In the fifth episode of the second season of Hannibal, amidst the loss of a team member, Jack and Alana realize that Will has set a horrifying plan in motion. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Hannibal.
THIS SHOW IS TOO INTENSE.
Trigger Warning: For discussion of blood/gore.
- So, I have no problem admitting that the first third of “Mukozuke” is downright unbearable. Putting aside my own issues with her end, seeing Beverly Katz presented as a dissected tableau is just way too much. It’s too personal, it’s too haunting, and there’s no entertainment value for me. It’s just awful to see. (Though I did think the whole thing was a clever nod to one of the more underrated horror films, The Cell. NO ONE TALKS ABOUT THAT FILM AND I LOVED IT.)
- I understand why it needs to happen. Freddie Lounds is compelled to find Beverly first because it’s Lecter’s way of taunting her. But it’s also how he’s taunting Jack as well; he knows that Jack will hate that he wasn’t the one to find her. And the tableau itself, as Will later explains, is meant to mock Beverly, whose pursuit of the evidence is referenced in the clinical way she’s dissected.
- But the scene also exists so that Will Graham can be brought to her. (Which speaks a lot about how her death is for the development of other characters, grumble grumble.) Jack, desperate for any sort of answer, turns to Will Graham, who tells him a truth so uncomfortable that he nearly lashes out at Will. The mural copycat and the Chesapeake Ripper are one and the same. Not just that, but Beverly found the Ripper. She found him because of Will, and I thought there was a pretty powerful parallel between Will and Jack in that moment. He pushed Beverly, and Jack pushed Will.
- It’s another piece of the puzzle that will lead to that confrontation, isn’t it? Will continues to plant the truth in Jack’s mind as best as he can, but there’s also only so much that he can do. It’s why Will sets off down the path he does in this episode. He knows he only has memories – fractured ones, at best – that implicated Lecter. There’s no evidence. And he also knows that the more he presses Jack to believe him, the less likely Jack will. Jack doesn’t like being forced in one direction, so it’s why Will says that Jack needs to come to his own conclusions.
- At least the BAU team discovers that James Gray’s liver was placed inside Beverly’s body because that supports Will’s theory. But is it enough?
- (Oh god, no. NO, IT’S NOT ENOUGH.)
- And once the episode gradually moves on from this part of the story, EVERYTHING IS A SHOCK AND SUPER SUSPENSEFUL AND I SAW NONE OF IT COMING
- INCLUDING THE FACT THAT ABEL GIDEON IS ALIVE.
- OH GOD, I JUST ASSUMED HE WAS DEAD. The people running this show are SATAN, because that was an UNFAIR TRICK that was… actually supported by the text. Oh, Mark, he never died onscreen. IT’S A BASIC RULE.
- Holy shit, I now understand the real meaning of the conversation that Will and Gideon have. !!!!!!! First, though, can we talk about how amazing it is that Will is manipulating Chilton’s self-serving nature in order to get what he wants? Chilton plays right into every thing that Will attempts, and I’m so entertained by it! But there’s another subtext to it all (as there is for nearly everything here) because we’re watching Will pull off his own grand manipulation in order to protect himself. He targets Chilton and then Freddie Lounds to serve his own interests.
- It’s Dr. Gideon, then, who plants the idea of revenge in Will’s mind. I’m not sure if that was entire thing was planned that way, but it’s not vital quite yet. But Dr. Gideon is the one to tell Will that Lecter won’t be brought to justice; Will is going to have to kill him himself.
- HA
- HA
- OH GODÂ
- Of course, up to this point, I was very convinced that Hannibal was always Will’s admirer because… well, why not? It fit. EXCEPT NOW I HAVE TO GO BACK AND RE-THINK EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED IN “HASSUN” BECAUSE OF THIS.
- WILL’S ORDERLY WAS THE ONE WHO KILLED ANDREW SYKES
- NOT HANNIBAL
- OH MY GOD WHO IS THIS ACTOR. HE IS SO TERRIFYING. Oh my god, do you realize what Matthew believes? He’s convinced that Will is not only guilty, but that he’s been hiding in plain sight in the FBI the whole time. It’s why Matthew was so attracted to Will; he was “hiding” in the hospital as an orderly, too, and he was certain that Will would understand him. Technically, Will does understand him, but not in some empathetic way. He understands how to use him.
- I’m very aware that I spent a good portion of the last ten minutes of this episode shouting HOW IS THIS HAPPENING? Because how??? Will Graham sends Matthew to kill Hannibal. AND HANNIBAL DOESN’T KNOW. SO THIS IS ACTUALLY A VERY REAL THREAT FOR ONCE.
- HOW IS THIS HAPPENING.
- And gods, the visual metaphor of the stag is used incredibly in “Mukozuke.” Will sees it first at Beverly’s crime scene, an indication that Hannibal was responsible for her murder. But then Will begins to hallucinate that he is transforming into the stag as Matthew gets closer and closer to murdering Hannibal. It’s not quite the same metamorphosis, and I think that’s because this is not the same context. I view Will’s manipulation as self-defense more than anything else. He’s trying to protect himself from Hannibal by eliminating him. Still, it’s a moral disaster for Will because there’s no denying that he’s resorted to trying to kill someone, and his mind won’t let him forget that. It’s why he imagines his transformation and imagines the blood pouring out of his sink.
- AHHHH ALANA BLOOM TALKING TO DR. GIDEON. THIS IS HAPPENING, SOUND THE ALARMS, I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS SHOW IS REAL. I mean, yes, it’s my fault I still believed he was dead, but COME ON. She’s standing before the man who planned to kill her, who knows who the actual Chesapeake Ripper is, who played a part in Will’s mental descent. He’s protecting Lecter, though, isn’t he? I understood that he was suffering from psychic driving, that his own identity was fractured because of outside influences, so it’s possible that he really doesn’t remember. The whole thing is deliberately muddled, and I’m guessing that’s because this isn’t the last we’ve seen of Dr. Gideon.
- Oh, Eddie Izzard, I adore you so much.
- The final sequences of “Mukozuke” are going to have long-lasting effects on this story for a number of reasons. I am frightened of how this is going to affect Will’s case. Alana and Jack both know that Will sent Matthew after Hannibal. How is this going to end well for Will? HOW? It’s not going to make them believe Will’s theory about Hannibal anymore than they already did. (Somehow, that happens, though. HOW? HOW DOES JACK COME TO BELIEVE WILL?)
- On top of that, Matthew’s failure to kill Hannibal is going to work in Hannibal’s favor. It’s going to make him seem more sympathetic, at the very least. Both Alana and Jack have now seen him strung from the ceiling in a Christ pose, the very image of sacrifice and atonement. THIS ISN’T GOING TO GO WELL FOR WILL.
- Matthew doesn’t seem to be dead, either, but I’m guessing he’s not going to reveal that Hannibal is the copycat killer and the Ripper.
- AHHHH I’M SO FRUSTRATED.
The video for “Mukozuke” can be downloaded here for $0.99.
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