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Hannibal S3 |OT| Man Destroys God. Hannibal Eats Man. Hannibal Inherits The Earth.

Kevin

Member
So, Fuller mentioned that his current non-SOTL-rights plans for S4 were a radical departure.

After this episode, I think we have a very good suspicion as to what they are.

That winged exclamation point has a lot of implications for where they plan to go with the series. It's a loaded image.

Do you think
they will get the Silents of the Lambs licensed content
or is this just a tease just in case?
 

Kevin

Member
I think they're currently not expecting to.

Bummer!
I figured Lifetime would be to greedy to let them use the material. Everyone's greedy these days and Lifetime will likely never make anything worthwhile with the license anyways. Super lame but not surprising.
 

zugzug

Member
three episodes in this season is losing me I think I'm watching these episodes when I'm way to sleepy so I'm not picking up on what they are going for and not having read the other books in past or seen manhunter I'm feeling out of the loop. These just seem to slow for me fine with one episode like this
 
Okay, so...

That was pretty good. It bored the shit out of my friend who loved Seasons 1 and 2, and I kinda see why, despite me really digging it.

They've gone full-on surreal art nerd.

But, these last two episodes have been a fascinating glimpse at how Will is basically Anti-Hannibal now. He's now fully his equal, using Hannibal's own methodology against him, rebuilding and reconstructing Hannibal's myth-making and history in order to get to him. And Hannibal's aware of this too, but he'll still get suckered into it. He even pulls a reverse of the Hannibal/Bedelia relationship by setting up Chio to kill the Prisoner and "freeing" her, the same way Hannibal would do to his patients. It'll be interesting to see if Chio makes it to the end of the season... or if she switches back to Hannibal's side.

The show is beautiful as always, but man, is it really self-indulgent (but since I love how visual it is, I still love its self-indulgence. Pretty much the only show that can get away with being that pretentious, haha). Hannibal's always placed metaphor and mood about human violence over actual realism, so it fits that all this is essentially "the afterlife". Hannibal Lecter as we know him is dead. Will Graham is dead. Jack Crawford is dead. And then they came back, different. Reconstructed. And we're seeing this bizarre post-death dream state they're all living in, almost a blur, a fugue.

It's a fascinating way to go. I mean, shots like Will walking around a creepy tomb with fireflies in the air, that is just pure fantasy. The hellish torture of the prisoner. The walking stag creature in Episode 2. His failures haunting him through Abigail again and again. Will Graham is in purgatory. That's why his whole storyline is just so crazily visual and toned differently from last season. He didn't fully return from the dead. He exists in a state between life and death (Schroedinger's Profiler?)... maybe he's only able to feel alive near Hannibal now for all we know.

Jack Crawford is in purgatory too. But he sees his way out, by saving Will from whatever he thinks Will is planning to do.

Hannibal... Hannibal's basically...

hannibal4mdqkn.jpg


Also... holy fuck, Tao Okamoto is one of the most beautiful women I've ever laid my eyes upon.

 
I loved this episode. The imagery was ethereal. There were a few times I had trouble following what was going on, but honestly... I did not care. At all. It's just part of the feeling of the show at this point. If it were any different, it wouldn't be Hannibal. From the preview, it looks like we're gonna get back to the swing of things in the next few episodes, and where I can't fuckin' wait to see Alana n' everyone, I'm fine with Bryan layin' on the artsy stuff super thick while he still can :)

Will keeps looking better and better :x Dark, fairy tale forests with lighting bugs & decrepit fountains suit him well <3 And that big collar on his sexy, sexy coat? Ugh. I gotta say, he and Chiyoh are equal in attractiveness (ie, I find him as drop-dead gorgeous as many peeps in this here thread think she is). Goddamn what a smokin' hot cast. Everyone is so perfect! Ugh ugh ugh.

OH! and also, NAKAMA? I just about screamed when I heard that, oh. my. god. YES. Not at all something I would expect ... ever... from any TV show out of One Piece /headdesk
 

dlauv

Member
This show has almost become self-parody. They aren't even characters anymore.

