“‘Whimsy’ is not typically a word associated with Hannibal Lecter, the Chesapeake Ripper, but he does have a flair for the dramatic and the ironic.” – Jonathan Raeder
“Whenever feasible, one should always try to eat the rude.”
Ever since the introduction of the Vergers in the second half of this second season, it’s been unclear as to their role in the greater plot. Sure, they’re characters from the Hannibal novels, but they’re not from this early in the original story. Being dragged into the past of the canon means that there has to be something in their story that’s worth telling, something that contributes to the plot that brings Hannibal and Jack into the tense fight that opens up the season. “Tome-wan” provides a compelling reason: How Will and Hannibal collectively deal with them further brings them closer, close enough for Will to convince Hannibal to reveal himself to Jack.
Jack has always seemed like he knew more than he let on, but “Tome-wan” finally confirms it. He and Will have planned this long con ever since Will got out of prison, so he knows that Will is going to have to spend some time in the valley of darkness with the Devil in order to catch him. After all, both Jack and Will are good fisherman. However, Jack rightly suspects that Will isn’t revealing the whole truth, and decides to find out for himself by tracking down our favorite disappearing psychiatrist, Bedelia.
Under the promise of protection, she reveals the surprising fact that she was the one who killed her previous patient, not Hannibal, and she doesn’t even believe anymore that it was for self-defense. Even a cool-headed and intelligent psychiatrist like Bedelia fell prey to Hannibal’s manipulations; Hannibal evidently has enough psychological knowledge to coerce his own psychiatrist into murder. Her confession comes with a chilling addendum: “Don’t fool yourself into thinking he’s not in control of what happens.”
Will’s newfound success at getting close to Hannibal coupled with the sense that everyone is turning against him makes it seems so often in this back half of the season that Hannibal’s finally being outplayed. Yet Bedelia’s warning reminds us that if Hannibal seems like he’s in this difficult situation, it’s because he’s let them put him there. He wants to see what happens, wants to outsmart them. He’s untouchable, always one step ahead, always going to come out on top, always ready to drop some clever quirk or opaque hint that he’s a cannibal. It’s that very stage-presence, that larger-than-life view of himself as polite, upper-class, magnificently intelligent, and omniscient that will prove his downfall: “Whimsy — that’s how he’ll get caught.”
Whimsy is not typically a word associated with Hannibal Lecter, the Chesapeake Ripper, but he does have a flair for the dramatic and the ironic. Consider his vengeance against Mason Verger for the indescribably awful act of being rude. Hannibal drugs Mason in a bizarre sequence that managed to be both hilarious and sickening. “I am enchanted…and terrified,” says Mason. He pretty much sums up most of the viewers’ thoughts with that statement.
Eventually, the addled Mason starts slicing off his own face to feed to Will’s dogs. Hannibal even suggests that Mason eat his own nose — Mason thinks about it for a moment, then slices off his own nose and drops it down his throat. Perhaps Hannibal didn’t even think he’d actually do it. Finally, a deformed, paraplegic Mason Verger is forced to live out the rest of his life at the mercy of his sister Margo, his sister that he tormented all their lives. She retains control of their money and estate while being able to do whatever she wants to Mason — a fitting punishment for him indeed.
“Tome-wan” suffers a bit from the penultimate episode syndrome that often hits 13-episode seasons of TV. So many events need to happen in the finale that often the 12th episode serves as a table-setter, making sure all the pieces are in motion. In doing so, the episode veers into some TV clichés, such as Will being knocked unconscious to save from showing what happens to Mason’s lackey, or the strange decision by Hannibal to presumably reveal himself to Jack.
Yet the episode still largely succeeds; it ties up the Vergers’ story, builds up the tension of Will’s true loyalties, sets up the main contenders for the final battle, and even manages to maintain a horrific atmosphere that’s almost melancholically quiet — sad piano interludes replace what would usually be dissonant rumbles and percussive noises.
Hannibal is a prime example of how network television really can show whatever they want to, gore-wise, as “Tome-wan” offers up two particularly gruesome images — one of Mason’s lackey eaten by pigs, and one of Mason’s own self-mutilated face. It’s couched in shadows, but what we see is definitely enough, coupled with the slow build up as we wonder what exactly Mason’s feeding Will’s dogs. Now they’re corrupted too; Hannibal might even say they’ve just expanded their taste palette. Throw in the hallucinogenic scene with chaotic carnivalesqe music and Hannibal’s own warping head that’s sometimes a pig’s head, and “Tome-wan” manages to still be as beautifully terrifying as any Hannibal episode before it.
With the Vergers out of the story and only one episode left, the stakes couldn’t be higher. Jack and Hannibal play out a verbal sparring match about which one is truly the pursuer and which is the pursued. Jack knows — or is very close to knowing for sure — what Hannibal is, and Hannibal knows Jack knows. He’s too smart to feed Jack humans, so he’s resorted to more extravagant dishes of other meats, while taunting him about his own proclivities.
Meanwhile, Will is trying to manipulate Hannibal, even using his own phrases against him — “I just wanted to see what would happen,” and “We’re the same.” We know the final episode of this season is going to be the showdown between Hannibal and Jack, but whose side is Will going to be on? He thinks he’s on Jack’s side and any good feelings towards Hannibal are feigned, but if there’s anything that this show has proven, it’s that Hannibal knows what he’s doing. He’s a surgeon, a composer, an artist, and a master chef. He’s prepared these ingredients.
They’ve been cooking for twelve episodes. It’s time to bring out the main course.
Tidbits:
– Speculation corner: Will the fight between Jack and Hannibal take place at the very end of the episode? It’s looking like it, so regardless of who wins it might just end. First I thought that Jack had to be safe, seeing as he’s in the later novels, but with Chilton’s death, all bets are off. I’m worried — very worried.
– I’m finding the whole “remix” nature of the series even more compelling this episode. The show-runners are keeping many of the plot elements and characters from the book series but moving them around in time, changing things, subverting things, while still paying homage to the original work. It’s a really interesting way to adapt a series — it’s almost fanfiction in a way. Beautiful, masterful and (in my opinion) superior to the originals.
– This has honestly been the funniest episode of the season. There were so many hilarious moments, such as Hannibal’s face when Merger stabbed his leather chair.
– “Oh, he shouldn’t have done that.”
– “I’m full of myself.”
