A review with a delay. But here I am at last. Welcome back, Fannibals.
It goes without saying that watching a man get killed by an eel is pretty, eh creative. Pigs would've been nice, too. Same effect, though.
On to the serious stuff.
Will Graham and Hannibal have reached a stalemate. Sort of. In Will's case, it's the choice to get rid of a festering wound, which is perfectly understandable after what happened to him. As for Hannibal, the transition from wanting to eat Will's heart to saving him is kind of murky. I must have lost a vital piece of info, but it's hard for me to understand what Hannibal's motives are. For instance, he became almost submissive at the end, which goes against his state of mind and where his priorities usually lie; or what he thinks of Will at the time he is captured and incarcerated.
Another seemingly out of character scene was Jack's passive acceptance of Hannibal's surrender, especially after the scene he was forced to witness. But then, he had Chiyoh on his back. Her own motives were just as murky, but maybe we are supposed to see her in a different light.
Overall, the ladies fared better than the rest. I was disappointed that Alana's and Margot's relationship wasn't as well developed as it could have been. But I enjoyed the conclusion between Alana and Hannibal, the fact that she never understood him, but still tried to protect Will. Though, why did he keep his promise again? The power of love?
What did you think of Digestivo?
Brilliant episode and one of the best of the series.
ReplyDeleteHappy you liked it. :)
ReplyDeleteHi Veronka!
ReplyDelete" must have lost a vital piece of info, but it's hard for me to understand what Hannibal's motives are."
Nope! You are not alone! I think just all of the characters have been not clear in their motives (a concept featured at the end of the Hannibal novel,as Clarice's transformation is never exactly explained, not Hannibal's acceptance of not getting what he wanted--except to to say love conquers all) all season, say for mostly Jack (never wanted to kill Hannibal himself) and Hannibal (a little sad, but kept on eating) , so like you, I have trying to figure out what exactly happened here in the final hour that changed Hannibal's mind about his freedom, since I think most fans agree, this was something he surely never wanted before and seems rather out of character??? And I think it's one thing for a series to end that way, but kind a weird thing to put in between more straight forward narratives, even though it was thought provoking.
One thought that crossed my mind, is that maybe he took longer than say Will, Alana, Mason, and Chilton to morn his loss, so Will just tosses him aside and lets him be free; --it's almost like he hit a low and maybe just started his grieving process? I kind if wonder if that what was going on with Bedelia too> I wonder if perhaps she loved her and Hannibal's former patient and they ended brefly in a love triangle, and so the reason she went along with Hannibal in Europe was because she wasn't ready to let go of him and holding on to Hannibal was a way to hold onto him---so maybe that is what Hannibal is thinking about Will in relation to Mischa?
Otherwise I would of thought maybe he pre-planned Francis Dolarhyde by calling him, but the comic con promo seems to indicate the opposite. For me this decision I find a bit disappointing, simply because I think it takes some of the fuel out of the fire going into Red Dragon, and it makes me fear that Hannibal's reasons for Hannibal's revenge, won't be as good, as they actually were in the film/novel.
The only other thing would be if he came to realize he was safer imprisoned, because he learned of a threat from his past...
Other than that, I really loved the episode. Thanks again for your great review!
The only other thing would be if he came to realize he was safer imprisoned, because he learned of a threat from his past...
ReplyDeleteThat makes more sense. It would be better to give him a plot-related motivation to surrender, rather than giving him an emotional one at this point. Maybe Chiyoh is somehow playing a part in this. In any case, there's this awkwardness between Hannibal and Will right now. No sense of danger present. But we'll see.
In the novel and film it kind of goes like this, Will discovers Hannibal in Hannibal's office (like Marian Lass does) then Hannibal runs an arrow through Will's gut, Will falls to the floor, but manages to get up and fire several shots into Hannibal, both men fall/pass out.