The show has every character speaking as if they're part of the same meta-consciousness that the show's constructed, similar to a Wachowski production, but it's very doofy considering the past seasons. It's nearly cringey over the top.

They finally began to build more mainstream appeal, and then they pull this. I'm worried for the show a bit.
 

Wiktor

Member
Those two last episodes felt like a fever dream. Love it. Now that Hannibal has exposed himself fully he no loger feels human and Will is going down that road too. If greek gods were alive I think this is how they would percieve the world.
I don't think I could survive a whole season of episodes like this, but a short burst of psychological horror like this is awesome idea to lay the ground for the return of thriller storyline.
 
Great episode. I particularly love how they addressed Hannibal's backstory from Rising. That simple twist that he ate Mischa fixes everything.
 

Cerity

Member
Too much showing, needs more doing, things are starting to get overbearing for me. I get this scene is meant to be full of suspense, no need for some strings to come over the top and tell me.

I wasn't expecting Crawford for another 2-3 episodes tbh but I can do with him appearing already.

Loved the last line and the cut to the credits though, the music suit it perfectly.
 

While I had some complaints about the episode, I think the payoff of knowing that much more about Hannibal ("Nothing happened to me. I happened.") is soooo satisfying and such a good turn on what they could have done--that is, turn him into a tragic villain.

Instead, he fits much more into what Will said about Hannibal (Chesapeake Ripper, at that time in S1):

Jack: Tell me how you see The Ripper Will.
Will: I see him as one of those pitiful things sometimes born in hospitals. They feed it, keep it warm, but they don't put it on machines. They let it die. But he doesn't die. He looks normal. Nobody can tell what he is.

He's a monster. There's no explanation for it.
 

Blader

Member
These last two episodes have made me okay with Fuller phasing out Will for Clarice (or whatever Clarice analogue they'll have to make up) next season. I haven't really liked anything they've done with Will this year, he's acting really bizarre and on-the-nose.
 

-griffy-

Banned
The winged firefly tableau at the end (it was a firefly like those that led Will to the dungeon [and were concentrated in the area since their larvae feed on snails], to be clear, not a moth like Silence of the Lambs key marketing image) was Will simply gloating to Hannibal, I believe. He figured out his past, and saw the game he was playing with Chiyoh and interjected himself into it. Essentially he accomplished what Hannibal couldn't, which was getting Chiyoh to kill the prisoner. Even if that wasn't his full intention, he's still taking credit for it to mess with Hannibal. It's essentially Will's response to Hannibal's broken heart tableau from the first two episodes of the season.
 
I don't care what else Fuller does with Hannibal. The fact that he's given a big middle finger to Hannibal Rising makes his the definitive version of the character.

Edit; I loved the look of the Lecter family estate. It looked like something straight out of a gothic horror movie.
 

deleted__user

Neo Member
To me , the surreal imagery is probably the best of this show, so I'm currently really satisfied with this season. I know it's too much for some of you, but I wish the rest of the show continues like that. Also,
was that Hannibal's father?

By the way, something I noticed but may not mean anything:


Stag symbolism or coincidence?
 
Weird. I thought this was the best and least abstract of all the episodes so far. Plus the reintroduction of Jack pleases me. Jack and some of the other character act as real grounding presences on the show, they make the ambiguous hyper philosophical conversations that Hannibal and Will have palatable by making sure it doesn't take over the show. The opening episodes of this season have been without that and so have felt very flighty, but as the season goes on I think it'll put on weight.
 

Corpsepyre

Banned
I believe the artsy/surreal nature of these three episodes is to be linked to Natali's direction. He has a very distinct, almost Lynchian way of directing. Things will definitely pick up once a different director comes in. Neil Marshall is directing an episode as well this season.
 
So, Fuller mentioned that his current non-SOTL-rights plans for S4 were a radical departure.

After this episode, I think we have a very good suspicion as to what they are.
Could you give more details on this? Are you expecting it to deal with Will as a Hannibal-like murderer? Or are you referring to Bedalia's desire to know about the first time he prepared the lamb? Or something else?

