A collection of metas (critical essays or analysis), interesting facts, and miscellaneous information gathered from across tumblr, about the television adaptation NBC Hannibal (2013-2015) based on the series written by Thomas Harris. Mobile info Mobile tags
Hannibal and Will reuniting and acknowledging their love in front of the primavera means so much to me actually. The centrepoint of the primavera is the goddess Venus. Chloris the nymph blooms into Flora the goddess at the touch of Zephyr's love, and heralds the coming of spring. The painting is symbolic of all the themes of renewal, new beginnings, and transformative love shared between the both of them. I can't even imagine how Hannibal must have felt in that moment, sat next to the man he loves that he has changed and that changed him in front of the painting that depicted the connection he desperately craved all those years.
Bryan Fuller's de-masculinization of Margot Verger is interesting to me. He's correct that there's an element of the pathetic about her, being a (potentially gender confused) steroid-abusing lesbian, but to me this is what makes her relatable and human. Not everyone who faces that level of prolonged physical and psychological abuse ends up as a glam goddess. She values the right things and cares for the ones she loves and winds up winning everything in the end. I feel people who squirm at her literary portrayal take shelter in aesthetics to hide from what's inside of them. I feel Margot's gender struggle is largely a continuation/inversion of Buffalo Bill's, who I've similarly always found more fascinating than monstrous.
If you ask me, these characters only read as transphobic when you assume they're coming from the perspective of a straight man.
i love the fact that in digestivo hannibal probably slept in the chair by will like he did with abigail in season one. ALSO he was probably up for hours before will just admiring him while he’s asleep and glad that he’s home safe with him. writing out the equation for time travel for hours with will in mind😭😭
S2 Will Graham asking Matthew to kill Hannibal and then right after hallucinating himself growing deer antlers because he sees Hannibal as a stag and, with the simple request to kill him, is becoming more like Hannibal AUGH
One of the things that really gets me in Hannibal S3 is Love Crime just casually peeking through sometimes, yk before the finale.
Such as at the end of the first ep, the part where Hannibal is on the train, you get the first instrumental of the song which is so beautiful to listen to.
Or like the beginning of ep 8, when we get the first scene of Dolarhyde. As the camera is panning up to his face, the music almost sounds like the 32-second mark in Love Crime and then the moment leaves just as fast as it came.
And then at the end of ep 8, the obvious instrumental kicks in again when Will sees Hannibal again.
Something about getting teased before the full experience of the song at the very end of the season makes it that much more impactful for me.
There are multiple scenes in hannibal where hannibal sits across from jack and chilton as if to show they are equals. BUT the part that differs between that and him sitting across from will is that in Nako choko he’s sitting across from will and also for the first time in the show unknowingly committing cannibalism as all the characters have been.
"One of the key things I found interesting from the books was that when [Hannibal] rips out the tongue of a nurse, his pulse does not get above 60. But in our version, his heart does beat sometimes, when he chooses." — Mads Mikkelsen
K I was rewatching hannibal and I couldn't help but pay more attention to Will's pendulum.
In season 1, when Will looks back in time and the pendulum swings, it's always so dark and grim until he pretends to be a killer. Then, a golden light shines down on him, and the ambiance of the scene completely changes.
For example, in the opening scene we get a shot of his face:
Then as the pendulum is about to swing, there is a golden light shining on him.
It looks brighter, warmer, and maybe even hopeful.
And again in that same scene, even the murder itself looks different before and after the pendulum swings.
Before:
After:
It's like when Will imagines being the killer, everything is better and more beautiful.
You can see this lighting in almost every pendulum scene on the show.
Here is the totem before and after will starts to imagine being the murderer.
At first I didn't know what to make of it, but now I have three takes.
1. Will can empathize so clearly with the killers that when he imagines these murders from their perspective, he finds the world is more beautiful even in his imagination. In Will's world, things are bleak, but by taking the perspective of the killer, he can see the loveliness of what they've done. It is a coping mechanism to get by. Will is damaged by his work, and only by embracing the perspective completely can he fathom looking at these horrible scenes.
2. Towards and into season 2, we get more and more into religious scenes. Hannibal is often compared to god. We talk about God as a killer, as powerful, and Will is said to "forgive like God forgives." You could think of Will bathed in this lighting as holy, or otherworldly in his ability. All knowing and godlike. This view is supported by the shot of Will pretending to be the red dragon, with wings and a light on his face. The light represents how holy he is and has always been.