ReplyDeleteJump several years ahead, Will is married, has an adopted son, but the Tooth Fairy/Dolarhyde is on a family murder spree. Jack asks Will to come back, Will decides that Hannibal would have vital information on him. Hannibal sees Will and has been fuming for years between Chilton torment, and a lack of freedom, and gets into contact with Dolarhyde, asking Dolorhyde to kill Will and his family...
So without being forced into the situation, it's kind of hard to figure out how turning himself in here, somehow jives with his revenge plot, unless Hannibal just made a dumb mistake, thinking Will would not try to move on without him or he has another reason.
Chiyoh is a character that I think is meant to be the most mystical in her contradictions, being a character who we don't have a lot of history to go on, but even now I am torn between her actually lying/changing her mind to Bedelia about wanting Hannibal caged, or if she lied to Hannibal, because she was totally fine with killing Mason's men, but not ok with killing the FBI, which one could also chalk up to just not wanting to have a man hunt after her????? So it's very precarious to try and figure it out.
My thought for the imprisonment comes from my theory that maybe Fuller was going to use Robert Lecter as an antagonist, and that sometime during the course of the season, made contact. Chiyoh def would be the likely source pr connection of that transgression...
But who knows? XD
To me, it's very easy to understand Hannibal's motifs: he simply cannot accept the fact that Will may, some day, forget about him. He simply can't move beyond separation.
ReplyDeleteWill Graham is the only person in his life that makes him feel something (pain, love, affection, hunger) and he can't be somewhere in the world if Will doesn't follow. He tried to escape after the Red Dinner but... .
You can torture him, you can beat him to death and he won't lose his smile. If Will start talking about moving on, you can see the discomfort in his eyes. Will feels the same way but he can't tolerate anymore the violence in their relationship. They adore each other but they can't be in the same room for five minutes without trying to kill one another. They are identically different (what a tragedy).
I know this sounds like a very romantic explanation but it makes sense to me.
Will gave Hannibal a key to release himself from Will’s mind, but Hannibal literally swallowed the key, locking himself there. Locking them both.
I love everything. Just everything.
Great review, Veronika ;-)
"Will Graham is the only person in his life that makes him feel something (pain, love, affection, hunger) and he can't be somewhere in the world if Will doesn't follow. He tried to escape after the Red Dinner but... ."
ReplyDeleteI think this would be fine and totally acceptable explanation, if Hannibal wasn't just previously a-ok with cutting open Will's head presumably to eat Will's brains (reference to film/novel + Forgiveness = "I'm going to have to eat him") in the episode before--that's a world eventually without Will Graham too! Plus, unless they askew the upcoming plot, Hannibal comes to attempt to have Will killed again!!!
That is why it doesn't make a lot of sense, because we don't have an actual understanding for what changed in like a day in Hannibal's mind?? It could be to close of a brush with death, it could be that he hasn't had that much fun in a year, it could be that it all just finally hit him, or it could it could have nothing to do with Will at all.
Best episode of the season so far, I'm excited for what's coming and what happened to Bedelia is she gone for good?
ReplyDeleteDo you really want to know?
ReplyDeleteThe act of eating him (his brain, in particural) is a way to lock Will inside him forever. Just as he did with Misha.
ReplyDeleteThe dialogue in front of the Primavera is basically the last goodbye before the "separation". Remember Will's knife? It's always a cat-and-mouse play between them (even in violence).
At the end of Digestivo, Hannibal is tired (they both are), without energy and he keeps writing equations in his notebook (as Bryan noted, to find a way to reverse time). He promised to Alana both to kill her and save Will from Mason... guess what, someone finally helped the poor guy.
At this point, would it make sense another escape without Will to search for him? To pursue him? In a certain way, Will's the strongest between them. His heart is with Hannibal but his mind can't tolerate the game anymore. It's logical for Hannibal, then, choosing to stay close.
I know this sounds almost illogical but you can't explain love without a bit of madness in it.
I adore reading your comments, by the way. Just my point of view, by the way :-)
Then if it is Mischa, then it does make sense! (and Thank you)
ReplyDelete