I must confess, I'm very displeased that we won't be going towards The Silence of the Lamb. It'll of course depend on how Red Dragon is handled later, and how it concludes, but as of right now I'm not remotely happy with the decision (yes, I know they don't have the rights, my expectation had been an altered version which strikes upon the same beats) even if Fuller has been quite excellent until now. (Spoilers for Red Dragon)
Will's relationship with Hannibal, while the core of the show at the present time, can only be explored in so many more ways, and having Will retire (as in Red Dragon), or die, or somehow go out of the picture, is needed for a fresh show. Hugh Dancy (I'm bad with actor names, that is Will's actor?) has done tremendous work on this show and had continuously been enticing, but this cannot go the way of Homeland and holding onto the relationship at the centre long after it's been explored thoroughly and squeezed of all intrigue would be toxic, particularly when Hannibal will be in a prison cell.

Also, regarding the image at the end of the episode itself, I thought it was very clever in combining so many aspects of the Hannibal mythology in one murder tableau, from the shards of glass reminiscent of the Red Dragon's use of mirrors, to the moth/butterfly of Silence, and the many other elements it draws inspiration from in the show itself.

Anyway, I have to say I'm somewhat surprised by the comments of it being too slow, I actually thought the season has been moving extremely quickly for the last two episodes. The show is definitely more self indulgent (in regards to things such as the close-ups of the Cyo [?] this episode as she's cutting the bird, the clever transitions, or the champagne bottle being sliced in the opening; I don't think the level of surreal imagery has altered that much at all), perhaps too indulgent at times, but, at the same time, I find this highly effective in enhancing the extremely unsettling atmosphere and making the show full of dread, while reflecting the topics which are being touched upon by many of the characters; I thought it was really only the first episode which bordered upon overly indulgent unnecessarily, I thought it returned to the progression from previous seasons levels since Will re-entered the scene, but even then the first episode's visual flourishes appear to be motifs which will continue throughout the season. At the same time though, I really do not think it's nearly as abstract as seems to be implied (at least by Sepinwall but it seems some other viewers also feel the same). I can certainly see how it may be off-putting for many, but I definitely wouldn't agree with the notion that there is very little else to latch onto in these episodes (whether or not the style of storytelling which has become more prominent resonates with you however is another matter entirely though).
 
Even if that wasn't his full intention, he's still taking credit for it to mess with Hannibal. It's essentially Will's response to Hannibal's broken heart tableau from the first two episodes of the season.

I get all that - I just don't see the need for that echo/answer. It's unnecessary especially considering how far into each others heads they actually are. It's a show that has figured out a way to delicately blend subtle and outlandish together in a very artful manner. But sometimes they overdo it *juuuuuuuust* a smidge, and I think that's what happened at the end. Again, Hannibal's downfall is so obvious that Bedelia's spotted it, and Hannibal seems to be trying to lean into it as a way to pull some semblance of victory (and forgiveness) out of that impending end of his freedom. Will doesn't need to be dressing up corpses in artistic fashion to solidify that. It's belaboring the point.
 

-griffy-

Banned
I get all that - I just don't see the need for that echo/answer. It's unnecessary especially considering how far into each others heads they actually are. It's a show that has figured out a way to delicately blend subtle and outlandish together in a very artful manner. But sometimes they overdo it *juuuuuuuust* a smidge, and I think that's what happened at the end. Again, Hannibal's downfall is so obvious that Bedelia's spotted it, and Hannibal seems to be trying to lean into it as a way to pull some semblance of victory (and forgiveness) out of that impending end of his freedom. Will doesn't need to be dressing up corpses in artistic fashion to solidify that. It's belaboring the point.

They are for sure pushing things with these first three episodes, so I can understand the sentiment. Looks like next week will be the proper follow-up/fallout episode from the season 2 finale, and things will snap a bit more into focus as various characters establish specific plans.
 

kirblar

Member
Could you give more details on this? Are you expecting it to deal with Will as a Hannibal-like murderer? Or are you referring to Bedalia's desire to know about the first time he prepared the lamb? Or something else?
There's a lot of things in this episode that combine to serve as foreshadowing or references to the books:
Will and Hannibal getting their female companion to kill. Lamb (my first dish) being served. Jack references once again that he broke Will Graham. The big one at the end is Will turning the dead body into the Moth from Silence. I think we're totally getting Buffalo Will for S4 if the rights situation doesn't clear up.
 

