It wouldn't be something I could sum up with excerpts unfortunately. Just the general "feel" of the character I interpreted from the novel (and movies). He simply never seemed that emotionally impacted by his involvement in the investigations, he never really seemed to psychologically suffer as a result of his gift/curse. There was always a disparity between the way he talked about how difficult his all encompassing empathy was and how he actually acted. It always felt incongruent to me in some nebulous way I never consciously put my finger on until Dancy's Graham. It was like a light bulb after seeing three different iterations of the character... "Oh, he really is fucked up by this so called gift. He's not just saying it."
I ironically thought he was being whinier before, because the pain and torture wasn't as obvious. So when he actually debated going out to save a family, it was like, "Get over it." But with Dancy's, I know this guy's legitimately hurting and damaged and this case could damn well break him. It becomes a much greater dilemma and I respect the character more for taking it on. He actually seems braver and like less of a coward than the more overtly courageous previous versions of the character, if that makes any sense.
"No. You know--having to look. It's always bad, but you get so you can function
anyway, as long as they're dead. The hospital, interviews, that's worse. You have to
shake it off and keep on thinking. I don't believe I could do it now. I could make
myself look, but I'd shut down the thinking."
I get pain and torture from this. I guess with Dancy's Graham, it's just like, he's been through
all this, and now we're doing the Red Dragon arc? That's the obvious discrepancy, and why it's hard to compare this version to any of the others.
And although his fleshed out relationship with Hannibal certainly adds some weight to this, I think it would be there regardless just from the way Will is portrayed in his investigations even from the pilot episode. Putting Will into the murderers' shoes and actually having him graphically visualize himself killing these people is extremely effective and imparts an unnerving feeling. I don't recall if the novels did that, I know the films didn't.
The book did have lines like:
Mrs. Leeds was lovely, wasn't she? You turned on the light after you cut his throat
so Mrs. Leeds could watch him flop, didn't you? It was maddening to have to wear
gloves when you touched her, wasn't it?
which I think are just as effective (and creepy). Manhunter did have a 'this is my design' moment. It was near the end of the film. Also, I found a screenplay online, and it looks like a ton of stuff was cut out.
EDIT: Yeah, I think that last paragraph is a big part of it. I just skimmed the novel looking for exerpts. Here is a few lines from Will's investigation of the Leeds: "First there was the entry. (Will) thought about that... The madman slipped the hook on the outside screen door... He put out his tongue and licked the cup... He is inside. He does not care that he leaves AB saliva on the glass..."
Harris/Will refer to the killer as "he" and "the madman" whereas Will in the show refers to the killer (and visualizes him) as "I". I think that's major, and I think that denotes extreme empathy much more than the novels. "The madman" is such a pejorative, distant, de-humanizing way to approach the killer in these investigations. For Dancy, there is no such reprieve. For Dancy the madman is "me". That would fuck up anyone to the point where I don't think you could say Dancy is overacting or too neurotic or whiny, etc. and it drives home just how horrible his gift is.
Oh, I'm not saying Dancy is overacting. I just wish Fuller hadn't made the character go through as much as he has. But I guess it's necessary if you want to have three seasons worth of material.
I also really want to see how Fuller would handle Clarice's relationship with Hannibal.