3. You could say that from the very beginning, Will took a pleasure in just the act of imagining killing, and that's what Hannibal saw in him from the start that Will couldn't even recognize in himself. The light represents Will's intrinsic joy and pleasure he takes at the death and violence he witnesses, and later takes part in. The light shows the audience his darkness that was there all along.
It's also interesting how the sound of the pendulum is contrasted by it's golden glow. This rough scraping churning sound of the pendulum as it swings is so contrasted by the opulence of the light itself. Maybe the sound is for the benefit of the audience to demonstrate a contrast and build tension, but it could also represents Will's own turmoil and contrast within himself. He isn't able to see his own contradictions, but the swing of the pendulum can point it out to us from the very beginning; he sees the beauty of the scene in front of him, but feels mind numbing dread and horror when looking for that beauty, as represented by the sound.
Can we talk about how when Will says “it’s beautiful”, Hannibal is looking directly at him when he nods, his eyes very obviously appraising his face before going down to Will’s lips.
He doesn’t look at the carnage of the dragon and nod, no, he’s looking directly at Will because in that moment for Hannibal, it’s Will that’s beautiful, it’s Will embracing his true nature that’s beautiful, it’s Will stood in front of him, gripping onto him and smiling that’s beautiful.
What do you think made Will bluebeard's last wife? And how did Will understand that Hannibal was in love with him when he had the bluebeard discussion with Bedelia?
Hello! I see that someone already answered this question here, but I'll try to put my own spin on it.
Some context:
In the folktale, Bluebeard is a wealthy man whose wives keep mysteriously disappearing. He gives his seventh wife the key to all the locked doors in their house, but tells her not to open the door to the basement ("Secrets you're not to know, yet sworn to keep"). Of course, the wife goes snooping and discovers the corpses of all his former wives. It's a classic Pandora/Psyche myth with a horrific twist.
Key point: Bluebeard's seventh and final wife survives, inherits his fortune, and lives happily ever after.
The Bluebeard analogy is honestly perfect for Hannibal's character because it highlights the way he destroys everyone he loves. He brings a series of "wives" behind the veil (Miriam, Abigail, Gideon) and all of them end up maimed, mentally broken, or dead. This pattern echoes his childhood behavior, originating with the consumption of Mischa and developing with his mind games with Chiyoh. "Every family loves differently. Every love is unique." Hannibal expresses love through destruction and consumption.
Bedelia understands this. When she says she would've preferred to be Bluebeard's last wife, she means that she would've preferred to be the one who escaped Hannibal and lived happily ever after. She does not want to be on the receiving end of Hannibal's "love."
There's a deleted scene in the Antipasto script where she says the same line to Dimmond:
Basically, "Help me lock this monster up, because I'm not going to be one of his victims. I do want his money, though."
The same line, said accusingly to Will, takes on a different meaning. Hannibal is courting a new partner, and if Bedelia isn't his final wife anymore... well, she's going to end up in the basement with the rest. @genufa wrote an interesting analysis on this concept here.
Now, let's zoom out and view the whole conversation from Will's perspective:
Will can't let go of the fact that Bedelia emerged from Hannibal's influence completely unscathed, whereas Hannibal took--and continues to take--everything from Will. He's operating on his understanding of the Chesapeake Ripper: "Contrapasso. You play, you pay." So why does Hannibal make Will pay again and again and again, while Bedelia got away with mere psychological torment? According to Chesapeake Ripper logic, that would mean Bedelia is preferred, right?
Before this conversation, Will doesn't understand how Hannibal expresses love ( @suchawrathfullamb wrote a lovely post about this). He thinks that everything Hannibal did to him (encephalitis era, prison era, honeytrap codependency era, Mizumono, the Primavera human heart, the attempted brain-eating in Dolce) was out of pure sadism. If Hannibal found him more interesting than Randall, Margot, and his other violent patients, it was only because his empathy and involvement with the FBI made him a rare specimen.
[BOOK TANGENT TIME! Oh boy, my favorite!! :D]
Will's misdiagnosis of Hannibal's ability to love was inspired by this piece of hack psychoanalysis in chapter 51 of Hannibal:
^ This is clearly posed as an incorrect interpretation of Hannibal Lecter:
Yes, Hannibal is excited by distress, but he loves those who bear distress beautifully, with strength, courage, and discipline. This is how he comes to care for people like Abigail, Jack, and Bella. And, of course, Will suffers the most pornographically beautifully of all.
