i'd love to hear your full thoughts on hannibal premiere last night if you can? esp the relationship between hanni and bedelia
I need to watch the episode again because I probably missed a LOT due to being distracted by how damn pretty everything is, but here’s what we know so far:
Bedelia killed her patient and claimed it was self defense. We already knew that from last year, but we’d never known what happened and why. Hannibal was present, but we don’t know what took place before the actual murder. We don’t know if Bedelia truly felt persuaded or not. The point is, once she had done it, she lied. And she lied for a reason. I know we’ll see more of that scene but all we need to know right now is: Bedelia killed someone, claimed she was attacked (though, as we and Hannibal saw, there was no proof of that) and her immediate reaction was to want Hannibal’s help in covering up what it is she’d done. She seemed shaken by what she’d done, that was VIOLENT as hell, but her immediate concern was getting away with it.
This lie binds her to Hannibal but we don’t know if she felt bound to him before this happened. There’s some kind of relationship already established between them before this happened and she doesn’t seem remotely surprised that he’d lie for her about her actions.
Bedelia knows for a FACT, exactly what Hannibal is. How long she’s known is unclear, but she’s fully aware of what he is and what he does and she STILL allows herself to be subject to it. In fact, she continues to gravitate towards him rather than away from him. This could be because she’s afraid of what would happen to her if she tried to actually walk away, or it could be something else entirely. After the bloodbath of the season 2 finale, Hannibal is in Bedelia’s home. He’s naked, exposed, vulnerable in every way and she has a gun on him. She’s in control, looks somewhat frightened, yet still doesn’t feel the need to act on that fear. He asks if she thinks he won’t kill her and her response is to put down the gun. She’d already made her decision (going back to the house, pouring herself a drink, confronting him, threatening him, then taking away that threat) that she was in this with him, somehow. Once again, she didn’t seem remotely surprised that he was there OR by what she thinks he’d done to Will Graham and others. She’d predicted this.
We still don’t know how/why she ended up on the plane, but it’s clear that she was there because she wanted to be. It seems she made that decision for herself (whether due to curiosity or self preservation, we don’t know) …
Fast forward to Florence, and while a lot of the walls that had existed between them are down, there’s still a LOT that are in place and new ones have gone up. Hannibal’s no longer hiding exactly who he is, though Bedelia’s already known for quite some time. They’re both lying for each other, covering up for each other, keeping each other’s secrets but the motivations are still unknown.
There’s an odd intimacy here that I find fascinating. Bedelia voices that she believes she’s still in control - and says that TO him - and seems confident in what she’s saying. She doesn’t seem to physically feel vulnerable in front of him, doesn’t seem to be constantly wary of him or his actions. They’ve settled into a strange comfort with each other and I’m curious if that’s actually been there since the beginning. There’s a mutual … respect? I don’t know if that’s the word I’m looking for but it’s the only one I can think of at the moment.
Now, I’m not saying that everything’s great for Bedelia because it’s not. She did want to leave, or least looked like she did. But she has ‘run’ before, and we don’t know why she always comes back. During the attack on Antony, when asked if she was observing or participating, I think she WANTS to believe (sorry) that she’s simply an observer. That Hannibal is the monster, she’s just along for the ride because she has to be. She may be an accomplice, but he’s the one doing the Bad Things. Hannibal reminds her that no, that’s not the case, and she’s made fully aware of how he sees her. She’s a murderer too. She was a participant too. She’s guilty and she knows it.
I touched on this a bit last night before I went to bed, but I’ll do it again here. I think Bedelia is more frightened of what she’s capable of than she is frightened of Hannibal. She does not enjoy murder the way he does but she’s not nearly as put off by it as she feels she should be. She recognizes when it’s necessary and is willing to lie about it. She is entangled in this world of Hannibal’s and finds herself becoming more and more the participant than the observer and THAT consumes her. I do not think she’s being brainwashed, I do not think she’s being abused. Not yet, anyway, further episodes might prove me wrong. But right now I get the impression that Bedelia’s own darkness is what’s truly shaking her and how exposed she is to it now. Back home in Baltimore, in her lonely and empty house, she was able to put that darkness away somewhere. In Florence, it’s on display.
Does she want Hannibal caught? Absolutely, and he will be, and I think she’ll play a part in this. She’s not the kind of woman who would want him to get away with it. But she also cares for him deeply, sees some of herself in him, understands him and his motives probably more than anyone else on the show does, having known him so well for so long. There isn’t going to be a happy ever after for these two (or anyone on this show) but I think when it comes to relationships on this show, Bedelia and Hannibal’s is the most equal. Every step of the way, they are both aware of what the other can do/is willing to do. Bedelia knows he’s eventually going to try to kill her/eat her. She got on the plane knowing that. But that isn’t stopping her and there’s no doubt in my mind that she’s prepared for it. I think while she’s genuinely frightened sometimes, she’s also putting on an act for Hannibal. It’s necessary with him. She can’t show too much confidence in her plan (and he must know she has one) and it will be easier to put the plan into motion if he believes that she’s struggling more than she actually is.
So that’s my very VERY wordy rant on what I think is happening between them. I think they are fascinating together because of how cunning they both are. I do not see Bedelia as a victim (again, further episodes could prove me wrong) but as a woman who is doing what’s necessary and also fighting what she sees in herself that she doesn’t like.
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