Mumei

Member
There's a lot of things in this episode that combine to serve as foreshadowing or references to the books:
Will and Hannibal getting their female companion to kill. Lamb (my first dish) being served. Jack references once again that he broke Will Graham. The big one at the end is Will turning the dead body into the Moth from Silence. I think we're totally getting Buffalo Will for S4 if the rights situation doesn't clear up.

... I don't see how that makes any sense for Will's arc.
 

Wiktor

Member
While I had some complaints about the episode, I think the payoff of knowing that much more about Hannibal ("Nothing happened to me. I happened.") is soooo satisfying and such a good turn on what they could have done--that is, turn him into a tragic villain.

Instead, he fits much more into what Will said about Hannibal (Chesapeake Ripper, at that time in S1):



He's a monster. There's no explanation for it.
Yes. This is what I hated about Hannibal Rising and was fist bumping they didn't follow this route here. Hannibal should never be some poor sod who got hurt emotionally and turned into the monster. He's much grander than that. He just happened.
 

kirblar

Member
... I don't see how that makes any sense for Will's arc.
In the novels, Will rides off into the sunset. He won't be doing that here, and for S4+ they are completely on their own because they've adapted all the other material (Rising, Red Dragon, Hannibal) at this point. Given that they're still going with the Extreme Bromance stuff even now, there's not a ton of other ways you can shift the paradigm that isn't just retracing your steps. Will actually cracking lets you do and maintain him as a presence while introducing your Clarice stand-in for S4 to take over as a central character.
 
I'd rather Will just leave the show at that point. Swap him out for a different agent, like Harris did when he essentially rewrote Red Dragon into Silence.
 

-griffy-

Banned
There's a lot of things in this episode that combine to serve as foreshadowing or references to the books:
Will and Hannibal getting their female companion to kill. Lamb (my first dish) being served. Jack references once again that he broke Will Graham. The big one at the end is Will turning the dead body into the Moth from Silence. I think we're totally getting Buffalo Will for S4 if the rights situation doesn't clear up.

Will turned the guy into a firefly, like those that led him to the dungeon (and were concentrated in the area since their larvae feed on snails). The imagery certainly evoked the moth from Silence, but it was specifically a firefly which ties more literally into the imagery from this episode.
 
In the novels, Will rides off into the sunset. He won't be doing that here, and for S4+ they are completely on their own because they've adapted all the other material (Rising, Red Dragon, Hannibal) at this point. Given that they're still going with the Extreme Bromance stuff even now, there's not a ton of other ways you can shift the paradigm that isn't just retracing your steps. Will actually cracking lets you do and maintain him as a presence while introducing your Clarice stand-in for S4 to take over as a central character.

Silence of the Lambs and Red Dragon.

While I agree that unfortunately Will will probably be present for the entirety of the show's run, or for the foreseeable future at the very least, I think the idea of Season 4 being Will as a murderer encounters numerous issues from a production standpoint, regardless of this development as part of his character progression (because that can drastically change in the remaining episodes). If we end the season in an approximate Red Dragon end-state only with Will on the run as a killer, depending on who survives, we end up with Will as Hannibal on the run, Hannibal as Will only confine to a prison cell, and Jack, Alana, and Clarice chasing Will/Hannibal, very akin to this season's premise. This isn't necessarily the worst, as this could definitely work, but they encounter extreme challenges in differentiating this enough to make it both viable and entertaining while avoiding the pitfall that is walking down trodden ways. In this situation, Will still ends up dealing with himself as a killer which they have been dealing with since the midpoint of season two until now, Hannibal and Will continue the game of cat-and-mouse while exploring their sense of self and their feelings towards each other, Jack once again deals with worries that Clarice will be enticed or broken by Hannibal and Will and fears that Will will murder her(*) while still regretting/questioning that he caused Will's behaviour and doomed him, Alana is left again confronting Will being a killer and Jack betraying his promise that he'd prevent Will getting too close, and of course Clarice ends up chasing Will and manipulated/influenced by Hannibal. While Will as a killer may work, it would be extremely difficult to make it unique and not simply a retread of themes and situations that the show has already dealt with at numerous points.

