“‘Futamono’ marks the biggest shift in the season so far, coming at about the halfway mark. The evidence gathered from the fishhooks establishes Will’s innocence and he can finally leave the confines of his prison cell.” – Jonathan Raeder
“If the Ripper is killing, you can bet Hannibal Lecter is having a dinner party.”
As viewers, we know that Hannibal Lecter is a cannibal, a vicious monster masquerading as a human who eats people and tricks many others into cannibalism. Sometimes it’s difficult to see him as the other people in his life – Alana Bloom or Jack Crawford for example – see him. He’s a sophisticated, empathetic, brilliant man devoted to helping people and making delicious food with painstaking detail and craftsmanship. He was almost killed not long ago, and he has an accused mass murderer spouting false accusations against him. Hannibal, a murderer? A cold-blooded cannibal? Never.
Except for Will. Will sees Hannibal for the antlered monster he is, and he’s willing to lie and manipulate and kill for the chance to enact his vengeance and prevent the rest of the world from having to live in the same place as Hannibal Lecter. He’ll even become Hannibal if necessary – the dark nightmarish antlers he continues to sprout have ripped open his cage. To be set free, he must become Hannibal, just as Hannibal has filled in Will’s role, both in the FBI and in Alana and Jack’s hearts. It’s hard to tell if it’ll all be worth it in the end.
Despite Will’s initiative and growing capacity for darkness, Hannibal remains one step ahead. He either feeds everyone at his party non-human meat or somehow manipulates it so that Jack receives non-human meat, but either way there is no evidence to tie him to cannibalism. He knocks out Alana after sleeping with her so that she will firmly fight as his alibi for the night Gideon was spirited away from the hospital. Even when the FBI seems to make advances – such as finding Miriam Lass trapped in a hole reminiscent of Silence of the Lambs’ Buffalo Bill’s holes, it’s because Hannibal has allowed them to. What’s he up to now? He’s all but given the FBI enough evidence to free Will, and his rampant murder spree has turned the spotlight on him.
It almost seems as if Hannibal is casting suspicions on himself only as a roundabout way of proving them false. From Alana’s alibi to the non-human meat at the party to saving Bella’s life, Hannibal has consistently been able to refute any accusations and prove himself trustworthy. Now all he has to do is sit back and let a vengeful, newly freed Will Graham slip up and condemn himself. He can even indulge in a few horrifying murders while he waits.
The killer of the week episodes of Hannibal have always felt somewhat forced, even if they have been creative and grotesquely beautiful hours of television. Perhaps it’s how they take away from Hannibal as the central focus of the show, or strain credulity that there could really be this many bizarre serial killers in the world. However, “Futamono” brilliantly weaves the two – Hannibal’s killings and random creative serial killers – together, and makes Hannibal the one responsible for many more macabre corpse displays. It’s a brilliant move that frankly should’ve been done more already. Now nothing else remains to distract the FBI from the hunt of the Chesapeake Ripper – the mastermind who’s claimed credit for the majority of the series’ murders.
That hunt is going to lead the towards Hannibal, sooner rather than later, and when that happens Jack and – especially – Alana will have to confront the same feeling Will did at the end of last season. What happens when you realize that your friend and confidant has been something else, something so wholly wrong, all along? It’s made even worse among people like the main characters of this show, all behavioral experts that consider themselves adept at reading other people. To be fooled this utterly, to have made such huge lapses in judgment – it’s enough to drive anyone to Will Graham levels of instability.
Alana’s been roped into Hannibal’s defenses, serving as his alibi and most likely his chief defender in the episodes to come. The show has toyed slightly with sexual tension between the two, but it does seem rather sudden in “Futamono.” Alana’s support of Will so far has hinged on her belief that neither Will nor Hannibal were murders, but Will’s attempt on Hannibal’s life has cut that tie loose. She needs to mourn him and turns to Hannibal, who’s pretending to do the same. Hopefully Alana comes around to doubting Hannibal, but it will be a long and intense path towards that realization.
From the haunting harpsichord opening to the almost more beautiful than creepy tree-man, to the surreal flower collage, Hannibal continues to excel in look, feel, and sound in addition to its stellar writing and acting. It’s hard to believe it’s a network show. Show-runner Brian Fuller has commented before on the influence of Busby Berkley on Hannibal’s cinematography, and it’s definitely evident in the opening shot of Hannibal’s dinner party. Classical music plays and waiters spin around a table, laying out what may or may not be human flesh. Hannibal delights in making its viewers uncomfortably find beauty in the macabre, but if the show looks this good, it’s hard to complain.
“Futamono” marks the biggest shift in the season so far, coming at about the halfway mark. The evidence gathered from the fishhooks establishes Will’s innocence and he can finally leave the confines of his prison cell. Will’s freedom means he’ll have more opportunities to pursue Hannibal, but he’ll also be more open to attack. Hannibal doesn’t seem like he’d go after Will straight away – he’s going to dangle Alana in front of Will, threaten her death if Will tries anything. Will can only win if he turns Alana away from Hannibal.
Finally, we come to Miriam Lass. She was the old Will Graham, pushed into darkness by Jack and eventually killed. Evidently, though, Hannibal had other plans for her. She’s been living in a pit for over two years, sans one arm. While she has the knowledge to convict Hannibal, will she have the sanity to tell it? Why did Hannibal let her free? The only thing we know for sure is that Hannibal has some plan with her, and it’s not going to be good for Will and the FBI.
Tidbits:
· I’m surprised by how much I’m enjoying Dr. Chilton recently. Commenting on Hannibal’s meat-heavy dinner party, he lists a number of meals before looking at the strange one in his hand and saying “and whatever this is.” He’s kind of hilarious. And probably won’t survive very long.
· Notice the stag horns on the wall of Hannibal’s house?
· I didn’t even really have space for talking about how Gideon is being fed his own leg. Such a Hannibal Lecter move.
· I was really hoping Gideon, after eating his own leg, would say something like “I taste delicious.” “My compliments to the chef,” is good, but not as great as the other one would’ve been.
