Mark Watches ‘Hannibal’: S02E02 – Sakizuke

In the second episode of the second season of Hannibal, pain. PAIN FOREVER. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Hannibal.

Fuck. FUCK.

Trigger Warning: For discussion of gore/violence, and for continued discussion of Hannibal gaslighting others.

• That was painful, y’all. The cold open, the twist in the case, Will’s weird plan, and EVERY SINGLE BEAUTIFUL AND TERRIFYING SCENE WITH BEDELIA DU MAURIER, WHO IS NOW OFFICIALLY MY HERO FOREVER.
• This was a goddamn spectacle of mind games and violence and I don’t know how this could get better, but it probably will? Oh, lord, I’m not ready for this.
• I feel endless sad for Roland Umber. His escape, which opens “Sakizuke,” is a visceral and revolting sequence, which will be added to my list of Things I Do Not Want To See Again (But Probably Will Because I’m Getting My Boyfriend To Watch This Show). I think I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve questioned how this show is ever allowed on the air, but goddamn. HOW WAS THIS EPISODE AIRED ON NATIONAL TELEVISION? The gore in that scene is… well, it’s both realistic and surrealistic at the same time. And it’s something Hannibal drifts between with regularity. The violence is stylized, sure, but sometimes, it’s too real. It doesn’t look fake, and that’s the case with Roland. As he pulled away from the other bodies, IT HURT ME BY ASSOCIATION. And bless Ryan Field, the actor playing Roland, because I believed this was actually happening to him.
• As gut-wrenching as it was to suffer through that whole chase sequence, only to watch Umber die tragically at the bottom of the cliff, it was a hint towards the inevitability of all things. This show’s narrative is moving in one direction, and there’s no denying it and there’s no stopping it. That’s due to the in media res opening in the season premiere, yes, but let’s take that out for a moment. Even without knowing that Jack and Hannibal fight over the assumed discovery of who Hannibal is, this is all unraveling. It’s a very slow process, and Hannibal is absolutely in control for the moment. But this episode marks a few definitive changes in the way certain characters view Hannibal, and I think it’s a sign of where this might be headed.
• For the moment, Hannibal is completely embedded within Jack’s world, so much so that he’s now in the lab, which is SO WEIRD. (I loved how this was demonstrated by the other crime techs constantly bumping into him. He is occupying a space that they’re not used to.) It’s also frightening because he has even more access than usual to these murderers, and now we see what that access has allowed him.
• Well, I say that, but I don’t actually understand Hannibal’s endgame here. We watch him do exactly what he did in “Apéritif.” He contacts the murderer that the BAU team is investigating, and then… what? Lecter figures out where the murderer is, KILLS HIM, and adds him TO HIS OWN MURAL. And I could understand that Hannibal appreciated what the man did, in his own sick way, and we also know that Hannibal loves to manipulate the world around him in order to see what may come of it. So I think he’s interested in what the BAU team may do when presented with a case that is hopelessly complex, made so because of what he’s done.
• But now that I’m fully aware of how far back Lecter planted the seeds of Will Graham’s “guilt” in season one, so what’s he doing here? He doesn’t do things randomly or impulsively. Everything is part of some sort of master plan.
• I am absolutely all here for the brilliant way in which Beverly is given a bigger role in the story. It’s clear that she still fears Will Graham in some ways; notice how she stands as far away from his cage as possible. When she passes him files or photos, she does so with a long stretch of her arm. But she continues to visit Graham, compartmentalizing her own fears and issues, so that she can use him as a resource.
• Like I pointed out in the review for “Kaiseki,” this is initially disappointing for Will Graham, but this episode sees Will trying a new approach: cooperation. Somewhat, I should qualify. He rejects Prurnell’s offer to spare him the possible death penalty in an emotional scene, one that showed us that Will only wanted to survive this life on his own terms. (Which is important to understand the end of this episode, too. I’LL GET BACK TO THAT.) And y’all, I could swear that Prurnell looked so sad to see Will refuse her offer, and it really typified how distressing this must be for all the characters in this show as they watch what seems like the inevitable downfall of Will Graham.
• But it’s not so inevitable anymore, is it? Will toys with Hannibal by playing straight into his attempts to gaslight him, and all the scenes are honestly so goddamn entertaining to watch. I also don’t get Will’s game, either, except that I understand there’s only one character to whom he is completely honest with: Beverly Katz. Perhaps it’s because she’s more detached from Will, though I don’t know that that’s necessarily true. She’s obviously deeply upset over the whole thing. I suspect that Will knows that Beverly is a woman who knows evidence and how to read it, so he appeals to that part of her. He compels her to go on a bit of a logical adventure: forget the evidence she has collected against him, and see if she can find anything else that implicates him. It’s a brilliant tactic because he knows that what’s happened to him was manufactured up until the point of his incarceration. If Beverly works independent of the evidence that Hannibal manipulated, she might find the truth.
• So Will is playing along with the right people and defiant with others. It’s fascinating to watch his interactions with Hannibal because he’s now so aware of Hannibal’s capacity. It’s not at all like it was in the first season.
• This episode also features some of the most plain-spoken guilt from Jack Crawford, who, in a session with his own therapist, uses a line spoken by Lecter to wrestle with his own complicity in Will’s downfall. How is this going to manifest in the future? How is it going to affect how Jack views Will’s own guilt or innocence?
• But let’s just admit that this episode is ruled, dominated, and controlled by Bedelia Du Maurier. I have never once doubted Gillian Anderson’s incredible talent, and let this stand as yet more evidence that she is one of the finest of her craft. Her scenes with Lecter, Jack, and then Will (!!!!) are filmed in beautiful contrasts. They’re framed close, then wide, then far, and then intimate. All of this communicates the stunning epiphany that Bedelia has come to.
• Hannibal Lecter is a dangerous man.
• That scene in Lecter’s office will always scare me because you can see the reluctance and terror in every step and every micro expression of Bedelia. You can see her shift her body ever so slowly away from Lecter (which he notices, too), and you’re left to fear if the inevitable is about to unfold before our eyes. We know Lecter is willing and able to move quickly and rid himself of a threat, but for the moment, he spares her.
• I WANTED TO PASS OUT SO BADLY. TOO MUCH. TOO. MUCH.
• and then her conversation with Jack. MORE OF TOO MUCH. Holy shit, the goddamn subtext. SHE IS BASICALLY TELLING JACK THAT HE IS DANGER, THEY’RE ALL IN DANGER, AND SHE’S DOING IT IN A WAY THAT ADMITS NOTHING, THAT BRINGS NOTHING BACK TO HER, AND OH MY GOD, GILLIAN ANDERSON IS UNREAL.
• But it’s really her final scene in “Sakizuke” – which I would hope for the sake of her character is actually the last scene period – that hit me the hardest. She finally visits Will Graham. Will Graham is not an idea to her anymore. There he is, flesh and bone, standing before her, and she is not viewing him through the lens of Hannibal Lecter anymore.
• I nearly burst into tears when she stepped forward and grabbed the bars and said, “I believe you.” Will Graham did. And he did so because those three words were all he wanted to here. He wanted to know that he wasn’t alone, that his suffering was understood.
• She believes him, oh my god.
• AND THEN SHE GOT THE FUCK OUT OF THERE BECAUSE GOOD FOR HER. YOU ARE THE ONLY CHARACTER TO TAKE MY ADVICE. GO ON A VACATION AND NEVER COME BACK.
• fuck.

The video for “Sakizuke” can be downloaded here for $0.99.

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