“The Hindu god Shiva is known as the god of destruction and creation; a paradoxical idea to many, but one that makes sense given some thought. There’s a finite amount of energy in the universe; in order for something new to be created, other things must be broken down and destroyed to keep the balance going.” – Jonathan Raeder
“How was my funeral?”
The Hindu god Shiva is known as the god of destruction and creation; a paradoxical idea to many, but one that makes sense given some thought. There’s a finite amount of energy in the universe; in order for something new to be created, other things must be broken down and destroyed to keep the balance going. “Ko No Mono” draws heavily on that premise, and shows how the courtship of Will and Hannibal has moved onto its next step; one where Hannibal hopes to transform Will into what Hannibal hopes will be his true form of an antlered demon birthed from the corpse of a dead stag.
Birth, destruction, rebirth: all feature prominently in “Ko No Mono,” from the opening nightmarish “birth” scene (a birth coming out of a dead mother), to Margo and Will’s potential – and then snuffed out – child, to Vergers’ legacy, to Shiva, and much more. Hannibal’s references to his sister Misha – perhaps the only person he’s ever truly loved – also echo the idea of resurrection. He wants to bring her back, hopes that the cup will reform, but nothing ever is truly reborn, only metaphorically. There are no phoenixes in the real world.
There may be no actual phoenixes, but the idea of them haunts this episode, even from the beginning, where Hannibal and Will literally eat a roasted bird whole. The corpse falsely identified as Freddie Lounds’ was set on fire, then later exumed and deified. It was reborn too; made legendary after death. Will and Hannibal’s continued interactions – officially dubbed by Alana as a courtship – continue, with the two discussing the chemical changes that occur in the mind of killers and fathers.
Fatherhood intertwines with the theme of birth and rebirth, with both Will and Hannibal reflecting on the children they could have been fathers to: Abigail and Misha. It’s possible that Hannibal was even being genuine when he tells Will that he was sorry to have taken Abigail from her, but that she was a necessary sacrifice to bring Will to the position he’s in today. Will plays this with the appropriate amount of residual anger and feigned acceptance of Hannibal’s decision. Can Hannibal love? He definitely loves Will in some twisted way, but whether that extends beyond Will’s uses for him to Will’s own happiness is uncertain. Perhaps one day Hannibal will tell Will the story of his sister’s death and reveal something brutally honest about himself. Perhaps not.
Those of you worrying about Will’s morality after his supposed murder of Freddie Lounds have nothing to fear however; she’s alive after all, holed up in Jack’s office, fully aware of what’s going on. We can only draw the conclusion that Will explained the evidence and his plan to her in the moments after he dragged her away in the previous episode, and now Freddie has joined Will, Jack, and possibly Alana in the plot to catch Hannibal Lecter. Will’s been playing up his own instability in front of Alana; a dangerous gambit, sure, but when coupled with the heavy-handed hints that it’s Hannibal who’s made him this way, Alana’s suspicions were effectively roused.
It’s been slightly confusing as to what the larger role of the Vergers has been this season. They were introduced slowly over the past few episodes, almost just to serve as fan service for the book readers, but now the pieces behind their introduction have started to fit together. Margo and Will’s baby is no more, but that always seemed unlikely as a future development. Their story has been appropriately horrifying though, with the scenes of the pigs eating corpses being just the level of revulsion that Hannibal likes to throw at its viewers. However, this episode, which dangles the prospect of Will becoming a literal father – in some ways replacing Abigail – abruptly cuts in short in one of the most disturbing scenes ever in the show’s history. Somehow the idea of Mason invading Margo’s body and forever ridding her of the ability to have children is far more disgusting and horrifying than even a man peeling himself out of an eye of corpses. It’s a violation of the utmost kind; if we needed any more evidence that Mason is a terrible, terrible person, here we have it. He literally drinks the tears of children.
However, Margo and Mason have also been manipulated by Hannibal, and if the final scene of the episode – in which Will storms into Muskrat Ranch and accosts Mason – means that they’re also turning against Hannibal, then it’s not looking good for our favorite cannibalistic serial killer. Jack, Freddie, Alana, Mason, Margo, and of course Will all against him? Hannibal better watch out.
Hannibal is convinced that Will’s finally become the killer he always could be, but for once, Hannibal is wrong. Will knows that whatever Hannibal’s suggesting is probably the wrong course of action, and he’s developed such a refined sense of what Hannibal is trying to manipulate him to do that he’s able to reverse-manipulate him. He knows that Hannibal orchestrated the whole incident with Margo’s child and Mason’s destruction of that attempt, and he knows that killing Mason would simply be playing into Hannibal’s hands. He even has a gun right up against Mason’s evil brain and refuses to pull the trigger. It’s time for Hannibal to see what he’s really created in Will: his ultimate enemy.
Tidbits:
· Ha! I was right! Freddie Lounds is alive and hopefully next episode we’ll see how it all came together. However, this does clarify that Jack knows at least a good deal of Will’s overall plan, and now Alana is being brought into the fold.
· Hannibal is confirmed for season three! Very exciting news, especially since there’s rumors that this season is going to end on a cliffhanger.
· I’ve never read any of the books in the Hannibal series, and the only other exposure I’ve had to it outside of the show is the Silence of the Lambs film. However, from what I know of the story, the show has already made some significant changes; from killing characters earlier (Chilton), to bringing up characters that didn’t exist until after Silence of the Lambs (the Vergers), to altering the reasons behind certain aspects (in the books its never explained why Margo can’t have children). It’s a really interesting way of paying homage to the books while making an original story.
· I’ve commented numerous times on how under-utilized Alana has been this season, but it’s looking like she’s going to play a big role in the next two episodes.
· Favorite quote of this episode: Mason describes his previous attempts at therapy and Hannibal curtly responds “That’s not helpful.”
