really just everybody. Fresh from the attack on his family, Will deduces the best way to capture the Dragon is to lure him closer, putting himself at risk — as bait — in order to throw the net. Along with Jack, Alana and a rather disgruntled Chilton — it was great seeing Hannibal wind him up so, amused at his frustrations — they concoct a plan to have Will and Chilton bad mouth Francis to Freddy, who will then of course publish an article for all the world to see, along with an accompanying photo of the two. From the get-go it seemed like a risky plan, but playing with fire has worked for them before… sort of.

“Is Hannibal in love with me?”

After more intense back and forth’s between Will and Bedelia, discussing the nature of Hannibal and his relationship with them both, all acting as perpetual subtext to the scenes to follow, we see the plan enacted and fall apart almost immediately. Francis, instead of going for Will, went after the accomplice, capturing Chilton in a parking garage and whisking him back to his lair — I love how everything leads back to Hannibal in this arc, not only is Francis renting villain real estate from Lecter, he is inhabiting his home as well. Hannibal’s shadow really is all encompassing, like an event horizon, nothing escapes him.

“From my own lips you will learn to dread”.

Once Chilton was stripped and seated, Francis began to torment both him and us. It was a truly terrifying scene; the intensity of his voice, the physicality of his movement, the framing of the shots. It was immaculately constructed. The simple mask that he wore to hide his features was also horrifying to behold, there was something about it that was so chilling, the way he looked within the scene, looming over a petrified Chilton, he truly looked like he had become “more than a man”. No show does horror better than HANNIBAL.

Before anything truly disturbing could take place however, the doorbell rang, signalling the arrival of Francis’ discarded lover. His ex girlfriend turning up seems like it would be an obvious trope, but it was actually not, and really kind of funny given the intensity of the scene. Once she was shooed off however, Francis turned his attention back to Chilton and after filming Fredrick’s confession of mendacity, something awful happened. He inserted his crooked dentures and ripped the lips straight from Chilton’s face. Not a frame of gore was hidden from us as the screams rang out. HANNIBAL is known for unsettling visuals but this… this was abhorrent. It was great.

“The tragedy of what happened to Fredrick has put me in an excellent humour”.

After receiving Chilton’s lips in the post — a strange sentence to type out — Hannibal decided to consume one before the possy arrived. And arrive they did, all to his amusement of course, at the situation, at them, at the plan they tried to execute. Hannibal is really having a ball in the second half of this season. I’m glad he’s happy. Chilton’s fate wasn’t to end with a scarred face however. It turns out — in order to get back at Will — Francis burned Chilton in a similar fashion to how Will and Jack tried to fake Freddy’s death all those episodes ago. Chilton didn’t perish however and wasn’t afraid to place the blame on Mr Graham. And his accusations, it would turn, were not without weight. It is revealed to us that Will had subconsciously (kind of) endangered Chilton’s life. Remember that seemingly innocent photo they took? Well, Will’s simple gesture of placing his hand on Fredrick’s shoulder had a more sinister intention. As Bedelia brought to light, Will — like Hannibal might — just wanted to see what would happen, what would come to pass if he made Chilton out to be his pet in the eyes of Francis, if he made him seem like a possession that could be exterminated. If Francis is a substitute for Hannibal’s monster in this arc then Will is acting as Lecter’s conduit while he is incarcerated, remaining free through the misdeeds of his friend. There is depth everywhere you look in this show, depth that will be missed all too soon.

“Fate has a habit of not letting us choose our own ending”.

As mentioned at the top, we are nearly there now. One episode to go and unfortunately it doesn’t look like we will get a series finale, only a season finale, and that’s fine because they weren’t to know. They could expect, but they weren’t to know and it is unfortunate that perhaps we won’t receive the grandiose accumulation we all are hoping for, but I am not without confidence that the season 3 finale will be an excellent one, if not an exceptional one. I don’t seek closure in HANNIBAL’S final moments, but just something to fit the scale of the shows might. There doesn’t seem the time for such a thing to happen but I guess we will have to wait and see. Will I enjoy the finale? For that I am without doubt. Will it be everything I hoped the last episode of Hannibal would be? Unfortunately, I think the shows cancellation has robbed us of such a possibility.

Hannibal Review 3.12: “The Number of the Beast Is 666…”

August 22, 2015 | Posted by Joseph Lee

Warning: This review contains spoilers for tonight’s episode. Don’t read if you haven’t watched it yet.

Last week on Hannibal, Hannibal gave the home address of Will Graham’s family to Francis Dolarhyde, telling him to “save yourself” and “kill them all”. Dolarhyde shows up and almost takes them both out, but both Molly and Walter escape, even with Molly taking a bullet. Meanwhile, Alana learns that Hannibal has been communicating with the Dragon too late, but takes away all of his amenities as she promised. Dolarhyde ends his relationship with Reba when he realizes he can’t keep her around without killing her.