(*) While I am aware that this obviously happens in Silence of the Lambs to a degree anyway, having Jack's fears about Clarice's death come from an outside, unknown entity while his fear of her being manipulated (as Hannibal remains behind bars so he isn't a major physical threat) comes from an entity which he knows and has caused him so much pain is different enough from both parties being known entities and possessing the same threat doesn't have the same effect to me, but from this aspect I can see this part, in isolation, working as it's quite a different dynamic (it's the other areas where it encounters more gaping issues). It would justify Crawford going back to Hannibal for help after all that has happened though, because Hannibal is the only one who 'knows' Will and thus needs his help.

Also, I can't remember who suggested it earlier (it may have either been speculation or rumour based upon a spoiler, I don't know which so please read only at your own discretion and with extreme caution as it may have been a spoiler) but
Bedalia being transformed into the Birth of Venus has grown increasingly enticing to me. There seems to be little doubt that there is a buildup to a confrontation in Florence. Jack and Pazzi are heading there, Will is armed with a companion and will have to head there (as it's his only other lead) as he knows about Hannibal's history as Il Mostro, Bedalia having put into motion her means of escape with her routine and her standing out, and Hannibal's murders. In addition, this season has partly explored Hannibal's background and part of that is as a serial killer who recreated paintings. Bedalia has been connected with oysters, and water, while snails (and their shells) have featured heavily, and Bedalia has been exploring Hannibal's love of Will Graham. The idea of Bedalia pressing too far in asking how Hannibal's sister tasted seems to be supported as she immerses into the bathtub after. The Birth of Venus painting is well known enough to be recognised if recreated on the show, Venus is the goddess of beauty, love, and fertility (which oysters are associated with), and there is little doubt in my mind that we will get a more complete human painting given that it has been established (even if it works on its own, I definitely think we are going to get one).
Perhaps it won't happen at all and they're not actually foreshadowing or suggesting it at all, but I find the idea appealing.
 
I think it's more likely that
A Clarice stand-in drags a broken Will out of isolation in the aftermath of the Red Dragon fiasco. I don't think we'll see Will on the run as a murderer, totally fallen in with Hannibal's philosophy.
 
Fuller's plan, back in the 7 seasons day, was to have Will take a backseat in the SotL storyline, and then he would return in the final season for a Will-Clarice-Hannibal dynamic. Don't know if that's the case anymore, of course.
 

jett

D-Member
This show has been sliding too far into the artsy-fartsy side of the spectrum this season. Seems all it's concerned with is crafting pretty imagery and waxing philosophical.

BTW is it me or is the show too dark now? I'm having a hard time making out stuff.
 

cackhyena

Member
This show has been sliding too far into the artsy-fartsy side of the spectrum this season. Seems all it's concerned with is crafting pretty imagery and waxing philosophical.

BTW is it me or is the show too dark now? I'm having a hard time making out stuff.
Yup. I love the show but it's getting up its own ass too much. They need to move this shit along now.
 

wenis

Registered for GAF on September 11, 2001.
Hannibal up its own ass? noway!

I love this show, but like, it's always been there. since day one. This season is such an operatic piece I can't believe they haven't gone further with the imagery and pacing. It's absolutely wonderful the places they're exploring, on television no less!
 

wenis

Registered for GAF on September 11, 2001.
I can't think of anything specific, but it reminded me of a European vampire movie. They made a lot of those in the 70s, and many were shot in foggy, atmospheric moors as with this episode.

reminded me of the castle in White Zombie

whitezombiecastlem1q2q.jpg


lets not forget that Murder Legrendre was a voodoo master who controlled his zombies to kill in his bidding....

hannibal-season-3hcsbw.png
 

Cerity

Member
By the way, something I noticed but may not mean anything:



Stag symbolism or coincidence?

There was a bunch of stag stuff going on in the forest, which seemed to be Will putting himself into Hannibal's mindset so he would be prepared for whatever he might encounter at the manor.

Not sure if you can make it out but it's obvious in motion, human stag form:

 
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