[END BOOK TANGENT]
"It's distress that excites him," Will thinks. So it catches his attention when Bedelia says of his forehead scar, "It excites [Hannibal] to see you marked in this particular way." Why? Why this particular way? Is it a mark of ownership (the metaphorical facial theory)? A symbol of the permanent effect Hannibal had on him? This is Bedelia's first hint that Will's distress means more to Hannibal than punishment or sadistic entertainment.
When Bedelia turns the Bluebeard analogy back on Will, it finally clicks for him that distress/destruction/consumption is the pattern of Hannibal's love, and the fact that Hannibal tortures Will more than anyone else means that Will holds a place of honor in his heart. With this context, Hannibal's attempt to eat his brain becomes an act of adoration. The mark on his forehead becomes a laurel wreath.
To answer your first question, I don't think "Bluebeard's last wife" is a great analogy for Will.
First of all, Bedelia never called him that. She implied that Will was becoming the next wife, emphasizing the threat associated with Hannibal's affection. Bluebeard's last wife would've ended up in the basement too if she hadn't been clever enough to escape, and Will doesn't seem particularly clever to Bedelia at this point. Even Will admits his surrender: "I don't know if I can save myself, and maybe that's just fine."
Second of all, Bluebeard's last wife betrays him to the authorities, and Will does the exact opposite in TWOTL. I guess you could interpret "I don't intend Hannibal to be caught a second time," as "I'm planning to kill him myself," but passionately embracing Hannibal before gently dragging him off a cliff in a failed murder-suicide doesn't read as "Bluebeard's last wife" behavior to me.
If Will is to be Bluebeard's last wife, it's because Hannibal's love for him breaks the pattern, meaning Hannibal is no longer Bluebeard. A true fairytale ending. <3
so i’m super new to hannibal (im watching roti s1e11 rn) so im sure this has been said before, but i think it’s so interesting how out of any animal/nature imagery that could’ve been used, will hallucinates antlers. they always play like a cage or a weapon in the show, be it from stabbing people or crowding will into a space. it brings to mind cages of one’s own creation or self harm because of how antlers are grown, which makes sense for will because this is all, assumedly, in his head and may be controllable. he can stop police work at any time, but he doesn’t. antlers work again here, because they regrow and then are shed. he keeps coming back to scenes like this, keeps ‘regrowing’ his recreations of crimes through his empathy, and by doing so continues to cage himself or harm his psyche. it brings to mind the image of bucks getting their antlers caught on trees or each other, and dying due to their main weapon/power. idk, i just feel like it’s such a good nod to will being just as fucked up as hannibal, and it’s a really powerful visual and metaphorical symbol.
(i have another, less related thought on antler velvet and the potentials for that in the show in the tags. i’d port it up here but it got out of hand)
Does anyone wanna talk about Freddie Lounds? It's easy to forget how much she went through. Yeah she's annoying af from the beginning but that's only because she's introduced as an antagonist from the beginning; we very rarely see any redeeming qualities.
But it's easy to forget the shit she goes through. In season 1 she watches a cop get shot in front of her in the head, and she has to watch a man get dissected, while helping keep him alive. She's held hostage for at least a day or two, all the while not knowing if she will live or die.
Sure you could argue that she got the cop fired, but in no way did that mean she should witness that kind of brutality first hand. And in 1x11 when she's watching Chilton get dissected, there are tears in her eyes.
In my first watch through I really thought she was a rat and that there was nothing good about her, but watching through again there are good things. Her journalism is unethical, but Freddie herself is undeniably very smart, resourceful, plucky, and I can admire her character while also despising what she does for a living. I also think she didn't deserve to witness all of that, even if she chose the field.
Finally, we can admit that she was right about alot of things! Will isn't a psychopath, but he essentially choses the path of a killer according to the end credits scene. She saw that in him from the beginning. Freddie is a threat because she is so often right. Even though Will's choices feel right as the viewer, we hate Freddie for pointing that out.
Hannibal and Will mirroring eachother person/monster suits( an analysis)
So a couple of weeks back me and @moonheart1313 were having a conversation about hannibal and Will person suits and how they kinda mirror eachother and we kinda see this in the last episode whenever there fighting Dolarhyde.