Season 3, Episode 12: The Number of the Beast Is 666…

Directed By: Guillermo Navarro

Written By: Jeff Vlaming & Angela Lamanna and Bryan Fuller & Steve Lightfoot

If you thought the series finale was when Hannibal would save all of its final crazy moments, you haven’t been watching this show long enough. And yes, it’s the series finale. I’m still hoping it gets picked up somewhere, but I’ve come to terms with the end. This episode starts out slower, perhaps to give the impression that it’s simply building to that finale. Instead, it offers a twist for those who know the book’s story and then dives into insanity head first. The best thing to do is just to get right into it.

The episode has a neat little bookend of Will Graham’s sessions with Bedelia. Both end up revealing more information about Will than he probably wanted to know. First of all, Bedelia and Will finally make canon what we’ve all been thinking: Hannibal is in love with Will. Yes, they have the most demented relationship on the planet, but Hannibal does have a bizarre love for him. It’s amazing to think that a show about a cannibalistic serial killer is more progressive than half of the other network shows but there it is. The lead villain and lead protagonist (hard to call Will a hero, considering) have sexual tension and it’s obvious to everyone who watched.



Richard Armitage gets a lot more screen time this week as Dolarhyde and he continues to kill it. I know the Emmys have avoided the show like the plague but is there no way we can’t get him some sort of nomination for his work here? He’s outacting everyone, Hugh Dancy included, at this point. I was on the fence before, but I truly think he has the best version of Dolarhyde, beating both Tom Noonan and Ralph Fiennes. He’s progressed from a serial killer that still had human traits at times to something monstrous. He was animal-like before but now he’s achieved his becoming. As he points out to Reba at the end of the episode, now he’s the Dragon. The crazy thing is that you can see him evolve over the course of the season to get there. He’s completely lost it and we witnessed it happen. I wouldn’t be surprised if Reba, who survived before, didn’t make it out of this show alive.

Honestly, I think when we look back on all the combined takes on Thomas Harris’ Hannibal stories, we’re going to have to accept that Bryan Fuller has delivered a version that’s better than the rest. I know how blasphemous that seems to longtime fans of these characters. I think if given the chance, we should just allow him to remake Silence of the Lambs with the Hannibal cast. Can we get some sort of petition about that? Give it a big budget and a full theatrical release. I’m begging you, Hollywood.



But Hannibal’s locked up and Will’s got bigger dragons to fry. Dolarhyde is still out there and since Jack is using him as bait anyway, he decides to embrace that role. Freddie Lounds and Dr. Chilton get on board to publish some insulting theories about Dolarhyde with quotes from Will and Chilton. This is another bit that is familiar but that’s when Bryan Fuller decides to throw another curveball at us. You see, in the Red Dragon book, Freddie Lounds (who is a man) is abducted and killed by the Dragon, by being lit on fire in a wheelchair and sent rolling in a parking lot.

That’s not the case this time. This time it’s Chilton who is abducted. Is there a character more unlucky in the history of TV than Frederick Chilton? In season one he had his organs removed by Dr. Gideon. In season two, he was framed by Hannibal before being shot in the face by someone Hannibal tricked into thinking Chilton abducted her. He keeps coming back from getting terrible things done to him only to have worse things done to him. If you have a morbid sense of humor, it’s almost funny. I wonder if it’s some running gag that the writers have. Sure, Chilton’s a scumbag who’s only out to further his career, but he doesn’t deserve what he gets.



Yes, playing the role of Freddie Lounds in this adaptation is Frederick Chilton, who gets his lips bitten off by Dolarhyde before being set on fire and sent rolling down a walkway. And he lives. It’s a series of grotesque and shocking moments, which honestly makes it kind of amazing that this show can still shock anyone. I don’t know what Fuller has/had planned for season four with him but he lives, which means it was intended for Raul Esparza to return. Even if he is burnt to a crisp and is missing his lips. Seriously, poor Chilton.

This all leads to a confrontation with Will in the hospital where Chilton basically says that Will knew Dolarhyde would do this. Then we get a counseling session with Bedelia where she also suggests it’s possible. I’d like to think of Will as a flawed, but ultimately good man. I’m sure Will would also like to think of himself this way. While it almost seems like a certainty that he knew Dolarhyde would go after Chilton and not him, I’d like to keep thinking of Will that way for a little while longer. If there’s one character that should eventually get a happy ending, it should be Will. But how far down the dark road can he travel before he can’t turn back?


The 411: With next week's series finale looming, they didn't hold back in the penultimate episode. "The Number of the Beast is 666" features a huge deviation from the book Red Dragon, one that's sure to get fans of the book upset but fits perfectly within the confines of this show. Another great, exciting episode leading to what should be a great finale.
Final Score: 9 [ Amazing ] legend