We know Will Graham as a very almost all over the place person he’s kinda messy in away and his head is all over the place, but that’s his person suit. His monster inside him if that’s what you wanna call it is almost very calculated and almost organized we see this whenever Hannibal jumped on Dolarhyde but Will had Grabbed (a knife i believe it was ) and is almost calculating the situation the hand. This persona mirrors Hannibal Person suit.(plus I do believe Will has learned something from studying/ watching Hannibal)
Now Hannibal Lecter we know to be a very calculated, organized, calm man, That’s what he wants people to see and that’s his person suit Dr Hannibal lecter the well mannered, organized and well liked man who can do “no wrong “. That’s a different story for the Monster inside him, we know Hannibal to be very organized with his kills , how he wants them and what he’ll use them for. But with the scene where him and Will are fighting Dolarhyde that’s a completely different story Hannibal is completely different with this kill it matches Will person suite persona, he’s all over the place, wild , messy. Specially with the scene of him jumping on Dolarhyde back
Hannibal and Will mirrors eachother person and monster suits that’s why they kinda work so well
1. The Lecter family crest pays homage to the Hannibal book cover.
It references Milan's biscione, a snake devouring a man, which appears on the coat of arms of the Visconti and Sforza families (from which Hannibal is descended on his mother's side).
SIDE NOTE: One of Hannibal's favorite pastimes as the curator of the Palazzo Vecchio was reading about his ancestors:
Funnily enough, the Visconti-Sforza commissioned their own tarot decks in the 15th century, so Hannibal might've been studying those in the Palazzo library around the time he designed his Vitruvian Man tableau. Here's the original Visconti di Modrone Three of Swords vs an artist's reproduction:
2. Pheasant & Raven imagery
The Chiyoh/Abigail parallels are strong, but Chiyoh's symbolic prey animal is a pheasant instead of a deer! She uses pheasant quills as decoration for her dinner with Will, and there are some taxidermied pheasants in the hunting lodge we didn't get to see:
But my favorite detail is how she uses a pheasant bone to kill the Caged Man! Even a prey animal has sharp edges.
Meanwhile, ravens represent Hannibal's imposing presence haunting the estate. We see them on the Lecter family crest and taxidermied by the fireplace.
Doubled birds of prey motif... a nod to how Will is joining Hannibal as a predator?
All the hawk paintings could also just be referencing this single line in Hannibal Rising:
SIDE NOTE: Over in Florence, Hannibal is keeping in the bird theme with a feathered arm ham wing and a nest of green bean asps for his dinner with Sogliatto:
3. A Shrine for Mischa?
There's a deleted scene in the script where Will spots a Shinto shrine while snooping:
A small version of this shrine appears above the fireplace. It includes a pair of birds of paradise, the same flower Chiyoh leaves on Mischa's grave:
If you've read the books, Mischa's presence is also palpable in the deer heads watching over their dinner (not that we got to see them lol):
4. The way the painting above the fireplace is cut off makes it look like an oni glaring at them! Creepy!
Or maybe it's meant to look like Enma, the Buddhist King of Hell, who is depicted in the painting on the ceiling in the original production design (The Fever of Tairo no Kiyomori by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, 1883):
It's actually this Rorschach of a landscape based on Old Plum by Kano Sansetsu (1646):
5. Japanese family crests (mon) on the curtains
The Secondo scene uses the weeping wisteria family crest (sagari fuji mon):
The name Murasaki means wisteria, so I assume this crest represents her. It's doubly fitting, since in real life, this is the Fujiwara crest, and Lady Murasaki's namesake (Murasaki Shikibu, author of the Tale of Genji) was a Fujiwara.
The original production design uses a princess tree family crest (kiri mon). Not sure if there was any symbolism to that choice, but they didn't go with it in the end.
Do you think Molly knew? Because I like to think to some degree Molly was keenly aware, on some intuitive level, that Will was always a distance away from her. It was like the space between them was decidedly person shaped but she couldn’t tell if it was her late husband or someone else that made up the shape of it. And do you think it took her a long time to figure it out when she finally braved the conversation or finally did what everyone told her to do and googled Will and found the name of a man aside his over and over and over again and suddenly it all made sense. A person shaped shadow, a ghost of a person suit, someone Will carries with him in the shape of Hannibal Lecter. And yeah maybe she doesn’t understand, how could she? But she understands mourning and loss and grief and knowing someone in the way others don’t and maybe that’s what Will is grieving. So she doesn’t bring it up, they don’t talk about it and she prays it’s enough to make life sweeter than it would be alone. But it never quite is, it never quite fits right. And it’s no one’s fault but it isn’t ideal. And then one day the phone rings and before she can even get a kiss goodbye Will is in the car driving hundreds of miles to see the warm, living, breathing version of his shadow and she just knows, she knows it’s over.
UHG I could talk about the complexities of each character for HOURS
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